Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss • Hacker News Board

Re: Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss

#221

Post by koolba » Thu, Apr 17, 2025, 5:45 PM UTC

Aurornis wrote: post #162

meindnoch wrote: post #82

Well, yeah. Adipocytes multiply when you get fat. But when you lose weight, they don't apoptose, they just shrink in volume by giving up their lipid stores.

Similar adaptions occur in muscle. The extent of new muscle fiber development (hyperplasia) is debated, so there are multiples factors influencing how muscle retains some memory of past strength ability. Once you’ve reached a level of physical strength it’s easier to return to that level in the future. This has been a topic of debate in the sports world because past anabolic steroid use could therefore carry benefits…

> For average people this does show the importance of getting at least some exercise when you’re young.

They’ve known this for centuries. Quoting the great Socrates:

“No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable."

Re: Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss

#222

Post by bluecheese452 » Thu, Apr 17, 2025, 5:46 PM UTC

guerrilla wrote: post #87

nom wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is more likely: - a physics-breaking thermodynamic anomaly - a food addicted person is lying about their consumption 200 kcal a day.. yeah sure. A human body needs more than that just to breathe and pump blood. Even comatose a skinny person needs 5 times as much. Overweight people have a significantly higher metabolic base rate. Just breathing can easily be 1000kcal a day if your lungs have to move 30 kilos of u…

It's insane how arrogant people can be about this. You have not accounted for all of the variables and that is blatantly obvious. The phenomenon is well known and there are multi-variable equations for it, many different models. One popular model is that NEET can decrease below the caloric deficit, meaning you still gain weight by becoming subconsciously lazier despite everything feeling equally difficult subjectivel…

It is the amazing the hoops people will jump through and the lies they will tell themselves and others rather than facing the obvious truth that they are consuming too many calories.

Re: Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss

#223

Post by linguistbreaker » Thu, Apr 17, 2025, 5:48 PM UTC

agos wrote: post #113

blueflow wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is what i did. Learn to live with hunger for a while instead of going to "fix it" instantly. No idea why you are so dismissive.

the fact that you were able to live with your level of hunger does not mean that for somebody else the level of hunger is the same or is as easy to manage as it was for you. this is not helpful

Fasting is a natural state. Food addiction is real, as is lack of discipline.

Just stop overeating. That's the magic bullet. Always has been.

What's not helpful is looking for weird workarounds all the time. Just stop eating so much.

Re: Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss

#224

Post by bluecheese452 » Thu, Apr 17, 2025, 5:50 PM UTC

taeric wrote: post #127

dorfsmay wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with diets based only on calories is that they don't take satiety into account, nor health. Calories is what makes you gain/lose weight, it's basic physics. Satiety is what makes you want to eat more/less. Nutrients are what is making you healthy. Fiber and protein tends to make you feel full. Lack of them allow you to eat large amount of calories without feeling full. You need to keep track of micro and…

I would slightly tweak your last. Different nutrients (vitamins/whatever) also impact your body in specific ways. Not just "makes you healthy" but "causes you to do certain things." Caffeine is the easy example here. This gets back to the "feedback loops" above. There are certainly feedback loops. But you are unlikely to be able to prime any of them by just increasing an input. And increasing output is something you…

We cannot make that claim with relative certainty. We cannot make the opposite claim either, but it is more likely.

Re: Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss

#225

Post by alabastervlog » Thu, Apr 17, 2025, 5:50 PM UTC

john_minsk wrote: post #4

Just went trough Yo-Yo. Any good strategies on how to overcome it for good?

There aren't any, statistically speaking. All strategies are about equally ineffective, long-term. Only really expensive, high-touch, long-term personal engagements by professionals achieve really significant results, and even there, less so than you might think.

The answers that actually work are "move to an environment where you will likely get and stay skinnier" (maybe a different, skinnier country) or (this one's new! There's finally a semi-reasonable answer to this question!) "take GLP-1 agonists". There's no strategy that'll do it (for outliers, yes, but over a population, no)

Re: Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss

#226

Post by bluecheese452 » Thu, Apr 17, 2025, 5:52 PM UTC

olalonde wrote: post #55

I'm surprised the paper doesn't mention "settling point theory" which was suggested decades ago. This seems to be evidence in favor of the theory.

