Table 1.

Patient characteristics at baseline and body weight at randomization. ^a (Mean values and standard deviations)

	Group 1 b (n = 84)		Group 6 c (n = 85)
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
n (female;male)	54;30		55;30
Age (y)	40.6	9.2	41.9	10.2
Height (m)	1.72	0.1	1.72	0.1
Weight at baseline (kg)	122.9	23.0	124.6	25.8
Weight at randomization (kg) d	102.8	20.7	104.0	23.0
BMI at baseline (kg/m2)	41.4	5.7	41.7	6.3
Waist circumference (cm)	124.8 e	14.8	125.5 f	15.9
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)	128.8	16.4	130.8	16.5
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)	84.0	10.3	85.7	12.7
S-Insulin (mU/l)	21.7 e	14.3	25.2	25.4
P-Glucose (mmol/l)	5.5	1.3	5.4 e	1.3
S-HDL-cholesterol (mmol/l)	1.3 e	0.2	1.3 f	0.3
S-Triacyglycerol (mmol/l)	1.6 e	0.8	1.5 f	0.7

^aFor details of subjects and procedures, see Experimental methods. No significant differences were observed between the groups.

^bGroup 1 – one week of re-feeding

^cGroup 6 – six weeks of re-feeding

^dMeasured at week 12 (after VLED, very-low-energy diet)

^en = 83

^fn = 84