Regulation of body weight was once considered a simple feedback control system in which the hypothalamus (a section of the brain that controls automatic bodily functions such as body temperature, thirst, and hunger) modulates food intake to compensate for fluctuations in body weight. It is now apparent that maintenance of body weight is achieved through complex …show more content…
“The set-point theory was originally developed in 1982 by Bennett and Gurin to explain why repeated dieting is unsuccessful in producing long-term change in body weight or shape” (Riess). This is because your brain does not recognize the difference between a diet and starvation, so it treats them the same way. Weight loss begins to slow down as the diet progresses and eventually will bottom out, making it frustrating to most. Soon after beginning a diet, binge eating is very common. This, paired with the body still trying to conserve calories, makes weight gain that much easier if a diet is broken