THE EFFECT OF THE COMPOSITION OF VERY-LOW-CALORIE AND LOW-CALORIE DIETS ON 1 WEEKS WEIGHT-LOSS IN OBESE PATIENTS

Very low-calorie diets (400 kcal:1.7 MJ) with different proportions of carbohydrate, protein and fat were given to obese in-patients for 1 w eek using a Latin Square study design. This type of diet with a relati vely high carbohydrate content produced a smaller weight loss when com pared with diets with relatively high protein or fat content. In a sec ond study, two very low-calorie diets with a high or low carbohydrate content were compared in a randomized cross-over design in obese patie nts for 1 week. Those patients receiving the diet with high carbohydra te content had a significantly lower weight loss. In a third study, th ese diets were continued for 2 weeks. A significant difference in weig ht loss was observed in the first week but not the second. In a fourth study the same effect of carbohydrate content was also observed using low-calorie diets (800 kcal:3.4 MJ) for one week in obese patients. T he explanation of this effect appears to be a decrease in the diuresis which usually accompanies the introduction of a very low-calorie diet .