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The Medifast Diet Plan

By Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD
WebMD Expert Review

Medifast Diet Plan: What It Is

The Medifast program is a very low-calorie, no-brainer approach to weight loss. There’s no counting calories, fat grams, or carbs; you just eat or drink six times a day.

Launched 27 years ago as a meal replacement program available only through doctors, the Medifast diet is now widely available and includes 70 meal-replacement options, including the popular shakes.

The primary Medifast weight loss program, “5 plus 1,” calls for five daily Medifast meal-replacement drinks or foods (all available only through the company) plus one “lean and green” meal, consisting of lean meat or fish plus salad or green vegetables.

The high-protein, low-carb Medifast plans allow dieters approximately 800-1,000 calories a day, designed to yield a loss of 2 to 5 pounds per week while preserving muscle mass.

“Weight loss varies according to stage of the program, how much you have to lose and physical activity,” explains Lisa Davis, PhD, Medifast vice president of research and development. “Initial weight loss is usually much greater than amount lost in later weeks.”

Special Medifast plans are available for vegetarians, teens, new moms, seniors, people who have recently had weight loss surgery, and gout sufferers.

Davis estimates the cost of the meal replacements at $80/week or $300/month, not including the daily “lean and green” meal you prepare yourself. No supplements are needed with the Medifast diet, she says.

The meal-replacement products and support are available online through Medifast’s web site; in about 15,000 doctor’s offices across the United States; at Medifast clinics in Florida and Texas; and through the “Take Shape for Life” network of health coaches (Take Shape for Life is a subsidiary of Medifast).

An array of support services and educational material — including exercise guides, nutrition information, online communities, personal trainers, and registered dietitians — are available online, in person, or over the telephone to help dieters following the plan.

Click Here to Read the Rest of the Review.

If your not on the 5-in-1 program it’s time to go on it now, especially with spring/summer almost here. If you are on the program tell all your friends and relatives about it.

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Poor diet appears to be a major factor behind a significant rise in mental illness, according to British studies. Researchers found a strong correlation between attention deficit disorder, depression, Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia and the absence of essential dietary fats, vitamins and minerals.

Changes in diet have been linked to numerous mental health disorders, including schizophrenia, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, attention deficit disorder, and other disorders. Researchers point at the widespread consumption of highly processed foods, the availability of junk food and fast food, and the poor quality food that is often at schools to children.  

Persons with mental illness have a high risk of developing physical illnesses and some of the factors that increase this risk are alcohol, smoking, drug use, poor diet due to poverty or illness. Other factors may result directly from treatment itself and can cause effects on the nervous system and metabolic function.

Persons with poor health are restricted in a variety of adult roles – as spouses and parents, as employees, and as community contributors. Good health is shaped partly by genetic factors but also depends on responsible lifestyle behaviors, positive environmental conditions, and effective healthcare. Persons with mild mental retardation often can merge into competitive labor and daily community life with minimal assistance, while persons with moderate mental retardation may need more training and support in order to live successfully in the community.

Healthy lifestyles that include exercise and a high fiber diet require plenty of water intake. Experts suggest eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily. Health is not just the absence of disease. Consider the situation with a medical illness. Health care professionals and families face new and diverse challenges in the current health care market. With the move toward managed care, providers have been required to look for ways to make services more efficient.

Way back in history, a small minority of doctors continued to believe that mental illness was caused by imbalanced bodily humors, poor diet, and grief. Treatments of choice included exorcisms, and other more barbaric strategies such as drowning and burning.

Fuel your brain with these Brain Foods while on the Take Shape For Life:

• Vegetables, especially leafy
• Foods enriched with Omega-3
• Organic farmed or wild fish

During the Take Shape For Life Plan and even after weight loss, always minimize or eliminate your intake of:

• Deep-fried foods
• Refined, processed foods
• Pesticides in foods; consider buying organic for foods you eat regularly
• Alcohol
• Sugar

Click Here to Order Your Brain Food Today!

