The new experimental work comes from UT Southwestern Medical Center. Male mice were fed a high-fat diet for 20 weeks until obese, then calorie-restricted until their weight matched normal-weight controls. When allowed to eat freely, the formerly obese mice ate significantly more than mice that had never been obese — a persistent hyperphagia that supports the theory that the brain defends a higher body weight. The broader account, summarized in The Conversation, draws on decades of work on the hormones that track body fat: when weight drops, leptin falls, hunger signals rise, and resting energy expenditure drops more than the lost mass alone would explain.
The limits matter as much as the finding. This was a mouse study — male mice only — and findings in mice do not automatically transfer to humans. The "set point" itself is a model that researchers dispute; some describe a settling point shaped by environment rather than a fixed target. And none of this means regain is inevitable — many people maintain large losses, and the biology can be worked with. What the research does establish is that post-weight-loss hunger and metabolic slowdown are real biological responses, which reframes relapse as something to manage rather than a personal failure.
The first layer is the stone-specific one. Rapid weight loss changes urine chemistry — fat breakdown raises uric acid, and low-carbohydrate approaches raise it further — which can increase stone risk during the active loss phase. The stone-safe version of weight loss is gradual, well-hydrated, and dairy-inclusive, precisely because the urine is under strain while the pounds come off. The second layer is the maintenance conversation. If the brain defends a higher weight, then the diet that works long term is the one built to survive the regain pressure — the same structure the stone diet uses everywhere: dairy at meals, water on a schedule, portions that hold through a stressful week.
The stone-safe weight-loss plate looks like the stone plate with portions tightened. The table below shows the measured values of the foods that carry both goals — weight loss and stone prevention — without stacking risk.
| Food | Oxalate (mg) | Serving | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken breast, roasted | 0 | 4 oz | Safe |
| Eggs, hard-boiled | 0 | 2 large | Safe |
| Greek yogurt, plain | 0 | 1 cup | Safe |
| Cottage cheese | 0 | 1/2 cup | Safe |
| Broccoli, boiled | 4 | 1/2 cup | Safe |
| Oatmeal, cooked | 9 | 1/2 cup | Safe |
| Almonds | 107 | 1/4 cup | Avoid |
| Peanut butter | 36 | 2 tbsp | Caution |
Because the biology pushes back after loss, the durable plan is designed around relapse prevention rather than a one-time target. The tools that reduce hunger per calorie — protein, fiber, dairy, structured meal timing — are the same tools that hold the stone plan steady. The water bottle and the urine color check keep the hydration layer constant through both the loss phase and the maintenance phase, and the dairy at meals keeps the calcium levers in place while the calorie target tightens. A person who loses weight gradually, with dairy, water, and measured portions, is running the stone plan and the weight plan as one system — which is the only version that survives the brain's push to restore the old weight.
For patients using GLP-1 medications, the same framing applies: the research noted that regain is common when treatment stops, because the defended biology reasserts itself. That makes the dietary structure built during treatment — the dairy-first plate, the water bottle, the measured portions — the asset that carries through after the medication, because it is the part the patient controls and the part that does not stop.
Rapid loss can be. Fast fat breakdown raises uric acid, and very-low-carbohydrate diets raise it further, which can increase stone risk during the active phase. The measured version is gradual loss with hydration and dairy held constant — the urine is under strain while the pounds come off.
No. It means regain is biologically driven and common, which reframes it as something to manage rather than a personal failure. Many people maintain large losses, and the biology responds to structure — protein, fiber, dairy, meal timing, and the water habit — built to survive the pushback.
Gradually, with dairy at meals, water on a schedule, and measured portions — the stone plan with a tighter calorie target. Keep the urine pale through the loss phase, and treat the maintenance period as the real plan, because that is where the biology pushes hardest.
See how oxalate values are measured and verified on our data methodology page.