Have You Heard About KEN?

We’ve witnessed just about every dieting fad from excessive cabbage consumption to maple syrup supported fasts, but now there’s a new kind of diet spreading across the globe.
KEN (Ketogenic Enteral Nutrition) involves being fed via only a tube for 10 days! Devised by Professor of General Surgery Gianfranco Cappello in Italy, the tube is threaded into the throat via the nose and delivers Cappello’s patented fluid cocktail of proteins and nutrients. Dieters who can handle everyone asking them the obvious question (“OMG, why have you got a tube in your nose?”), can go about their normal business on this 10-day plan, carrying with them the daily two-litre pack of fluid, which the tube is attached to. Milk-free tea and coffee can even be consumed – but no food (that would defeat the purpose) and the tube can only be removed for one hour a day, a time slot allocated to showering.
In simplistic terms, this is a liquid Atkins diet without the risk of overindulging on meat, cream, cheese and eggs. The body goes into a state of ketosis in which it burns its own fat, ketones are then secreted via the urine and breath (which explains the oral pong of Atkins) and people lose weight – lots of it, in fact. Many KEN fans report losing 10lbs in 10 days (four to nine per cent of the person’s body weight is a typical amount), and while detractors say this is too much weight loss or just a quick short-term fix, supporters say it’s an effective way to maintain a healthy weight, with several returning for top-up 10-day sessions when needed.
KEN isn’t available in the UAE yet, but a similar system called Diet Tube exists in the US, and in London, Weight Management Systems clinic has opened up to offer Cappello’s KEN treatment for just over Dhs2,000 (plus you need to leave a Dhs1,750 refundable deposit for the pack).
INFO: Weight Management Systems, 96 Harley Street, London, W1G 7HY, +0044 207 48 666 84, www.weightmanagementsystems.co.uk.