Meal replacement shakes can cause diarrhea.
Written by Jack Schrupp & endorsed by Baylee Reller, RDN
Do meal replacement shakes give you diarrhea?
Meal replacement shakes are designed to replace the nutritional value of a meal. They are a quick and convenient way to get calories, protein, and other nutrients, especially for people who are always on the go. That said, meal replacement shakes are also notorious for making people run to the bathroom.
Why do meal replacement shakes make you poop?
Here are the top meal replacement ingredients that can cause diarrhea.
Dairy.
Dairy-based proteins like whey can casein are byproducts of cheese and yogurt production. They are known to cause digestive issues, especially for people with lactose intolerance, which affects over one in three Americans. If you have lactose intolerance, you lack the enzymes needed to fully break down lactose, the sugar in dairy. As a result, lactose spends extra time in your gut, which causes your colons to absorb extra water. This can lead to diarrhea.
Food additives.
Most meal replacements are full of food additives. Food additives look nothing like real food, which makes them hard to digest. As you just learned, partially digested food can cause diarrhea.
Here is a list of the most common food additives in meal replacements:
acacia gum, acesulfame potassium, artificial flavors, aspartame, carrageenan, cellulose gum, dextrin, dextrose, erythritol, gellan gum, guar gum, gum arabic, inulin, locust bean gum, “natural” flavors, maltodextrin, rice syrup solids, soy lecithin, silica, sucralose, sunflower lecithin, xanthan gum, xylitol