Biology Defends Lost Weight

Calorie‑restricted diets reliably reduce weight in the short term, but physiological adaptations — increased appetite hormones, reduced satiety, and improved energy efficiency — combine with an obesogenic food environment to push people back toward prior weights. Short trials (commonly 2–12 weeks) overstate durable effects; maintenance requires systems (food access, medical support, long‑term behavior change), not just temporary calorie cuts. — This reframes dieting from a personal willpower issue to a public‑health problem that demands long‑term clinical support and structural changes in the food environment.