Unlock Rapid Weight Loss: Ultimate Very Low Energy Diet Guidelines You Must Know!

Obesity has emerged as a significant global public health concern, necessitating evidence-based dietary strategies for effective weight loss and its long-term maintenance. Very low energy diets (VLEDs) are one such strategy, but they require careful consideration and adherence to specific guidelines to ensure safety and efficacy. This article provides a comprehensive overview of VLEDs, their guidelines, potential benefits, and associated risks, drawing upon scientific evidence and expert recommendations.

Understanding Very Low Energy Diets

A rapid weight loss diet is a type of diet in which you lose more than 2 pounds (1 kilogram, kg) a week over several weeks. To lose weight this quickly you eat very few calories. Rapid weight loss diets are most often chosen by people with obesity who want to lose weight quickly. These diets are less commonly recommended by health care providers. People on these diets should be followed closely by a provider because rapid weight loss may not be safe for some people to do on their own. These diets are only to be used for a short time and are usually not recommended for more than several weeks.

Definition and Types of Rapid Weight Loss Diets

Rapid weight loss diet is a type of diet in which you lose more than 2 pounds (1 kilogram, kg) a week over several weeks. To lose weight this quickly you eat very few calories. Rapid weight loss diets are most often chosen by people with obesity who want to lose weight quickly. These diets are less commonly recommended by health care providers. People on these diets should be followed closely by a provider because rapid weight loss may not be safe for some people to do on their own. These diets are only to be used for a short time and are usually not recommended for more than several weeks.

Very Low-Calorie Diet (VLCD): Most VLCDs use meal replacements, such as formulas, soups, shakes, and bars instead of regular meals. This helps ensure that you get all of the nutrients you need each day. A VLCD is only recommended for adults who have obesity and need to lose weight for health reasons. These diets are often used before weight-loss surgery. You should only use a VLCD with the help of your provider. Most experts do not recommend using a VLCD for more than 12 weeks.
Low-Calorie Diet (LCD): These diets usually allow about 1,000 to 1,200 calories a day for women and 1,200 to 1,600 calories a day for men. An LCD is a better choice than a VLCD for most people who want to lose weight quickly. But you should still be supervised by a provider. You will not lose weight as fast with an LCD, but you can lose just as much weight with a VLCD. An LCD may use a mix of meal replacements and regular food. This makes it easier to follow than a VLCD.

Read also: Energy Consumption and Diets
Time-Restricted Eating: This diet strategy is becoming more popular. It is often compared to fasting, but the two strategies are slightly different. Time-restricted eating limits the number of hours per day that you can eat. A popular strategy is the 16:8. For this diet, you have to eat all of your meals during an 8 hour period, for example, 10 am to 6 pm. The rest of the time you cannot eat anything.
Intermittent Fasting: Fasting is an ancient form of caloric restriction. It has become more popular recently. This is partly because some animal and human studies have shown benefits to fasting for people with diabetes and obesity. There are many different fasting regimens and it is unclear which may be the best. One of the most popular is the 5:2 system. This involves 2 days a week of fasting or VLCD and 5 days a week of eating your normal diet.
Fad Diets: Some fad diets also severely limit calories to achieve rapid weight loss. In some cases, these diets are not safe. In most cases, these diets are not sustainable for long enough to cause long-term weight loss. Once you stop the diet, you are at risk for regaining the weight if you return to your old eating habits.

How VLEDs Work

VLEDs function by creating a significant energy deficit, compelling the body to utilize stored fat for energy. This is achieved through drastically reducing calorie intake, often to 800 calories or less per day. Most VLCDs use meal replacements, such as formulas, soups, shakes, and bars instead of regular meals. This helps ensure that you get all of the nutrients you need each day.

The "calories-in, calories-out" model underscores the importance of an energy deficit for weight loss. A low-calorie diet involves consumption of 1,000-1,500 calories per day; deficits of 500-750 calories per day have been used for weight loss and are recommended by many obesity societies and guidelines.

