Fat in the Fire

Excerpt

In this issue of the Annals, Ball, Canary, and Kyle (1) present evidence that the two regimens for weight reduction in the obese patient, fasting and partial caloric restriction, have quite different effects on the patient's body composition. Compared to the less drastic caloric restriction, fasting leads to a greater reduction in lean tissue and to a smaller reduction in body fat. In an earlier issue of the ANNALS, Benoit, Martin, and Watten (2) came to the same conclusion but subsequently were criticized by Drenick (3) on the grounds of their methodology; they had derived their data on changes in