There is not good evidence in favor of that theory.

Re: Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss

#227

Post by bluecheese452 » Thu, Apr 17, 2025, 5:56 PM UTC

Etheryte wrote: post #30

modo_mario wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you need to make it sustainable. I never had to do it consistently but even I know... Nobody is going to live hungry all the time. Nobody is going to grow old counting calories every damn day. So rather than just eating less make sure to work out some. Consistently. Id suggest strength training. I did a full body strength training workout 2-3 times a week. Some may suggest doing leg days, arm days, etc but go…

This is advice people often give, but unfortunately it's wrong. Exercise and working out are useful and healthy, but it's not a sufficient tool for losing weight in most situations. The core problem is that the amount of calories you eat is in the ballpark of thousands, while a workout will burn in the order of hundreds (excluding athletes and such). This along with metabolic adaptation means that it's always easier…

You can’t outrun a bad diet but you can outrun a mediocre one.

Re: Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss

#228

Post by bluecheese452 » Thu, Apr 17, 2025, 5:58 PM UTC

olalonde wrote: post #64

john_minsk wrote: post #4

Just went trough Yo-Yo. Any good strategies on how to overcome it for good?

Here's what the "The Renaissance Diet 2.0" book recommends: 1) Don't lose more than 10% of your bodyweight in the same weight loss period. 2) Don't lose more than 1% of body weight per week. 3) At the end of a weight loss period, transition to eating at maintenance calories for a while before starting a new weight loss period. A common mistake is to completely stop dieting when you reach your goal weight. This is a b…

That book was written by a bodybuilder who has consistently showed up on stage way too fat. Then he claims it is all water weight.

Re: Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss

#229

Post by bilsbie » Thu, Apr 17, 2025, 6:12 PM UTC

e40 wrote: post #116

spoiler wrote: post #2

As someone who's struggled with weight loss, and have known others to struggle with it well, I think we colloquially called this "slow metabolism". It always did feel like it was easier to gain weight than lose it, especially fat weight and not muscle weight for me. I was recently sent a video about fat adaptation (basically teaching your body to be better at burning fat) by a very fit friend, but I wonder how much o…

For me, sugar was the reason I couldn't lose weight. I got a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) and got my blood sugar under control, and with very little effort I lost a lot of weight. I use 90% cacao Lindt to control my sweet tooth. 1/2 the bar has 4g of sugar, and I consume it over hours. It also has the side effect of reducing my hunger. If you eat much of 90% chocolate, it makes you feel nausea. The trick is to pu…

I thought a CGM would help me lose weight but it turned out my body is a hero at managing sugar spikes. A pint of ice cream? Back to baseline in under an hour. Big meal, no big spike, etc.

So it turns out you can still gain weight even if you don’t spike your blood sugar. At least for me.

Re: Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss

#230

Post by cj » Thu, Apr 17, 2025, 6:15 PM UTC

Aurornis wrote: post #182

ben7799 wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't remember exactly what I was listening to, maybe some kind of NPR podcast. But the doctor was mentioning that none of the influencers influencing young people to try T and Steroids (which is rampant right now) are ever mentioning that you are on a ticking clock to infertility as soon as you start this stuff. Some people can regain their fertility but it might take years, and some people are going to be permane…

Testicular atrophy and HPT axis suppression is a thoroughly documented side effect of TRT and steroids. Even beginner bodybuilders know that taking steroids will crush their natural testosterone production. They can kind of bring it back by taking short courses and using certain medications after the cycle, but most discover that some permanent damage is being done with each cycle. There are two problems with framing…

> Even beginner bodybuilders know that taking steroids will crush their natural testosterone production.

Maybe beginner bodybuilders understand this. But I'd argue the average new steroid user is more likely the be un/mis-informed. The average person gets all their information from Instagram/Tiktok/Youtube/Reddit.

But my observation is a lot of people are jumping on gear for purely aesthetic reasons. They are ordering online from research chemical sites and they're almost always not working with a trainer/coach/doctor (vast majority of young people on gear are not doing it under any type of supervision, also means many skip basic necessities like regular bloodwork).

It's much more common for people to jump on gear, experience a negative effect, and then do research afterwards. Which is fine for substances that are relatively benign, but risky when you're messing with your hormones especially at a young age.