The NutriMed Diet

The NutriMed Diet program is a very low-calorie diet that is supervised by a medical professional over a 12-week period 2. The ideal candidate for this diet has a BMI of 30 and has been classified as obese. If you have a BMI of 27 to 29, you can join the program if you have health problems that require weight loss.

Benefits

Although the NutriMed diet is an extremely low-calorie diet, there are still plenty of benefits to it. This diet is carefully monitored by a medical professional to ensure no complications occur. The program also provides each patient with individual educational sessions, a health screening before starting the program, a four-phase program designed so your body doesn't plateau, and at least a 3 to 4 pound weight loss per week, notes NutriMed parent company, Robard.

Nutrition

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According to Robard, NutriMed is a liquid-based diet that uses meal replacement shakes, soup and fruit juices. It allows for a daily caloric intake of only 500 to 820 calories, which must come from the food the program provides. Not only is this a low-calorie diet, but it's also a low-carbohydrate diet. All of the meal replacement foods are specially formulated to be high in protein and low in carbohydrate, while still meeting the daily recommended amounts of each vitamin and mineral.

Education

The NutriMed diet claims to help you lose weight and to re-educate you on proper eating habits, emotional eating triggers and the benefits of exercise. The company does this by incorporating four phases into its 12-week program, each of which lasts three weeks. According to "WLS Lifestyles" magazine, the first phase is adaptation, which gives your body time to adapt to the diet restrictions and physical demands of the program; the second is weight-loss, which is supposed to occur drastically during this phase; the third is refeeding, which teaches you how to make healthier food choices; and the fourth is maintenance, which is designed to educate you on how to keep the weight off after the NutriMed program ends.

Considerations

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The actual price of the program is determined after your health screening, so physicians can better determine the resources needed for your weight loss. Although this price is steep, from $800 to $2,000, very low-calorie diets can be effective for short-term weight-loss. According to the a 2006 article in the journal "Obesity," very low-calorie diets can be safe if the proper precautions are taken. After studying six random trials of very low-calorie diets, compared to low-calorie diets, which have a calorie range of 1,200 to 1,500, the researchers concluded that very low-calorie diets produced greater short-term results. Over the long-term, the low-calorie diets yielded higher weight-loss results.

Warning

Your insurance may cover some costs related to the NutriMed program, such as physicals and labs, but you should expect to pay for food and supplements out of pocket. The NutriMed program is not available as an at-home or mail order program. If you're interested in participating in this program, contact your general practitioner for information on NutriMed locations near you.