New insights for dieters who "drink water to get fat"

The number of people who are overweight or obese has risen to epidemic proportions globally, and obesity is a risk factor for a range of chronic diseases

Now, a compelling new study published in the journal eBioMedicine challenges the ingrained notion that diet alone is enough for everyone trying to lose weight

This important conclusion could significantly improve public health by guiding the emergence of personalized treatment plans that will help difficult-to-treat obese patients lose weight and maintain it

"This is exciting and important work

Understanding different obesity phenotypes is key to disentangling individual differences in the weight loss process

Using bioinformatics and machine learning methods to analyze skeletal muscle, the results show that exercise preferentially improves skeletal muscle metabolism and increases weight loss in obese individuals considered to be diet resistant

"For people who are obese and have tremendous difficulty losing weight, the message this sends is: You're in a group of people who are especially important to exercise

University of Ottawa endocrinologist Robert Dent, founder of the Ottawa Hospital's Weight Management Clinic, called the discovery a "supreme glory" of his research work with multiple doctors

"If you look at a group of people who are overweight and trying to lose weight, they don't want to exercise

This research has the potential to help reshape the science of weight loss programs so that they can be tailored to individual patients

Chantal A.