I used to be right now years outdated once I discovered in regards to the existence of the Feel Great System by Unicity. Apparently, it’s going wild on TikTok, that cesspool of dangerous diets and vitamin misinformation.
Very on-brand.
This Feel Great System overview goes to reply all of your burning questions in regards to the Feel Great System by Unicity:
What is the Feel Great System?
Does the Feel Great System work?
What is the analysis behind the Feel Great System?
Let’s get began.
What is the Feel Great System by Unicity?
The Feel Great System (FGS) is a eating regimen – sure, it’s a eating regimen, simply in case you thought it was a ‘lifestyle’ – program that mixes two dietary supplements with intermittent fasting. FGS claims to assist with urge for food regulation and weight reduction, all when you eat your common eating regimen!
Except, that’s a bait and swap – I’m calling it proper now. There’s an enormous catch.
You can eat your common meals, however you’re solely consuming for 4 hours a day.
Here’s a graphic from the Feel Great System web site:
With solely 4 hours a day to devour meals, what do you suppose goes to occur?
Your caloric consumption will go down.
You’ll reduce weight.
It isn’t rocket science.
So, does the Feel Great System work? I’m certain it does….for some time. But, it’s necessary to contemplate what we think about to be ‘success’ in weight reduction.
Does your model of ‘success’ imply losing a few pounds, solely to realize it again shortly after? Most of us would agree that this isn’t a wholesome solution to eat or reside. When you’re contemplating a brand new eating regimen, your first query must be if it’s sustainable for LIFE. That’s how lengthy you’re going to should observe one thing just like the Feel Great System, with a view to hold the burden off.
Once you go off of a restrictive eating regimen and begin consuming usually (face it: that is inevitable), the burden comes again, typically much more.
The Feel Great System web site makes use of the phrases ‘simple’ and ‘easy’ to explain this system.
These are pink flags that play in your feelings.
As a dietitian, I’ve seen these phrases used to explain eating regimen after eating regimen, and it’s a complete recreation to make you’re feeling dangerous about your self while you inevitably fail on no matter program it’s that you simply’re utilizing.
As in, ‘this diet is easy, why couldn’t I maintain it? I’m a failure.’
Let’s say this: diets just like the Feel Great System eating regimen are created for short-term use. The overwhelming majority of individuals in all probability don’t need to limit their consuming to 4 hours a day, and would discover that extraordinarily troublesome to keep up.
The downside is that not solely is consuming in such a short while span depressing, it ripples out to the opposite areas of our lives.
What type of instance are we setting for our youngsters after we limit meals like this?
What will we do about social gatherings, if our meal timing is so inflexible? How about after we’re travelling?
Some folks don’t care about these items. I’m keen to guess that almost all of us do.
The Feel Great System dietary supplements.
The Feel Great System eating regimen doesn’t solely use time-restricted consuming, it additionally requires two dietary supplements, Unimate and Balance.
Interestingly, the location hyperlinks to purchase Feel Great System dietary supplements go to Amazon (I discovered a 60-pack of each dietary supplements for $299 CAD). I discover it extraordinarily random and regarding that this program doesn’t appear to have a devoted retailer from which to promote its merchandise.
Unicity Unimate, which is taken within the morning as ‘breakfast.’ Nope. That’s not breakfast, however let’s ignore that truth for proper now.
The firm claims that Unimate does an entire host of issues:
Unimate is principally a yerba mate complement. Yerba mate comes from a plant and is used as a tea. It’s regarded as an urge for food suppressant and fats burner, though the analysis isn’t so certain about that.
The analysis on yerba mate, in response to look at.com, is pretty unremarkable for its results on fats oxidation, blood glucose, and ldl cholesterol. This 2014 research in 14 folks discovered {that a} 1g dose of yerba mate earlier than exercising did enhance fats oxidation ranges over carbohydrate utilization. This is promising, however the research is outdated and small, and never precisely proof that Unimate is efficient for weight reduction.
I couldn’t discover any analysis on the Unimate product itself.
I additionally couldn’t discover any proof that the opposite claims about Unimate – selling emotions of well-being, selling ketone manufacturing, helps with digestion, promotes psychological readability, and helps metabolic well being (notice the usage of the phrase ‘supports’ – deliberately obscure to keep away from making a declare that goes towards the FDA guidelines on well being claims).
All in all, a really costly complement which will have restricted usefulness.
Unicity Balance is a fibre complement that – shock! – relies on a proprietary method of various fibre sources. Proprietary formulation are a complement pink flag. It goes with out saying that while you’re placing one thing into your physique – particularly a complement with completely different components – you must need to know:
What’s within the complement.
If the components within the complement are in efficient doses.
If the components within the complement are in doses which will work together with anything chances are you’ll be taking.
