Health researchers at York University led by Jennifer Kuk, associate professor in York University's Faculty of Health, found that people who lose weight quickly versus those who lose it slowly do not get any additional health benefits and it is the amount of weight lost overall that can have an impact.

The study looked at 11,283 patients who attended the Wharton Medical Clinic Weight Management Program between July 2008 and July 2017. Researchers found that patients who lost weight more quickly tended to have a bigger reduction in obesity and better health improvements than patients who lost weight slowly. However, these improvements in health associated with faster weight loss were abolished after adjusting for absolute weight loss.

Normally, individuals are recommended to lose weight at one to two pounds per week, as faster weight loss is related with a slightly higher risk for gallstones. "With the same pound for pound weight loss, there is no difference in terms of health benefits if you lose weight fast or slow," says Kuk. "However, given the risk for gallstones with faster weight loss, trying to lose weight at the recommended one to two pounds per week is the safer option."

"The results show that we really need to look at interventions that focus on long-term weight management that can achieve sustained weight loss at the recommended one to two pounds per week," says Kuk.

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