Scores of overweight or obese patients have lost up to 10 per cent of their body weight in 10 days with a controversial extreme starvation diet.
Instead of solid food, they consume a solution of protein, nutrients and water drip fed in to the stomach through a plastic tube to the nose.
“I can guarantee this treatment yields good results in just 10 days,” said Dr Luigi Angelini, a surgical consultant at Al Noor Hospital in Abu Dhabi, Ketogenic Enteral Nutrition (Ken) diet, is one of the weight-loss programmes at the hospital’s obesity centre.
Ken diet has been introduced elsewhere, including the UK, amid controversy, but Dr Angelini insists it is both safe and effective.
The diet is supervised by specialised doctors and has resulted in 160 patients at Al Noor losing weight without complications or hunger pangs since it was introduced at the hospital last year. One patient who weighed 236 kilograms lost 17kg after the first 10-day cycle.
The Ken diet method is used in cases where traditional weight-loss surgery, such as gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy and gastric banding, is not suitable.
Those who have high blood pressure have also improved.
The Ken diet technique is based on giving patients amounts of protein smaller than their normal daily needs and works by sending the body into controlled starvation, forcing it to use its own fat.
After 10 days, patients lose up to 10 per cent of their weight and are less hungry, making it easier to keep a stable weight after treatment.
Patients can repeat the Ken diet a maximum of 21 times, with an interval of 10 days between each treatment.
A 10-day cycle costs Dh5,000.
via The National.
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