Research
Energy balance
Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) is a highly effective intervention for weight loss, ranking highest in its network.
A Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) produces significant weight loss (approx. 4.5 kg more than maintenance) compared to eucaloric diets. It was the top-ranked treatment in its network, suggesting high efficacy for rapid weight reduction under medical supervision.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
The very low calorie diet (VLCD) [P=1.00, MD=-4.50 (-5.31, -3.69)]... were significantly more effective than eucaloric diet (UC)
Why this rating
Network meta-analysis of RCTs, but limited by small number of studies.
Source
Diet Therapeutics Interventions for Obesity: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.
Mina Morsali et al. · PubMed · 2021
DOI 10.34172/jrhs.2021.63
Meta-analysis · 36 studiesCited 5×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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