ABSTRACT
Overweight and obesity are high-priority areas for primary care practitioners because they are associated with many medical consequences, such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension. The underlying principle of dietary treatment of overweight and obesity is to create a negative energy balance by reducing energy intake. Reducing energy intake can be achieved by explicitly controlling energy intake, or by controlling carbohydrate intake. The rationale of the dietary treatment of the obese individual is to alter the hormonal milieu to direct the body’s metabolism away from fat storage and toward fat mobilization and oxidation. The major consequences of obesity that generally improve with weight loss treatment are diabetes mellitus; metabolic syndrome, which includes hypertension and hypertriglyceridemia; and gastroesophageal reflux disorder. Nutritional ketosis is useful for treating obesity and many similar conditions. Body systems can be directed toward fat oxidation in many ways, for example, through carbohydrate restriction or caloric restriction since caloric restriction is usually achieved at least by carbohydrate restriction.
