Adherence to Healthy Diet Improves Cardiometabolic Risk, Even Without Weight Loss

WEDNESDAY, June 11, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- A healthy diet improves cardiometabolic risk factors, even if not associated with weight loss (WL), according to a study published online June 5 in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.Anat Yaskolka Meir, Ph.D., from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel, and colleagues pooled data from three large long-term lifestyle WL-intervention trials, including the 24-month DIRECT (322 participants), 18-month CENTRAL (278 participants), and 18-month DIRECT PLUS (294 participants), to assess longitudinal changes in cardiometabolic risk markers.The researchers found that among 761 trial completers, mean WL was −3.3 kg (−3.5 percent). Participants classified as successful-WL (relative-WL >5 percent) achieved the greatest improvements in multiple health indicators. However, the WL-resistant, who did not lose or gain weight, also showed some significant improvements, with increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc) and decreased leptin and visceral fat. Each 1-kg sustained lifestyle-induced WL was associated with improvements in lipid markers and insulin resistance (HDLc: +1.44 percent; triglycerides: −1.37 percent; insulin: −2.46 percent; HOMA-IR: −2.71 percent; leptin: −2.79 percent; intrahepatic-fat regression: −0.49 absolute-units). Each 1-kg sustained lifestyle-induced WL was also associated with modest but significant change in systolic and diastolic blood pressures (−0.26 and −0.36 percent, respectively)."Our findings reframe how we define clinical success," Meir said in a statement. "People who do not lose weight can improve their metabolism and reduce their long-term risk for disease. That's a message of hope, not failure."One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.Abstract/Full Text.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Adherence to Healthy Diet Improves Cardiometabolic Risk, Even Without Weight Loss

Related Stories

Mediterranean Diet in Pregnancy Linked to Lower Risk of Infant Colic and Eczema

GLP-1s Show Benefit For Kids With Type 2 Diabetes

Effect of Semaglutide on MACE Risk Reduction Only Partly Explained by Known Risk Factors

EEMC: Workplace Violence Against Emergency Medical Professionals Is Common Globally