|  | Diet Nutrition | Fad Diets

Food Replacement Diets

Food-replacement or meal-replacement diet plans come in many different forms, often with brand-name endorsed products like shakes, meal bars and powders. Many of these diets offer amazing customer testimonials and structured plans for fast weight loss. Before starting a meal-replacement weight-loss plan, consider your goals, eating habits and lifestyle in order to choose the right plan for you.

  1. Types

    • There are several types of diets that operate on the premise of replacing normal food or meals with a proportioned substitute. One of the most common food-replacement diets is a shake diet, which usually replaces breakfast and lunch with a low-calorie liquid shake. Similar plans include Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet, which advocates eating six low-calorie cookies plus one low-calorie meal a day, and the cereal diet, which replaces breakfast and lunch with a bowl of low-calorie, whole grain cereal.

    Efficacy

    • Food-replacement weight loss plans may be more effective than traditional low-calorie diets. In a 40-week controlled study published in the 2010 Nutrition Journal, 90 obese subjects were placed on either a low-calorie food-based diet plan or a medically supervised meal-replacement plan. After 16 weeks, the subjects on the meal-replacement program averaged a loss of 12.3 percent of their original body weight, while the subjects on the food-based plan averaged 6.9 percent.

    Premise

    • The basic premise of a meal-replacement diet is calorie control. By replacing meals or snacks with controlled portions of nutritional shakes, bars or cookies, you can effectively control the number of calories you consume without a lot of guesswork. There are no secret or magic ingredients in meal-replacement products. They only allow you to reduce and manage your calorie intake by adhering to an organized, structured dietary routine.

    Considerations

    • One of the important things to consider before embarking on a food-replacement or meal-replacement plan is that typically, meal-replacement products may be full of chemical additives and preservatives. Also, the fact that many meal-replacement plans only allow room for one "food" meal a day, may lead to insufficient intake of natural protein, fiber and produce. Very low-calorie meal-replacement plans may not be right for everyone, and it is a good idea to consult with a medical professional for advice before beginning a plan of this nature.

Fad Diets - Related Articles