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Optifast: why is it prescription only in UK?

R

Raspin

Well-Known Member
i was wondering this as things like slim fast and other meal replacement shakes are not regulated in the same way. What makes Optifast different? Why can't it be bought off the shelves in Tesco. Its hardly a narcotic.

Anyone any idea?

Thanks, Raspin
 
I think you will find that the makers of Optifast, ( Nestle!!) recommend that their product be used only under medical supervision.

It does seem a contradiction that one of the biggest suppliers of confectionary and junk food makes a Slimming Product.:wacky: "Fill up on our products and then we will help you slim."
 
Hi guys, Amazon do indeed sell optifast products but they do not sell the product used on the Newcastle diet, the one used is called Optifast 800 if i am not mistaken.
Sorry for jumping in here.
Jim
 
No worries Jim, feel free to jump in. Thanks for the replies Catherine and Lescci also.

So although Nestle don't sell it in the UK and you can only get it through prescription, does that make it a controlled substance or is it just lack of availability that stops it being sold in the UK because the manufacturer recommends it only be available through prescription?

To put it another way, if i bought a box of Optifast online and then sold it on ebay would that be breaking UK law cos I was selling a prescription only "drug" from within the UK (is there a drug in it?) or is the restriction not a legal one but one imposed by the manufacturer themselves?

If it the first one, it seems odd that it would be restricted when similar products aren't. Whats the difference? There are meal replacements that have less of everything cals/carbs etc but they are on sale.

If it is the 2nd, why would Nestle impose such rigorous restrictions on themselves when many other companies with similar products don't?

Lots of questions I know, anyone any idea whats going on with it?

Thanks, Raspin
 
I would suggest by being prescription only its premium priced and therefore by being on px they are monopolising (sp?) the market of the NHS.

Its probably a marketing ploy to skim the market.
 
Hi Engineer, that makes a lot of sense. The only problem with it is no National Health Trust seems to offer it. I asked my doctor if it was on the list of things they could prescribe and he just kinda laughed.

I really don't get why the NHS would opt for it over any of the others either.

Here is asdas shake ..http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/asda...acement_chocolate_flavour_shake_mix_348g.html

and here is optifast
http://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/optifast/800-shake-powder

Aside from 40 cals (although the shakes are supposed to total to 200 calls (?) and 4g of carb, whats the difference?

The asda one cost £4 or £7 for 2 tubs. Have it with lactofree milk its only like 1g carb difference. Have it with almond milk its 5g of carb less than optifast and less calories (145 calls)

Defo some sort of jiggery pokery going on with it.
 
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whats the difference?
Click to expand...
I don't know what the Asda shakes contain but Optifast claims to be 'nutritionally complete' and lists a whole raft of vitamins and minerals.
http://www.nestlehealthscience.us/products/optifast-800®-shake-mix
They say it's developed for 'medically supervised weight loss. If it's only on prescription it also puts a responsibility on the doctor for monitoring. The UK version is not the 800 one. (haven't checked to see if they are different)
http://www.nestlehealthscience.co.uk/products/optifast
 
Hi Christine, i am on the Ultraslim from Tesco, they taste just like Milkshakes, yes i use skimmed milk, i know its a cheat but it is still working and working good, third day in a row now and morning tests are at 5+ seems to be stabilizing pretty well, yesterday evening for some reason dropped to 3.9, still felt Ok but pinched one of my sons jaffa cakes he left here and went back up to 6,6 so all was good.
Christine i have brought myself one of those Soup makers, the cheaper one (Morphy Richards) people have said in the past why not just use saucepan, well i am no cook, was never a Soup person, but this thing is great, put me veg in, press the button for either smooth or chunky soup and just leave it, no keep topping up because of condensation escaping, beeps when done in 25min, pours straight out into Bowl, no ladle no saucepans to wash, just bowl spoon and the maker which is simple as there is no blades in the Bowl, blades are attached to the lid.
So just good wholesome soups, smoothies for my grandson which are not full of preservatives, just health in a glass.
Jim

P.S, nearly forgot, i brought the zip freezer bags from Tesco (medium) pour in the soup when cold lay flat and stack favorite soups in the freezer.
 
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Hi Jim, I like ultra slim,too and I like Cambridge cappuccino, I just use water to mix. Asda used to do a cappuccino diet mix but they don't any more :( I love home made soup ,once a day, watercress is my fav. I love salad, in the winter its hard to get English/British stuff, but I always try to buy it, thanks for the tip about the soup maker.
eeh:jimlad: I don't know how the food industry can live with themselves putting all that sugar in our food,do you. xx hug.
 
Got my vegetable soup done, Carrots, Swede, Celery, Onion, chicken stock, one for tonight and one for the freezer, tell you one thing, i don't even know whether i want to go back to meat, these vegetable soups are lovely, works out so cheap, not had to do a proper food shop yet lol, nust have saved a few bob, whatever "Proper food shop" is, must be biscuits, cereals, fatty foods and lovely Carb filled stodge lol.
Christine will look see what i can do with Watercress and if its Ok for my Angina Meds, that's the problem got to watch out for that as well, right pain in the butt.

