Optavia is a weight loss program that includes coaching and meal delivery. The company claims that their program is clinically proven to work, and "designed by physicians, dietitians and scientists."

But is Optavia actually proven in clinical research to cause weight loss? And if so, how much average weight loss was achieved on their program? Are the meals healthy? And how do real users rate and describe the effects of the Optavia diet?

In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more as we review results from the clinical trial that tested Optavia for weight loss.

We'll also analyze the ingredients in some of the brand's meals to give our take on whether they're healthy or not, and share real, unsponsored user reviews of Optavia.

Does Optavia Cause Weight Loss?

A clinical trial published in the Obesity Science & Practice journal tested the effects of the Optavia diet on weight loss.

The study lasted 16 weeks, and compared three diets: Optavia, Medifast and a self-directed, reduced-calorie diet.

Trial participants on the Optavia diet lost slightly more weight than those on the Medifast diet. Those eating Optavia meals lost an average of 11.46 pounds.

The Optavia meal plan used in the trial was Optavia’s "5 & 1 Plan," which is currently available on the brand's website.

Both of the commercial diets yielded better results than the self-directed diet, which is unsurprising since the commercial diets are portion-controlled (which means they provide a fixed number of calories per day), while people on a self-directed diet have to weigh and measure their own food and caloric intake, which creates more chance for human error.

This study was actually funded by Medifast, not Optavia, which makes the results even more unbiased and legitimate.

We'd like to see a longer trial before recommending the program. We know from medical research that significantly restricting calories often results in rebound weight gain.

Optavia does provide coaching which should help, since an online support system is proven in medical research to aid in weight loss efforts.

Overall we consider Optavia likely to be effective for weight loss in the short-and-medium term, given that the program is clinically proven to be effective and its online coaching feature should further improve results.

We do not recommend the program overall because we don't consider the meals to be healthy, as we'll discuss in the following section.

Are Optavia Meals Healthy?

The above ingredients list is from Optavia's Smoky BBQ Crunchers, and strikes us as a large number of ingredients for a 100 calorie snack.

We consider Optavia meals, also called Optavia Fuelings, to be relatively processed and we recommend eating whole foods that are free of questionable additive ingredients.

Here are the first five meals listed on the 5 & 1 Plan from Optavia’s website at the time of writing this article:

• Smoky BBQ Crunchers
• Silky Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Bar
• Creamy Chocolate Shake
• Drizzled Chocolate Fudge Crisp Bar
• Wild Strawberry Shake

These sound like desserts, not nutritious meals. Eating highly processed foods is definitively associated in medical research with negative health outcomes like cardiovascular disease and depression. 

Optavia Smoky BBQ Crunchers contains added sugar and natural flavorings, as well as a notice that the meal "CONTAINS BIOENGINEERED FOOD INGREDIENTS." 

Citric acid is another ingredient included, and is a preservative and flavor enhancer that appears to cause whole-body inflammation in a small subset of individuals according to a medical review published in the Toxicology Reports journal.

The majority of ingredients in this formulation are a blend of vitamins and minerals, and Optavia states on their website that all of their Fuelings contain 24 vitamins and minerals. 

Earlier this year the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported that a wellness brand had to recall several products due to the added vitamins causing toxicity in some consumers, which explains our belief that it's illogical to regularly consume supplemental vitamins and minerals without a deficiency in those vitamins and minerals.

Healthiness certainly exists on a spectrum, but there are a number of questionable ingredients in Optavia Fuelings, and for this reason we don't recommend the program overall from a health perspective.

We recommend a diet comprised of whole foods with minimal processing. As we found in one of our nutrition reviews, it's even possible to find healthy food at Dollar Tree that we'd recommend over Optavia.

We consider a whole-foods-based meal delivery service like Trifecta Nutrition to be a healthier option than Optavia.

Real, Unsponsored Optavia User Reviews

The most popular YouTube video on Optavia comes from the Today show, has been viewed well over 1 million times, and interviews someone who lost over 330 pounds on Optavia:

A YouTube user named "Feliciannurse" shared what a full week of Optavia-approved Lean and Green recipes look like. Keep in mind that the one daily "Lean & Green" meal is recommended but not provided by Optavia:

 Why Was Optavia Sued?

In July of 2022, Optavia was sued in a class-action lawsuit over claims that the company was operating an illegal auto-renewal scheme. The lawsuit alleges that Optavia was enrolling customers in auto-renewal plans in a deceptive and illegal manner.

Several customer complaints on Optavia's Better Business Bureau (BBB) page allege similar. A user named "Bobbi B" claims that Optavia charged them without their consent or approval:

"When I opened the products, they were expired. I called the customer service number and they would not help me with a return or refund stating they could not find an order under my email address, I awoke this morning to another charge on my account, I've ordered nothing and did not sign up for auto delivery, and they still won't help since they cannot locate an order in my email address."