Doctors are taught to sell drugs to patients. How do you think the pharmaceutical companies make so much money each day. Doctors are only interested in money, and I never felt that anyone really wanted to help me.

Doctors will likely tell their sarcoid patient that sarcoid is a disease in which your immune system makes a mistake. It reacts at full throttle to an unknown invader.

Doctors are interested in disease, not health. Medical textbooks are a massive catalogue of diseases. Doctors are interested in conducting operations in order to receive the income. Firstly, this is the way to top up the Ministry’s budget which is required at every staff meeting by hospital chiefs who carry the President’s commands and, secondly, it is also for personal gain.

Medical doctors are not bad people. They are only practicing what they were taught.

Doctors are interested in patient education because it enhances the ability of patients to participate in their care and may also increase compliance with treatment regimens. However, the process of finding high-quality, appropriate health information can be an arduous task.

Medications and surgeries are the methods they know. Unfortunately, these therapies, when used to treat diseases caused by diet, are largely ineffective. Medical schools and other educational institutions are not teaching doctors how to use drugs wisely and conservatively.

Until they insist that the pharmaceutical industry stick to its own business (which can include advertising but not education), we are unlikely to get the help we need from our doctors in controlling runaway drug expenditures.

Medical research is not very good at discussing type 2 error. It may be sensible to assume that studies showing no net effect as dispositive with respect to discontinuing chemo, but it really depends on how strong the side effects are.

Patients have and are suffering at the hands of poor prescribers. Several deaths from overdoses of Methotrexate, various chemotherapy agents, and a large number of other drugs whose prescription innacuracies have had serious harmful effects.

Patients are interested in treatment not drugs thrown at them that may cause other problems or even death.

More and more baby boomers are intermixing all kinds of drugs together they think will work to fix their health problems and this will no doubt lead to more unexplained deaths.

That’s why everyone today needs to take their own health into their own hands today. 

Medifast is a healthy diet that makes quick weight loss simple.  With the 5 & 1 Plan, there is no calorie counting, no points system, no diet pills and no confusion.  The Medifast low calorie diet consists of clinically proven meal replacements designed to help you lose 2-5 pounds per week.

Ted Hasse started with the Take Shape For Life 5 & 1 Plan after a period of declining health. Ted woke up one night unable to breathe and was rushed to the Emergency Room.

Ted  was sent to numerous doctors who all said I was obese and needed to lose weight before I had a stroke, heart attack, or full-blown diabetes. Ted also felt tired all the time and couldn’t do the things my kids wanted me to do with them.

Ted was embarrassed to be seen in a swimsuit, so he didn’t go swimming on family vacations. His wife found out from a friend about Take Shape For Life and she helped him to start the program! Ted noticed results within the first three or four days!

Ted has lost a total of 132 lbs. and feel better now than I ever have. Ted has increased physical stamina and endurance, and I love to exercise now. Ted’s previous medical conditions are non-existent. Ted now feel almost 20 years younger!

Click Here to view Ted’s testimonial that enabled him to take his health into his own hands instead letting his doctor prescribe pills or bypass surgery.

Chemical food additives were first created with the purpose of keeping food safe and bacteria free, but today, technology has taken chemicals way beyond health and safety. Westernized foods are saturated with a plethora of chemicals. Chemicals, drugs and environmental factors, including diet and lifestyles, may be responsible for causing up to 90% of all ‘Cancers’.

Because of the nature of the disease, and also because of the drastic methods currently needed for effective treatment – such as surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy – incredible suffering is experienced by people throughout the world as a consequence of ‘Cancers’.

Fats cause heart disease. In 1998, the American Heart Association finally came out telling us to limit our intake of trans fats, the main ingredient in margarine. Fat cells apparently play a role that can spur the cancer growth.

Doughnuts: Doughnuts contain hydrogenated oils, white flour, sugar, and acrylamides. Doughnuts are cancer-causing double trouble. First, they are made with white flour, sugar, and hydrogenated oils, then fried at high temperatures. Doughnuts, says Adams , may be the worst food you can possibly eat to raise your risk of cancer. French fries are like doughnuts, French fries are made with hydrogenated oils and then fried at high temperatures. They also contain cancer- causing acrylamides which occur during the frying process.

