In a recent discussion with friends, the awkward subject of weight, weight gain, and how much a whole food plant-based diet can help became the centre of attention. All of us had lost weight since starting to eat this way, some of us quite significantly, but the curious questions that stumped us were: how come we’re not losing more, and why do we gain weight on WFPB when we least expect it?

The issue came up randomly in a long discussion covering several things WFPB, such as books, movies, travel, family and personal experiences. As a result, no ‘scientific’ parameters were placed around how we could consider or review these questions.

Thinking back on it after, I wondered about the various ways we’re all affected by the same thing – food. But it’s not as simple as that, is it? We need to drill down even further. What foods are we talking about?

Although, even that doesn’t cover it. Are we talking about how food (whatever food) affects the female frame compared to the male frame? Is such a comparison even relevant, especially when we consider that the calorie requirements for both sexes are completely different? According to the UK’s National Health Service website, the average male requires 2,500 calories daily, and the average woman needs 2,000 calories daily.

Personally, I wouldn’t know what an average man looked like if I fell over him on the street, and even if I did catch a glimpse of him, you’d have every right to ask where this remarkable event occurred. London? Nukualofa? Equatorial Guinea? The Flores Islands? Or maybe the Andaman Islands?  I hear the weather can be spectacular there, and the place is peppered with beautiful holiday resorts where you’re free to ponder whatever subject you like.

Unfortunately, I don’t get about that much.

Calorie check
WFPB eating is supposed to be a calorie-free exercise, and it is until you start gaining weight when you least expect it. The questions arise. Click on the image at left to see a brief calorie checklist of some common WFPB foods … eh, except for Beyond Burgers, but we thought you might like to know where they sit in the scheme of things anyway. A bigger list is under development.

The point I’m getting to here is that, like most things connected to ‘diet’, healthy living, avoiding Alzheimer’s, minimising your cancer risk and a host of other health issues, the subject of weight and how we deal with it can be complicated.

While many of us are quick to comment, scientists who research these things generally refer to them as “confounding factors.” One of those factors is menopause, and, of course, that’s the point where the males in the room get up to leave.

It doesn’t always work that way. Some women (and men) experience weight issues from their early years, and for women, the problem is often worse during menopause, although others sail through with little trouble at all.

Unfortunately, confusion reigns even amongst the most honoured exponents of WFPB. I remember hearing Dr Michael Klapper once commenting in a panel discussion to the effect that if anyone can come up with the answer as to why women gain weight during menopause, “then please let me know.”

And while we’re told that our genetics may play their part, “but we don’t have to be ruled by them”, it’s still impossible for most of us to know when they are or aren’t. Perhaps that will change as the field of pharmacogenomics hots up because, eventually, it’s expected we’ll all be able to access our own genetic records.

Pharmacogenomics mixes pharmacology and genomics to create drugs for each person. It’s considered key to fighting drug resistance and making treatments better and started when scientists began noticing how people’s genes affected the way they metabolised drugs. Now, it’s a big part of precision medicine.

Now, if all this is beginning to ring big Pharma bells in your head, then you’re probably right. There is much money to be made in the world of weight, and if the reaction to anti-obesity medications is anything to go by, this topic won’t go away anytime soon.

Perhaps the most positive outcome could be the development of a clearer understanding as to why some of us are affected by the same foods differently and, if weight is the only measure of concern, why others can step on the scales for most of their lives and never be bothered by what they say.