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Meal Replacement Diets to Lose Weight
Calorie-Controlled Liquid Meal Substitutes
Weight Loss and Diet - Weight Reduction Advice

Meal Replacement Diets

Meal replacement diets are calorie-controlled diets. Individuals replace a meal with a liquid drink that contains approximately 200 calories per serving and approximately 50 percent to 60 percent carbohydrate, 30 percent protein, and 10 percent fat or a pre-measured frozen meals of a set caloric value. The meal replacements help keep calories under control and probably, more importantly, reduce sensory stimulation and the need to make decisions about portion size. The patient must be individually motivated to adhere to a pre-measured meal plan on a long-term basis and accepting of the small sustained changes in weight status, 3.2 percent to 8.4 percent over four years.

No Magical Weight Loss
Patients often are attracted to diets and programs that promise magical, no-stress weight loss. Although these programs have no metabolic validity, their promises are appealing. This has led to a weight loss industry in this country in excess of $30 billion per year. It must be acknowledged that such programs do modify food intake and produce weight loss not because of the claims given, but because of the energy deficit. Although many have short-term success, these diets are often unbalanced and deficient in certain nutrients and may be excessive in others. A recent Obesity Research supplement "Popular Diets: A Scientific Review," by Freedman, King, and Kennedy provides a compendium of the scientific data regarding the implementation of these popular diets.

Source: American Dietetic Association

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