Abstract
It had been well documented that obesity will increase the risk of many kinds of chronic diseases and also induce higher mortality rate for all age groups. Therefore, to develop a fast and safe weight reduction program is critical for the health of those who was obese with co-morbidity. When a fast weight reduction is recommended because of medical, behavioral, or life pattern reasons, VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet) will be an effective choice. VLCD has four characteristics: (1) Provide 400to 800 kcal calories per day (2) Enrich the content of protein with 0.8 to 1.5 gram/kg ideal body weight/day (3) Contain sufficient daily recommended nutrients including vitamins, minerals, electrolytes and fatty acid (4) Totally replace daily food intake.
The indication for the use of VLCD include (1) moderate to severe obesity (BMI>30) with strong motivation (2) those who had failed after several conservative weight reduction program (3) who may immediately improve his health conditions through fast weight reduction, such as poor controlled type II diabetes, hypertriglyceridemia, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and symptomatic peripheral edema.
Although the safety of VLDO had been approved by many studies, however, there are some risks existing after all. The prescription of VLCD should be performed 12 to 16 weeks under the carefully monitor by special teamwork which included well trained physicians, dieticians and behavior therapists. Detailed evaluation with complete physical examination, laboratory test, cardiac echo and abdominal echo should be arranged to exclude any possible contraindications. The participants should be discussed the benefit and risk of VLCD treatment with physicians and dieticians.
VLCDs are beneficial in fast weight reduction, lowering body fat and reducing pill amount for disease control. Long-term and followed-up studies revealed that weight regain is still the major problem. There are many evidences suggest improving long-term weight control, VLCDs should be arranged in early stage to gain fast weight reduction followed by active followed-up maintenance program which contains behavior therapy, nutrition education and exercise projects.
The indication for the use of VLCD include (1) moderate to severe obesity (BMI>30) with strong motivation (2) those who had failed after several conservative weight reduction program (3) who may immediately improve his health conditions through fast weight reduction, such as poor controlled type II diabetes, hypertriglyceridemia, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and symptomatic peripheral edema.
Although the safety of VLDO had been approved by many studies, however, there are some risks existing after all. The prescription of VLCD should be performed 12 to 16 weeks under the carefully monitor by special teamwork which included well trained physicians, dieticians and behavior therapists. Detailed evaluation with complete physical examination, laboratory test, cardiac echo and abdominal echo should be arranged to exclude any possible contraindications. The participants should be discussed the benefit and risk of VLCD treatment with physicians and dieticians.
VLCDs are beneficial in fast weight reduction, lowering body fat and reducing pill amount for disease control. Long-term and followed-up studies revealed that weight regain is still the major problem. There are many evidences suggest improving long-term weight control, VLCDs should be arranged in early stage to gain fast weight reduction followed by active followed-up maintenance program which contains behavior therapy, nutrition education and exercise projects.
Translated title of the contribution | The Roles of Very Low Calorie Diets in Treatment of Obesity |
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Original language | Chinese (Traditional) |
Pages (from-to) | 1-16 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | 臺灣家庭醫學雜誌 = Taiwan Journal of Family Medicine |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2003 |