Weekend eating binges ‘as unhealthy as regular junk food diet’

People who eat healthily during the week before overindulging over the weekend could be doing as much damage to their bodies as a regular junk food diet.

This is according to a new study from the University of New South Wales, which examined the impact of so-called "yo-yo dieting" on the gut microbiota of rats, with results published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.

It was found that the microbiota of rats cycling between healthy and unhealthy food was almost indistinguishable from rats fed a constant diet of junk, with both groups' microbiota significantly different from those on a healthy diet.

Unhealthy diets were shown to reduce the abundance of microbial species capable of metabolising flavonoids, which can aid weight loss and provide neuroprotective functions , while cycled rats also showed large swings in food intake.

Professor Margaret Morris, head of pharmacology at the University of New South Wales, said: "While these findings are yet to be replicated in humans, those who are strict with their diet during the week may be undoing all their good work by hitting the junk food over the weekend."