Some Common Causes of Unintentional Weight Gain – A Recent Review of Literature

iftikhar alam; Juweria Abid; Sapna Miraj; Attaullah Jan

doi:10.48165/jfdr.2023.3.1.2

Authors

iftikhar alam Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Department of Agriculture, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Juweria Abid Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Department of Agriculture, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Sapna Miraj Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Department of Agriculture, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Attaullah Jan Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Department of Agriculture, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.48165/jfdr.2023.3.1.2%20

Keywords:

Unintentional weight gain, Stress, Sleep, Calories, Lifestyle

Abstract

Weight gain is a problem that affects not only the body, but also influences people's self-esteem. This condition is often not only related to the lack of healthy habits, such as physical exercise and a balanced diet, and may have other causes, such as, thyroid problems, genetics/heredity, excess cortisol, medicines that influence appetite and metabolism etc. In addition, other factors that can influence unintentional weight gain include stress and sleep disturbances. There is scientific evidence of the role of stress as a contributing factor to weight gain. The explanation is simple and involves the body's production of hormones and enzymes that influence appetite and weight gain. Studies show, for example, that stress accelerates the production of cortisol. This hormone, in addition to slowing down metabolism, increases appetite when produced in excess. Cortisol also reinforces the desire for high-calorie foods that are high in sugar and fat, such as chips or cakes. One of the effects of stress is changes in sleep. Difficulty falling asleep, intermittent sleep and nightmares are some of the consequences that this state can have on the sleep cycle. It turns out that systematically sleeping less than 8 hours causes changes in the hormones leptin and ghrelin, responsible for controlling hunger: leptin levels (decreased appetite) decrease, while ghrelin levels (increased appetite) increase. In conclusion, other factors than diet including stress and sleep contribute to weight gain. The reverse can help in healthy weight management.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Dutton, H., Wharton, S., Kearsley-Ho, E., Millard, A., & Van, S. (2023). 10 of the Most Asked Questions and Challenges in Obesity. Canadian Journal of General Internal Medicine, 18(SP1), 1-16.

Gualtieri, P., Marchetti, M., Renzo, L. D., De Santis, G. L., Palma, R., Colica, C., ... & Di Lorenzo, N. (2023). Impact of COVID 19 on the Destiny of Bariatric Patients. Nutrients, 15(1), 163.

Broussard, J. L., & Van Cauter, E. (2016). Disturbances of sleep and circadian rhythms: novel risk factors for obesity. Current opinion in endocrinology, diabetes, and obesity, 23(5), 353.

Simon, S. L., Behn, C. D., Cree-Green, M., Kaar, J. L., Pyle, L., Hawkins, S. M., ... & Nadeau, K. J. (2019). Too late and not enough: school year sleep duration, timing, and circadian misalignment are associated with reduced insulin sensitiv

ity in adolescents with overweight/obesity. The Journal of pediatrics, 205, 257-264.

Pugliese, G., Liccardi, A., Graziadio, C., Barrea, L., Muscogiuri, G., & Colao, A. (2022). Obesity and infectious diseases: pathophysiology and epidemiology of a double pandemic condition. International Journal of Obesity, 46(3), 449-465

Tomiyama, A. J. (2019). Stress and obesity. Annual review of psy chology, 70, 703-718.

Hemmingsson, E., Nowicka, P., Ulijaszek, S., & Sørensen, T. I. (2023). The social origins of obesity within and across gen erations. Obesity Reviews, 24(1), e13514.

Rivers, S. M. L. (2019). At the Hearth: How the Industrial Food System has Changed the Hearth and Home in the Last 100 Years. Pacifica Graduate Institute.

Nardocci, M., Leclerc, B. S., Louzada, M. L., Monteiro, C. A., Batal, M., & Moubarac, J. C. (2019). Consumption of ultra-processed foods and obesity in Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 110, 4-14.

Tan, K. W., Graf, B. A., Mitra, S. R., & Stephen, I. D. (2015). Daily consumption of a fruit and vegetable smoothie alters facial skin color. PloS one, 10(7), e0133445

Malik, V. S., & Hu, F. B. (2022). The role of sugar-sweetened bev erages in the global epidemics of obesity and chronic dis eases. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 18(4), 205-218.

Hemmingsson E, Nowicka P, Ulijaszek S, Sørensen TI. The social origins of obesity within and across generations. Obesity Reviews. 2023 Jan;24(1):e13514.

