Slim Fast Diet
Are you aware that obesity alone increases the healthcare cost by 6 to 45% in overweight individuals relative to normal-weight subjects? According to a new study reported in British Medical Journal (1), investigators reported that the annual healthcare cost associated with obesity in North America is over $80 billion. A lot of individuals strive really hard to lose weight by dieting or calorie restriction, but is it a functional solution?
Losing weight means adjusting all of the nutrients in the right amount in your daily routine. The replacement of fatty and calorie-rich meals with Slim-Fast products helps you lose pounds and look slimmer. Also, by preparing a meal of 500 calories every day, you can adjust a small part of your favorite food that would not exceed the required amount of calories.
Table of Contents
How effective is the Slim-Fast Diet?
These slim-fast products can help you lose weight up to 20 pounds within 10 weeks, given that three snacks of 500-calories each should be consumed every day. Here are some suggestions:
- Half of a 8-9 inches long banana, an apple, a stewed peach, or a slim-fast snack bar
- A couple of slim-fast meal bars
- Pesto, asparagus, and potato salad, or a cottage pie
- Or any other 500-calorie meal of your choice
Here are some added benefits that can also be achieved if you consume a slim-fast diet:
As a result of weight loss, the Slim-Fast diet also helps in controlling insulin and blood sugar levels without increasing the risk of any side effects on your health.
Some people prefer to continue with their Slim-Fast meal even after losing weight, which helps them maintain their slim physique.
How does it work?
Fat: Studies indicate that around 20 – 35 % of the calories gained by our body come through the intake of fat. Only 30% of calories are provided by Slim-Fast products.
Protein: 20% of calories are provided by the protein-rich Slim-Fast products.
Carbohydrates: 45-65% of calories are supplied by carbohydrates, whereas only 50% is provided by Slim-Fast products.
Salt: According to the government’s health department, 2300 mg of sodium is required for people aged 51 and above; suffering from diseases such as diabetes or hypertension, a good 1500 milligrams becomes an appropriate need.
Slim-fast products provide 55 to 325 mg of sodium in each serving. 560 mg of sodium can be acquired by the three slim-fast products.
Other essential nutrients:
- Fiber: 25-35 g
- Potassium: 140-600 mg
- Calcium: The shake consists of 500 mg of calcium, whereas a bar contains 300 mg
- Vitamin B 12: Slim-fast shakes provide a daily amount of the suggested 35 percent, while the meal bars have 20 percent Vitamin B-12.
- Vitamin D: The suggested 35 percent of vitamin D is provided by slim-fast shakes, while the snack bars consist of 20 percent of Vitamin D.
Other Key Benefits
Other features of Slim-fast products involve the convenience of grabbing the products because of the company’s online service. One important benefit of using Slim-Fast products is their feature of making one feel full for up to 4 hours resulting in less intake of food.
The most interesting part is that the meal bars come with so many vital features and still manage to provide you with several delicious flavors such as chocolate mint, chocolate cookie dough, fudge brownie, fruit, and yogurt trail mix, whereas the shakes come with 4 varieties of tastes.
Its cost
A pack that contains 24 pieces of shakes comes to about $35, whereas meal bars in similar quantity sell for around $17. These can be found in grocery stores or can be bought online at places like Drugstore & Amazon.
TASTE, CONVENIENCE, AND AFFORDABILITY ALL COME TOGETHER FOR YOUR WEIGHT LOSS!
Here is a little word of caution:
- If you choose a fad diet (a trendy diet that is untraditional), it is highly recommended to seek approval from your healthcare provider.
- Keep up with your regular physical assessment by a registered care provider to minimize the risk of hazardous events.
- Do not continue these Fad diets for more than 4 weeks in a row.
References
- Alter, D. A., Wijeysundera, H. C., Franklin, B., Austin, P. C., Chong, A., Oh, P. I., … & Stukel, T. A. (2012). Obesity, lifestyle risk-factors, and health service outcomes among healthy middle-aged adults in Canada. BMC health services research, 12(1), 238.
- Heber, D., Ashley, J. M., Wang, H. J., & Elashoff, R. M. (1994). Clinical evaluation of a minimal intervention meal replacement regimen for weight reduction. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 13(6), 608-614.
