Losing Weight Could Be Bad For You?

Losing weight is a good thing, right? Maybe not.

While losing weight is thought to make you healthier by helping to prevent heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer, there is now some provocative evidence that suggests shedding pounds could actually be harmful, reports The Washington Post.

Researchers at Kyungpook National University in South Korea analyzed federal health data on 1,099 U.S. adults, specifically focusing on their weight loss and blood levels of substances known as persistent organic pollutants or POPs.

POPs are a class of chemicals created by industrial processes. Because they are stored in fat tissue, they can be released into the bloodstream after weight loss. And they have been linked to a variety of illnesses, including immune system disorders, dementia, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, cancer, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis and periodontal disease.

Led by Duk Hee-Lee, the South Korean research team found that those who lost weight had higher levels of POPs in their blood than those who gained weight, and this relationship was especially strong when someone kept the pounds off for 10 years, reports the Post.

It is not yet clear that the differences in POPs levels found in those who have lost weight are really high enough to have a negative effect on health, although previous research has shown just such a connection with a higher incidence of a host of illnesses. Or, could it be that it's the illness, such as cancer or heart disease, that caused the weight loss? This new research could challenge that assumption, indicating it's the other way around; that is, the weight loss led to the disease.

The South Korean team warns that if this is correct -- and more research is needed to confirm it -- then doctors may have to factor the relative risks and benefits of weight loss when they counsel their patients, reports the Post.

The study findings were published in the International Journal of Obesity.

--From the Editors at Netscape

Find out what an expert had to say to AOL Health about this study.