A team of researchers followed the contestants on the weight-loss TV show, The Biggest Loser, and found that most of the participants gained back at least some of the weight they lost while competing, but that wasn’t the surprising find in the research, according to people.com.
The TV show is a competition among overweight people to see who can lose the most weight in a few short weeks, through diet and exercise. The research team monitored the contestants from season 8, for six years after the competition ended. Their findings show that 13 of the 14 contestants gained at least some of the lost weight back, and four gained enough to now weigh more than the did before participating on the show.
But the finding from the study about the metabolism of the contestants is what has the researchers concerned. The team says all the participants began the show with an average resting metabolism, but the process of diet and exercise undertaken to lose weight at a rapid rate, caused their bodies’ to lower their rate of metabolism. The findings show their bodies have not been able to return to their previous rate.
“It is frightening and amazing,” said Dr. Kevin Hall, of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and a member of the research team. “I am just blown away,” he continued.
The study, published in the journal Obesity, and conducted through the National Institutes of Health, says the ones that lost the most weight in the competition also recorded the greater slowing of their metabolisms during that time.
Danny Cahil, the winner of the show’s season 8, began at 430 pounds to start the show, and lost 239 pounds to win, tipping the scales at 191 at season’s end. In the six years following, however, he has gained back to his current weight of 295, and the study says his metabolism has slowed to the point where he now burns 800 calories a day less than average person his size.
Another contestant, Erinn Egbert, lost 87 pounds, and has since dropped about another 20 pounds, but she also struggles with slower metabolism, burning 552 calories a day less than normal.
A representative from the show told People they were aware of the new study and were in the process of evaluating the results. The representative stresses the show has systems in place to “routinely re-evaluate to ensure all contestants receive the best care possible.”