Doughnuts may be the worst food you can possibly eat to raise your risk of cancer. French fries are like doughnuts, French fries are made with hydrogenated oils and then fried at high temperatures.

Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar ingested every day produces a continual over-acid condition, and more and more minerals are required from deep within the body in an attempt to rectify the imbalance. In order to protect the blood, the system will extract calcium from the teeth and bones, eventually causing decay and a generally weakened condition.

Lung cancer, accounting for nearly a quarter of total cancer-related mortality, is by far the most common cancer-related cause of death. With only 9 percent, cancer of the colon is the second most common cancer-related cause of death, followed by breast cancer accounting for 8 percent. Lung cancer is also anticipated to be the number one cause of cancer death for men for a long time to come. The number of men who die from prostate cancer is on the increase.

The General Conference Nutrition Council offers information on the diet which reduces cancer risk. What you eat is important. Dietary factors are associated with 30-50 percent of all cancers. Let’s begin with discussing what you eat.

The single most important dietary change to lower cancer risk is to become a vegetarian. Animal products are associated with cancers of the prostate, colon, breast, ovary, and pancreas. Nevertheless, some studies show that those who use some milk have a lower risk of cancers than those who use none at all.

One of the major problems with consuming animal products is the fat. Animal fats make up over half of the fats in the American diet. Fat does not likely initiate cancer, but it is considered to be a promoter of it. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences states that total dietary saturated fat correlate best with an increase in cancer risk, and that 70 percent of saturated fat comes from animal products.

If the public reduced its fat intake to around 20 percent of the calories, we would see an estimated 33 percent decrease in breast, colon, rectal, ovary, and endometrial cancer.

Reducing the fat in your diet to 20 percent of the calories, will most likely reduce the risk of a number of cancers. Animal studies suggest that there is no additional benefit in reducing fat intake below 20 percent of the calories. However, a 30 percent fat diet for a vegetarian may reduce cancer risk to the same level as a 20 percent fat diet for those who get considerable amounts of animal fat.

Don’t try to eliminate all fat from your diet. Your body needs some types of fat to stay healthy. If there are no essential fatty acids in the diet, normal tissue cannot develop. Some individuals are derived because they have read reports that certain essential fatty acids of 20 percent of the calories increase cancerous tumors in animals. However, the essential fatty acids as found in vegetable oils are essential for the function of normal cells in the tissue of animals and man.

The answer to this concern is that neither normal nor cancerous tissue will develop on a 0 percent fat diet. Little tissue growth occurs between 3 and 20 percent. Epidemiological evidence clearly demonstrates an inverse relationship between an increase in vegetable oils and fats and cancer rate.

In the process of reducing animal and total fat, you also will reduce another cancer risk-obesity. Obesity increases the risk for cancers of the gallbladder, breast, endometrium, ovary, prostate, and colon.

Where fat appears on your body is also important. To be pear shaped (larger around the hips than around the abdomen) is healthier than to be apple shaped. Being apple shaped increases risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and cancers of the endometrium and breast.

Perhaps, in addition, lowering total caloric intake may reduce cancer risk even further than reducing fat. A 30-percent reduction in calories would decrease breast and endometrial cancer risk by an estimated 90 percent. Animal studies suggest that decreasing your caloric intake by 25 percent would result in a 75 percent reduction in tumors. Reducing calories by 12 percent decreases tumors by 40 percent, but it takes a 75 percent reduction in fat to do the same. A high-fat diet may also be low in fiber. The best way to lower fat and calories in the diet is to consume a high-fiber diet. A diet of high fiber foods would include generous servings of whole grain breads, cereals, and legumes. This is one more good reason to lower total fat to less than 30 percent of calories.

