Metabolic Renewal is a popular weight loss program targeted to women. The company claims to help users "Find Your Hormone Type," and achieve "Weight Loss Personalized To Your Hormones."
But do women really require different weight loss strategies than men? Does hormone-based weight loss make sense? Are there clinical studies showing that Metabolic Renewal works? And how do real customers rate and describe their experience?
In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more, as we review the clinical research backing for Metabolic Renewal, to give our take on whether or not the program is likely to be effective for weight loss.
We'll share unsponsored customer reviews, highlight some questionable health claims on the brand's website, and discuss our concerns about the idea of sex-based weight loss strategies.
Does Metabolic Renewal Work?
Metabolic Renewal makes various health claims on a page of their website titled "The Science," including the one shown above.
The first “Finding” states that women burn 65% more fat than men.
The details state that a 2002 study in The American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism proves this, however we searched every article published that year and cannot find any study proving this.
Use this link if you’d like to search the journal’s database for that year yourself.
We have never come across any clinical evidence that women burn significantly more fat than men at rest, nor would that make logical sense, given that obesity rates in developed countries are relatively similar between the sexes.
Metabolic Renewal’s “Finding #3,” shown above, claims that the program burns 10x more fat while providing zero medical citations or proof.
Any exercise program can help individuals lose weight, but we do not believe that Metabolic Renewal is likely to be more effective than any other exercise program, given the apparent lack of research backing for the brand's claims.
Real People Try Metabolic Renewal
A YouTube creator named "A Typical Life" has a review of Metabolic Renewal after eight months of use, that covers both the food and the exercise program:
A TikTok creator named Sherri DeMarino documents how much weight she lost on Metabolic Renewal:
@sherridemarino Not making excuses but here is an update of my Metabolic Renewal Fitness update. This is my fitness journey. Sometimes life happens & you don’t get to do your workout. It’s okay Don’t beat your self up about it continue when you can. I will continue next week on Monday! 💕I have a really good reason we were in the middle of preparations for my daughter’s baby shower! I’m going to be a grandma or as I will be called “YaYa” ! 😍 My grandson will be here in less than a month! #metabolicrenewal #menapausesucks #fitnessmotivation #hotflashes #moodswings #realresults #fiftyyearsyoung #workoutmotivation #fitnessjourney2023 #results #fitness #inspire #ificandoitsocanyou #workoutfromehome #buildabetterbody #workout ♬ original sound - Sherri DeMarino
Questionable Health Claims on Brand's Website
Metabolic Renewal’s site makes many questionable and uncited health claims.
At the time of initially writing this article, the brand's homepage claimed that “exercising like a man can suppress a woman’s thyroid.”
This claim had a citation number, but no matching citation anywhere on the page, likely because this claim is both illogical and unscientific.
There are no medically-defined sex requirements for exercise. Both men and women benefit from all forms of exercise, from anaerobic to aerobic to low-intensity exercise like walking.
Their homepage also claimed that “for the past 100 years, nearly all of the exercise and nutrition research has been done on men.” This was blatantly false.
A cursory search of PubMed, the leading free medical database of research studies, provides 625,995 results for the search term “men,” and 1,707,576 for the search term “women” at the time of updating this article.
A search for “women + exercise” (which searches the database for published medical papers containing both terms) provides 65,289 results.
Both of the above statements have since been removed from the brand's website, potentially because our article (which ranks very well in Google search and reaches many people) clearly disproved both claims.
Metabolic Renewal’s site still claims that “most women fall into one of 7 core Hormone Types” without any medical citation. We consider this statement unscientific. We have not come across any medical evidence that women can be categorized into "hormone types."
Modern medicine has a good understanding of hormones and this is a marketing term the company is using to position an email solution to their customers. We find this to be a highly questionable business practice.
Is Sex-Based Weight Loss Unscientific?
As we discussed in our Reverse Health review article on another weight loss program marketed to women, we haven't come across any clinical evidence that sex-based weight loss strategies are better than traditional weight loss approaches.
While men and women have biological differences, weight loss is a simple thermodynamic process: calories in versus calories out.
Regardless of sex, an individual burning more calories than they consume will lose weight (outside of exceedingly rare medical conditions). An individual consuming more calories than they burn will gain weight.
Sex-differentiated weight loss programs are a great marketing strategy, because they appear to be more targeted and relevant than broader strategies like eating healthier and exercising, but we consider it to be a red flag when brands make this type of weight loss claim.
We recommend that consumers avoid products and services making sex-differentiated weight loss claims without citing, and linking to, medical studies that support these claims.
Founder Is Not Medical Doctor
The founder of Metabolic Renewal is a man by the name of Jade Teta.
As is documented on the “About Dr. Teta” page of the brand's website, he is a naturopathic doctor.
While naturopaths are allowed to refer to themselves as doctors, typically medical doctors (MD) bear this title, so we wanted to highlight this distinction for readers.
Naturopathic doctors are only required to complete around 6,000 hours of clinical training, while medical doctors complete around 21,000 hours according to this breakdown by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
We’re not against naturopathic medicine necessarily, but we thought this information may be useful to prospective customers.
Our Clean Weight Loss Picks
Ceylon cinnamon was described as "an effective anti-obesity agent" in a 2022 meta-analysis. The study authors concluded that effects were greater at doses at or over 3 grams daily.
Illuminate Labs Ceylon Cinnamon Extract is our standardized Ceylon cinnamon supplement which is third-party tested to ensure purity and potency.
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.
Both of the products mentioned in this section are entirely free of additive ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
Pros and Cons of Metabolic Renewal
Here are the pros and cons of Metabolic Renewal in our opinion:
Pros:
- May support weight loss
- Unlikely to cause side effects or health risks
- Drug-free approach
- Increasing exercise may have secondary health benefits beyond weight loss
- Founder is medical professional
Cons:
- Questionable health claims on brand's website
- We can't find evidence that sex-based weight loss approaches add value
- Founder is ND not MD
- "Hormone Type" marketing is unscientific