Unfortunately, proprietary formulation disguise quite a lot of that data (aside from level #1). I think about them to be a display that corporations disguise behind, not solely to not surrender their complement recipes, but additionally to theoretically (I’m not saying that this firm is doing this, however it’s a must to think about it) present sub-clinical doses of no matter it’s they’re promoting.
Unicity Balance solely has 3 grams of fibre per serving. That’s a tiny quantity for an precise fibre complement. The complement additionally has a mix of nutritional vitamins and minerals, which you will get from meals – offered you’re consuming a different eating regimen.
I don’t advocate nutritional vitamins and minerals for anybody, until they’ve a particular cause for taking them…like, a deficiency. Even in that case, I’d advocate taking solely what you’re poor in, not a multivitamin.
Here’s why I don’t advocate multivitamins
The common particular person must be consuming not less than 25 grams of fibre per day. Unless you’re taking care to get that a lot fibre in your eating regimen, particularly should you’re solely consuming for 4 hours a day, you’re in all probability not getting sufficient.
3 grams of fibre twice a day might be not going to assist all that a lot, and it’s questionable as as to if Unicity Balance has the entire results that Unicity guarantees for it.
I extremely doubt that an additional 6 grams of fibre will assist ‘curb appetite between meals’ and, ‘help reduce carbohydrate absorption in the body.’
Fibre is thought to assist with blood glucose regulation, intestine well being, and levels of cholesterol.
Eating enough fibre may additionally assist with weight administration as a result of fibre will increase satiety, however – and that is an apart – simply being ‘full’ isn’t the identical as being ‘satisfied.’ This is what diets have at all times gotten fallacious. Filling our stomachs with fibre-rich greens as an alternative of a mix of fat, proteins, and carbs, isn’t satisfying to most individuals.
Satisfaction is an emotion. Satiety is a bodily feeling.
If you aren’t happy, you’re in all probability going to be foraging within the kitchen shortly after your meal. Unicity Balance isn’t going to assist a lot with that.
Also, if you actually need a fibre complement, you should purchase one (or simply psyllium) at a well being meals retailer for lots cheaper.
Everything you must learn about fibre
Feel Great System analysis.
The science crew for Unicity has no dietitians; it’s principally scientists and, shock! Ted Naiman, a household medication doc who I blocked on Twitter (X) ages in the past. I overlook why, however he’s an often-shirtless, low-carb evangelist. Need I say extra.
I at all times like to test the analysis behind weight reduction merchandise, and Unicity didn’t disappoint.
At least, that they had a lot of analysis, however it was principally centred round a product known as Bios Life.
There was one research achieved on the Feel Great System, although. The outcomes look spectacular!
But wait – not so quick.
Not solely was the research small – with 42 members – it was additionally brief, lasting solely 60 days.
The research wasn’t blinded, and there was no management group.
But that’s not all!
The authors of the research?
Scientists who work for Unicity.
The members within the research?
Unicity staff.
Could the danger of bias be any larger? I feel not. In phrases of methodology, that is all fairly atrocious.
While the layperson might not catch any of this whereas wanting on the ‘research’ part of the Unicity web site, I definitely did. It’s an enormous pink flag.
Some of the opposite ‘research’ on this part was equally pathetic. At least three ‘studies’ (and right here) (and right here) have been achieved by a Unicity scientist, have been tiny, and revealed an insufficient quantity of data on the methodology used.
Some of the research listed have been on rats.
Still others have been achieved, once more, by Unicity itself, and never peer-reviewed or revealed in a good journal.
Some of the research weren’t on Unicity merchandise in any respect.
Garbage in, rubbish out, as we are saying in my enterprise.
The Feel Great System in all probability ‘works’ as a result of it’s a low-calorie eating regimen. That is all. If the considered consuming for under 4 hours a day is thrilling to you, go forward and check out it, however as a dietitian, I don’t advocate it.
Four hours a day will not be sufficient to get the entire vitamins you require, and taking dietary supplements to make up for that isn’t how we’re meant to get our nutritional vitamins and minerals. In truth, it’s an enormous pink flag.
A four-hour consuming window may additionally have unfavorable results in your life-style and people round you.
I’m not satisfied of the efficacy of the Feel Great System dietary supplements, Unimate and Balance. If fats burning herbs resulted in clinically related weight reduction, they’d be regulated by the FDA and prescribed as first-line therapy for weight problems.
If you don’t get sufficient fibre out of your eating regimen, go purchase a less expensive fibre complement from the well being meals retailer.
Better but, strive consuming extra fibre from meals. Beans, lentils, entire grains, fruits, and greens are all wealthy sources.
Feel Great System overview briefly:
Thumbs down. Way down.