A Systematic Review of Dietary Supplements and Alternative Therapies for Weight Loss

John A Batsis; John W Apolzan; Pamela J Bagley; Heather B Blunt; Vidita Divan; Sonia Gill; Angela Golden; Shalini Gundumraj; Steven B Heymsfield; Scott Kahan; Katherine Kopatsis; Ava Port; Elizabeth Prout Parks; Clifford A Reilly; Domenica Rubino; Katherine H Saunders; Ryan Shean; Luai Tabaza; Abishek Stanley; Beverly G Tchang; Shivani Gundumraj; Srividya Kidambi

doi:10.1002/oby.23110

A Systematic Review of Dietary Supplements and Alternative Therapies for Weight Loss

Obesity (Silver Spring). 2021 Jul;29(7):1102-1113. doi: 10.1002/oby.23110.

Authors

John A Batsis^{1

2}, John W Apolzan³, Pamela J Bagley⁴, Heather B Blunt⁴, Vidita Divan⁵, Sonia Gill⁶, Angela Golden⁷, Shalini Gundumraj⁸, Steven B Heymsfield³, Scott Kahan⁹, Katherine Kopatsis¹⁰, Ava Port¹¹, Elizabeth Prout Parks^{12

13}, Clifford A Reilly¹⁴, Domenica Rubino¹⁵, Katherine H Saunders¹⁶, Ryan Shean⁴, Luai Tabaza¹⁷, Abishek Stanley³, Beverly G Tchang¹⁶, Shivani Gundumraj¹⁸, Srividya Kidambi¹⁹

Affiliations

¹ Division of Geriatric Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
² Department of Nutrition, The Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
³ Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University Sysytem, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Libraries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.
⁵ Stormont Vail Health, Topeka, Kansas, USA.
⁶ University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, Sacramento, California, USA.
⁷ NP Obesity Treatment Clinic, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.
⁸ Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.
⁹ National Center for Weight and Wellness, George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁰ George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
¹¹ Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
¹² Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
¹³ The Healthy Weight Program, Perelman Medical Center, University of Pennsylvania, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
¹⁴ The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at The University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
¹⁵ Washington Center for Weight Management and Research, Arlington, Virginia, USA.
¹⁶ Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Weill Cornell Medicine, Comprehensive Weight Control Center, New York, New York, USA.
¹⁷ Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
¹⁸ A.T, Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona, Mesa, Arizona, USA.
¹⁹ Division of Endocrinology and Molecular Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

Abstract

Objective: Dietary supplements and alternative therapies are commercialized as a panacea for obesity/weight gain as a result of the minimal regulatory requirements in demonstrating efficacy. These products may indirectly undermine the value of guideline-driven obesity treatments. Included in this study is a systematic review of the literature of purported dietary supplements and alternative therapies for weight loss.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of dietary supplements and alternative therapies for weight loss in participants aged ≥18 years. Searches of Medline (PubMed), Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL, and Embase (Ovid) were conducted. Risk of bias and results were summarized qualitatively.

Results: Of the 20,504 citations retrieved in the database search, 1,743 full-text articles were reviewed, 315 of which were randomized controlled trials evaluating the efficacy of 14 purported dietary supplements, therapies, or a combination thereof. Risk of bias and sufficiency of data varied widely. Few studies (n = 52 [16.5%]) were classified as low risk and sufficient to support efficacy. Of these, only 16 (31%) noted significant pre/post intergroup differences in weight (range: 0.3-4.93 kg).

Conclusions: Dietary supplements and alternative therapies for weight loss have a limited high-quality evidence base of efficacy. Practitioners and patients should be aware of the scientific evidence of claims before recommending use.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Review
Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Complementary Therapies*
Dietary Supplements
Humans
Obesity / therapy
Weight Loss*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding