(Reuters Health) - An updated review of 11 popular commercial diets found that only Jenny Craig and ...

1. Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers better commercial diet
choices | Reuters
(Reuters Health) - An updated review of 11 popular commercial diets found that only Jenny Craig
and Weight Watchers show evidence for effective long-term weight loss.
Doctors might prioritize these options when talking to patients about commercial weight loss
programs, at least until other types of diets, like Nutrisystem or SlimFast, have produced substantial
evidence of consistent long-term results, the experts conclude.
"We're not necessarily excluding any of these programs," said lead author Dr. Kimberly Gudzune of
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.
"We're trying to highlight the ones that do have the scientific evidence proving that they do work to
lose weight and keep it off," Gudzune told Reuters Health by phone. "For others it is unclear, they
may show short term weight loss with no long term results, or in the long term people start to begin
to regain the weight."
Gudzune and her co-authors reviewed evidence in support of Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig,
Nutrisystem, Health Management Resources, Medifast, OPTIFAST, Atkins, SlimFast, The Biggest
Loser Club, eDiets and Lose It!
These programs emphasize dietary change or meal replacement and behavioral counseling or social
support, but do not necessarily address physical activity.
diet doctor philadelphia
Gudzune and her team selected 45 dietary trials, including 39 randomized controlled trials
comparing the diets to a control group, completed between 2002 and 2014. Many were sponsored by
the commercial programs themselves.
In six trials, by the one-year mark, people on Weight Watchers had lost almost three percent more of
their initial body weight than did people in control groups. But they did not lose any more weight on
average than people in comparison groups who had access to behavioral counseling consultations
with providers, which would also encourage weight loss.
Three trials found that people on Jenny Craig had at least 4.9 percent greater weight loss
maintained at the one-year point compared with people in a control group or those in a behavioral
counseling group.
Three trials found that people using Nutritystem had at least 3.8 percent greater weight loss
compared to control or counseling at the three-month point, but no trials continued a full year.
Similarly, programs which require very low calorie intake, like Health Management Resources,
Medifast and OPTIFAST, did demonstrate more weight loss after three months than a control or
counseling group, but effectiveness seemed to diminish beyond six months, the authors write in the
Annals of Internal Medicine.
"While obesity continues to be a significant health risk in the U.S., our program provides the

2. personal support and behavioral strategies that lead to healthy lifestyle change and can provide an
effective solution for clinicians," Monty Sharma, CEO and president of Jenny Craig, told Reuters
Health in a statement. "We are gratified that this independent study in a reputable journal has
prioritized us as a weight loss solution for patient referrals and that the review showed that Jenny
Craig is one of the most effective long-term weight loss solutions."
Trials of the Atkins diet found between 0.1 and 2.9 percent greater weight loss than counseling after
one year, but potential harmful side effects and drop-out rates from the program were rarely
reported, the authors write.
A representative for the Atkins diet disputes these conclusions.
"What the study does show is that any clinician recommending a weight loss program with a cost is
going to help people lose weight but at a premium price," Colette Heimowitz, vice president of
nutrition and education at Atkins Nutritionals, told Reuters Health in a statement. "Atkins is 100
percent free and its efficacy is proven with more than 80 independent clinical studies."
SlimFast trial results were mixed, and there was little evidence for weight outcomes for other
programs.
Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig may be among the most effective programs because they are
highly structured and often include in-person social support, according to Dr. Christina C. Wee of
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston.
But weight loss with these programs is modest and likely below patients' expectations, which may
make it harder for patients to stick with, and pay for, the programs long-term, Wee wrote in an
editorial accompanying the new results.
"Medically we hope people achieve and sustain 3 to 5 percent weight loss from their starting
weight," and people on Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers did meet that goal, Gudzune noted.
The trials in the review were not designed to pit the diets against each other and determine why one
works better than another, she said, but the review should help doctors and patients discuss
whether or not a commercial diet program is a good choice, and if so, which one to try.
In addition to evidence of effectiveness, people should consider varying costs and time
commitments, she said.
"There is no one-size-fits-all solution for this," Gudzune said.
SOURCE: bit.ly/1i46lF7 Annals of Internal Medicine, online April 6, 2015.