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Home » Diets that Work » Do Very Low Calorie Diets Work and Are They Safe? – courierjournal

This week Im going to start a several-part series on questions I commonly hear regarding weight management, a topic that is extremely important to me and is emphasized in my medical practice. Very low calorie diets (also called VLCDs) are diets that involve restricting your calories to less than 800 kilocalories per day. As part of the diet, the individual must incorporate a significant amount of high-quality protein into their diet to keep their muscles from shrinking and to preserve normal body functions. These diets do work. Men can expect to lose about 5 pounds per week, while women can expect weight loss of 3-3.5 pounds per week if they are faithful to the diet. While theoretically somebody can plan to make home-cooked meals and keep them under 800 calories, most people combine meal planning with meal replacement protein bars and shakes. In my own clinic, where we offer a Weight Management Program, this is one of the diet choices that patients can use to meet their weight loss needs.

Here is the catch with VLCDs: these diets MUST be medically supervised. The main reason is that certain changes can happen to the body during the rapid weight loss process that must be watched for by a medical professional. For starters, one will usually notice that they urinate more. This is especially noticed early on, so drinking plenty of water and monitoring for dehydration is very important. When you are urinating more, you may also lose sodium and potassium in your urine, so this too must be monitored by a physician. Rapid weight loss from any diet or bariatric surgery procedure also leads to a higher risk of gallstones, so the physician may want to put you on a medicine to help prevent stones from occurring. If you suffer from gout, your physician would also want to make sure you are on a medicine to keep your uric acid levels down, since uric acid levels will sometimes rise with these diets. The rapid weight loss also often requires adjustment of certain medications, such as blood pressure or diabetes medicines. These adjustments should be left to your medical provider to make.

One other reason why these diets must be medically supervised is that not everyone is a good candidate for this type of diet. For example, children, the elderly, type 1 diabetics, those with cardiac rhythm problems and cancer patients among others should avoid this diet. Always consult with your doctor as to whether you have any health conditions that would prevent you from starting this type of diet.

While this is a diet that produces significant weight loss, I do not recommend it as a permanent lifestyle change. When I have prescribed these diets, once the patient is at their goal weight, I will typically transition patients to a higher calorie, balanced diet in combination with physical activity that helps prevent weight regain.

Always consult your healthcare provider before implementing any advice given in this column.

Dr. Roy Barco welcomes your questions concerning health and wellness. Please facebook him at http://www.facebook.com/roy.barco.5 where you can submit questions for the column, or write to:

True Medical Group

Shoals Professional Building

203 Avalon Ave, Suite 120

Muscle Shoals, AL 35661

256-286-4026

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Do Very Low Calorie Diets Work and Are They Safe? - courierjournal

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Home » Diets that Work » Do Very Low Calorie Diets Work and Are They Safe? – courierjournal