Liquid 'meal replacement' diets show signs of really working, say researchers.
Results of a recent study on meal replacements were presented this week at the European Congress on Obesity in Vienna.
Researchers led by Dr Herwig Ditschuneit from the University of Ulm, studied 100 obese Germans.
Half were asked to cut their food intake to a maximum of 1,500 calories a day by eating less and choosing low-fat foods.
The rest replaced two of their three daily meals with a diet shake of 220 calories and had a 'normal' dinner of up to 900 calories.
After three months, those on meal replacements had lost just over a stone - eight per cent of their body weight, on average.
Those on the do-it-yourself low-calorie diet lost just under two pounds on average - less than two per cent of body weight.
Volunteers taking meal replacements also saw a lowering in their blood pressure and in cholesterol and insulin levels.
All the volunteers were then put on a 1,500 calorie regime in which they swapped one meal a day for a diet shake and were allowed one low-calorie snack bar.
Four years later both groups had kept off their initial weight loss and had shed slightly more fat.
Dr Herwig Ditschuneit commented, "Two daily Slim-Fast meals were more effective for calorie restriction and weight loss than traditional meals using the same prescribed energy intake.
It works for four years and is a very safe way of weight management."
He concluded that the regime's success was due to the fact that dieters found it easier to stick to liquid meals than trying to restrict calories among a range of food.
Source: Fremail.co.uk