Crash diets or fasts have long-term benefits, Scottish researchers said yesterday.
Known as "very low energy diets", they involve cutting eating to less than 800 calories a day and usually involve taking commercially produced formula diets.
UK guidelines already support the use of the diets for up to three months.
Researchers at Robert Gordon University, Scotland, set out to establish the long-term effects of the diets.
They found 894 studies but said only 32 gave strong evidence of long term effects for at least 12 months.
These included improved blood pressure, reduction in waist size.
Some researchers found improvements in asthma and fertility. There was little evidence of negative effects.
Researcher Dr Catherine Rolland said: "The success of very low energy diets was particularly high amongst individuals who used conventional diets and exercised regularly as part of their everyday lives.
"As such, the long-term outcomes cannot clearly dissociate between the VLED and the means of weight maintenance used following the period of very low energy intake.
"In carrying out this review we have found that long-term benefits such as weight-loss and improvements in cardiovascular risk, respiratory disorders and fertility are achievable with the use of these short-burst, low calorie diets."
* Meanwhile doctors reported conflicting findings on heart health at a major European conference.
Dozens of researchers have reported their findings to the European Society of Cardiology conference in Munich, Germany.
One study warns that people of normal "healthy weight" may be at massively increased risk if they carry large amounts of fat around the middle.
The findings come from a study of nearly 13,000 people in the USA and cast doubt over the use of body mass index to establish healthy weights.
Researcher Dr Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said: “We knew from previous research that central obesity is bad, but what is new in this research is that the distribution of the fat is very important even in people with a normal weight.
"This group has the highest death rate, even higher than those who are considered obese based on body mass index."
* An Italian study suggests that energy drinks can improve the health of the heart.
Researcher Dr Matteo Cameli, from University of Siena, reported using a technique called speckle-tracking echocardiography to study the working of hearts after using the drinks.
He said: “Our study was performed in young healthy individuals at rest. Future studies need to focus on whether such benefits persist after long term consumption of energy drinks, and what the effects are of consuming these drinks during physical activity."
* Another researcher showed how a "healthy" lifestyle can cut the risk of developing high blood pressure by two thirds.
The study linked low alcohol consumption, regular physical activity, daily consumption of vegetables and a "normal" weight to a one third reduction in risk.
The findings come from a study of 20,000 people in Finland.
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