Impact of Low-Carbohydrate Diet (LCD) and Obesity Management Program on Obese Patients

Abstract

The past two decades witnessed a rapid escalation in the prevalence of obesity. Ayurvedic physicians use a multi-faceted strategy to treat obesity which includes a combination of Low-Carbohydrate Diet and Obesity Management Procedure. The present study was conducted to demonstrate the efficacy of low carbohydrate diet and the Ayurvedic obesity management procedure in reducing obesity. A retrospective observational study was conducted in Madhavbaug Clinics from September 2017 to March 2018. All patients with BMI > 30 kg/m 2 were included in the study. During the study, the patients received seven sessions of obesity management procedure which included a combination of Snehana / external oleation or massage, Swedana / passive heat therapy and Basti kadha . Simultaneously, patients were prescribed supervised low carbohydrate diet daily for 90 days. The primary efficacy end point was reduction in body weight while secondary end points included changes in abdominal girth, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate after 90-day follow-up as compared to baseline. A total of 48 patients were enrolled and after screening, 31 were included in the study. Most of the patients were middle aged (51.35 ± 11.44 years) and females (65.8%). The primary end-point used in the present study (body weight) decreased significantly from 89.87± 18.58 kg on Day 1 to 82.01± 20.55 kg on day 90 (p<0.001). Such significant changes were also appreciable in the BMI, SBP, DBP, abdominal girth values measured on day 1 and day 90 respectively (p<0.001 for all). The present study demonstrates that the combination of low carbohydrate diet and Ayurvedic obesity management procedures are effective in reducing obesity.