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Intermittent and On-Demand Very Low Calorie Diets Bring Significant Weight Loss

Intermittent and on-demand very low calorie diet regimens achieve clinically highly significant weight losses, say specialists.

The doctors, from Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Goteborg, Sweden, came to this conclusion following a randomised two-year clinical trial, comparing the two very low calorie diet weight maintenance strategies.

Three hundred and thirty four patients, aged 18 to 60 years, who had body mass index higher than 30 kg/m² were enrolled. All patients started with 16 weeks on a very low calorie diet. Then, patients assigned to an intermittent group were scheduled to use a very low calorie diet for two weeks every third month, while patients in an on-demand group were told to use a very low calorie diet whenever their body weight passed an individualised cut-off level.

All patients in both groups were recommended a hypocaloric diet during very low calorie diet-free periods.

Completers in both groups maintained highly significant weight losses after two years. Patients in the intermittent group lost 7.0 ± 11.0 kg. Patients in the on-demand group lost 9.1 ± 9.7 kg.

Male completers in the on-demand group lost significantly more weight (14.5 ± 11.0 kg.) than male completers in the intermittent group (4.0 ± 10.5 kg.).

Most cardiovascular risk factors improved during the first year. Anthropometric measures, insulin, high density lipoprotein and low density lipoprotein also improved significantly after two years.

The specialists pointed out that the structure of the very low calorie diet treatment during the maintenance phase did not affect weight loss in the total study population. Men might benefit from the very low calorie diet on-demand strategy, the specialists added.
Journal of Internal Medicine 2003;253:4:463-471. "Intermittent versus on-demand use of a very low calorie diet: a randomized 2-year clinical trial"

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