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For people who want to lose weight, creating a balanced diet and a healthy exercise routine are vital. Even though dieting might be hard, one of the hardest things about losing weight is keeping it off. Many times, people lose a significant amount of weight only to go through rebound weight gain. In order to avoid the dreaded weight gain, researchers from a new study suggested that people eat a high protein diet with meal replacements.

"The body has several defense mechanisms against weight loss, such as increased hunger, lower energy metabolism and relapse back to old habits," said research team member Dr. Erik Hemmingsson reported by Medical Xpress. "If the problem of rebound weight gain didn't exist, obesity would be relatively easy to treat. There have been several possible methods to facilitate long-term weight control over the years, and now the database was large enough to make a systematic evaluation of existing studies."

For this study conducted by researchers from the Karolinska Institute's Clinical Epidemiology Unit and the Obesity Center at Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden, the team performed a meta-analysis on the results from 20 published scientific studies. The studies totaled 3,017 participants who were overweight or obese at the start of their diets.

The studies examined the effectiveness of several methods used to keep weight off after an intensive weight loss period. The methods included weight loss methods such as drugs, meal replacements, high protein diets, dietary supplements and exercise.  The researchers found that for the majority of the people, weight gain was common. However, there were some techniques that prevented rebound weight gain.

The researchers found that anti-obesity drugs, meal replacements, and a high protein diet were all effective in curbing weight gain. The team reported that eating foods with low glycemic index was also an effective method. The researchers stated that since anti-obesity drugs can have undesirable side effects, the latter two methods are more ideal.

The study, "Effects of anti-obesity drugs, diet and exercise on weight loss maintenance after a very-low-calorie diet or low-calorie diet: a systemic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials," was published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.