Losing weight and keeping it off is a tough challenge in treating obesity, even though it has many health benefits. Recent studies highlight a concept called "obesogenic memory," where the body remembers its previous weight through changes at the cellular level, making long-term weight loss harder.
Obesity and Its Impact on Health
Obesity happens when the body’s energy balance tips toward storing too much fat, increasing risks for conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Scientists have discovered that changes in how genes are regulated (epigenetics) play an important role in managing energy use in the body.
What Is Obesogenic Memory?
Recent research, including a 2024 study in Nature, shows that fat cells change their behavior after significant weight loss. This suggests they "remember" their previous state, which could explain why people often regain weight after losing it.
Epigenetics and Fat Cells
Epigenetics refers to small chemical changes on our DNA that don’t change the genetic code itself but affect how genes work. These changes can be influenced by diet, environment, and lifestyle and may last for years. Obesity causes long-lasting epigenetic changes in fat cells, altering their function and response to the body’s needs.
Ozempic based weight loss
When you eat, your pancreas releases a hormone called GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1), which tells your body, “You’ve had enough, stop eating.” However, natural GLP-1 only lasts a few minutes before it’s cleared from your system. Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy use an artificial version of GLP-1 that stays in your body for an entire week, which is why they make you feel full so quickly and for longer.
Drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide can help people lose weight, but research shows that the weight often comes back after stopping the medication. This suggests the treatments don’t "reset" the body’s obesogenic memory. To maintain results, long-term lifestyle changes, including specific nutrients, are necessary.
Side effects of Ozempic
Semaglutide, though effective for weight loss, comes with side effects like constipation, muscle loss, and a newly identified issue called "Ozempic face." This refers to accelerated facial aging compared to natural weight loss. The effect is believed to result from the loss of fatty tissue and changes in stem cells from that tissue, which play a role in producing certain important structures. Also with appetite fading away many nutrient deficiencies can present themselves and this needs to be managed correctly to prevent other complications.
Lifestyle changes for sustainable weight loss
Below are simple sustainable changes that you can make to maximise your weight loss:
1. Diet: Certain foods can reverse harmful epigenetic changes.
2. Understand your own DNA with my genetic weight loss test. This really helps identify which eating plans will work best for you. All my weight loss tests come with a consultation so that you can understand your results and make actionable changes. This is currently on sale for January here
3. Exercise: Physical activity can change gene regulation, especially in genes related to metabolism and inflammation.
4. Stress Management: Reducing stress through mindfulness or therapy may also help adjust epigenetic markers.
Prevention and Long-Term Solutions
Fat cells live about 10 years and may carry obesity-related "memories" for that time. While no drugs exist yet to erase these marks, nutritional and lifestyle strategies can help. Avoiding obesity in the first place, especially in children and teens, is the best prevention.
Practical Takeaways for You
Understanding obesogenic memory could lead to better treatments for long-term weight management. Looking at your own DNA can be a great way to kickstart this process and find an eating plan that compliments your genes and reverses these epigenetic changes.