Optifast

Optifast is a proprietary weight-loss program developed by the Novartis Nutritional Corporation, which is a member of the Partnership for Healthy Weight Management. Optifast is a comprehensive weight-loss and weight-maintenance program available only through licensed programs offered through hospitals and medical clinics in the United States and Canada. The Optifast program uses meal replacement formulas, medical monitoring, and lifestyle education from counselors and nutritionists to help people lose weight or manage their weight. Some Optifast clinics also offer bariatric surgery support, and although the Optifast system was developed for adults, some clinics also offer the Adolescent Weight Loss Education program.

The Optifast program is primarily intended for obese people, meaning those with a body mass index (BMI) over 30, and for overweight individuals with a BMI in the 25–29.9 range who have medical problems caused by their excessive weight. Individuals beginning the program receive an initial medical and lifestyle evaluation and ongoing medical monitoring. The dieting aspect of the Optifast system rests initially on the use of Optifast meal replacement materials, with the later reintroduction of normal food. For the initial phase of treatment, typically two to [Page 562]four months, patients are assigned low-calorie diets, typically 800, 950, or 1,200 calories per day; the first category qualifies as a very-low-calorie diet. Dieters in the first phase consume Optifast liquid formula meal replacements and may also consume Optifast food bars, but not normal food, and attend a weekly group lifestyle modifications class. In the second phase of the program, which usually lasts four to six weeks, normal foods are reintroduced. The third phase of the program, weight maintenance, has no prescribed time period.

Novartis describes the use of its liquid formula diet as being like a “vacation from food” in which the dieter is provided with a nutritionally complete, calorically controlled diet which temporarily relieves them of the responsibility to make food choices. During this period, the individual is intended to lose weight and improve his or her health, both of which are self-reinforcing, and also to learn new activity and lifestyle habits which will be maintained when he or she resumes eating normal food. The maintenance diet followed by participants when food is reintroduced is typical of that recommended by many health experts, and is based on fruits and vegetables, grains, and low-fat protein.

The educational component of the Optifast system includes personal counseling from physicians, dieticians, and counselors, and small group presentations and discussions. Modules on many educational topics are provided, including stress management, shopping, maintaining health while traveling, and building support. Participants are also expected to increase their activity levels, and devising an appropriate exercise plan in conjunction with medical and behavioral counseling is part of the Optifast program.

In 2002, Novartis Nutrition began offering a Bariatric Surgery Support program which is available at some Optifast clinics. This program offers the Optifast meal replacement and education program to people scheduled for bariatric surgery for six to eight weeks prior to surgery. A major advantage of following this program is that it promotes presurgical weight loss, which can improve the patient's health, reduce risk of complications, and promote faster healing after surgery. In addition, use of a liquid diet before surgery may make it easier to adapt to the restricted diet necessary after bariatric surgery, and to identify problems patients may encounter in following such a regimen. In addition, Novartis produces a number of products designed for people who have had bariatric surgery, all sold in the Optisource product line; these include a vitamin and mineral supplement, a nutrition bar, and a high-protein drink.

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