Medifast food also has extra protein, minerals, and vitamins added so that all the nutritional needs your body has while dieting are met. The foods and meals come in a wide range of flavors. Medifast food products cost about $9.6/day ( And cuts your groceries, dining out expenses too). You?ll pay only for your food.

The Medifast products have been clinically proven to not only help people lose weight and also get healthy to help stave off all those nasty cancers.

For more information about the Medifast products from Take Shape for Life, Click Here!

INTRODUCTION
Medifast and Take Shape for Life is committed to maximizing health and wellness through it’s provision of soy-based meal replacement weight control programs. In light of recent controversy, including books, slanting soy, Medifast feels it is their duty to provide the latest evidence-based recommendations regarding the use of dietary soy for healthcare providers.

The following document provides a comprehensive summary of the latest scientific information regarding soy and its relationship with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, cancer, menopause, bone health, and kidney function, as well as addresses any safety concerns regarding soy.

Medifast’s soy-based meal replacements provide a healthy way of achieving the optimal amount of dietary protein crucial for weight loss while still preserving lean muscle mass. In addition to preserving calorie-burning lean muscle tissue, dietary protein stimulates thermogenesis more than carbohydrates or fats and is the most satiating macronutrient. Soy protein is a healthy alternative to animal-based proteins that tend to be high in fat and saturated fat.

Both human and animal studies have demonstrated a favorable effect of soy protein on body weight and fat distribution. In a 12-week study comparing soy protein meal replacements to milk-based protein meal replacements as part of a low energy diet, soy MRs were associated with greater weight loss (Anderson & Hoie, 2005).

Importantly, soy protein has been shown to yield numerous health-related benefits for conditions that overweight individuals
are more likely to suffer from. Soy may protect against a range of conditions including cardiovascular disease to cancer and to reductions in overall mortality.

IMPORTANCE OF (SOY) PROTEIN DURING DIETING
Medifast’s soy-based meal replacements are made from isolated soy protein (Solae Brand™), with its naturally-occuring isoflavones
(genistein, daidzein, and glycitein) working together to yield health benefits. An innovative water-based technique is used to separate carbohydrate and fat from the soy protein while maintaining healthy isoflavones. Other processing methods, like alcohol-extraction methods, remove a substantial amount of isoflavones and its anti-atherogenic properties (Clair & Anthony, 2005).

Soy is a complete protein whose quality is similar to that of meat, milk, and eggs. Using the FDA-recommended method of qualifying
a protein, Protein Efficiency Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS), Medifast’s soy protein (Solae Brand™), has the highest obtainable score (1.0). In addition to high digestibility,
it contains all essential amino acids, including methionine and arginine.

NOT ALL SOY PROTEIN IS CREATED EQUAL
All-Cause Mortality
Japan has the highest life expectancy in the world (Health and Welfare Statistics Association, 1999). Soy is a staple in the Japanese
diet. The Takayama Study prospectively examined the relationship
between soy intake and mortality among over 13,000 Japanese men and 15, 000 Japanese women residents over a 7 year period. They determined that the average total intake of soy per day for men was 102.3g (44.6mg isoflavones) and for women 93.3g (41.4mg isoflavones). (Negata, Takatsuka, Shimizu, 2002).

FINDINGS:
•A significant inverse association between soy intake (and isoflavone
intake) with all-cause mortality for men and women after controlling for age and total energy intake.
•After adjusting for nondietary factors, a decreased risk of death was observed among men (0.83, 95%CI 0.68 to 1.01) and women (0.83, 95%CI 0.68 to 1.02) with the highest compared with the lowest quintile of total soy product intake.

HEALTH BENEFITS
Cardiovascular Disease
Soy’s isoflavones, genistein and diadzein, protect the heart by boosting the activity of LDL receptors that remove ‘bad’ cholesterol
from the bloodstream. Additional ways soy may protect the heart are through its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and potentially
anti-thrombogenic properties (Clair & Anthony, 2005). Randomized controlled trials have also shown that soy decreases homocysteine levels in both men and women (generally post-menopausal)

BOTTOM LINE:

• Medifast meal replacements are made from the highest quality soy protein with the highest levels of naturally-occuring isoflavones.
  
