“Slow Metabolism” May Help Explain High Dieting Failure Rates

Why does dieting have such a high failure rate, and what can be done about it? To the answer the second question, fortunately, GLP-1 drugs are highly effective, and better drugs are on the horizon. It’s possible obesity may be curable. But for the first question, the high failure rate of dieting is commonly blamed on “hyperpalatable foods” “loss of willpower” or “eating too much food”. Although it’s understood that slowed metabolism plays some role (e.g. adaptive thermogenesis) , as smaller people need fewer calories, I think the role of metabolism is greatly underestimated for the high failure rate of dieting. In my article, “Why the Minnesota Starvation Experiment Doesn’t Generalize to Modern Dieting,” I note that participants in the Minnesota starvation experiment lost significant weight on diets of around 1,600 kcal per day. These results are often cited on social media as evidence that dieting is highly effective. However, many obese or formerly obese people today struggle to…