Why does a diet work for one person and not another. The NY Times looks at the physiology of weight gain. Have you ever been on a diet with a friend, where you lost a lot of weight, yet your friend who was compliant hardly lost anything? Apparently, you are not alone. The problem according to researches for those of us who are overweight can be many things, so one size fits all options are likely not going to work for everyone. If obesity is as some researches suggest many diseases, there are likely many paths that should be considered when trying to shed excess pounds. Part of the problem may be that there are at least 25 genes that may determine who may become obese. Other considerations are thyroid function, gut health and drugs for starters. Those who desperately have tried and failed may go for bariatric surgery which can make a huge difference, although some people manage to gain weight back after their huge weight loss. Check out the article here One Weight-Loss Approach Fits All? No, Not Even Close By GINA KOLATADEC. 12, 2016 Dr. Frank Sacks, a professor of nutrition at Harvard, likes to challenge his audience when he gives lectures on obesity. “If you want to make a great discovery,” he tells them, figure out this: Why do some people lose 50 pounds on a diet while others on the same diet gain a few pounds? Then he shows them data from a study he did that found exactly that effect. Dr. Sacks’s challenge is a question at the center of obesity research today. Two people can have the same amount of excess weight, they can be the same age, the same socioeconomic class, the same race, the same gender. And yet a treatment that works for one will do nothing for the other. The problem, researchers say, is that obesity and its precursor — being overweight — are not one disease but instead, like cancer, they are many. “You can look at two people with the same amount of excess body weight and they put on the weight for very different reasons,” said Dr. Arya Sharma, medical director of the obesity program at the University of Alberta. Read more