Research

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Ketogenic Enteral Nutrition (KEN) using 24-hour continuous nasogastric infusion of 50-65g protein induces rapid weight loss (approx. 10% body weight in 10 days) with 57% of the loss derived from fat mass.

This protocol involves a medical procedure (nasogastric tube) delivering a specific protein-only formula 24/7 for 10 days. It is not a standard diet but a clinical intervention. It results in rapid fat loss while sparing muscle, but requires medical supervision, equipment, and tolerance for a nasal tube. It is not suitable for long-term maintenance without medical oversight.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Ketogenic Enteral Nutrition treatment of over 19,000 patients induced a rapid 10% weight loss, 57% of which was Fat Mass.
Gianfranco Cappello et al. · Nutrition & Metabolism · 2012

Why this rating

Large sample size (n=19,036) but lacks a control group, uses self-reported long-term data, and is an open-label observational study.

Source

Ketogenic enteral nutrition as a treatment for obesity: short term and long term results from 19,000 patients

Gianfranco Cappello et al. · Nutrition & Metabolism · 2012

DOI 10.1186/1743-7075-9-96

case_series · n=19036Cited 11×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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