• Soy is inversely associated with all-cause mortality.
  
• Soy protein protects against coronary risk factors and 33 of Medifast’s meal replacements carry the Heart Healthy Claim.
  
• Soy may improve the metabolic abnormalities of metabolic syndrome.
  
• Men who consume soy may have lower rates of prostate cancer.
  
• Soy appears to have a protective effect against premenopausal breast cancer. The verdict is still out among postmenopausal females, or females with a past personal history
  or family history of breast cancer. The verdict is also still out regarding the use of soy and Tamoxifen. Medifast recommends that patients follow the NCI guidelines and the advice of their physician or breast cancer specialist.
  
• Soy appears to protect against cancers of the GI tract and may help eradicate H. Pylori infections.
  
• Soy helps with vasomotor symptoms of menopause
  and positively affects other menopause-related health conditions.
  
• Soy has no adverse effects in euthyroid individuals.
  Individuals with hypothyroidism on synthetic thyroid hormones
  do not need to avoid soy in their diets. General guidelines
  are to consume soy meals three hours before or after taking thyroid hormones; closely monitor labs; and ensure adequate iodine is consumed.
  
• There is evidence to suggest that soy confers a protective effect on bone. The benefits of soy on bone health may be garnered most during peri-menopause or early post-menopause.
  
• Soy does not alter sexual function, behavior, or affect sterility.
  

The amount of oxalate in 5 Medifast meal replacements,
as part of the 5 & 1 diet plan, is well beneath the ADA’s daily cut-off value for calcium oxalate stone-formers.

CONCLUDING REMARKS
For most people, the benefits of incorporating soy protein as part of a healthy diet plan far outweigh the potential (or hypothetical)
risks. This is particularly true for overweight or obese individuals, who are more likely to suffer from a comorbidity that would be responsive to soy. Medifast is a pioneer in recognizing the dual benefit that can be potentially gained by offering the highest quality soy protein, rich in isoflavones, as part of their clinically-tested weight control program.

Many of the health benefits derived from soy foods are because of its isoflavones. Soy isoflavones are estrogen-like compounds isolated from soybeans.

Medifast products use a high quality soy protein isolate that is water washed (rather than alcohol washed) to keep these naturally-occurring isoflavones.

Many researchers believe that soy may decrease the risk of certain types of cancer, lower cholesterol and support good bone health.

Be adventurous and use tofu, Boca burgers, Morningstar Farm or Garden burgers for the “lean” portion of your Lean and Green meal; check out the Medifast Meatless Meal options list for portion size recommendations and enjoy!

Or, view our Medifast Lean Meal Options for your meal of the day.

How many so-called diets out there do you see on TV talk about getting our seniors out their healthy and more happy. The answer is NONE!

Medifast from Take Shape for Life allows not only empowers men and woman and teenagers the ability to slim down, lose weight and get healthy but now our seniors.

Maintaining a healthy weight is beneficial for people of all ages. As you get older, achieving and maintaining a healthy weight becomes crucial to your overall state of health.

Medifast for Seniors is the new Medifast Program specially designed for adults over age 70. The Medifast for Seniors Program is different from the Medifast 5 & 1 Plan that’s described in your Quick Start Guide. Please read the Medifast for Seniors Program Guide carefully; it provides all the information you need to get started.

The Medifast for Seniors Program is convenient and simple to follow, emphasizing portion-controlled eating at regular intervals throughout the day!

By following our Medifast seniors guide from Take Shape for Life all of our seniors can use the Medifast products to lose weight and live a rich and healthy life. Here is what is in the guide.

LEAN OPTIONS
GREEN OPTIONS
HEALTHY SNACKS
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
EXERCISE FOR SENIORS

THE MEDIFAST 4 & 2 & 1 PLAN

THE MEDIFAST 5 & 2 & 2 PLAN

If you know a senior or have parents or relatives that need to get healthy pass the Medifast Seniors Guide onto them. They will thank you later for it.

