Reason Behind why People Gain Weight as they Grow Old Unlocked

Individuals in their Old Age Struggle to Lose Weight

It was no surprise when my mom who was a role-model for her perfect physique started gaining weight as she started growing older. She was an epitome of fitness ensuring to eat healthy food, exercise regularly and stay in shape. This change in her body weight and the ever-growing weight measures almost pushed her into depression. This is not the story of one individual but the startling truth that happens to almost every person who crosses his/her 40s, 50s and 60s. Does it point to our change in metabolism or simply makes us realize that we become less and less active as we keep getting older.

Ageing brings about numerous changes in our body, hormones, organs and their functioning and weight gain is an impact of too. Some people suffer to stay within normal weight ranges even during their teens, 20s and 30s owing to their genes, metabolism and activity levels and, these are the ones who fall into overweight/obesity ranges as they grow older owing to an inability to keep their weight gain under control. Such weight gain is inevitable even in the case of normal people who stay on a healthy body weight simply by leading an active lifestyle. The struggle of any person who has crossed 30s to lose weight is understandable. A study done at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has discovered the root cause behind such weight gain.

Karolinska Study
The study on fat cells that happened over a long span of 13 years included 54 men and women. During this time period, unconditional of the fact whether the subjects gained or lost weight, there was a decrease in lipid turnover (rate at which fat in the fat cells is removed and stored) in the fat tissue. Those participants who did not reduce their calorie intake to compensate for this decrease in lipid turnover gained around 20% extra weight according to the same study. The researchers also examined lipid turnover in 41 women who underwent bariatric surgery trying to understand how their lipid turnover rate affected their ability to keep the weight loss off for at least 4-7 years after the surgery. It was seen that those participants who had a low lipid turnover rate before surgery were the ones who were able to increase the same after surgery and maintain weight loss. That’s because these individuals had room to expand their lipid turnover rate unlike others who had already reached the maximum threshold before surgery.

According to the researchers, processes in our body fat tissue regulate changes in body weight while ageing and this is independent of other factors. This fact could be valuable in helping researchers probe into new ways for treating obesity. We already know that performing physical activity increases lipid turnover in fat tissues and when this is applied for weight loss surgery patients as well it could multiply their chances of keeping off the weight loss for a longer time.

Obesity and overweight problems are becoming global epidemics affecting both the adult and the children population equally. The advent of processed foods and sedentary lifestyles are the major causes behind such weight gain problems. Besides calorie restrictions imposed on our daily diet the most efficient way to burn calories is to exercise at any age. Take the stairs, play a sport, walk or hit the gym to burn calories and stay active. Besides becoming less active as we grow older, we also become less proactive about our nutrient needs. Get in touch with a reputed dietitian nutritionist at www.firsteatright.com to help you overcome nutrient barriers and reap benefits of a healthy body.