Can Medifast Really Help You Lose Weight?
Medifast is a food replacement program for weight loss.
Companies offer packaged meals and ready-to-eat snacks in your home. These are designed to help you absorb calories and lose weight.
This unique and unbiased review will explain what Medifast is and if it really works for weight loss.
What is Medifast?
Medifast is a commercial weight loss program based on meal replacement. It was started in 1980 by a physician named William Vital.
Initially selling food replacements through a network of primary care physicians, the company now sells food replacements directly to customers ’homes.
Their meals include dry powder shakes, snacks and dehydrated foods that can be safely shipped and stored, then quickly made at home without any added ingredients.
These foods will replace most foods. Depending on your plan you will continue to eat a simple meal every day that you choose on your own, and probably choose a breakfast yourself.
Medifast dieters eat small, frequent meals - six meals a day. Some meals are small snacks. They give two plans: "Go!" And "Flex".
Going! The plan prioritizes simplicity through all supplies except one of the daily meals. Provides instructions on how to choose “thin and green” foods for dinner, as well as five meal replacements.
"Thin and green" refers to a low-fat protein source combined with starchy vegetables. It excludes potatoes, corn, carrots, squash and peas.
The Flex plan allows for more customization and variation, providing a self-selected “thin and green” lunch and dinner with a replacement of four Medifast meals (one breakfast and extra shake or bar).
Medifast provides educational materials and guidelines related to self-selected meals and snacks, including restaurant options. These encourage dieters to eat low calorie and sugary foods.
Dieters can continue Medifast for as long as they want. On average, Medifast dieters lose weight for eight weeks.
After that, some dieters go back to their self-selected diet and some continue to use MediFast products on a more limited basis to maintain weight loss.
Medifast also provides a long-term weight-maintenance program as "Thrive" that provides low-meal replacements and offers more education in choosing high-protein, low-calorie foods.
SUMMARY:
Medifast is a program that provides ready-made, prepaid meals and meal replacement snacks to help reduce your total calorie intake.
How Medifast work?
Medifast focuses on weight loss by using frequent, small, low-calorie foods. This eating pattern is designed to induce weight loss without the same degree as skipping meals or reducing the size of three meals a day.
Eating a few small meals a day instead of three large meals helps to burn calories without feeling constantly hungry.
Studies show that hunger is one of the main causes of many diet failures.
Appetite hormones, including ghrelin and glucagon-type peptide 1 (GLP-1), change in response to what and when you eat.
A study of 20 men found that when men eat four small snacks for breakfast instead of a big one, they reduce their appetite throughout the day.
People who ate four small snacks ate fewer calories day after day, when they were allowed to eat as much as they wanted from the buffet. These included lower levels of ghrelin and higher levels of GLP-1, indicating a decrease in appetite.
Another study of 108 men and women found that a meal alternative to a low-calorie meal replacement bar successfully reduced appetite compared to conventional foods.
By providing a controlled low calorie diet that helps reduce appetite and cravings, Medifast helps reduce total calorie intake.
In addition to food replacement, Medifast provides education and other weight loss support, such as encouraging dieters to keep a food diary.
One study looked at the effects of receiving contact or support from outside the home by following 3 adults on a weight loss program with prepaid meals.
When participants were encouraged to keep their diet plan stable, they lost about 5 pounds (2.3 kg) more than those who were not encouraged.
SUMMARY:
Eating smaller, more frequent meals helps control your appetite and reduces the urge to cheat on your diet. Medifast also provides diet advice and education to help you stay motivated.
Does the Medifast diet plan help you lose weight?
Several studies examined the Medifast diet and compared it to a more general, self-selected diet plan.
In a 16-week study of 90 obese adults, Medifast lost 12% of body weight compared to 7% in a control group who followed a self-selected low-calorie diet.
Although the Medifast dieters regained more of this weight within 24 weeks of observation after the diet, their final weight control at the end of 40 weeks was less than that of the dieters.
This may be because they lost more weight in the first 16 weeks.
In another unexpected study of 1,351 dieters using Medifast, study volunteers who were on the program lost an average of 26 pounds (12 kg) over a period of one year.