Click Here to View and print the Medifast Seniors Guide.

Overweight Causes Cancer Major new research shows 20% of cancer deaths in women are caused by being overweight Overweight — not just obesity, but being overweight — accounts for 14 to 20% of deaths by cancer, report researchers.

Being overweight at cancer diagnosis or soon afterward, as measured by body mass index (BMI; weight (kg)/height (m)2), was associated with poorer overall survival and disease-free survival.

Doctors have long suspected a link between weight gain and certain cancers, including colon and breast cancers. But the new study, published Friday in the journal Lancet, suggests it could also increase chances for cancer of the esophagus, thyroid, kidney, uterus and gall bladder, among others.

Scientists are unsure how being overweight could make people more susceptible to cancer.

One of the hypotheses is that the presence of excess fat cells could affect the levels of hormones in your body,” Renehan said. “At a cellular level, that may favor the development of tumors in humans.

Weight loss is recommended among overweight cancer survivors to reduce these risks. This is not to say that being overweight causes cancer, but rather that it is one of many risk factors. Being overweight causes cancer Hormones are the key link between an overweight person and an increased risk of cancer.

Published earlier this week in ‘The Diabetes Educator,’ the official journal of diabetes educators, and prominently noted in ‘The Baltimore Sun Business Digest,’ the diabetes study points to Medifast’s Diabetic Meals as a more effective option than those prescribed by the American Diabetes Association for those with Type-2 Diabetes.

With all the fad diets out there with overwight people sure to develop 1 or more of 14 different cancers, it’s no wonder people are freaking out about their weight. Medifast from Take Shape for Life has the power not only to get your weight down quickly but get you healthy at the same time.

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a chronic health condition characterized by high blood glucose (sugar) levels. There are two main types of diabetes: type 1 diabetes mellitus (insulin-dependent diabetes) and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Both are managed with proper food choices, physical activity and (in some cases) oral medications or insulin injections. There is also a condition called pre-diabetes. Pre-diabetes is characterized by blood glucose levels which are higher than normal, but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.

Changes in diet and level of physical activity can delay or even prevent pre-diabetes from progressing to type 2 diabetes. Remember, the best medical treatment or plan is only as good as your ability to follow it.

What is Type 2 Diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes. It can occur at any age, even during childhood. In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas does not make enough insulin; or the fat, muscle or liver cells do not use insulin properly. Being overweight significantly increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. However, losing just five percent of your body weight can help control the signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes, improve health indicators (glucose, hemoglobin A1C, cholesterol, blood pressure) and may reduce the need for medication. Medifast is an effective weight loss and weight maintenance tool for individuals with type 2 diabetes.

What is Type 1 Diabetes (insulin-dependent diabetes)?

Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in childhood or young adulthood. It occurs when beta cells of the pancreas no longer make insulin, resulting in blood sugar levels that stay too high. Insulin must be administered daily (by injection or pump) to bring down blood sugar levels and the diet must be carefully planned. If there is too much insulin (or not enough glucose coming from the digested food), blood sugar levels will fall too low glycemia). For this reason, we do not recommend our weight-loss program for individuals with type 1 diabetes. However, Medifast products can be used for weight maintenance as a healthy alternative to regular foods, in conjunction with a daily meal plan.

The Medifast for Diabetes Program Manual is designed with special care to help guide individuals with diabetes on the Medifast Program. The Medifast for Diabetes Program is different from the Medifast 5 & 1 Plan that’s described in your Quick Start Guide. Please read the Medifast for Diabetes Program Manual carefully; it provides all the information you need to get started.

Take Shape For Life can help you achieve a healthy body. A healthy body begins with a healthy weight, and maintaining a healthy weight allows you to live life to the fullest. Successfully lose weight and improve your health with more than 60 Medifast Meals to choose from. The Medifast for Diabetes Program is convenient and simple to follow, emphasizing portion controlled eating at regular intervals throughout the day!

