From Improving Gut Health to Rebooting Your Metabolism, Sakara Life Is Upping Its Meal-Delivery Services

Finally, some wanted to lower inflammation and lose weight without exposing themselves to psychologically harmful diet language and habits. “It should really be about nourishing because so often, it can be about doing the opposite and taking away. It affects our psyche,” says Duboise. So, along with a council composed of doctors, nutritionists, scientists, and psychiatrists (such as Dr. Shebani Seth, the founding director of the Stanford University School of Medicine’s Metabolic Psychiatry Program), they developed four new Sakara Systems to address each outlined issue. 

There’s Performance, meant to elevate your mental and physical acuity. (It replenishes and prevents burnout, says Tingle.) Then, the Metabolism Reset is designed to increase energy levels. (“I used the metabolism system postpartum, at about six to nine months postpartum, to really help me get that rev back,” Tingle adds.) Finally, Gut Health Reboot aims to foster a healthy gut microbiome and relieve gastrointestinal symptoms, whereas the Fresh Start Cleanse eases inflammation and weight management. Each comes with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus a variety of probiotics, teas, powders, snacks, and juices. Users can do them for seven, 30, or 60 days. The price point is high: The week-long program starts at $460.

I signed up for their 30-day Gut Health Reboot—intrigued by promising studies of good gut health’s benefits for your skin. (For the past two years, I’ve struggled with perioral dermatitis, a skin condition whose triggers are complicated, vague, and almost impossible to pinpoint.) Meals arrived at my door every Monday and Thursday, heavy on fiber and protein. A sample menu? A Neapolitan parfait made of cauliflower, chickpeas, and vanilla bean custard for breakfast, followed by a sweet beet and toasted cashew salad with carrot-ginger dressing for lunch. Snacks consisted of spinach, lime, mint, and vanilla smoothies as well as vanilla and tahini power bars or almond granola. For dinner, there were dishes such as golden pineapple unfried rice and cacao mole enchiladas. The food, especially the breakfasts, was satisfying and good (albeit heavy on the salads): “We think that in order to really stick to something, it also has to be joyful,” says Tingle. Despite the program being no meat, no soy, no dairy, no gluten, and no refined sugars—a daunting descriptor—I didn’t experience any cravings or crashes. Quite the opposite: I felt full throughout the day, slept better at night, and by day seven, noticed higher physical and mental energy levels. I also felt far less bloated and my skin stayed remarkably clear.