The meal deal: weight loss at the ready

2nd November 2020 | Eativity editors

Thinking about trying a meal delivery service to help you with your weight-loss goals? Having your meals all prepped and ready to go can make it easier to manage your daily calorie and macronutrient intake – your portions are all controlled for you, which means no guesswork or accidental overeating, and all the nutritional info you need is right there on the label.

While taste, price and convenience are all important considerations when you’re trying to choose from the increasing number of options available, having a meal plan backed by science could give you that extra edge when it comes to reaching your health goals.

Australian meal delivery company Be Fit Food has become the first ready meal provider to partner with the CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, to develop and deliver meals that have been specifically designed to comply with the CSIRO Low Carb Diet.

Not just a passing fad: decades of CSIRO research has led to a science-backed eating plan you can trust.

The CSIRO Low Carb Diet is an energy-controlled, nutritionally complete meal plan that’s lower in carbs and higher in protein and healthy unsaturated fats. This balance of macros means it can help with weight loss while also keeping hunger pangs at bay.

Be Fit Food’s Lifestyle Range meals will feature a front-of-pack labelling mark showing they’re suitable for the CSIRO Low Carb Diet. The meals have passed independent tests to ensure strict benchmarks have been met, making them compliant with the food and nutrient specifications of the CSIRO’s science-based eating plan.

CSIRO Senior Research Scientist Professor Grant Brinkworth says that through decades of nutrition and health research, the CSIRO understands the barriers that can hold people back from improving their diet and shaking off any unwanted extra kilos.

“We know lifestyle factors like time and budget pressures and the growing rate of single person households are fuelling a strong demand for ready meals,” he says. “In Australia, our diet is getting worse. Of our top 20 causes of death, 14 are lifestyle-related, with type 2 diabetes one of the fastest-growing chronic health conditions. As people are seeking convenient food solutions, it’s important to make the healthy solution the easy option.”

Be Fit Food’s ready meals balance healthy fats, lean proteins and low-carb vegies. 

When compared to ready meals currently available in the Australia, the meals displaying the “Meal Suitable for the CSIRO Low Carb Diet” mark contain, on average, 68 percent fewer carbohydrates and 55 percent less sodium.

“In a world full of so much nutrition noise, few diets have undergone the type of rigorous clinical testing and research that the CSIRO Low-Carb Diet has,” Professor Brinkworth says.

Clinical studies have shown that, compared to a traditional high-carb, low-fat diet, the CSIRO Low Carb Diet can deliver sustained long-term weight loss. It can also lead to greater improvements in blood glucose control, a reduction in the need for diabetes medication and a decreased chance of developing heart disease risk factors.

Kate Save founded Be Fit Food in 2015 with bariatric surgeon Dr Geoffrey Draper.

Be Fit Food co-founder and CEO Kate Save, who also happens to be a dietitian and exercise physiologist, has welcomed the partnership with the CSIRO.

“The new Be Fit Food Lifestyle Range has been specifically formulated to follow the exact science of the CSIRO Low Carb Diet,” she says. “The range is a tasty and convenient way to enjoy the benefits of the CSIRO Low Carb Diet, without having to cook.

“Our philosophy is that food should be the first medicine in the pursuit of optimal health and prevention and treatment of weight-related disease. We’re delighted to partner with CSIRO to help people achieve healthier lifestyles.”

Be Fit Food’s first ready meals compliant with the CSIRO Low Carb Diet are available now. Meals can be ordered from befitfood.com.au

For more information about the CSIRO Low Carb Diet, head to csiro.au