Medifast Is Clinically Proven

Medifast has been proven in multiple clinical studies and recommended by over 15,000 physicians.

Researchers from a major medical center conducted an 86-week diabetic weight loss study comparing the Medifast weight loss program to the standard American Diabetes Association (ADA) diet plan. Participants randomized to receive Medifast lost twice as much weight and were twice as compliant with the diet as participants following a standard diet based on the dietary guidelines of the ADA. Approximately 40% of the Medifast participants lost ≥5% of their initial weight compared with 12% of those on the standard ADA diet.

Additionally, 24% of Medifast users decreased or eliminated their diabetes medication compared to 0% on the standard ADA diet. Participants in the Medifast group achieved significantly lower levels of fasting glucose, insulin and HbA1c, lipids and blood pressure after losing weight.

This study affirms that people with type 2 diabetes are more likely to stick with the Medifast Program, lose more weight and improve their health.

Medifast for Diabetes Program

Diabetes is a growing health concern, affecting about 21 million Americans.

Having diabetes means the body cannot properly use energy from food. If left untreated, it can lead to serious health consequences. For many people, diabetes can be prevented or delayed by understanding its risk factors and making important lifestyle changes.

Along with participating in regular physical activity, following a healthy meal plan is one of the most important steps you should take to manage your type 2 diabetes.

Medifast has created a weight loss program and has formulated a special line of “diabetes friendly” nutritional products to help individuals with type 2 diabetes lose weight safely and effectively. The Medifast for Diabetes Program provides fewer calories, carbohydrates and sugars than the standard American Diabetes Association (ADA) diet. This may affect dosage requirements of insulin and oral diabetes medications.

The Medifast For Diabetes Program

It is essential that you see your physician or diabetes specialist prior to beginning the Medifast for Diabetes Program to discuss monitoring your blood sugar, potassium and medication dosages. Because the Medifast for Diabetes Program is low calorie and low glycemic, you may have to adjust your diabetes medications prior to starting the program.

It is important to control blood sugars to help reduce health risks. Medifast recommends careful blood sugar monitoring (3–4 times daily) and lowering your oral agents as you start the program to avoid hypoglycemia. Talk to your doctor about lowering the dose of your medication. If you are on multiple agents, talk to your doctor about removing one at a time until you know how you will respond to this improved dietary regimen. For individuals taking insulin, it is imperative that you talk to your doctor about reducing your insulin requirements when beginning this program.

Click Here to Read the Medifast for Diabetes Program Guide in full to find out how Medifast products from Take Shape Life can help you deal with this horrific illness.

While Take Shape For Life and Medifast recognize a potential benefit of alli during the Weight Maintenance phase, using alli during the Medifast 5 & 1 Plan or Transition phases of the program will probably provide little to no benefit as these phases are already low calorie and low fat.

In clinical studies, alli users lost about 1-2 pounds per week and reduced total body weight 6-10 percent. Take Shape For Life and Medifast clients lost 2-5 pounds per week and reduced total body weight 10-15 percent; subjects with type 2 diabetes lost twice as much weight as subjects who received an American Diabetes Association diet, and 36 percent were able to discontinue their blood sugar medications entirely.

What is Alli?

Alli is the latest weight loss product to hit the market. It’s an over-the-counter(OTC) weight loss drug that can help users can lose 50 percent more weight than dieting alone. Manufactured by the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, alli is the only FDA-approved OTC weight loss drug available to consumers in the United States. A similar drug called Xenical hit the markets in 1999, but was (and still is) available only with a doctor’s prescription.

Both Xenical and alli contain the same active ingredient orlistat but prescription Xenical contains more orlistat than OTC alli. Orlistat belongs to a class of drugs called lipase inhibitors, which prevent the enzymes that break down fats from doing their job adequately.

When dietary fats are not broken down properly, they cannot be absorbed through the intestinal wall and are instead eliminated in bowel movements. Less fat being absorbed means fewer calories being consumed.

