Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers Can Cut Weight Others Can't; Study Reveals the Best Diet Plans

Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig are the only two commercial weight loss plans that have a lasting effect, a new study found.

According to The Washington Post, nearly a third of Americans are obese and weight loss is a $ 2.5 billion industry. The new study compared 32 commercial weight los programs to find that Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig keep weight off for a year or more. A few other programs did show encouraging results in immediate months after commencement but the effect wore off soon.

"Clinicians could consider referring overweight or obese patients to Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig. Other popular programs, such as Nutrisystem, show promising weight-loss results; however, additional studies evaluating long-term outcomes are needed," researchers wrote in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study comprised 45 other studies. Researchers found that at 12 months, Jenny Craig achieved 4.9 percent weight loss while Weight Watchers managed about 2.6 percent.

Researchers also wrote that very-low calorie programs like Medifast and OPTIFAST resulted in short-term weight loss of around 4 percent but the effect declined after six months. The popular Atkins diet caused weight loss ranging between 0.1 % and 2.9 %.

"We found limited evidence to evaluate adherence or harms for all programs and weight outcomes for other commercial programs," researchers wrote while acknowledging that many trials lasted less than 12 months and witnessed high attrition.