Healthy Lifestyle’s Benefits Go beyond Weight Loss

A pooled analysis of lifestyle intervention trials suggested that adopting a healthy lifestyle can confer metabolic benefits beyond weight loss (WL) alone. The study investigated how individual responses to long-term lifestyle interventions for WL affect cardiometabolic risk by pooling data from three long-term lifestyle WL-intervention trials with adherence rates of 87%, 86%, and 89%, respectively. Among 761 trial completers (mean age 50.4 years; 89% men; baseline BMI 30.1 kg/m²), the mean WL was −3.3 kg (−3.5%). Participants were categorized as Successful-WL (36%, >5% WL), Moderate-WL (36%, 0–5% WL), or WL-Resistant (28%, no WL or weight gain). Successful-WL participants showed the most pronounced improvements in multiple health indicators, but even the WL-Resistant group exhibited significant benefits, including increased HDL-cholesterol and reductions in leptin and visceral fat. Each sustained 1 kg of WL was linked to improvements in lipid profiles and insulin resistance, reductions in intrahepatic fat, and modest decreases in blood pressure. Furthermore, there were 12 DNA methylation sites significantly associated with Successful-WL. Despite only about one-third of participants achieving long-term WL, both Moderate-WL and WL-Resistant individuals experienced improvements in visceral adiposity and cardiometabolic health.  Lifestyle interventions are the backbone of cardiovascular prevention. The findings underscore the critical value of adopting a healthy lifestyle and the measurable benefits it can yield. Source: https://academic.oup.com/eurjpc/