According to scientists, the NHS should prescribe a replacement diet to replace meals with shakes and nutritious bars to combat obesity



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One study found that the consumption of shakes, soups and meal replacements for three meals a day helped obese patients lose almost four times more weight than those who were asked to eat healthy and to reduce calories.

Researchers at Oxford University reported that full meal replacement diets, which limit participants to 810 calories a day for eight weeks, allowed more patients to lose weight safely for a year.

The results of the survey run counter to long-standing criticisms of "dieting", as fears that this may lead to a yo-yo effect where people lose weight but put it back on the spot.

Less radical meal replacement programs are being implemented by groups such as the recently modified HIV program, and total replacement programs are generally not funded by the NHS.

However, the authors of the Oxford University report argue that there is ample evidence that such diets can help combat a growing obesity crisis that costs the health services billions of pounds to treat complications such as type 2 diabetes.

"In the past, we feared that a short period of rapid weight loss could lead to a rapid recovery in weight," said Professor Susan Jebb, expert on diet and population health in the Department of Health Care Primary School of Nuffield University.

"But this study shows that nine months after the intensive phase of weight loss, people have lost more than three times more weight than people following a conventional weight loss program."

The study, published in the British Medical Journal On Thursday, 278 GPs from GPs in Oxfordshire were invited to participate when their medical records showed that they had a body mass index greater than 30 – the threshold of obesity.

During the first two months of the program, participants received meal replacements, designed to provide their daily nutrients, as well as 750 ml of skim milk, 2.25 liters of water and a fiber supplement.

Conventional foods were reintroduced gradually throughout the third month and for the next three months, patients were encouraged to continue replacing a daily meal with shakes, soups or bars.

Dietary advice was put in place to help patients follow the program and eat healthier foods during the 12 months following the gradual elimination of meal replacements.

After 12 months, participants lost an average of 10.7 kg. This compares to an average weight loss of 3.5 kg for those who received their standard weight loss program, including the advice and support of a nurse and written information.

Three times as many patients – 45% – saw their weight decrease by at least 10% as part of the meal replacement program.

The authors write, in the BMJthat 38% of participants continued to participate in the meal replacement program, paying for products and receiving support, even though the funding lasted only six months. This compared to 5% of the group receiving generalist support.

Prof. Paul Aveyard, co-author of the paper, said, "This study shows that referral to a total diet replacement program in the community is an effective intervention that GPs can recommend with confidence. the risk of heart disease and diabetes ".

As the program included a meal replacement program and advice given by a private group, in this case Cambridge's weight loss plan, the authors indicate that there is potential for "rapid deployment on a large scale in the NHS and [it] could help reduce the pressure on general practitioners in the treatment of diseases related to obesity ".

Independent experts said it affected virtually all participants who stayed in the program for 12 months, and suggested that staying with a meal replacement is not too difficult.

However, they added, meal replacement alone is not a solution for maintaining a healthy weight.

"Many people who read this will wonder if they have to try any of these diets," said Dr. Katarina Kos, Lecturer on Diabetes and Obesity at the Faculty of Medicine from the University of Exeter.

"My answer is clearly "not entirely clean", especially if it is understood as "a self-sustaining diet", as the evidence provided here clearly shows that diet alone is much less effective than diet with behavioral support.

"Of course, weight loss is good if you are overweight, but a lot of research indicates that the only way to work is to use the program as a way to change dietary habits."

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