Consuming fewer calories will, in theory, result in weight loss. Alli blocks the absorption of dietary fat by about 25 percent and leads to a 5-10 percent weight loss over time.

Pound-for-Pound, How do Alli and Medifast Compare?

Both alli and Medifast have been scientifically tested in randomized controlled trials. Let’s see how they compare:

Alli

* With alli, expect a gradual, modest weight loss of about 1-2 pounds per week.

* Long-term studies (1-2 years) show that participants who received orlistat at double the amount provided by alli experienced a loss of 6-10 percent of their total body weight, compared with those on placeboes who lost 5 percent.

In addition to weight loss, improvements in LDL cholesterol and blood pressure, as well as fasting insulin and blood sugar levels among diabetic subjects, have been shown.

* Alli, however, has not come onto the market without its controversy. GlaxoSmithKline lists some ‘treatment effects’ that can be very unpleasant or people using this weight loss aid. When people consume meals too high in fat (over 15 grams per meal), they may experience loose stools that are oily and hard to control. Other treatment effects include an urgent need to go to the bathroom and gas with an oily discharge.

Medifast

* With Medifast, the typical weight loss is 2-5 pounds per week.

* Patients typically reduce body weight by approximately 10-15 percent and achieve improved health outcomes.

* A randomized controlled trial found that subjects with Type 2 diabetes receiving the Medifast Plus for Diabetics modified meal replacement diet lost twice as much weight after 34 weeks, compared with the group randomized to receive an American Diabetes Association diet.

* Subjects in this study also had significant reductions in blood glucose and insulin levels compared to pre-treatment values; after 86 weeks, 36 percent of subjects in the Medifast group were able to discontinue their blood sugar medications entirely.

Given these results, there appears to be very little reason why anyone would choose to take alli over Medifast. These results should also give one pause when deciding whether there is any benefit of adding a fat-blocker to an already low fat diet plan, such as the Medifast 5 & 1 Plan.

Medifast and Take Shape For Life Recommendations For Alli:

For those who are wondering whether adding alli to their Medifast Program would be a good idea, Medifast and Take Shape For Life have the following general recommendations:

During 5 & 1 Plan & Transition Alli will probably provide little to no benefit beyond what the Medifast 5 & 1 Plan or Transition Program will provide most people in terms of weight loss.

Using alli during these phases of the program would be virtually pointless as they are already low calorie and low fat.

* The Medifast 5 & 1 Plan provides (on average) 15 grams of fat (or 135 calories from fat) per day. Alli blocks 25 percent of fat calories, allowing for a reduction of 34 calories.

* In addition to the minimal calorie savings on an already calorie-restricted, low fat program, the use of a fat blocking weight loss aid may cause a greater risk of deficiency of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.

During Weight Maintenance

While not recommended during the Weight Loss or Transition phases, alli may be used as an adjunct during the Maintenance phase. During this final step of weight management, Take Shape For Life and Medifast clients are advised to follow a calorie-controlled, balanced, low fat meal plan for maintaining their weight.

Therefore, alli should not be needed as an ally. However, since additional calories and dietary fat are re-incorporated during this phase, it would be the best and most logical time to consider Alli as an additional tool.

* For the typical Take Shape For Life and Medifast client, the Weight Maintenance phase recommends (on average) 315 calories from fat per day. Alli blocks 25 percent of fat calories, allowing for a reduction of 79 calories.

Summary

Medifast has been clinically tested and proven to be a safe and effective means of weight control, and has been recommended by over 15,000 physicians nationwide and used by more than one million overweight customers.

While Take Shape For Life and Medifast recognize a potential benefit of alli as a tool during Weight Maintenance, one should think carefully about whether the potential benefits of this fat-blocker to an already low calorie, low fat diet plan are worth the expense and associated side effects.

If you are already reaping the benifits of the Medifast 5 & 1 plan from Take Shape for life, I salute you.

If you or a friend or family member need to lose weight and get healthy get a 1 month Medifast Starter Kit.