Read also: Boosting Vegan Energy Levels

Guidelines for Implementing VLEDs

VLEDs should only be undertaken under strict medical supervision. A VLCD is only recommended for adults who have obesity and need to lose weight for health reasons. These diets are often used before weight-loss surgery. You should only use a VLCD with the help of your provider. Most experts do not recommend using a VLCD for more than 12 weeks. Losing more than 1 or 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kg) a week is not safe for most people. It can cause you to lose muscle, water, and bone density. Rapid weight loss can also cause some side effects including: Gallstones, Gout, Fatigue, Constipation, Diarrhea, and Nausea.

Medical Supervision

You should only follow one of these diets with the help of your provider. Losing more than 1 or 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kg) a week is not safe for most people. It can cause you to lose muscle, water, and bone density. Rapid weight loss can also cause some side effects including: Gallstones, Gout, Fatigue, Constipation, Diarrhea, Nausea People who lose weight quickly are also more likely to gain back the weight quickly. This can lead to other health problems. In general, a rapid weight loss diet is not safe for children. It may also not be safe for teens, pregnant women or older adults unless a provider recommends it.

Patient Selection

A VLCD is only recommended for adults who have obesity and need to lose weight for health reasons. These diets are often used before weight-loss surgery.

Duration

Most experts do not recommend using a VLCD for more than 12 weeks.

Nutritional Adequacy

Most VLCDs use meal replacements, such as formulas, soups, shakes, and bars instead of regular meals. This helps ensure that you get all of the nutrients you need each day.

Monitoring and Follow-Up

People on these diets should be followed closely by a provider. Rapid weight loss may not be safe for some people to do on their own. People who lose weight quickly are also more likely to gain back the weight quickly. This can lead to other health problems.

Potential Health Benefits of Rapid Weight Loss Diets

Rapid weight loss diet is usually for people who have health problems because of obesity. Rapid weight loss is a motivating factor, the mild ketosis that occurs not only suppresses hunger, but also slows protein loss and that adherence is easier with a structured dietary regime.

Potential Health Concerns

Side Effects

Rapid weight loss can also cause some side effects including: Gallstones, Gout, Fatigue, Constipation, Diarrhea, Nausea.

Weight Regain

People who lose weight very quickly are much more likely to regain the weight over time than people who lose weight slowly through less drastic diet changes and physical activity. The weight loss is a bigger stress for the body, and the hormonal response to the weight loss is much stronger.

The Role of Exercise

Rapid weight loss is more about cutting calories than exercising. Talk with your provider about what type of exercise you should do while you are on this type of diet.

Long-Term Weight Management

Since weight loss, at whatever rate, results in physiological adaptations leading to weight regain, careful attention must be paid to the period after the VLED regime is completed. Lifestyle modification, diet and exercise are instituted optimally with behaviour modification.

Alternative Dietary Strategies

While VLEDs can be effective for rapid weight loss, other dietary strategies may be more suitable for long-term weight management and overall health. These include:

Low-Carbohydrate Diets

Low-carbohydrate (low-carb) diets have been widely used not only for weight reduction, but also to manage T2DM; many randomized controlled trials have been conducted. A low-carb diet is defined as a carbohydrate intake below the lower boundary of the macronutrient distribution range for healthy adults (45%-65% of total daily energy) and encompasses a range of carbohydrate intake from 50-130 g/day or 10%-45% total energy from carbohydrates. With carbohydrate intake <10% (or <20-50 g/day), nutritional ketosis can occur; this type of diet is called a ketogenic diet. Ketogenic diet can suppress hunger during calorie restriction and may have some therapeutic effects on T2DM, polycystic ovary syndrome, and cardiovascular and neurological diseases.

