Perhaps the most common culprit people think of with regard to the struggle to lose weight is a slow metabolism or lack of will power. But an Australian study found that one’s nervous system activity may prevent or enhance weight loss as well.
“We have demonstrated for the first time that resting muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) is a significant independent predictor of weight-loss outcome in a cohort of overweight or obese subjects,” said lead author Nora Straznicky. “Our findings provide two opportunities. First, we may be able to identify those persons who would benefit most from lifestyle weight-loss interventions such as dieting. Secondly, the findings may also help in developing weight-loss treatments through stimulating this specific nervous activity.”
The study involved 42 participants who were classified as either overweight or obese and had participated in dietary-lifestyle intervention trials, which cut their daily caloric intake by 30 percent for 12 weeks. Their MSNA was measured by microneurography, which inserted metal microelectrodes into their nerve fascicles. The researchers found that “weight loss was independently predicted by baseline resting MSNA.”
“We also found that successful weight losers demonstrated large increases in nerve activity following a carbohydrate test meal, whereas the responses were completely blunted in weight-loss resistant subjects,” Straznicky said. “Our findings suggest a significant contribution of subconscious nervous system activity to the success of dietary weight loss.”
The sympathetic nervous system is one of three parts of the autonomic nervous system and is “widely distributed throughout the body and subconsciously regulates many physiological functions including the control of resting metabolic rate and the dissipation of calories after food intake.”
Source: The Behavioral Medicine Report
Heather Rudow is a staff writer for Counseling Today. Email her at hrudow@counseling.org.