Thin From Within is a wellness program by Brad Pilon. It’s marketed to women who want to lose weight.
The main page for Thin From Within is intriguing but it doesn’t go into much detail. So we purchased a copy to see what it’s all about.
Bottom line: A well-researched diet that emphasizes gut health as key to your success. You can learn more here.
As with all our reviews, this review will go over what’s in the program in as much detail as we’re permitted.
Note: There appear to be at least two other books called “Thin From Within”. This review is not about them, and as far as we know they have nothing to do with Brad Pilon’s program.
Quick Summary
Update for 2019: We think the main program was solid and provided a good framework for managing your weight. Readers have lost weight and improved their health, but only by following it closely.
Thin From Within emphasizes gut health, which is undoubtedly important to maintaining a healthy body weight. Plus it is fairly well organized.
About Brad Pilon
The creator of this program seems to have a good reputation in the health and diet industry. He’s already well known for Eat Stop Eat, which is a guide to intermittent fasting released a few years ago (and still popular today).
He holds a graduate degree from the University of Guelph in Canada. His background is in human nutrition, and after working with bodybuilders in the supplement industry he became interested in intermittent fasting.
Here’s what’s notable about his career: he willing to challenge outdated “conventional wisdom” – which the diet industry is full of.
For example, short term fasting was considered a pretty crazy idea a few years ago. This was back when everyone said you should eat six protein-packed meals a day.
But he ignored that and instead looked at what the science actually says about metabolism. Now intermittent fasting is increasingly popular, in large part thanks to Brad Pilon’s ideas.
Thin From Within is his newest program. Some of the concepts he teaches are becoming mainstream, but it’s still a much different approach than most “gurus” teach.
The Science Behind Thin From Within
Gut health is the driving force behind Thin From Within. Brad emphasizes the importance of a functioning microbiome – the bacteria that naturally live in your digestive system.
In that way it’s different than most other popular diet systems. Yes, you’re supposed to watch calories. Yes, there are meal plans. But the most important thing is restoring your microbiome.
Gut Bacteria: The Key To A Healthy Weight?
Thin From Within makes two things clear:
- Your gut needs the right amounts of “good” bacteria in order to maintain a healthy weight and strong body, and…
- You most likely have depleted gut bacteria, due to a number of factors.
There’s a quote in the ebook that summarizes this way of thinking:
Before obesity comes inflammation and before inflammation comes gut dysfunction
So the idea is, correct your gut problems and you can avoid inflammation and obesity.
But what does the evidence say?
Your Microbiome and Obesity: Current Research
It appears that there is at least preliminary evidence to support the link between gut bacteria and obesity.
Some of the research so far has been done with mice. A mouse study described in Science Daily added support to the idea that gut bacteria “plays a substantial role in the development of obesity”.
The New York Times recently reported on a study measuring the difference in weight loss between people with different gut bacteria compositions, and found that different ratios of certain bacteria make a difference in pounds lost.
And the most comprehensive research review article we could find (published in Genome Medicine) concludes this:
The evidence for a strong contribution of the gut microbiota to the onset of obesity and metabolic diseases is growing.
This is just a sample of the supporting research out there. And while there are still some unanswered questions about the link between gut bacteria, obesity and inflammation, it seems safe to conclude that gut health is a very important factor in maintaining a healthy weight.
Preventing “Leaky Gut”
You might have heard the term “leaky gut” mentioned before by alternative health practitioners. It refers to when your digestive tract has so much inflammation that it doesn’t prevent broken down food particles from entering your blood stream.
Leakage from your digestive system into your circulation can cause toxic substances to build up, and lead to a whole host of health problems.
They discuss leaky gut in the main ebook. There’s some disagreement about whether it’s a real phenomenon, and he acknowledges this.
At this point, leaky gut is not really recognized in traditional healthcare. But it’s possible that more research will change that.
In any case, maintaining a healthy digestive system is critical, even if “leaky gut” isn’t fully proven.
How Does Thin From Within Work?
When you purchase the program you will get access to a member’s area where you can download the important ebooks (available in PDF format). You’ll have immediate access to the two main ebooks:
- Thin From Within 12 Week Weight Loss Program
- 12 Week Workout Program (optional)
You also get the nutrition calculator tool. This tool lets you input your height and weight, as well as which week you are on in the weight loss program, and it will tell you which foods you should be eating and how many daily calories and macronutrients to aim for.
12 Week Weight Loss Program
The first two weeks of the program focus on rebalancing your gut. This comes down to removing the “bad” gut bacteria, and increasing the amount of “good” bacteria.
How do you do this? By changing your diet.
You’ll be avoiding specific foods that hurt your gut health. Some of these foods are obvious (sugary, processed food) and some are not-so-obvious.
At the same time, you’ll be adding in foods that are known to boost your helpful bacteria.
Weeks 3-6 have somewhat different guidelines than the first two weeks. You’ll continue increasing the good bacteria, while also eating foods that improve your hormonal balance to continue fat loss.
In this phase you’ll start adding in prebiotic and probiotic foods. Prebiotic foods stimulate the right kind of bacterial growth in your digestive tract, and probiotic foods add more of the helpful bacteria.
The final six weeks (7-12) give you more choice in what you eat, now that your gut health has largely recovered. You still have diet restrictions – they provide you with a list of acceptable foods – but you also get “cheat” days where you can eat processed sugary foods if you’d like.
Your Food Choices
As mentioned above, your food options will vary depending on what phase you’re in.
You will get a list of acceptable foods for each phase. You’ll also get a sample 1-day meal plan to give you an idea of what your meals might look like.
There is not a rigid minute-by-minute eating plan to follow. Instead, you’ll be choosing your meals and snacks yourself based on the food list for that phase.
This gives you flexibility, but the downside is that you’ll need to do some pre-planning.
Probiotic Supplements
Brad recommends taking a probiotic supplement throughout the 12 week program. He has a particular brand he recommends, but we suspect that you can substitute in your own preferred supplement and get similar results.
What We Liked About The Program
- Based on substantial evidence on the link between gut health and obesity
- Rebalancing your gut should lead to long term results
- Flexible eating choices
- Well organized
- Brad Pilon has a strong reputation in the health and wellness industry
- You get a digital and physical copy of the main manual
What We Didn’t Like About The Program
- Not vegan friendly
- You’ll need to buy many new groceries
- Diet may be restrictive at times (some common foods aren’t allowed during different phases)
- The guide for after the 12 week diet requires an additional purchase
- As with any diet, results will depend on how well you adhere
Final Thoughts About Thin From Within
We expected this program to be generic and overhyped, but we were pleasantly surprised by its quality.
Focusing on restoring gut health instead of counting calories is a forward-thinking approach to dieting and wellness. We expect that this will be a growing trend in the next few years.
Like most diet programs, there are a few upsells, and that may turn some people off. But even if you just stick with the main product, we think you will find value.
At this point, Thin From Within is a diet and nutrition program that we recommend. If you’re looking to jumpstart your health, this is a good place to start. Visit the website now to learn more: >>truth-about-keto.com<<