Meal Replacements Effective as Medications for Weight Maintenance

The most difficult part of any weight loss program is not losing the weight, but keeping it off. As a result, many people opt for medications to help maintain weight loss. Results from a new study now show that meal replacement drinks can be as effective as medications at helping dieters maintain weight. Researchers compared the benefit of using meal replacement drinks to Orlistat in two groups of people that had lost significant amounts of weight. A year after their weight loss, the group using meal replacement drinks had maintained their weight even better than the group using the medication. For many people, meal replacements drinks may be an effective, simple and safe method to maintaining a healthy weight.

Meal replacement drinks were recently shown to be as effective as medications for maintaining weight loss according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

In this study, participants followed a very low calorie liquid diet (VLCD) for 12 weeks followed by 4 weeks of re-introduction to solid food. Then the subjects were randomly selected to receive either meal replacements or Orlistat (a medication that blocks fat absorption in the intestines), both combined with a structured meal plan calculated to maintain weight loss. For one year, all subjects followed a weight management program that included topics such as lifestyle, physical activity, and nutrition.

During weight maintenance, there were no significant differences in physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake and pedometer steps between the groups. After one year, the meal replacement group had regained only 5.9 lbs while the Orlistat group had regained 6.2 lbs.

Meal replacements and Orlistat were both effective in maintaining weight significantly below baseline levels over a year period of time. However, the group using meal replacement drinks maintained their weight even better than the group using the medication without the side effects. For many people, meal replacements drinks may be an effective, simple and safe method to maintaining a healthy weight.

Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 24, No. 5, 347-353 (2005)