Conventional wisdom maintains that rapid weight loss sets you up for weight regain, sooner rather than later. Hence, guidelines for optimal weight loss usually include a recommendation that the process be gradual. While conventional wisdom is indeed conventional, its’ wisdom is often unsupported by scientific evidence.

Reporting in the journal Obesity, Drs. Vink and Roumans studied two groups, one following a low-calorie diet (slow weight loss), the other a very low calorie diet (rapid weight loss) for 5 months. Nine months later no significant difference in the rate of weight regain was found. This supports a previous study reported in Lancet, 2014. In patients similarly randomized to rapid and slow weight loss groups, there was no difference in the rate of weight regain after 144 weeks.