Questionable Vegetable Conversion Chart

Optavia has a "Vegetable Conversion Chart" that's meant to help customers assess the caloric and carbohydrate content of vegetables by measuring in cups (because many people don't have a food scale but have a measuring cup).

Our issue with this chart is that it highlights vegetables in red, yellow, and green, which suggests that "red" vegetables which are higher in carbs should be avoided.

We disagree with disincentivizing people from consuming any vegetables, and the carb content of most vegetables is negligible.

According to the USDA, half a cup of broccoli, which is categorized as "red" by Optavia, provides only 5.6 grams (g) of carbs, but only 3.03 g "net" carbs after subtracting fiber. This serving contains only 27 calories.

Fruits and vegetables are high in fiber and low in calories, which fills up the stomach and can help reduce cravings and binging on high-calorie processed foods like pizza. This makes them perfect for a healthy diet plan.

We have not come across any medical evidence suggesting that eating too many vegetables causes negative health or weight loss outcomes, nor does Optavia cite any on this page, so we consider this approach to be unscientific. 

How Much Does Optavia Cost?

The cost of Optavia depends on the program. The 5 & 1 program, which appears to be the most popular and is the diet plan that was studied in the clinical trial, currently costs $395.25 and contains 119 servings.

Assuming 5 servings per day as their plan outlines, this equates to a daily cost of $16.6 in Optavia Fuelings. Consumers will still need to purchase ingredients for the one "Lean & Green" daily meal on their own.

Given that the Optavia program includes coaching, we consider this to be a pretty reasonable daily cost.

It's worth noting that Optavia is slightly more expensive than Nutrisystem on a monthly basis, and we would consider the two programs somewhat equivalent as they're both weight loss programs with clinical research backing.

Optavia's Questionable Business Model

Optavia is a multi-level-marketing (MLM) business, which means that independent distributors called "Optavia Coaches" help sell their products.

We consider MLMs to be questionable business models from an ethical perspective, because they often rely on people with no relevant medical or scientific background to make health claims in regard to a brand's products or services.

Optavia's "Become a Coach" webpage does not list any medical requirements. Rather, the brand states they are seeking "like-minded, like-hearted" people. In our opinion, someone being "like-hearted" is a not a good qualifier for them coaching someone else to achieve weight loss.

The phrase "Optavia ruined my life" gets 5,400 monthly searches at the time of updating this article, according to software tool SEMRush, and some of the results are published by coaching partners.

Our Clean Weight Loss Picks

There are food-based nutrients which have been shown in medical studies to be effective for weight loss.

Dietary fiber was shown in a medical review published in The Journal of Nutrition to cause 16 pounds of weight loss in 6 months when combined with moderate caloric restriction (750 calories per day below baseline).

Supergut Fiber Mix is our recommended fiber supplement, because it contains three different types of fiber powder and no questionable additive ingredients. Interested consumers can check out Supergut Fiber Mix at this link to the product page on the brand's official website, where it retails for under $2 per serving at a subscription rate.

MCT oil is quickly absorbed by the body and increases metabolic rate, which causes fat loss. A 2015 meta-study on MCT oil documented more than one pound of weight loss over 10 weeks. This equates to potential annualized weight loss of 6 pounds per year with less than one tablespoon's worth of MCT oil per day.

Bulletproof MCT Oil is our top MCT oil product, because the only ingredient is MCT oil derived from coconuts. There are no questionable additives. Interested consumers can check out Bulletproof MCT Oil at this link to the product page on the brand's official website, where it currently costs only $15.50 for over a month's worth of product.

Coffee is one of the few whole food ingredients associated with weight loss in clinical trials. A meta-analysis published in the Nutrients journal found that coffee intake was associated with reduced body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference.

VitaCup Organic Instant Coffee Sticks is our top coffee product for weight loss, due to its convenience. No preparation or machinery is needed. The sticks can be mixed into hot or cold water (or other beverages) and consumed. The only ingredient is organic instant coffee; no questionable additives.

Interested consumers can check out VitaCup Organic Instant Coffee Sticks at this link to the product page on the brand's official website, where they retail for $1 per serving at a subscription rate.

Conclusion

We consider Optavia likely to be successful for short-to-medium-term weight loss, because it was proven so in a legitimate clinical trial. That trial found Optavia to be a more effective weight loss option than another commercial dieting plan called Medifast, and also to be more effective than a self-directed diet.

We do not recommend Optavia because we consider the Fuelings to be highly processed and contain questionable ingredients. Eating whole foods and eliminating processed food is a more sustainable, healthy weight loss approach in our opinion.

Optavia has recently been sued over allegations that the brand was enrolling customers in auto-renewal schemes without their consent.

The cost of Optavia, around $400 per month, is relatively reasonable given that the program includes coaching, which is clinically proven to help optimize weight loss efforts.