Food for Life Weight Loss

Very low-calorie diets are extremely restrictive and can have both positive and negative effects. While significant weight loss is possible, there may also be significant health repercussions. The Food for Life weight-loss program was developed to provide more nutritionally balanced supplements while assuring weight loss for clients and fulfilling government demands.

History

Developed in 1984 and based upon the original Cambridge Diet, the Food for Life program was formulated to meet guidelines set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The goal was to make the supplements nutritionally complete and the sole source of nutrition in a very low-calorie diet. Its creator, Dr. Robert O. Nesheim, was a pioneer in the field of nutritional sciences and was a lecturer at the University of California-Berkeley's Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology department.

Features

The Food for Life program is a very low-calorie diet. It is primarily a liquid diet consisting of nine flavored drinks that can be mixed with other ingredients to create soups, drinks, liquid entrees and desserts. There are five weight-loss programs to choose from. The Fast Start program is a quick weight-loss plan lasting two weeks and providing a daily intake of only 420 calories. The Regular program allows up to 820 calories per day and the Physician Monitored Program follows the Fast Start plan but for a longer duration and must be done under the care of a doctor. The two final programs, Maintenance and Lifetime Nutrition have no set plan and are to be worked into your regular diet to maintain weight.

Effects

Fast weight loss is suggested in the descriptions of both the Fast Start and Regular programs stating 2 to 5 lbs. per week can be lost on the Regular plan and 5 lbs. per week on the Fast Start plan. The current promoters of the program claim the Physician Monitored Program helped people lose 16 to 20 lbs. in one month in clinical trials. However, no clinical trials were located to corroborate this claim.

Considerations

A random, double-blind study, published in "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition," found there was no advantage to a very low calorie diet of 420 calories versus an 800-calorie diet. The weight loss among participants in the two diets was similar. A review of literature study published in the "Obesity" journal revealed similar findings.

Warning

The Food for Life program is based upon the Cambridge Diet which received negative attention after several followers died. In 1990, "The Journal of the American Medical Association" published a commentary about very low-calorie diets, mentioning that six people had died following the Cambridge Diet. "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" printed a study profiling 17 cases in which people died from sudden ventricular arrhythmia after being on very low-calorie diets. The authors of the study called for a curtailment of such diets until further studies could be done to make them safer.