The Cambridge Diet: Title and subTitle BreakMore Mayhem? FREE

Thomas A. Wadden, PhD; Albert J. Stunkard, MD; Kelly D. Brownell, PhD; Theodore B. Van Itallie, MD

[+] Author Affiliations

Reprint requests to Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 133 S 36th St, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (Dr Wadden).

JAMA. 1983;250(20):2833-2834. doi:10.1001/jama.1983.03340200067031

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ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT | REFERENCES

READERS of both Time (March 14, 1983, pp 91-93) and Newsweek (Feb 28, 1983, pp 75-77) learned recently of "a new scientific breakthrough that works faster and is more effective than you ever thought possible." This "breakthrough," heralded in three-page advertisements, is the Cambridge Diet. Since "more than three million overweight Americans have already discovered the Cambridge Diet Plan," and millions are likely to as a result of these ads, the medical community would be well advised to familiarize itself with the diet and the controversy surrounding it.

The Cambridge Diet is one of several very-low-calorie diets (300 to 600 kcal/day) currently available in this country. The goal of these diets is to induce the largest, most rapid weight loss possible, while preserving lean body mass by the provision of varying amounts of high-quality protein and carbohydrate. This was the same goal of the liquid protein diets of 1976 and

REFERENCES

ABSTRACT | REFERENCES

Van Itallie TB: Liquid protein mayhem . JAMA 1978;;240:140-141.

Isner JM, Sours HE, Paris AL, et al: Sudden unexpected death in avid dieters using the liquid protein modified fast diet . Circulation 1979;; 60:1401-1412.

Sours HE, Frattali VP, Brand CD, et al: Sudden death associated with very-low-calorie weight reduction regimens . Am J Clin Nutr 1981;;34:453-461.

Genuth S: Supplemental fasting in the treatment of obesity and diabetes . Am J Clin Nutr 1979;;32:2579-2586.

Bistrian B: Clinical use of a protein-sparing modified fast . JAMA 1978;;240:2299-2302.

Apfelbaum M: Effects of very restrictive high-protein diets with special reference to nitrogen balance . Int J Obesity 1981;;5:209-214.

Blackburn GL, Phinney SD, Moldawer LI: Mechanisms of nitrogen sparing with severe calorie restricted diets . Int J Obesity 1981;;5:215-216.

Yang M-U, Barbosa-Saldivar JL, Pi-Sunyer FX, et al: Metabolic effects of substituting carbohydrate for protein in a low-calorie diet: A prolonged study in obese outpatients . Int J Obesity 1981;;5:231-236.

Howard AN, Grant A, Edwards O, et al: The treatment of obesity with a very-low-calorie liquid-formula diet: An inpatient/outpatient comparison using skimmed-milk protein as the chief protein source . Int J Obesity 1978;;2:321-332.

Wilson JHP, Lamberts SWJ: Nitrogen balance in obese patients receiving a very-low-calorie liquid formula diet . Am J Clin Nutr 1979;; 32:1612-1616.

Fisler JS, Drenick EJ, Blumfield DE, et al: Nitrogen economy during very-low-calorie reducing diets: Quality and quantity of dietary protein . Am J Clin Nutr 1982;;35:471-486.

FDA Talk Paper. Cambridge Diet Update. US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare publication (FDA) T82-95. Government Printing Office, 1982.

Wadden TA, Stunkard AJ, Brownell KD: Very-low-calorie diets: A critical review . Ann Intern Med , in press.

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