If you are overweight even losing 10% can have a positive effect on your life

Investing in your health is a lot like investing in a savings account – the more you put into it the more you’ll get out. And according to recent research losing less than two stone could give overweight or obese people as much as 10 years’ worth of better health.

Researchers from Brown University’s Alpert Medical School were working on the Diabetes Prevention Program, a study of 3000 overweight people who also had impaired glucose tolerance, when they looked at data relating to weight loss and long-term health. They found that even losing 14 lb in weight (6.3kg) reduced a person’s risk of developing diabetes by 58%. The benefits of this weight loss lasted for a reasonably long time too, even if an individual put weight back on afterwards. “Weight losses of just 10% of a person’s body weight have also been shown to have a long-term impact on sleep apnoea, hypertension and quality of life,” said Dr Rena Wing, lead study author. “And on the decline in mobility that occurs as people age.”

Study participants were provided with behavioural strategies to help them lose weight, including techniques such as making a note of everything they ate on a daily basis and making sure they didn’t have large amounts of unhealthy high-fat high-calorie foods in their homes to avoid temptation.

Is dieting a cure for diabetes? Read on to find out.