Noom Diet

What is Noom Diet?

Noom is a health and fitness application with a psychological approach to weight loss and is recognized by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The app, founded in the year 2012, has recorded millions of installations and is a top-ranked application for weight loss.

The app uses scientific and evidence-based techniques to help its users achieve their goals. It touches upon:

• Psychology-based principles such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to promote lifestyle changes;
• Technology to introduce new innovations in the app; and
• Health Coaching, to guide the Noomers (Noom users) in eating habits and behavioral enhancements.

The app extends its footprint to other health clinics as well to assist people in preventing and managing chronic health conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

How Does the Noom Diet Work?

The app includes features such as food and exercise logging and weight tracking. One-on-one virtual sessions with health coaches and education materials on dietary habits, psychological therapy, and physical activity are comprehended in the app.

Once signed up for the app, an elaborate survey is on the way to proceed further. The survey covers aspects of body weight, dietary patterns, physical activity level, and health risks.

Beginning with the user filling in their current and target body weight, the app gives an estimate of the duration it takes to achieve the goal based on factors such as age and gender.

The survey then shifts to the user's dietary particulars (namely type and frequency of foods), present physical activity status, and health risks. The survey ends with questions on behavior-based eating patterns of the user (like 'when are you likely to nibble?').

The app also has an embedded physical activity monitor that provides the user's daily step count. The nutritional information of the food entries can also be viewed by the user. Based on the user's physical activity status and eating habits, the app and the coach provide suggestions to achieve their goal.

Foods to Eat and Avoid on the Noom Diet

The app is more focused on building healthy habits over time and no foods to eat or avoid is provided. Rather, the foods are labeled as 'Green,' 'Yellow,' and 'Red' foods where no food is titled as good and healthy foods or bad and unhealthy foods.

Noom helps its users understand what's on their plate and guides them to make healthy choices based on the color system:

• Green foods are nutrient-dense and/or low in caloriesand should cover up most of the diet. The Green foods include vegetables (like spinach, broccoli, cucumbers), fruits (like apple, strawberry, banana), non-fat milk products (like non-fat milk, cheese, yogurt), and whole grains (like quinoa, oats, brown rice).
• Yellow foods contain more calories and are less nutrient-dense when compared to green foods and should be consumed in moderation. The Yellow foods include chicken, eggs, beans, chickpea, salmon, turkey, low-fat milk and low-fat cheese.
• Red foods are calorie-dense foods and should be consumed in limited quantities. The Red foods include oils, nuts, seeds, red meats, processed meat, sugars, desserts, chocolates and high-fat foods like chips, French fries, pizzas, etc.

Health Benefits of Noom Diet

• Scientific and research-based psychological support is provided for the users to achieve their target body weight by self-monitoring their food intake and physical activity levels.
• A portion size guide is also available for the users for better understanding and estimation of their intake.

• The brownie point of the Noom weight loss program is that the psychology-based approach brings about behavior changes, lifestyle modifications, and boosts building healthy habits that one can carry forward their entire life.
• Encouraging the users to follow a balanced diet, including natural weight loss foods in the diet, and self-monitoring their overall diet and activity status is an added booster to the game.

Noom Diet Plan

The Noom weight loss program is subscription-based, ranging from monthly to annual plans. The diet plans provided by Noom are balanced diets and do not encourage fad diets to the users.

The app also enlightens the users on the difference between nutrient-dense and calorie-dense foods and that the diet can be a combination of both, and include foods from all three colors in suggested frequency and / or quantity.

Once the user records their meal, the app shows the distribution of green, yellow, and red foods of the meal.

Noom Diet Recipes

The app provides Noomers with several healthy recipes that can be included in their diet. Noom guides its users in meal planning, fitting their target calories in the day's menu, and also budgeting their meals.

The app encourages the users to experiment with new recipes while planning meals for weight loss. The recipes are split as breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.

The user can 'Favorite' recipes from this wing and can also log the same in their intake entry. The method of preparation, energy per serving, and other nutritional information of the recipe are also bestowed for the Noomers.

What Does Research Say?

A study reported that 77.9% of the 35,921 participants showed weight reduction after using the Noom Coach app. Studies conducted among older adults also show positive results in weight loss, and hence Noom is a great handy tool for adults of all age groups wanting to lose weight and make lifestyle changes.

As mentioned above, Noom is intended to educate the Noomers to make healthy food choices and build habits.

A study portrayed that weight loss using the Noom app was associated with the nutrition knowledge and food choices made by the individuals. Average weight loss on Noom of about 3 kg at 16 weeks was reported in a study conducted among participants from different regions.

Merits and Demerits

In a world where fad diets are advertised for weight loss, here's an app that has practical as well as scientifically proven results for weight loss.

Self-monitoring by frequently feeding data about one's activity and intake is the determining factor for weight loss.

The odds for false information on weight or food intake is high due to social pressure since most inputs in the app are self-recorded.

Bottom Line

The Noom app is a great tool for monitoring and tracking weight loss. Studies have reported significant weight reduction among individuals who monitor their food intake and body weight regularly. Self-monitoring of physical activity, dietary intake, and body weight is an added feather to their cap.

'Smart apps like the Noom in this smartphone era is a smart step for better health.'

References:

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