The Rite of Fit

In Obese Patients, 5 percent Weight Loss Has Significant Health Benefits

For patients with obesity trying to lose weight, the greatest health benefits come from losing just 5 percent of their body weight, according to a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Researchers found that the relatively small weight loss markedly lowered patients’ risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease and improved metabolic function in liver, fat and muscle tissue.

“Our findings demonstrate that you get the biggest bang for your buck with 5 percent weight loss,” said principal investigator Samuel Klein, MD, director of Washington University’s Center for Human Nutrition.

In a study where obese patients were randomly assigned to diet to lose 5, 10 or 15 percent of body weight, those that lost 5 percent saw improvement in the function of insulin-secreting beta cells and  improvements in insulin sensitivity in fat tissue, liver and skeletal muscle tissue. A 5 percent weight loss also was associated with decreases in total body fat and with much less fat in the liver.

“Continued weight loss is good, but not all organ systems respond the same way,” Klein said. “Muscle tissue responds much more to continued weight loss, but liver and adipose tissue have pretty much achieved their maximum benefit at 5 percent weight loss.”

Read more Funding: Funding for this research comes from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant numbers DK 37948, DK 104995, DK 56341, DK 20579, RR 024992 and TR 000450; the Pershing Square Foundation and the Longer Life Foundation.