Meal replacements cause greater weight loss

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Monday, May 17, 2010 11:15 am Email this article
Meal replacements like SlimFast cause greater weight loss both short-term and long-term according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Weight loss after three months in patients who replaced two meals and two snacks with Slim-Fast versus those who were assigned to eat a conventional diet was 18.5 pounds versus 2.4 pounds in men, respectively, and 15 pounds versus 2.6 pounds in women, respectively. This represented approximately 7-8 percent of body weight in those using Slim-Fast versus 1 percent of body weight in those on a conventional diet.

Both diets consisted of 1,200 to 1,500 calories per day.

In a second phase of the study all patients were assigned to replace one meal and one snack with Slim-Fast and follow a reduced calorie diet. Both groups lost additional weight.

The original Slim-Fast group lost an additional 6.6 pounds, while the original diet group lost an additional 9.2 pounds.

Total weight loss after two years in the original Slim-Fast group versus the original diet group was approximately 25 pounds versus 13 pounds in men, respectively, and 22 pounds versus 12 pounds in women, respectively.

Total weight loss in the original Slim-Fast versus diet groups represented 11.3 versus 5.9 percent of body weight, respectively.

Three times as many patients from the original Slim-Fast group as the diet group lost at least 10 percent of their body weight (42 percent versus 14 percent, respectively).

The study was funded by Slim-Fast and involved 100 obese patients.

REFERENCE

Ditschuneit HH; Flechtner-Mors M; Johnson TD; Adler G. Metabolic and weight-loss effects of a long-term dietary intervention in obese patients. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1999 Feb, 69(2):198-204.

Articles on the same subject can be found here:

• Meal Replacement Shakes