Kumar R, Rizvi MR, Saraswat S. Obesity and Stress: A Contingent Paralysis. International Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2022;13.

Poti JM, Braga B, Qin B. Ultra-processed food intake and obe sity: what really matters for health—processing or nutrient content?. Current obesity reports. 2017 Dec;6:420-31.

Booth, F. W., Roberts, C. K., & Laye, M. J. (2012). Lack of exercise is a major cause of chronic diseases. Comprehensive physi ology, 2(2), 1143.

Danquah, I. H., Pedersen, E. S. L., Petersen, C. B., Aadahl, M., Holtermann, A., & Tolstrup, J. S. (2018). Estimated impact of replacing sitting with standing at work on indicators of body composition: Cross-sectional and longitudinal find

ings using isotemporal substitution analysis on data from the Take a Stand! study. PLoS One, 13(6), e0198000. Hall KD, Ayuketah A, Brychta R, Cai H, Cassimatis T, Chen KY, Chung ST, Costa E, Courville A, Darcey V, Fletcher LA. Ultra-processed diets cause excess calorie intake and weight gain: an inpatient randomized controlled trial of ad libitum food intake. Cell metabolism. 2019 Jul 2;30(1):67-77. Hu FB. Resolved: there is sufficient scientific evidence that decreasing sugar‐sweetened beverage consumption will reduce the prevalence of obesity and obesity‐related dis eases. Obesity reviews. 2013 Aug;14(8):606-19.

Luger M, Lafontan M, Bes-Rastrollo M, Winzer E, Yumuk V, Farpour-Lambert N. Sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain in children and adults: a systematic review from 2013 to 2015 and a comparison with previous studies. Obesity facts. 2017;10(6):674-93.

Stern D, Middaugh N, Rice MS, Laden F, López-Ridaura R, Rosner B, Willett W, Lajous M. Changes in sugar-sweetened soda consumption, weight, and waist circumference: 2-year cohort of Mexican women. American journal of public health. 2017 Nov;107(11):1801-8.

González K, Fuentes J, Márquez JL. Physical inactivity, sedentary behavior and chronic diseases. Korean journal of family medicine. 2017 May;38(3):111.

Alam, I., Ullah, R., Jan, A., Sehar, B., Khalil, A. A. K., Naqeeb, H., ... & Zeb, F. (2022). Improvement in cardio-metabolic health and immune signatures in old individuals using daily chores (Salat) as an intervention: A randomized crossover study in a little-studied population.

Owen, N., Sparling, P. B., Healy, G. N., Dunstan, D. W., & Matthews, C. E. (2010, December). Sedentary behavior: emerging evidence for a new health risk. In Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Vol. 85, No. 12, pp. 1138-1141). Elsevier

Martínez-Ramos, E., Beltran, A. M., Martín-Borràs, C., Lasaosa Medina, L., Real, J., Trujillo, J. M., ... & SEDESTACTIV group. (2018). Patterns of sedentary behavior in overweight and moderately obese users of the Catalan primary-health care system. Plos one, 13(1), e0190750.

Danquah, I. H., Pedersen, E. S. L., Petersen, C. B., Aadahl, M., Holtermann, A., & Tolstrup, J. S. (2018). Estimated impact of replacing sitting with standing at work on indicators of body composition: Cross-sectional and longitudinal findings using isotemporal substitution analysis on data from the Take a Stand! study. PLoS One, 13(6), e0198000. Qi, Q., Li, Y., Chomistek, A. K., Kang, J. H., Curhan, G. C., Pasquale, L. R., ... & Qi, L. (2012). Television watching, leisure time physical activity, and the genetic predis position in relation to body mass index in women and men. Circulation, 126(15), 1821-1827.

Stiglic, N., & Viner, R. M. (2019). Effects of screentime on the health and well-being of children and adolescents: a sys tematic review of reviews. BMJ open, 9(1), e023191.

Shin, J. (2018). Joint association of screen time and physical activity with obesity: Findings from the Korea media panel study. Osong public health and research perspectives, 9(4), 207.

Dulloo, A. G., & Montani, J. P. (2015). Pathways from dieting to weight regain, to obesity and to the metabolic syndrome: an overview. Obesity Reviews, 16, 1-6.

