Disclaimer: None of the information in this article constitutes medical advice, and is just the opinion of the writer(s). We recommend that patients follow their doctor’s guidance in regard to weight loss medication.
Found is a weight loss brand that describes itself as “the largest weight loss clinic in the United States.” The Found Weight Loss Program operates through a smartphone app, connecting patients with medical providers who can prescribe medication and recommend healthy lifestyle changes for weight loss.
But is Found more effective than just taking weight loss medication? What medications does Found prescribe? How is it different from other weight loss programs? And how do real users rate and describe the effects of this program?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the Found program and the medications prescribed, to give our take on whether or not Found is likely to be successful for weight loss.
We’ll share our concerns about some health claims made on the Found website, feature real customer reviews, and share a video from a doctor who discusses which weight loss drug is clinically shown to be the most effective.
Is Found Proven to Work?
At the time of writing this article, Found does not appear to have funded any clinical trials showing that their program is effective for weight loss.
Some of the medications prescribed by Found (which we’ll review later) are shown in clinical trials to cause weight loss, but the program itself doesn't appear to be.
Given that the company raised over $100 million from investors, we hope that Found funds a clinical trial testing the weight loss effects of their program.
At this point, we can’t find any information suggesting that Found is more effective than simply taking weight loss medication (prescribed by a doctor) and making healthy lifestyle choices like eating whole foods on your own.
What Does Found Prescribe?
Found claims on an FAQ page of their website that the providers working with the brand can prescribe 12 different weight loss medications.
What concerns us is that neither of the medications highlighted on the Found site above are currently FDA-approved for weight loss.
Bupropion is a generic antidepressant medication, and as we documented in our bupropion reviews article, this drug is associated with weight loss in clinical trials but isn't currently approved by the FDA for the treatment of obesity.
Metformin is an antidiabetic medication that was shown in a 2020 medical review to cause weight loss even in non-diabetic patients, however this drug is not currently approved by the FDA for weight loss.
Given that there are a number of prescription weight loss drugs that are approved by the FDA, we don’t understand why Found would highlight these medications.
As the FDA details on their website, “off-label” use (like using a diabetes drug to treat weight loss) means the FDA has not determined that the drug is safe and effective for that use.
We hope that Found clarifies whether or not they prescribe drugs off-label for weight loss.
Questionable Health Claims
Found makes a number of health claims on their website that we consider questionable from a scientific perspective.
The brand claims that “up to 70% of your weight can be determined by your genes.”
While it’s true that there are genetic markers associated with increased risk of obesity, suggesting that obesity is caused by genetics seems illogical.
Medical data shows that adult obesity rates in the US increased from 13% 1960 to 36% in 2009. Did the human genome change in those 49 years or did diet and lifestyle factors change? It seems obvious to us that the answer is the latter.
Found then suggests on the same page that “anywhere from 25-80% of your weight could be determined by your genetics.”
This seems to contradict the previous claim, and is again entirely uncited. The brand provides no proof of either claim.
Found then claims that their program “identifies the role your genetics play and then provides you with tools – like prescription medication – to address your weight at the cellular level.”
This statement makes absolutely no sense to us, because we have not come across any medical evidence that targeted prescription medication treatment based on genetic data is effective.
Also, does this mean that Found requires patient data from a genotyping service like 23andMe? How is the brand accessing the genetic data that they claim allows them to make more effective prescription recommendations?
We recommend that consumers entirely disregard claims of efficacy made by health brands that provide no proof of such claims.
Real People Try Found
A TikTok creator named Jessica G. shares her experience after her first week on Found:
@nerdysika #found #weightloss #metformin ♬ original sound - Jessica G.
A TikTok creator named Nichole Lynn claims to have lost over 30 pounds on Found's program:
@nicholelynn88 My success with Found! Down 35 pounds and going… #fyp #foryourpage #foundweightlossreview #foundweightloss #weightloss #livingmybestlife ♬ Livin' My Best Life - Dylan Scott
How Much Does Found Cost?
At the time of updating this article, Found fails to publish a clear and transparent pricing structure on their website.
Users have to navigate to a specific FAQ page, highlighted above, that prompts users to “take the quiz” to determine their price.
The “quiz” Found refers to requests sensitive personal data such as name, pregnancy status, date of birth and more.
We do not believe that users should have to input this much information to find out the price of a health service, and we recommend that users speak with their doctor (or lawyer) about whether or not sharing this data with a third-party app is a good idea.
Which Weight Loss Drug Works Best?
A doctor and YouTube creator named Christy Risinger has a video reviewing clinical data to determine which drug is proven to cause the greatest weight loss:
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).
MBG Organic Fiber Potency+ is our top fiber pick because it's certified organic, provides 7 g of fiber per serving and costs under $1.85 per serving at the time of updating this article.
MCT oil was shown in a meta-study to cause 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. and it currently costs only $15.50 for over a month's worth of product.
Ginger intake "significantly decreased body weight" according to a 2019 meta-study on ginger and weight loss that analyzed data from 14 clinical trials.
Pique La Ginger is our top ginger product, because it's an organic tea in convenient crystallized form, and all that's needed is to pour the powder into a glass and add hot water.
All three of the products mentioned in this section are entirely free of additive ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy or unsafe.
We are not suggesting that any of these products are as effective as any FDA-approved medication for weight loss.
Found Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of the Found program in our opinion:
Pros:
- Uses research-backed prescription drugs
- Working with a clinician may improve weight loss outcomes
Cons:
- Company doesn't appear to have funded clinical trials
- Offers drugs not FDA-approved for weight loss
- Unclear pricing structure
- Questionable claims about genetic basis of obesity
