Research
Energy balance
Greater weight loss achieved during VLCD is associated with a higher incidence of cardiovascular events in the 15 years following the intervention.
Losing a lot of weight quickly might not protect your heart in the long run if you regain it. Focus on steady, sustainable habits rather than extreme loss.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Age (p=0.000002) and degree of weight loss after VLCD (p=0.03) were significantly associated with subsequent vascular events.
Why this rating
Observational study; association does not prove causation, but the statistical significance is strong.
Source
Body weight, diabetes incidence vascular events and survival 15 years after very low calorie diet in community medical clinics in the UK
Richard Paisey et al. · BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health · 2022
DOI 10.1136/bmjnph-2021-000363
cohort · n=325Cited 1×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Long-term maintenance of significant weight loss (>10%) following a Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) is rare, with only 5.9% of healthy participants sustaining loss after 15 years.Moderate
- VLCD does not prevent the development of type 2 diabetes or impaired fasting glucose in the long term (15 years) for the majority of participants.Moderate
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