In this study, only 25% of the volunteers continued the one-year mark. Volunteers who left school too early still lost weight, but less than those who followed a full year diet.
Another study found that 77 overweight adults lost approximately 10% of their body weight within 12 weeks of the Medifast diet. The diet was Medifast's 5 and 1 meal plan, which provided five meal replacements per day and required dieters to provide a meal of their own choosing.
In a second, for a longer study of Medifast 5 and 1 meal plans, the dieters lost 16.5 pounds (7.5 kg) at 26 weeks, while the control group lost 8 pounds ( 4 kg) on a regular self-selected weight loss diet.
One year after starting the diet, both diet groups regained some of this weight. The Medifast dieters ended up 11 pounds (5 kg) lighter than the 4.4 pounds (2 kg) lighter in the control group.
In this study, the Medifast dieters also had an additional 2-inch reduction from the waist: 1.4 inches (4 cm) versus 2.4 inches (6 cm) for the control group.
In a study of 16,185 overweight dieters, another Medifast meal plan provided four Medifast meals, including two self-selected meals and a snack.
Volunteers lost an average of 24 pounds (11 kg) over 12 weeks. Those who continued the plan for another 12 weeks lost an additional 11 pounds (5 kg).
Together, these studies show that Medifast works for weight loss, resulting in a weight loss of 2.2 pounds (1 kg) per week. However, in each study, including long-term follow-up, the dieters regained some of this weight after 12 months of weight.
SUMMARY:
Medifast dieters lose about 10% or 24 pounds (11 kg) of their body weight in about 12 weeks. Most dieters recover a bit, but the next year is not all.
Here's how it compares to similar programs
There are a variety of different meal replacement programs, providing a variety of food options and prices.
A review of 45 studies from various commercial weight management programs has shown similar weight loss in followers of the MediFast, NutriSystem, Jenny Craig, and Optimal Food Replacement diets.
The HMR (Health Management Resources) diet provides another diet of prepackaged foods, shakes, soups, and meal replacement entrees. It has been shown to produce approximately 5% more weight loss than others.
In this study, the slimfast diet replacement rocked the mixed results, with some studies losing approximately 3% more weight than the control diet and others losing no more weight than the control diet.
In general, diet replacement diets were slightly more effective than weight control diets, resulting in 2-7% more weight loss than control diets in several studies.
In this review, Medifast dieters spent 42,4,424 per month compared to $ 682 for HMR, $ 665 for Optistfire, $ 570 for Jenny Craig, 28,280 for NutriSystem, and $ 70 for Slimfast.
Some diets that do not use meal replacement programs cost less. For example, in the study above, the Weight Watchers program that does not replace meals costs 43 43 more per month for additional meals.
For other self-guided diets, only the price of a diet book and the price of the meal are higher.
In the same review of many studies, all of these commercial weight loss programs had a weight loss rate of more than 50% and most dieters regained 50% of the weight they lost in the next one or two. two years.
SUMMARY:
The weight loss on Medifast is similar to other diet replacement diets, such as Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig. It is more effective but more expensive than rapid weight loss or other less elaborate commercial diets.
Medifast Meal Replacement Nutrition
Medifast meal replacements include bars, snacks, shakes, drinks, candy, and prepackaged meals. These are designed to provide low calorie, high protein meals with relatively low carbohydrates.
MediFast meals are also fortified so that the diet provides 100% of the recommended daily allowance for all essential vitamins and minerals.
Their foods are protected with dietary fiber to increase the amount of food and help control appetite without adding calories.
They also contain added sugar to help flavor various snacks and drinks. The amount of added sugar is low, but enough to contribute a significant amount of sugar to your diet compared to various foods.
Drinks
Drink options include low-calorie hot chocolate and instant cappuccino, pineapple and berry flavors with some flavors of milkshakes and smoothies.
Each is prepared to provide about 100 calories. These include complementary protein sources such as egg whites, soy protein isolates and interesting protein concentrations. Protein in these products provides 50 to 75% of calories.
