Energy balance
Very low calorie diets (VLCDs) providing less than 800 kcal/day produce rapid, large weight losses (average 20 kg in 12 weeks) in moderately to severely obese adults, significantly outperforming conventional behavioral or pharmacological treatments.
If you have severe obesity, a medically supervised VLCD (under 800 calories/day) is the most effective non-surgical way to lose weight quickly, averaging 20kg in 3 months. It is not safe to do this alone; you need medical monitoring, high-quality protein, and supplements to prevent heart and muscle damage. The main challenge is keeping the weight off after you stop.
Very low calorie diets used to treat moderate and severe obesity produce average weight losses of 20 kg in 12 weeks... Treatment of over 10,000 persons has shown that very low calorie diets produce large weight losses, the size of which is directly proportional to the duration of treatment.
Why this rating
Based on a review of multiple observational and uncontrolled studies (n>10,000), but lacking randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing VLCD to other diets directly in this review.
Source
Very Low Calorie Diets: Their Efficacy, Safety, and Future
Thomas A. Wadden et al. · Annals of Internal Medicine · 1983
DOI 10.7326/0003-4819-99-5-675
More from this paper
- Maintaining weight loss after VLCD treatment is extremely difficult, with majority of patients regaining significant weight within 1-2 years, regardless of maintenance strategies.Moderate
- VLCDs improve cardiovascular risk factors, including lowering blood pressure, serum cholesterol, and improving glucose control in type II diabetics, though HDL cholesterol may decrease in women.Moderate
Related findings · Energy balance
- Achieving a total body weight loss of 10-15% (or >10-15 kg) through Total Diet Replacement (TDR) induces remission of Type 2 Diabetes in individuals with short-duration disease.Strong
- Bariatric surgery is superior to medical management alone for inducing significant long-term weight loss, remission of type 2 diabetes, and reduction in mortality for patients with BMI ≥ 40 or ≥ 35 with comorbidities.Strong
- Achieving type 2 diabetes remission requires significant weight loss (≥15 kg) via major caloric restriction, independent of macronutrient composition.Strong
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