Does the Medifast diet really work?
The Medifast diet regimen was developed by a medical professional from Johns Hopkins University in the 1980s and was the diet plan used on individuals who needed to lose weight quickly in order to become qualified for surgery. It was a prescribed diet at that time; but now, anyone can avail of Medifast replacement foods which come highly recommended by thousands of medical professionals.
In the Medifast diet plan, one has to follow a 5-in-1 food plan. This means that 5 meals should be Medifast meals, while one has to be a lean and green meal. Medifast replacement meals are high in protein and low in carbohydrate content. Because of this imbalance between proteins and carbohydrates, the body is persuaded to burn fat for energy, rather than glucose from carbohydrates. Hence, the body is placed in a state of ketosis, which is the metabolic state wherein the body burns fat. On the other hand, when a person eats a lot of carbohydrate-rich foods, the body is encouraged to release insulin, which in turn, metabolizes glucose. Here, the body uses glucose for energy; thus, it will not burn fat deposits. The Medifast diet works because it promotes ketosis.
Another great benefit of the Medifast diet regimen is that here, one won’t have to count calories or weigh how much food they should eat. There are over 70 varieties of food choices suitable for snacks, breakfast, lunch or dinner. These are pre-packed and very easy to prepare. So, these types are truly suitable for individuals who don’t have much time to prepare complicated meals. In addition, because of the expansive assortment of replacement meals available, dieters will have many options to choose from. Breakfast meals, for example, include oatmeal, coffees, or shakes. For lunch or dinner, there are stews and soups, like cream of broccoli, crab, beef, and many others. Snack selections are also diverse. There are puffs, pretzels, brownies and varieties of juice drinks. The Medifast plan also requires a person to consume at least one kind of lean and green meal per day. He can substitute any meal with the lean and green serving. Here, determining portions is not very difficult. One just has to fill half of his plate with any type of lean meat, and the other half with fresh greens. But for a more specific approach, half a plate of lean meat would be about 7 ounces, and 2 cups for vegetables. There are many types of vegetables that one can eat on a Medifast diet, but those with low starch content are recommended. Examples of these are: cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli and cauliflower; celery, green beans, sweet peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, and lettuce.
When going on a diet, it’s also important to have a good support system. With the Medifast diet, a person will have easy access to support tools, including food and nutritional guides, as well as easy recipes for those who wish to prepare lean and green meals. There is also a team of experts that continues to evaluate the effectiveness of current food replacement meals, and also other professionals who continue to develop new replacement items to make the Medifast choices more interesting to consumers.