Just A Little Weight Loss Equals Huge Health Changes

A little weight-loss can mean a lot, according to a new study by researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The findings showed that dropping just five percent of body weight-even if it was barely noticeable on the outside-was enough to reduce the risk of both diabetes and heart disease. Furthermore, it helped improve insulin sensitivity in fat, liver and muscle tissue, according to CBS News.

"Five percent is really a very reasonable goal for most obese patients to achieve, it's much easier than 10 percent," said senior author Dr. Samuel Klein of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, via Fox News.

During the study, researchers randomly assigned 40 obese adults to either weight maintenance or diet-induced weight loss.

Of the 20 people in the weight loss group, 19 achieved 5 percent weight loss, including nine people who subsequently achieved additional targets of 10 percent and 15 percent weight loss.

On average, the weight loss group started out at 106 kilograms, or 234 pounds. Losing 5 percent of body weight brought this average down to 100.8 kilograms, or 222 pounds.

The researchers tested metabolic health and diabetes and heart disease risk factors in the weight maintenance group after six months and in the weight loss group after participants had lost 5 percent of weight (at about four months), 11 percent of weight (at about six months), and 16 percent of weight (at about 11 months).
Those who lost 5 percent of body weight had reduced overall fat mass, improved sensitivity of their liver and muscle to the effects of the hormone insulin, and improvement in function of the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.

More weight loss further improved these factors, the authors reported in Cell Metabolism.

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