Dulloo, A. G., Jacquet, J., Montani, J. P., & Schutz, Y. (2015). How dieting makes the lean fatter: from a perspective of body composition autoregulation through adipostats and pro teinstats awaiting discovery. Obesity reviews, 16, 25-35.

Lowe, M. R., Doshi, S. D., Katterman, S. N., & Feig, E. H. (2013). Dieting and restrained eating as prospective predictors of weight gain. Frontiers in psychology, 4, 577.

Higginson, A. D., & McNamara, J. M. (2016). An adaptive response to uncertainty can lead to weight gain during diet ing attempts. Evolution, medicine, and public health, 2016(1), 369-380.vv

Elmslie, J. L., Silverstone, J. T., Mann, J. I., Williams, S. M., & Romans, S. E. (2000). Prevalence of overweight and obe sity in bipolar patients. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 61(3), 179-184.

MacLean, P. S., Bergouignan, A., Cornier, M. A., & Jackman, M. R. (2011). Biology’s response to dieting: the impetus for weight regain. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.

Che, Z., Jia, H., Chen, R., Pan, K., Fan, Z., Su, C., ... & Zhang, T. (2023). Associations between exposure to brominated flame retardants and metabolic syndrome and its compo nents in US adults. Science of The Total Environment, 858, 159935.

Hobbs, J. R., & Wilson, K. E. (2022). Obesity in Primary Care: A Case of Endocrine-Associated Conditions. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners.

Fuller, N. R., Burns, J., Sainsbury, A., Horsfield, S., da Luz, F., Zhang, S., ... & Caterson, I. D. (2017). Examining the associ ation between depression and obesity during a weight man agement programme. Clinical Obesity, 7(6), 354-359.

Sutin, A. R., & Zonderman, A. B. (2012). Depressive symptoms are associated with weight gain among women. Psychological Medicine, 42(11), 2351-2360.

Glueck, C. J., & Goldenberg, N. (2019). Characteristics of obe sity in polycystic ovary syndrome: Etiology, treatment, and genetics. Metabolism, 92, 108-120.

McCuen‐Wurst, C., Ruggieri, M., & Allison, K. C. (2018). Disordered eating and obesity: associations between binge‐eating disorder, night‐eating syndrome, and weight‐ related comorbidities. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1411(1), 96-105.

Spivey, A. (2010). Lose sleep, gain weight: another piece of the obesity puzzle..A28-A33

Nedeltcheva, A. V., Kilkus, J. M., Imperial, J., Schoeller, D. A., & Penev, P. D. (2010). Insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity. Annals of internal medi cine, 153(7), 435-441.

Thomson, C. A., Morrow, K. L., Flatt, S. W., Wertheim, B. C., Perfect, M. M., Ravia, J. J., ... & Rock, C. L. (2012). Relationship between sleep quality and quantity and weight loss in women participating in a weight‐loss intervention trial. Obesity, 20(7), 1419-1425.

Gardner, C. D., Trepanowski, J. F., Del Gobbo, L. C., Hauser, M. E., Rigdon, J., Ioannidis, J. P., ... & King, A. C. (2018). Effect of low-fat vs low-carbohydrate diet on 12-month weight loss in overweight adults and the association with genotype pattern or insulin secretion: the DIETFITS randomized clinical trial. Jama, 319(7), 667-679.

Alam, I., Larbi, A., & Pawelec, G. (2012). Nutritional status influ ences peripheral immune cell phenotypes in healthy men in rural Pakistan. Immunity & Ageing, 9, 1-10.

Alam, I., Goldeck, D., Larbi, A., & Pawelec, G. (2013). Aging affects the proportions of T and B cells in a group of elderly men in a developing country—a pilot study from Pakistan. Age, 35, 1521-1530.

Alam, I., Larbi, A., Pawelec, G., & Paracha, P. I. (2013). Relationship between nutritional status and immune functions in elderly Pakistani men (Doctoral dissertation, Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen).

Alam, I., Ng, T. P., & Larbi, A. (2012). Does inflammation determine whether obesity is metabolically healthy or unhealthy? The aging perspective. Mediators of inflamma tion, 2012.

Alam, I., Almajwal, A. M., Alam, W., Alam, I., Ullah, N., Abulmeaaty, M., ... & Paracha, P. I. (2019). The immune-nu trition interplay in aging–facts and controversies. Nutrition and Healthy Aging, 5(2), 73-95.