Cardiac Arrhythmias Associated with a Liquid Protein Diet for the Treatment of Obesity

OBESITY that is greater than 20 per cent of ideal body weight affects 25 to 45 per cent of Americans over 30 years of age.1 Since a review in 1959 indicated that less than 5 per cent of patients who need to lose 18 kg or more were successful, 2 several therapeutic approaches, including fasting, 3 have been introduced. More recently, exogenous protein has been added to minimize catabolism during a total fast.4 5 6 On such a diet, 405 of 519 obese patients (78 per cent) lost at least 18 kg, with an average loss of 1.5 kg per week.6 However, serious complications . . .