Evaluations of Protein Efficiency Ratio of Weight-Loss Meal Replacement

Being overweight and obese presents an increasingly prevalent threat to public health. Compelling evidence links being overweight and obese with serious disorders such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Increasing energy expenditure and decreasing energy input are the two strategies to reduce body weight. Commercial weight-loss meal replacement is a dietary plan to reduce weight. We evaluated the protein efficiency ratio (PER) of commercial weight-loss meal replacements. Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were used as experimental animals and daily fed 15 g (35% protein) of different-flavored weight-loss meal replacements for 4 weeks. Food intake was recorded daily, and weight was measured twice a week. Rats fed commercial weight-loss meal replacements gained less weight than those fed casein, but they did not stop growing. The protein efficiency ratio for the vanilla-flavored weight-loss meal replacement was 0.51 and for the vegetable-flavoed one was 0.72.