They also contain added sugar, which contains 20 to 33% calories in drinks. These products are low in fat, usually 1 to 3 grams.
For example, their meal replacement Dutch chocolate shake contains 14 grams of protein, which provides 56% of the 100 calories in the drink. It contains 6 grams of sugar, which is 24% calorie, 20% calories come from fat.
Snacks
In addition to drinks, one of Medifast's six daily meals can be your breakfast bar, dessert or "crunchy" snack, such as a cheese buns or pretzel sticks.
Medifast offers 13 types of bars. They contain sugars, complementary protein sources and sugars to increase sugar.
For example, their cookie flour chewy bar contains 110 calories with 11 grams of protein and 6 grams of sugar with 15 grams of sugar.
Their crunchy breakfast is protein isolated and frequent and low in sugar and fat. For example, their cheese pizza bites contain 11 grams (44 calories) of protein and 11 grams (44 calories) of carbohydrates, with only traces of sugar and fat.
Their desserts are calorie controlled to have about 100 calories. Naturally, they contain more sugar than other food substitutes and again contain supplemental protein.
For example, their brown soft bake contains 15 grams of carbohydrates, 8 grams of sugar and 11 grams of protein.
Entrees
Medifast produces some varieties of pancakes and oatmeal for the first meal of the day.
Pancakes with about 14 grams of carbohydrates, 11 grams of protein and 4 grams of sugar are part-controlled to provide 110 calories. The amount of protein, calories and carbohydrates in Medifast oatmeal is almost identical, with slightly less sugar.
They also produce "hearty alternatives" such as a selection of mashed potatoes and soups. These vary in their carbohydrate content but follow the pattern of being high in protein, low in fat and about 100 calories.
Dieters can also buy from a selection of larger entries to serve as their “thin and green” food. Each of these staples provides about 300 calories.
For example, their chicken cacaito alternative provides 26 grams of protein, 15 grams of carbohydrates and 15 grams of fat.
SUMMARY:
Medifast meal substitutes include shivering and shaking, oatmeal and pancakes, protein bars and snacks, as well as a limited selection of entries. Their diet follows a high protein, low fat and low-calorie theme.
Medifast Professionals and Cons
Like any diet, Medifast has its advantages and disadvantages.
Professionals Benefits of Medifast
Short-term weight loss: Medifast is effective for short-term weight loss - an average of about 2.2 pounds (1 kg) per diet week.
Protected Foods - Foods are protected to provide 100% or more of the recommended daily allowance for all essential vitamins and minerals.
Education and support: Medifast provides education and limited support to help keep you motivated.
Easy to follow - Prepaid foods make it easier to follow a diet, eliminating the need to plan and calculate calories.
Cons of Medifast
This can be annoying: the limited variety of foods and the taste of food substitutes can be detrimental to food habits and diet.
Dining out can be challenging - the company provides guidelines on picking lean protein and starchy vegetables, but menu items with diet are not always available.
Added Sugar: Several MediFast drinks and snacks add sugar to make food more palatable. Some of your alternatives provide 20% or more calories from sugar.
Weight Recovery: Most Medifast dieters will regain some of the weight they lost after stopping the diet.
It’s expensive - it costs about 400 400 to replace a 30-day meal. MyDiates.com estimates that Medifast will cost about 12 12 per day, including the cost of food included in the plan.
But the cost may be less than what you hear because you buy food and eat less. For example, if the average person spends about -7-9 meals a day, Medifast will spend -5 3-5 more than their normal food budget.
SUMMARY:
Medifast works for weight loss and is nutritionally complete, although its variety is limited and eating can be challenging. Most plans cost around 400,400 a month.
BOTTOM LINE
Medifast promotes weight loss through easy-to-make-at-home shakes, bars, snacks, and meals.
This may be a good option for people who think they will benefit from the structure and simplicity of eating prepaid foods for weight loss.
However, in larger studies, less than 50% of the participants were able to adhere to Medistast for 12 months or more. Also, the participants regained most of the weight they lost over the following year.
Medifast can be effective for weight loss, but long-term weight loss requires permanent lifestyle changes.
Article source healthline.com
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