Surprise, Surprise: Science Says Most Commercial Weight Loss Programs are Pretty Much Bogus

Apparently most commercial weight-loss programs – you know, the “life transforming” kind you see in glossy commercials – aren’t backed by any scientific evidence at all. 

In fact, only two are actually worth considering.

The commercial weight-loss industry is a huge (no pun intended), having grown to $2.5 billion.

But how legit is it?

Yesterday, the journal Annals of Internal Medicine published a report that found that, of the 32 popular commercial weight loss programs available in the US, only 11 are backed by scientific trials.

Researchers at John Hopkins reviewed more than 4,200 trials of 32 of the major commercial weight-loss programs, with data obtained from two popular medical literature databases and the actual weight-loss programs.
These 11 use a randomized controlled trial, which is pretty much the gold standard for scientific research – not to mention, something that is expected by consumers.  In a controlled trial, participants are assigned to either a commercial weight-loss program or an alternative, and studies last a minimum of 12 weeks.

Among weight-loss programs who used the trials were high-intensity programs like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and NutriSystem; low-calorie meal replacement programs like Medifast and HMR; and self-directed alternatives like Atkins and Slimfast.

Only two of the 11 – the infamous Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig – showed that people who used their programs lost more weight (3-5 per cent more) after a year than people who followed their own diet.

For this reason, the two companies were deemed the most effective by the researchers.

They found that Weight Watchers dieters lost an average of at least 8 pounds and kept it off for at least 12 months compared to about 15 pounds for those using the Jenny Craig plan.

Our question: is that 3-5 per cent really worth the price?

With research, discipline, and a will… is it really that difficult to diet on your own? After all, that money saved could go toward a gym membership instead. 

Photo Credit: John’s Hopkins University, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig

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