Metagenics launches UltraMeal PLUS 360° Stevia

September 24, 2011 — Metagenics Inc., a nutrigenomics and lifestyle medicine company, announced it will launch UltraMeal PLUS 360° Stevia in October 2011, to provide physicians and patients with a reduced calorie option of this medical food.

UltraMeal PLUS 360° Stevia enhances Metagenics’ line of medical foods. Research with the original UltraMeal PLUS 360° formula is said to have shown it to be almost twice as effective as one of the best diets alone for reducing cardiovascular risk factors.

“UltraMeal PLUS 360° Stevia meets the needs of doctors and patients that prefer a lower calorie, fructose-free option of this popular medical food,” said Robert H. Lerman, MD, PhD, director of medicine and extramural clinical research for Metagenics Inc. “Our goal in developing this version of UltraMeal PLUS 360° is to have options that meet the preferences of a broad range of people so that they can experience its benefits in reversing metabolic syndrome and reducing the likelihood of heart disease and diabetes.”

UltraMeal PLUS 360° is the first medical food that is tested and demonstrated to be effective and safe for managing metabolic syndrome, including the reduction of risk factors for cardiovascular illness.

The chief component works to help modulate kinases, enzymes that translate dietary signals and affects complex processes at the cellular level. Metagenics has integrated Selective Kinase Response Modulators (SKRMs), phytochemical substances that can work to help modulate kinases back into balance, within UltraMeal PLUS 360°.

UltraMeal PLUS 360° Stevia uses a combination of stevia and eyrthritol as low-calorie, natural sweeteners. This is an additional product to the original version of UltraMeal PLUS 360°containing fructose, natural non-genetically modified (Non-GMO) and is in an amount equivalent to that found in a large apple or pear. There is also a rice-based version of the medical food available for those who prefer an alternative to soy.

UltraMeal PLUS 360° is backed by years of clinical research and testing to ensure that it is effective and safe. A recent research article in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology published data showing that patients who incorporate the medical food into their diet as well as make necessary lifestyle changes will achieve better, faster results in reducing cardiovascular risk factors, than they would with the lifestyle changes alone.

The research, conducted in a multicenter clinical trial at the University of Connecticut, University of Florida and the University of California, Irvine, found that a program consisting of Metagenics’ UltraMeal PLUS 360° and a low-glycemic, Mediterranean-style diet is 40 percent more likely to resolve metabolic syndrome than just using the diet alone.

The use of scientifically-supported combination of medical foods, diet, and exercise is part of Metagenics’ FirstLine Therapy lifestyle medicine program that enables physicians and other healthcare providers to address patients’ needs for long-term lifestyle change in a new practice management model.

“The FirstLine Therapy program offered by Metagenics provides the tools to treat the causes of chronic illness,” said Lerman. “The impact of these medical foods plus the FirstLine Therapy practice model demonstrates the power nutrigenomics — the science of food used as medicine — has to reduce the current worldwide epidemic of chronic illness.”

Source: Metagenics Inc., www.metagenics.com