meal replacement
A meal replacement is a drink, bar, soup, etc. intended as a substitute for a solid food, usually with controlled quantities of calories and nutrients. Some drinks come in powdered form or pre-mixed health shakes that can be cheaper than solid fo ...
fad diet
A fad diet is a diet that becomes popular for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard dietary recommendation, and often making unreasonable claims for fast weight loss or health improvements. There is no single defi ...
developed in the 1960s. The diet launched with different versions in the US and the UK. The US version filed for bankruptcy and shut down shortly after the deaths of several dieters. The UK diet has also been known as the Cambridge Weight Plan, but is now known as The 1:1 Diet.
History
The Cambridge Diet was initially used and developed in hospital weight loss programs in the 1960s by
Alan Howard Alan Howard may refer to:
* Alan Howard (actor) (1937–2015), English actor
* Alan Howard (cricketer) (1909–1993), English cricketer
* Alan Howard (engineer) (1905–1966), American engineer
* Alan Howard (hedge fund manager) (born 1963), hedge f ...
at
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Rights to the original Cambridge powder formula in the United States were obtained by Cambridge Direct Sales in 1979, and after improvements for flavor the Cambridge diet was launched as a commercial product in the United States in 1980. Howard created his own, different flavor improvements and launched a commercial UK version of the Cambridge diet in 1984. Since 2005 the UK company that makes the product is Cambridge Nutritional Foods Limited.
The US diet was very popular in the 1980s but was also the subject of some controversy. It came under scrutiny from regulators and health authorities after potential health concerns were raised. Under pressure from the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...
the calorie intake was raised from 330
kcal
The calorie is a unit of energy. For historical reasons, two main definitions of "calorie" are in wide use. The large calorie, food calorie, or kilogram calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of o ...
/day to 800 kcal/day. In 1985 Cambridge Diet Plan paid a six figure sum to settle a case brought by the family of a 31 year old woman who had died while following the Cambridge Diet. The FDA stated that eight such deaths were "potentially linked" to the Cambridge diet. In the early 1980s there were six documented deaths of people following the Cambridge liquid diet.
In 1987 a UK government
Health Department
A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...
report was critical of evidence submitted by Cambridge Nutrition – the working group responsible were not convinced by claims that the Cambridge Diet achieved
protein sparing
A protein-sparing modified fast or PSMF diet is a type of a very-low-calorie diet (<800 kcal per day) with a high proportion of protein calories and simultaneous restriction of carbohydrate and fat. It includes a
as well as conventional calorie restricted diets, and were concerned about conservation of lean tissue during dieting.
Composition
Food is principally in liquid form and includes soups, shakes, bars, and meals sold as part of the diet. Most of the
meal replacement
A meal replacement is a drink, bar, soup, etc. intended as a substitute for a solid food, usually with controlled quantities of calories and nutrients. Some drinks come in powdered form or pre-mixed health shakes that can be cheaper than solid fo ...
products sold as part of the diet are manufactured in the UK. , 3 servings of the liquid diet had a
macronutrient
A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excre ...
composition of 43 g of protein, 42 g of carbohydrate and 8 g of fat, supplemented with micronutrients.
1:1 Diet
the diet was renamed the "1:1 diet". The 1:1 Diet is categorized as a
very-low-calorie diet
A very-low-calorie diet (VLCD), also known as semistarvation diet and crash diet, is a type of diet with very or extremely low daily food energy consumption. Often described as a fad diet, it is defined as a diet of per day or less. Modern medica ...
. The diet plan has 6 variants or "steps." The first step consists of 3-4 products totaling at least 600 kcal per day. The remaining steps reintroduce regular meals and remove the 1:1 products in various combinations.
Criticism
The Cambridge diet has been characterized as a
fad diet
A fad diet is a diet that becomes popular for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard dietary recommendation, and often making unreasonable claims for fast weight loss or health improvements. There is no single defi ...
due to its starvation-level calorie intake, extreme weight loss, and its rapid rise and fall in popularity in the 1980s.
Modern guidelines state that a diet of less than 1000
kcal
The calorie is a unit of energy. For historical reasons, two main definitions of "calorie" are in wide use. The large calorie, food calorie, or kilogram calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of o ...
/day should not be followed for more than 12 weeks, and a diet of less than 600kcal/day should have medical supervision., as
very-low-calorie diet
A very-low-calorie diet (VLCD), also known as semistarvation diet and crash diet, is a type of diet with very or extremely low daily food energy consumption. Often described as a fad diet, it is defined as a diet of per day or less. Modern medica ...
s can lead to sudden death by cardiac arrest. When it was launched in 1980 the diet specified an intake of 330
kcal
The calorie is a unit of energy. For historical reasons, two main definitions of "calorie" are in wide use. The large calorie, food calorie, or kilogram calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of o ...
/day, and as recently as 2019 allowed an intake of 450 kcal/day. While there is some evidence that these types of diets result in short-term weight loss, there is little evidence of long-term benefit.
There are concerns regarding the cost due to the fact that people must buy at least two weeks of product at a time. The
British Dietetic Association
The British Dietetic Association (BDA) is a professional association and trade union for dietitians in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1936 and became a certified union in 1982: it is affiliated to the Trades Union Congress and the Scott ...
lists the possible adverse side effects as including "bad breath, a dry mouth, tiredness, dizziness, insomnia, nausea and constipation". The American Academy of Family Physicians recommended avoiding fad diets.