Jim
 
I just finished mine but added a few small bits of chicken, a handful of coconut and half a bag of spinach, half cup of curry mix, I expect I have overdone it again lol.
 
2christine said:
there are some good cooks/knowledgeable people on this forum , come on, a challenge devise a low carb mix or shake for us, full of vitamins and minerals and some fibre ,cheep and chearfull and we decide on whether to use it.
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I was looking at using shakes over summer, to try out the Newcastle diet.
I'll be starting at a bmi of 25, which is where I want to be, as I've lost enough weight already, so I'm probably not going to last the full stretch, but I want to see what it does for my diabetes.
However I don't fancy low carb, as I thought about this for another post.

douglas99 said:
It's worth making sure you don't go too low on carbs, the Newcastle diet is a calorie controlled diet, not carb counting.
Remember you need glucose as energy for your brain.
Estimates can be up to 120g a day.
It's ok to have a ketogenic diet, and feed the brain that way, but if you aren't eating enough carbs, and then not enough fats, you'll be living off body fat, then converting that into ketones. You still need glucose though, your body will convert amino acids from your bodies protein, unless you make sure you are eating protein.
This is getting more complicated, uses more energy, and is starting to become different to the original Newcastle diet. I'm not saying worse, or better, just be aware you are changing it, and you are really starting to push your body into true starvation mode.
About 25% of the energy for your brain should be/needs to be glucose, it's worth making sure you keep at least that in your diet, and 30g is about 120 calories out of your day, even if you do go ketogenic. Otherwise it's the full 120g.
Click to expand...

I'd be interested if anyone does manage a very low calorie, very low carb version of the diet though.
 
Not my words just copied and pasted.

Before industrial agriculture and CAFOs, (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation ) before processed foods, McDonald’s and TV dinners - people ate real food. This real food consisted of whole fruits and vegetables eaten in season or preserved in the summer months for a long cold winter. Real food came from animals that grazed on pasture and were allowed to live out their natural instincts by scratching, pecking, birthing and wandering as they wanted.

But now industrial agriculture has taken over our food supply. In an attempt to feed more people in a easier and more productive way, food has become food “products” full of chemicals not real food. This denatured food contributes to diseases that are shortening the human lifespan for the first time ever. Obesity, cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes are at an all time high, and most of these diseases are controllable by the food we consume.

Jim
 
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2christine said:
I just finished mine but added a few small bits of chicken, a handful of coconut and half a bag of spinach, half cup of curry mix, I expect I have overdone it again lol.
Click to expand...

You reminded me, i have coconut milk in the cupboard, may give this a go soon, never had Pumpkin, only seen it in use with holes in and candles lol.

500 g pumpkin
4 carrots
4 parsnips
3 onions
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 (440 ml) can coconut milk (8)
 
douglas99 said:
I was looking at using shakes over summer, to try out the Newcastle diet.
I'll be starting at a bmi of 25, which is where I want to be, as I've lost enough weight already, so I'm probably not going to last the full stretch, but I want to see what it does for my diabetes.
However I don't fancy low carb, as I thought about this for another post.



I'd be interested if anyone does manage a very low calorie, very low carb version of the diet though.
Click to expand...
how about a pkt of movacol and a multivitamin tablet lol
 
Hi Guys,

Sorry for jumping in.
Raspin to sell a prescription only (even though it makes no sense for optifast to be a prescription only) is illegal in the UK due to the medicines act.

As optifast won't be prescribed by my doc either I'm using the Atkins shakes as they are low in cal, fat, carb and sugar and protein normal.
It's been 3 weeks since starting the Newcastle uni diet thing and have lost 7kg.
I emailed the uni and found quorn can be used in the evening meal if anybody had questions over that by the way :)


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
I'm not quite sure if you're suggesting this as an alternative to the Optifast or as an addition.

I put your recipe into a calculator,
I had to guess at how much 4 parsnips weighed (well one source said 250g so I used that ) The calculator accepted 4 carrots.
I also had to use a middle amount of calories for the coconut milk as they seem to vary a lot. This one came from Tescos.

If divided into 7 servings , each would have about 225 calories
19 g carbohydrate
( of which 10.8 sugar)
8.5g fibre
13 fat
(of which 11.0 saturated)
3.5 g protein

So compared with 208 calories from Optifast , it's a wee bit lower in carbs (bit les sugar) , a lot more fat , more fibre but it's only got a fifth of the protein . I'm not an expert but I think that protein is important on a low calorie diet to preserve lean tissue

Each portion has lots of vitamin A*, 42% of your vit C for the day, 17% of the iron but only 5% of the calcium you need. The calculator didn't have the other vitamins and minerals .

( On a lighter note, you might turn orange* if you regularly ate the same soup several times a day for lots of meals, It can happen to vegetarians, and young children with a diet high in beta carotene , pumpkins and carrots are very high in betacarotene. )
*. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carotenosis
 
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