NutriSystem

Question
Hi, just wondering what you have heard as far as "real life" experiences go with the Nutri System program?  Also if you have any thoughts on it yourself.  I really don't want to throw my money at something that won't work or has a small chance of working.  It looks better to me and kind of makes sense, but I have thought that in the past and been wrong.  I have tried Michael Thermon's 6 wk body makover, but sadly I failed due to eating everything plain. I did it pretty well for about 2 months, but got to the point where I would have rather ben eating plain lettuce than with vinegar, I just don't like it, and plain potatoes, are just too dry for me.  I really like egg whites and have no problem with the fruit part.  The diet has you cut out sugar, fat and salt, so it was pretty restrictive. Thanks for listening!  

Answer
Hello Danyale,

My own "real life" experience consists of the only fact that this program has been advertised on our dieting network of sites for a couple of years with 5,000+ unique visitors daily and no single order has been ever placed. However, let's look into its background. They state:

"This low calorie, nutritionally supercharged weight loss program is packed with high protein, fiber and heart healthy fats - and tempered with lower sodium, reduced cholesterol and fewer saturated fats". The fact is, NO reduction diet is nutritionally *balanced*. You can get all 50 essential vitamins, minerals, trace elements, etc., only along with 4,500 to 10,000 Calories daily, depending on nutritional density of your food!

The use of the word "supercharged" instead of "balanced" doesn't make any sense to me unless they do know it isn't balanced but don't want you to know. The nutritional supplements available form Nutrisystem can correct some of deficiencies.

Nutrisystem now uses the idea of low glycemic index (GI) carbohydrates describing how fast your blood sugar rises after eating a certain food - but so does eDiets, for instance, offering a cheaper (but no ready meals) online GI plan. Meanwhile, research showed that GI is no good without knowing glycemic impact, which is about not how *fast* but *much* of carbohydrates get into your blood.

The diet offers free membership and can send you prepared meals that are not cheap. It can be convenient though if you don't cheat but you you'll probably be prone to because the calories are limited and so are the portions.

Hope it helps,

Tanya Zilberter, PhD

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