daily by most people for good health. Any healthy diet
plan should generally follow these guidelines. The
MyPyramid recommendations can be found online
athttp://www.MyPyramid.gov. The dietary rec-
ommendations made by Slim4Life counselors are sup-
posed to be individualized to a dieter’s needs and likes,
as well as to take into account any diseases or con-
ditions present that might affect dietary needs. There-
fore it is difficult to determine the nature of the overall
dietary recommendations.
Some dieters have reported that dairy products
were extremely limited or completely eliminated from
their diet while following the plan set by their Slim4Life
counselors. MyPyramid recommends that healthy
adults consume the equivalent of 3 cups of dairy prod-
ucts each day for good health. Low or non-fat dairy
products are strongly recommended. Any diet that does
not meet this recommendation means that a dieter runs
the risk of having acalciumdeficiency, which can lead
toosteoporosisand other negative outcomes.
The necessity and wisdom of taking pills, herbs, and
other products intended to aid weight loss is a hotly
debated subject. Many people believe that such dietary
supplements can help dieters achieve weight loss more
quickly and may have positive health benefits. Other
people believe that such supplements are usually
unnecessary, and that their effectiveness is questionable
because of the lack of controlled, reproducible, studies
indicating their effectiveness. Critics of such supple-
ments also often argue that because dietary supplements
are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) as strictly as prescription medicines, they may
have negative side effects that are not yet documented.
An example of this kind of problem occurred
involving supplements containingephedra. On April
12, 2004 the FDA banned the sale of dietary supple-
ments containing ephedra because of evidence that the
compound increased a dieter’s risk of cardiovascular
complications and because of a lack of evidence of
significant positive health benefits that could outweigh
this risk. Before this time, many dieters all over the
United States were taking supplements that contained
ephedra without being aware of the possibility that it
could cause extremely serious side effects.
The Centers for Disease Control recommended in
2007 that adults get 30 minutes of light to moderate
exercise each day for good health. Slim4Life suggests
that its participants be active, but it does not make
specific exercise recommendations. Therefore it may
be up to the dieter to ensure that he or she follows an
exercise regimen that meets these minimum require-
ments. Regular exercise is a generally accepted part of
a healthy weight-loss program. Studies have shown
that diet and exercise are more effective at producing
sustainable weight loss when done in combination
than either diet or exercise is when done alone.Resources
BOOKS
Shannon, Joyce Brennfleck ed.Diet and Nutrition Source-
book. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics, 2006.
Willis, Alicia P. ed.Diet Therapy Research Trends. New
York: Nova Science, 2007.
ORGANIZATIONS
American Dietetic Association. 120 South Riverside Plaza,
Suite 2000, Chicago, Illinois 60606-6995. Telephone:
(800) 877-1600. Website:<http://www.eatright.org>
OTHER
Slim4Life. 2002, accessed April 4, 2007.<http://www.Slim4
Life.com>Tish Davidson, M.A.Slim-Fast
Definition
Slim-Fast is the trademarked brand name of both a
line of diet products and a weight-management pro-
gram known as the Slim-Fast Optima Diet. Slim-Fast
Foods, the manufacturer of the diet products, was
acquired by Unilever N.V., a company headquartered
in the United Kingdom, in 2000. Slim-Fast diet shakes
are perhaps the best-known products in the line, which
also includes snack bars, meal bars, smoothies, cookies,
and powders for reconstituting by mixing with
skimmed milk. The Slim-Fast diet plan is sometimes
categorized together with other plans based on liquid
diet products as a liquid meal replacement or LMR
diet. LMR diet products themselves are a major busi-
ness in the United States, reported in 2006 to account
for over $1 billion in consumer purchases each year.Origins
Although Slim-Fast as a specific product was
introduced only in the early 1980s, LMR products as
a type have been on the North American market since
1960, when Mead Johnson, a company better known
as the maker of such baby foods as Pablum and Dex-
tri-Maltose, introduced a liquid diet formula called
Metrecal. Metrecal was packaged in 8-oz cans, each
containing 225 calories’ worth of product. The dieterSlim-Fast