Why should a meal replacement program be on your to-do list this summer? If there is any weight loss, detoxification, gut re-set, or lifestyle kick off that you need, this should be on your priority list. Why? The National Institute of Health (NIH) has endorsed research (Nutrition Journal 2010; Obesity in OPTIWIN Study) to highlight the efficacy of shake-based programs as compared to diet and lifestyle interventions. The conclusions and evidence in support of meal replacement-based programs will certainly make you feel glad that you are about to embark on the most efficacious way to attain your weight loss, improve your health, and reboot quickly in a sustainable fashion. Let us unpack why.
More Weight loss in short term:
We no longer can discredit reputable programs as “fad” diets that only offer the crashing weight loss with the spring back weight gain. Where these programs may have fallen short in the past was the lack of counseling support and coaching that is vital when re-introducing conventional meals. The corrective lifestyle pieces such as mineral support, alkalinization, exercise, low-glycemic, and low-inflammatory eating are also imperative to success of any program. In a randomized trial meal-replacement group 93% lost 5% of their body weight as compared to 55% of the diet-alone meal plan.
Shakes offer lower calorie intake as does a food-based plan, however, the lower glycemic index, higher protein, more nutrient dense, and higher fluid count per serving helps you feel fuller longer.
Quite obviously, it is far easier to acquire a program rather than the grocery shopping, cooking, portion-controlling, and supplemental support needed to go food-alone dieting. A patient can not only fatigue and give up with a food-based program, but also can miscalculate calories and portions when “going it alone.”
More health sustainability :
Head-to-head comparisons of liquid or shake-based plans with counseling to the diet and counseling traditional approaches (British Medical Journal from research at University of Oxford Primary Health Care Sciences) demonstrated 11kg weight loss as compared to 3kg after a year. Hunger hormones readjust early on when a program has low-glycemic, no-sugar, high protein, high fiber, high nutrient content. Insulin no longer spikes, and the body can get to work to liberate the fat and break it down in to carbon dioxide and water, and send it through the gut, urine, and sweat. Programs that allow meal with the shakes may yield more sustainability, because ghrelin, one of our hunger hormones, gets satisfied best through the chewing and eating process. In a well-built program digestive support, enzymes, probiotics, and herbal balancing will reign superior to a food-based program that has difficulty incorporating all facets with food alone. The programs offering elbow to elbow support can also offer the didactics to explain the next-steps, but they also address the common pitfalls which may take a patient off-course and “fail.” The idea behind an intentional lifestyle recalibration is to identify the junk “food” that we Americans ingest that sabotage any effort we make to nourish ourselves. Start by eliminating the problem foods, and if we replace with nutritious foods, the rest will follow.
Significant Health Outcomes Improved :
Obesity is crushingly on the rise, and with the extra pounds comes the extra health problems that impact healthspan, longevity, and healthcare costs in the country. As a physician, this is my ultimate concern for each patient. I did not always subscribe to programs. I was trained traditionally, and nutrition was not at the epicenter of my education. Nutrition, however, is at the core of any functional program I develop for a patient. I have patients that certainly have learned these nutritional concepts and have an extremely clean, organic eating style, and they would not need a program. They learned the foundational principles of how food has kept them well. On the other hand, I have patients where the first step is the dietary piece, because it is harming them and spoiling any other efforts, they are taking to advance their fitness forward. The meal-replacement programs were put to task against the food-based alone programs and reigned superior in reducing (short-term and long-term) percent body fat, visceral fat, and waist circumference. Any weight loss program did well in reducing blood pressure and CRP (c-reactive protein, an inflammatory marker). Both groups also were equal to reducing triglycerides and cholesterol. Meal-replacement participants also maintain lean muscle mass longer than diet-along participants, and as far as the sustained clinical indicators of blood pressure, waist, and oxidative stress were concerned, the meal-replacement group reigned superior.
Weight and Body Image Affects Mood:
There is real physiology at play with excess weight and poor eating styles. Yet there is also a roller coaster in the early phases of lifestyle changes. The impact of new plans can be slow and frustrating. However, going to a very programmatic plan may help eliminate the emotional eating and temptations you may have once had. A real mindfulness journey begins when you assess hunger, nutrition, reasons for eating, and motivational energy while you are assessing progress along the way. Food as nutrition and medicine takes over the unhealthy relationship you may have once had as food being used for rewards and punishments. One study quotes that those with excess weight have a 55% higher risk of depression, panic disorder, and agoraphobia. Adiponectin, leptin, glucocorticoids, insulin, and inflammatory signals play a significant role in the process of mood regulation as it relates to food ingestion and excess weight gain. There is an intricate network of these hormones that will also interplay with dopamine and serotonin. While this research is complicated and ongoing, I would surmise that a steady-state ideal weight would allows these hormones to synchronize and contribute to overall well-being than when they are poorly regulated with the obese patient.
Cost effectiveness of a program :
Cost of being healthy certainly resonates with my German frugal roots! This old doctor has certainly learned real benefits to a well-constructed nutritional program that packs in elements that I no longer have to shop for. I have wasted so many groceries by overbuying and fresh food perishing before I could eat it. I never could make a juice that I liked, and I do not like to add higher glycemic fruit just to make juices palatable. By the time I have searched my supplements, Amazon, a few grocery stores, and organic local markets, I am exhausted and spent probably quadruple of what a program could offer. I am sure the same applies to you. The sourcing of ingredients can also be taxing, and the back-out rate of any dietary plan is high when the complete execution is left to the patient. I love counselors, coaches, and functional nutritionists. Even their job is made so much easier if a reputable, sustainable regimen exists. Taking the work out of food acquisition allows more of the focus on fine-tuning the nutrition, starting exercising, and incorporating healing and mindfulness back into the health journey while creating a permanent healthy lifestyle moving forward.
Health Care Dollars :
Out of the $730 billion dollars spent on the modifiable risks in America in 2016 (obesity, hypertension, smoking), obesity is highest at 238.5 billion dollars according to author Scott Woolridge. These costs will translate into Medicare and Medicaid dollars, but also health care premiums. Are you paying more premiums because your weight gain and poor eating has led to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, or other disabilities? Is your weight gain causing more spending in your house per year than you thought? One analysis found that obesity costs in the home were $1900 higher than less obese people, but “severely obese” people tacked on another $3100 per year to that tally. Are you already on medication to control your conditions, or even yet, are you on medication to try to control appetite? Add these costs up quickly and you can see how a healthy relationship with a meal-replacement program and your new supportive friends and counselors will save your life and your bank account.
There are so many of us that could use a “spring cleaning” and get back to nutritional and lifestyle habits that serve us in a health journey rather than get in the way of our wellness goals. Even with my vast understanding of functional principles, food biochemistry, and lifestyle understanding, I too find myself looking for the effortless ways to achieve optimal nutrition so that I can actually “live.” Programs that have stood the test of time have evolved with the needs of the patient while sourcing superior ingredients. An excellent program offers: sustainability for the planet (usually suggesting plant-based), affordability, palatability (does anyone remember the wallpaper taste of Optifast?), nutritionally dense foods, ease of use, a community of users, allergen and inflammation free with low glycemic index, transitional plans, support products for the gut and body to utilize the nutrition, safety, and transparency with its practices and sourcing. I wholeheartedly endorse Arbonne and its “30 Days to Healthy Living” as it takes a patient on a journey to clean up the lifestyle and get the body performing better through nutrition.