High-Protein Diets

High-protein diet has been popularized as a promising tool for weight loss because it improves satiety and decreases fat mass. Dietary guidelines for adults recommend protein intake of 46-56 g or 0.8 g/kg of ideal body weight per day. Thus, if dietary protein consumption exceeds 0.8 g/kg/day, it is considered a high-protein diet. Usually, a high-protein diet refers to an increased protein intake to 30% of the total daily calories or 1-1.2 g/kg of the ideal body weight per day.

Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean diet involves high intake of fruits and vegetables, poultry, and fish and dairy products, and little to no consumption of red meat. The effectiveness of the Mediterranean diet for weight loss and preventing cardiovascular disease is supported by sufficient evidence. Its benefits may extend to the reduction in cancer risk and significant reduction in digestive cancer risk. Additionally, adherence to a Mediterranean diet may improve cognitive function and decrease the risk of dementia, although the evidence supporting this association is weak to moderate. One systematic review of the Mediterranean diet for long-term weight loss reported similar results to other diets despite greater weight loss than with a low-fat diet after 12 months.

The Mediterranean Diet encourages you to eat plenty of some foods (like whole grains and vegetables) while limiting others. If you’re planning a grocery store trip, you might wonder which foods to buy. Here are some examples of foods to eat often with the Mediterranean Diet.

Fruit: 3 servings per day; Veggies: At least 3 servings per day.
3 to 6 servings per day.
1 to 4 servings per day.
3 servings per week.
3 servings per week.
At least 3 servings per week.
No more than once daily (fewer may be better).
No more than once daily (fewer may be better).
Up to 1 yolk per day.
None, or no more than 1 serving per week.
1 serving per day (females); 2 servings per day (males).
Avoid commercially prepared baked goods and desserts; Limit homemade goods to no more than 3 servings per week.

Paleolithic (Paleo) Diet

The Paleolithic (Paleo) diet is also known as the hunter-gatherer diet, caveman diet, primal diet, or Stone Age diet; all these diets suggest that our bodies have not evolved to handle highly processed foods. This diet follows the nutritional patterns of early humans who lived in the Paleolithic era, which began more than 2 million years ago and continued until about 10,000 years ago, when humans started to cultivate plants and domesticate animals. Estimates are that our ancestors took in 35% of their calories from fat, 35% as carbohydrates (mostly fruits and vegetables), and 30% from protein. This diet advises consuming lean meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, and nuts while avoiding grains, dairy products, processed foods, and added sugar and salt.

Low-Glycemic Index (GI) Diet

The glycemic index (GI) is a measurement system that ranks foods according to effect on blood glucose level; the rates at which different foods raise blood glucose level are ranked in comparison with absorption of 50 g of pure glucose as a reference (GI=100). A low-GI diet emphasizes exchanging high-GI foods for low-GI alternatives. Nothing is strictly forbidden with the low-GI diet, but high-GI foods such as white bread, bagels, cereals, mashed potatoes, pasta, and noodles should be replaced by low-GI foods.

New Nordic Diet

The new Nordic diet is based on unprocessed whole grains, high-fiber vegetables, fish, low-fat dairy foods, lean meat of all types (beef, pork, lamb), beans and lentils, fruit, dense breads, tofu, and skinless poultry. This diet recommends more calories from plant foods and fewer from meat and more foods from the sea, lakes, and the wild countryside. It is based on whole and minimally processed foods and is high in both fiber and omega-3 fats.

Vegetarian Diet

There are many reasons to adopt a vegetarian diet for health. These diets can lower the risk of ischemic heart disease, T2DM, and cancer. Vegetarian diets can reduce blood pressure, lipid profiles, and inflammatory biomarkers and improve glycemic control and other cardiometabolic risk factors. This diet excludes meat, fish, and poultry, but there are many variations of the diet, including lactovegetarians and lacto-ovo-vegetarians.

