RFO Program
from the University of California, Los Angeles

MAJOR DIETARY PROGRAMS
A comprehensive state-of-the-art weight loss program should have a variety of programs to suit all individuals. If one program is not successful, then any given patient may choose to switch to another modality.

Before starting any one of the following programs patients undergo an initial history and physical exam the first visit. Patients are monitored very closely and it is therefore very necessary to have baseline visit from which to build patient progress. The initial visit consists of recording weight, height, vital signs, and other personal information, blood chemistries, electrocardiograms, bio-impedance analysis, consult with a physician (review of medical history and medication and a minor physical exam and initial diet(, consult with a registered dietician (program orientation and fine tune diet).

1. VERY LOW CALORIE DIET (VLCD)
The RFO program was the second program in the world to employ a very low calorie diet. A VLCD is defined medically as a diet with 900 calories per day or less. A VLCD is meant primarily for severely obese individuals who must lose or wish to lose large amounts of weight as rapidly as possible. Average weight loss is often 4 to 5 pounds per week.

When a subject ingests 800 calories per day or less, it has the same effect on hunger and appetite as total starvation, i.e., after four to five days the patient is no longer hungry. AT first, it was thought that the mechanism of this hunger-suppression was ketosis, but this is not the case and the mechanism is unknown. This is how person like, Mahatma Ghandi and others who fasted for political reasons could do it so easily. The first four or five days maybe difficult for some patients; they have to do it one day at a time until the appetite suppression kicks in. For others, it is relatively easy.

At the center, patients are prescribed 500 to 800 calories a day, consisting of a special formula made to our specifications which contain high quality amino acids, carbohydrate, vitamins and essential micronutrients, thus assuring that at least 80% of the weight loss will come from body fat and not from lean tissue. The packets, which are 100 calories each, easily mix with cold water, taste like a chocolate or vanilla milk shake and are very filling. If patients wish to chew on something, the dietician may prescribe a salad, a steamed green vegetable, air popped popcorn or some other low calorie nutrient of their choice.

Results have been published from this program in the medical literature and have demonstrated a highly successful weight loss of 50 to 250 pounds, depending up on the patients' initial weight. Eighty-five percent of our patients were successful and three years later sixty percent of them had maintained all or most of their lost weight. We also showed that accompanying this weight loss there were marked reductions in blood pressure, improvement of diabetes, improvement of serum cholesterol and lipids and greater psychological well being.

Patients participating in the VLCD program are carefully monitored. They have their blood pressure and pulse rate determined weekly, see a physician each week, have laboratory determinations every two weeks and electrocardiograms every eight to twelve weeks. In twenty years, we have never had a single death or serious medical problem in our VLCD program.

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