TY - JOUR
T1 - A Systematic Review of Dietary Supplements and Alternative Therapies for Weight Loss
AU - Batsis, John A.
AU - Apolzan, John W.
AU - Bagley, Pamela J.
AU - Blunt, Heather B.
AU - Divan, Vidita
AU - Gill, Sonia
AU - Golden, Angela
AU - Gundumraj, Shalini
AU - Heymsfield, Steven B.
AU - Kahan, Scott
AU - Kopatsis, Katherine
AU - Port, Ava
AU - Parks, Elizabeth Prout
AU - Reilly, Clifford A.
AU - Rubino, Domenica
AU - Saunders, Katherine H.
AU - Shean, Ryan
AU - Tabaza, Luai
AU - Stanley, Abishek
AU - Tchang, Beverly G.
AU - Gundumraj, Shivani
AU - Kidambi, Srividya
N1 - Funding Information:
JAB reports equity in SynchroHealth LLC. AG reports consulting with Novo Nordisk and Unjury. SH reports personal fees from Medifast. SKa reports personal fees from Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Vivus, and Gelesis. DR reports consulting and speaking fees for Novo Nordisk and Astra Zeneca. KHS has a relationship with Intellihealth Inc. SK is the medical director for TOPS Center for Metabolic Health at the Medical College of Wisconsin, which is supported by TOPS Inc. SBH reports his position on the Medical Advisory Board of Medifast Corp.
Funding Information:
The authors would like to specifically thank Nayan Agarwal, Allegra Bermudez, Tyler Gooding, Nichole Jannah, Ridhima Kapoor, Melanie Peterson, and Tiffany Driesse for their assistance. We additionally would like to thank other members of The Obesity Society’s Clinical and Executive Committees for their input.
Funding Information:
JAB’s research reported in this publication was supported in part by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (K23 AG051681). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. JWA has received funding from a food company to investigate topics from this manuscript. There was no funding from The Obesity Society for the development of the work from this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Obesity Society
PY - 2021/7
Y1 - 2021/7
N2 - Objective: Dietary supplements and alternative therapies are commercialized as a panacea for obesity/weight gain as a result of the minimal regulatory requirements in demonstrating efficacy. These products may indirectly undermine the value of guideline-driven obesity treatments. Included in this study is a systematic review of the literature of purported dietary supplements and alternative therapies for weight loss. Methods: A systematic review was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of dietary supplements and alternative therapies for weight loss in participants aged ≥18 years. Searches of Medline (PubMed), Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL, and Embase (Ovid) were conducted. Risk of bias and results were summarized qualitatively. Results: Of the 20,504 citations retrieved in the database search, 1,743 full-text articles were reviewed, 315 of which were randomized controlled trials evaluating the efficacy of 14 purported dietary supplements, therapies, or a combination thereof. Risk of bias and sufficiency of data varied widely. Few studies (n = 52 [16.5%]) were classified as low risk and sufficient to support efficacy. Of these, only 16 (31%) noted significant pre/post intergroup differences in weight (range: 0.3-4.93 kg). Conclusions: Dietary supplements and alternative therapies for weight loss have a limited high-quality evidence base of efficacy. Practitioners and patients should be aware of the scientific evidence of claims before recommending use.
AB - Objective: Dietary supplements and alternative therapies are commercialized as a panacea for obesity/weight gain as a result of the minimal regulatory requirements in demonstrating efficacy. These products may indirectly undermine the value of guideline-driven obesity treatments. Included in this study is a systematic review of the literature of purported dietary supplements and alternative therapies for weight loss. Methods: A systematic review was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of dietary supplements and alternative therapies for weight loss in participants aged ≥18 years. Searches of Medline (PubMed), Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL, and Embase (Ovid) were conducted. Risk of bias and results were summarized qualitatively. Results: Of the 20,504 citations retrieved in the database search, 1,743 full-text articles were reviewed, 315 of which were randomized controlled trials evaluating the efficacy of 14 purported dietary supplements, therapies, or a combination thereof. Risk of bias and sufficiency of data varied widely. Few studies (n = 52 [16.5%]) were classified as low risk and sufficient to support efficacy. Of these, only 16 (31%) noted significant pre/post intergroup differences in weight (range: 0.3-4.93 kg). Conclusions: Dietary supplements and alternative therapies for weight loss have a limited high-quality evidence base of efficacy. Practitioners and patients should be aware of the scientific evidence of claims before recommending use.
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U2 - 10.1002/oby.23110
DO - 10.1002/oby.23110
M3 - Review article
C2 - 34159755
AN - SCOPUS:85108382801
SN - 1930-7381
VL - 29
SP - 1102
EP - 1113
JO - Obesity
JF - Obesity
IS - 7
ER -