DASH Diet

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet was originally developed to lower blood pressure without medication, but it is now considered one of the healthiest eating patterns. The DASH plan includes many vegetables, fruits, and grains with an emphasis on whole grains. Low-fat or non-fat dairy foods, pulses, nuts, seeds, lean meats, poultry, and seafood are also allowed.

Portfolio Diet

The Portfolio diet is a vegan plan that emphasizes a “portfolio” of foods or food components that lower cholesterol. When these foods are eaten together as part of a healthy diet, they presumably lower LDL-C better than any one of the portfolio foods could alone. To include a portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods, the diet recommends daily consumption of 2 g of plant sterols, 50 g of nuts, 10-25 g of soluble fibers from plant foods, and 50 g of soy protein; meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, and eggs are not allowed.

Intermittent Fasting and Time-Restricted Eating

Recently, fasting has received interest not only from medical experts, but also from members of the general public with an interest in health. Intermittent fasting involves regular periods with no or very limited calorie intake. Intermittent fasting focuses on the time window of eating instead of calorie calculations or macronutrient composition, helping people to restrict food intake without having to count calories and to avoid late-night snacking. Recently, much interest has focused on “when to eat.” Meal timing and the circadian rhythm have raised a novel issue in weight management.

Energy Density and Satiety

Feel full on fewer calories? It might sound like another gimmick for weight loss, but it's not. Simply put, energy density is the number of calories (energy) in a specific amount of food. High energy density means that there are a lot of calories in a small amount of food. When you're striving for weight loss, one strategy is to eat low-energy-dense foods. That is, you want to eat a greater amount of food that contains less calories. Here's a quick example with raisins and grapes. Raisins have a high energy density - 1 cup of raisins has about 480 calories.

Water: Fruits and vegetables generally have high water and fiber content, which provide volume and weight but not calories. That's why they're low-energy-dense foods. Grapefruit, for example, is about 90% water. Half a grapefruit has just 64 calories. Raw, fresh carrots are about 88% water.
Fiber: High-fiber foods not only provide volume but also take longer to digest, making you feel full longer on fewer calories. Vegetables, fruits and whole grains all contain fiber. Popcorn is a good example of a high-volume, low-calorie whole grain.
Fat: Fat is high in energy density. One pat of butter, for example, contains almost the same number of calories as 2 cups of raw broccoli.

Practical Tips for Incorporating Low-Energy-Dense Foods

Changing lifestyle habits is never easy. And creating an eating plan using the energy-density concept is no exception. Most vegetables are very low in calories but high in volume or weight. Most vegetables contain water and fiber, which provides weight without calories. To add more vegetables to your diet, top your pasta with sauteed vegetables instead of meat or cheese sauce. Decrease the meat portion on your plate and increase the serving of vegetables. Add vegetables to your sandwiches.

Nearly all types of fruit fit into a healthy diet. But some fruits are lower calorie choices than others are. Whole fresh, frozen and canned fruits without syrup are good options. To fit more fruits into your diet, add blueberries to your cereal in the morning. Try mango or peach slices on whole-wheat toast with a little peanut butter. Or toss some mandarin orange and peach slices into a salad.

Many carbohydrates are either grains or made from grains, such as cereal, rice, bread and pasta. Emphasize whole grains by simply choosing whole-grain options instead of refined grains, including foods made with sugar or white flour.

These include food from both plant and animal sources. While fats are high-energy-dense foods, some fats are healthier than others. Include small amounts of healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats in your diet. Nuts, seeds and oils, such as olive, flaxseed and safflower oils, contain healthy fats.

Like fats, sweets are typically high in energy density. Good options for sweets include those that are low in added fat and contain healthy ingredients, such as fruits, whole grains and low-fat dairy. The keys to sweets are to keep the serving size small and the ingredients healthy.

When you stick to the concept of energy density, you don't have to feel hungry or deprived. By including plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains in your diet, you can feel full on fewer calories.

tags: #very #low #energy #diet #guidelines