You
probably have questions about what happens to your body when you
are on the Medifast Diet program. This article will help you
understand how the Medifast weight loss program prevents muscle
loss, and improves your health, while you lose weight quickly and
safely through the power of Ketosis.
The
Medifast meal replacement program creates a gap between the
calories needed and those consumed, which keeps the level of
protein and carbohydrates almost equal. This ratio shifts the
balance in the bloodstream and causes positive changes in how the
body burns calories and metabolizes fat.
The
specific ratio of protein to carbohydrates in the Medifast program
helps put the body into a mild state of ketosis, which means your
metabolism is such that you are burning stored fat for energy.
Once the body reaches ketosis, there will be significant changes,
such as increased energy; less hunger and a new found confidence
to stay on the program. These changes usually begin to manifest
themselves after three days.
5 Steps to Ketosis
There are
five steps the body goes through when adapting to the low-calorie
program such as Medifast. First, since there is a fuel shortage
due to the low amount of calories, the body uses glycogen (sugar
in your bloodstream) as an energy source. Once this glycogen
supply is depleted, the body becomes more desperate for fuel to
function correctly. Thirdly, the body looks to fat stores to use
for energy. By metabolizing fat, the body walks away with "free
fatty acids" that it carries to the liver for help in
manufacturing energy. Next, with the influx of fatty acids, the
liver produces more ketone bodies for fuel. Finally, the body
realizes that ketones provide high levels of energy and uses them
for the brain as well as muscle tissues.
Ketosis is
part of the magic that makes the Medifast diet so effective. It
also provides many of the benefits by eliminating hunger and
contributing to high energy levels. By maintaining a low calorie
intake along with ketosis, Medifast helps reduce weight quickly
and safely.
Research on
programs such as Medifast indicates that ketosis does not cause
physical harm, especially at the mild level that exists in the
Medifast program. Instead, ketosis remains just high enough to
provide energy while allowing the muscle tissue to remain
untouched and unharmed. Ketosis is much healthier than the
alternative of being overweight.
Keeping
in Ketosis
Eating even
small amounts of the wrong foods may be the body's biggest
hindrance in achieving ketosis. Consuming carbohydrate foods
release insulin and forces the body to return to using glucose for
energy instead of fat stores. While weight loss is still possible,
eating decreases the power that comes from having a low intake of
both calories and carbohydrates.
Any
carbohydrate foods (bread, pasta, potatoes, fruit or fruit juices
and most vegetables) will disrupt the delicate balance of
nutrients, decreasing ketosis and jeopardizing its effects and the
patient's likelihood of staying on the program.
As little
as one half a slice of bread or about fifteen grams of
carbohydrate can shift the body's choice of fuel away from the fat
stores and back to glucose. For some people, going out of ketosis
for one day can cost up to a week of weight loss progress. One
must remember that Medifast puts the body into a very specific
metabolic state that causes it to react much differently than when
on a food-plan diet. If it is impossible to refrain from food, eat
a protein choice, such as meat, eggs, milk or cheese. While this
will increase caloric intake, it will allow the body to remain in
ketosis, which will prove less detrimental to the program and
long-term weight-loss goals.
Whatever
happens, make sure to take the proper amount of supplements each
day. Also, remember that ketosis is the ultimate goal. It
will help keep up energy and protect muscle tissue. Work hard at
staying within the boundaries of the Medifast program and allow
ketosis to do its job so that your goals may be reached.
Need more information on ketosis?
View an article in our Forum on ketosis.
