Everyone is different, and there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to choosing a weight loss programme. It ultimately depends on what suits your individual needs and what fits into your lifestyle. Many people find online weight loss programmes more convenient and easier to fit into daily life.
This guide compares Second Nature and Diet Doctor, two digital programmes that provide you with evidence based educational content and advice from dieticians. With Second Nature and Diet Doctor, you’ll be able to enjoy real food and benefit from taking a lower-carb approach which, research suggests, is the best way to lose weight.
Diet Doctor is a digital programme that recommends a ketogenic (keto) approach to food. A ketogenic diet is high fat and eliminates carbs almost entirely (less than 20g per day), even cutting out many fruits and vegetables.
While this may initially lead to rapid weight loss, the keto diet can be challenging to follow effectively in the long term. It’s much more restrictive and one ‘slip up’ will take you out of ketosis temporarily.
Second Nature is an easy-to-follow digital programme that recommends a lower-carb approach, roughly limiting carbohydrate intake to 45-60g per day, plus fruit and vegetables. This means you can reap the benefits of a lower-carb diet, including increased weight loss and better blood sugar management, without the restriction of a keto diet.
This approach means Second Nature was the first digital programme to be used by the NHS for long-term behavioural change & sustainable weight loss.
Ratings and reviews
Diet Doctor and Second Nature both deliver their programme via an app enabling you to have nutrition advice in your pocket, helping you to stay on track. To compare customer satisfaction, we’ve looked at reviews from TrustPilot. Both programmes are rated ‘Excellent’.
| Diet Doctor | Second Nature | |
| Star rating |  |  |
| Score | 4.8 / 5 read reviews | 4.8 / 5 read reviews |
Signing up
| Diet Doctor | Second Nature | |
| Money back guarantee | Full refund if cancelled within the first month. After this point, any charges non-refundable | Full refund if cancelled within 14 days. After this point, any charges non-refundable |
| Clear breakdown of costs | ✓ | ✓ |
| Clear cancellation policy | ✓ (Cancels at the end of the subscription period) | ✓ |
| Easy to cancel | ✓ | ✓ |
| Length of programme | 4 week minimum subscription | Ongoing subscription (minimum 12 weeks) |
| Refer-a-friend scheme | ✗ | ✓ |
| Easy to include family | ✓ | ✓ |
Nutrition
| Diet Doctor | Second Nature | |
| Dietary approach | Very low carb (ketogenic) | Lower carb |
| Caters to vegetarians | ✓ | ✓ |
| Caters to vegans | ✗ (Not enough recipes to accomodate a varied vegan diet) | ✓ |
| Vegetarian/vegan recipe section | ✓ | ✓ |
Support
| Diet Doctor | Second Nature | |
| Tailors the plan around diabetes | ✗ (Diet Doctor recommend consulting your doctor or health care provider for specific advice) | ✓ |
| Tailors the plan around other health issues | ✗ (Diet Doctor recommend consulting your doctor or health care provider for specific advice) | ✓ |
| Access to registered dietitian or nutritionist | ✗ (Meal plans were created by registered dietitians but there’s no option to speak to a dietician directly) | ✓ |
| Weekend support available | ✓ | ✓ |
| Phone support available | ✗ | ✓ |
Programme features
| Diet Doctor | Second Nature | |
| App | ✓ | ✓ |
| Recipe videos | ✓ | ✓ |
| Exercise videos | ✓ | ✓ |
| Weighing scales provided | ✗ | ✓ (on tech plan) |
| Encourages daily weigh-ins | ✗ | ✗ |
| Tracks sleep | ✗ | ✓ |
| Tracks steps | ✗ | ✓ |
| Tracks exercise | ✗ | ✓ |
| Tracks water intake | ✗ | ✓ |
| Education of nutrition science | ✓ | ✓ |
| Requires calorie counting | ✗ | ✗ |
| Food diary feature | ✗ | ✓ |
| Meal planning tool | ✓ | ✓ |
| In-app journalling tool | ✗ | ✓ |
Pricing
When programmes provide price plans in different formats, it can be hard to accurately compare prices. To make this easier, we’ve calculated the monthly basic price plans of each programme to show you how costs compare (as of February 2021).
For more support with your diet, you may wish to speak to a dietitian or nutritionist. Weekly face-to-face sessions with a registered dietitian or nutritionist can be very expensive (£40-£100/hour). We have added a column representing this to compare costs (Weekly Nutritionist – WN).
At first glance, the Second Nature programme may seem more expensive than Diet Doctor. However, the cost of the Second Nature programme includes access to a registered nutritionist or dietitian that you can speak to regularly, alongside your digital peer support group, meal planning and journaling tools plus steps, weight, and habit tracking technology.
On the Diet Doctor programme you can access general advice, information, and support in the Community Group.
Monthly digital subscriptions:
| Diet Doctor | Second Nature | WN | |
| Registered dietitian or nutritionist coach | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| The same, personal coach throughout the programme | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Price | £7.14 / month* | £40 / month | £300 / month |
*Pricing is based on the $9.99 (USD) monthly subscription price, converted to Pound Sterling for easy comparison.
Example nutrition query response
Q: Are eggs bad for your cholesterol? Should I avoid them?
Diet Doctor answer:
Diet Doctor summarise their findings on Eggs in a blog post. We’ve copied the summary, but recommend you check out the full post here.
“Eggs are one of nature’s most perfect foods. They’re nutritious, delicious, filling, affordable, and can be prepared in dozens of different ways.
Yes, they’re high in cholesterol. But eating eggs doesn’t increase the risk of heart disease. On the contrary, when included in a healthy diet, eggs may be beneficial for heart disease risk factors. And there’s no need to toss the yolk and just eat the whites! Eat whole eggs to get their maximum health benefits, flavor, and satisfaction.”
Second Nature’s answer:
“Eggs are a rich source of dietary cholesterol. It was previously thought that cholesterol-containing foods increase blood cholesterol and the risk of heart disease and strokes. However, this has not been shown to be the case as dietary cholesterol is poorly absorbed from the digestive system, and if cholesterol is absorbed, the body will produce less of it to balance out (and prevent blood cholesterol levels rising). Therefore, you do not need to be restricted unless recommended to do so from your GP/Healthcare professional. Eggs are among the most nutritious foods on the planet providing good quality protein as well as being loaded with vitamins and minerals.”
Take home message
- When choosing a weight loss programme, it is important to consider what support you need and what would fit into your lifestyle to help you achieve your goals
- For those who find face-to-face weight loss meetings uncomfortable or inconvenient, online programmes are a better option and focus on reducing carbohydrate intake
- Diet Doctor and Second Nature are fully online
- On the Second Nature programme you will be accompanied by a peer support group – they’ll help keep you accountable every day!
- Second Nature also includes daily access to a registered dietitian or nutritionist who can answer any nutrition queries and help to tailor the programme to your needs
- Second Nature and Diet Doctor both provide you with an education of nutrition science, allowing you to make informed decisions yourself and develop a healthy relationship with food in the long-term
- Second Nature offers phone support options, whereas Diet Doctor’s customer service is all online
