The other day, I received an email from someone who wanted to know if the Medifast shakes "really work" or if they are just glorified versions of the shakes that you can get at the grocery store. I have a definite opinion on this, which I will share in the following article.

How To Medifast Shakes Fit Into the Program: First off, I had to tell her that most people use the shakes as part of the complete plan. In other words, this isn't like slim fast where you just down a shake in place of a meal and then go about your regular eating for the rest of the day. You could go that route if you wanted, I suppose. They do sell these individually (and this is true for all varieties.) However, from my own experience, you will get pretty quick and pretty dramatic results with the "five plus one" which means that you eat five of the plan's meals and one healthful, larger meals.

And the meals are not just limited to the shakes. They are only one food option. There are 70 - 80 choices, if you count all of the different flavors. There are soups, cereals, eggs, pudding, drinks, chips, etc. Most people will have the shakes only once or twice per day and then go with some other options.

I do have a lot of people email me about just using the Medifast shakes as a supplement for meals. I know that there are people who do this and the company does sell them by themselves, but I would think that this would get kind of boring or repetitive after a while but I know that there are some folks who go that route.

The Are Several Varieties Of Medifast Shakes: You should also know that there are a few different varieties to chose from. The most popular is probably the 55 which comes with most packages, but there are also diabetic choices, the momentum or metabolism burning line, the appetite suppression line, and the joint health, to name just a few. Those that I just mentioned require for you to blend or mix them but there is also a "ready to drink" variety which comes pre mixed where all you have to do is drink it.

Like All Of The Medifast Meals, The Shakes Are Low In Calories, Fat, And Carbs, But High In Protein And Fiber: I told the person that emailed that in my opinion, these shakes are head and shoulders above those that you get in the grocery store. This is due to several reasons. First, all of the Medifast meals (including the shakes) come in at somewhere around only 90 -120 calories. Most have around 12 carbs and less than 10 grams of sugar. These shakes are soy based and gluten free. They are low in lactose so most people have no trouble digesting them. Most have much more than 10 grams of protein and at least five grams of fiber.

In my experience, there are not many grocery store or even many health food store shakes that are as nutritionally sound and are as "diet friendly" as these. This is very important because this diet puts your body into ketosis or fat furnace mode. This can't happen if you are consuming too many carbs and too little protein. In truth, most diet shakes do not even begin to reach this combination.

All of the diet's foods measure up very similarly, at around 100 calories, and having a low amount of carbs and a high amount of protein. These things work together to ensure that you are successful, which I why I think that you'll have much better results if you take advantage of all of the foods.