What are the best lactose-free meal replacement shakes?
Written by Jack Schrupp and reviewed by Ella McGonagle, M.S. Nutrition
drink wholesome makes the best lactose-free meal replacement shakes. It is additive-free, dairy-free, and made with real foods, not protein isolates – 99% of meal replacements fail to meet at least one of these criteria. This makes it perfect for people with gut issues and sensitive stomachs, as well as for people just looking for nutrition without the processing and added junk. If you suffer from SIBO, or any other digestive disease, order samples to see if our meal replacements are right for you.
★★★★★
“I have a sensitive stomach, so most meal replacement powders leave me with gas, bloating, constipation, and stomach pain, but not this one.” – Shon
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drink wholesome is the lactose-free meal replacement.
What is lactose?
What is lactose intolerance?
What is lactose-free?
Are meal replacements lactose-free?
Why use lactose-free meal replacement shakes?
Why drink wholesome?
What is lactose?
Lactose is the sugar in milk and dairy products like yogurt, ice cream, and whey protein.
What is lactose intolerance?
An enzyme called lactase is needed to digest lactose. Lactose intolerance occurs when the body does not make enough of this enzyme. People who are lactose intolerant experience symptoms like bloating and diarrhea after eating or drinking dairy products. It is estimated that roughly two thirds of the world’s population has some degree of lactose intolerance. After breastfeeding, humans no longer “need” the ability to digest milk, so they begin to produce less lactase.
What is lactose-free?
If a food is lactose-free, it does not contain any lactose. Lactose-free does not mean dairy-free. A product can be lactose-free and still contain dairy. A dairy-free product, on the other hand, is necessarily lactose free. This is important to understand if you have a dairy allergy or sensitivity.
Are meal replacements lactose-free?
Meal replacements made with whey and casein protein, which are byproducts of cheese and yogurt production, contain lactose. Some meal replacements made with whey protein isolates are lactose-free, meaning that most or all of the lactose has been removed, but they are heavily processed. This is a trade-off you do not want to make.
Straight from the cow, whey is 75% lactose. In order to remove all of that sugar, manufacturers have to subject the whey to mechanical and chemical processing. What you end up putting into your body therefore looks nothing like real food, which worrisome because more and more research shows that processed foods can disrupt the composition and function of the gut microbiome (the collection of microorganisms that help you digest food). These disruptions can, in turn, lead to the development of a number of chronic diseases.
I therefore recommend that you find a minimally-processed, dairy-free alternative to whey and casein. My top choice is egg white protein.
Why use lactose-free meal replacement drinks?
Here are 3 reasons why you should choose a lactose-free meal replacement shake:
1. Dairy-based proteins like whey can casein are known to cause digestive issues. This is especially true for people with lactose sensitivity (intolerance) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Over one in three Americans are lactose intolerant, and the prevalence of IBS is somewhere between 10 and 15 percent in the United States. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a poorly understood condition, and it is unclear why dairy triggers symptoms. Lactose intolerance, on the other hand, is clearly understood. As you just learned, people with lactose intolerance are unable to fully digest lactose, the sugar in dairy. As a result, it sits in their gut for longer than it should. This gives their gut bacteria more time to ferment (eat) the partially digested food. As they eat, these gut bacteria produce gas, which can cause bloating, cramps, and nausea. Gas also slows colonic transit (the amount of time it takes food to travel through the colon) and can lead to constipation.
2. Casein and whey protein can also cause acne. Dairy indirectly stimulates insulin production, which regulates sebum production. Sebum, an oily, waxy substance produced by your body’s sebaceous glands, can clog your pores and cause pimples. Dairy can also hinder your ability to process blood sugar efficiently, which can cause inflammation, especially in your skin.
3. Dairy-based protein is not sustainable. Although whey protein does offer a way for farmers to reduce waste, it is part of the industrial dairy industry, which has a profound impact on the environment. Dairy cows and their manure produce enormous amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. The poor handling of manure and fertilizers pollute local water resources. Unsustainable dairy farming and feed production can also lead to the loss of ecologically important areas such as prairies, wetlands, and forests.
Going lactose-free is the way to go, but lactose is not the only ingredient to avoid when buying protein supplements. Allow me to explain.
There are two types of meal replacements: ready-to-drink (store-bought) meal replacement shakes, and meal replacement shakes made with meal replacement powder. In order to make a lactose-free meal replacement shake with meal replacement powder, you have to mix the powder with milk or water. This requires a blender or a shaker bottle, and a little extra time and effort. Some people, prioritizing convenience, prefer to buy ready-to-drink shakes, but if they knew what they were drinking, they would probably vomit.
Ready-to-drink meal replacements shake are full of emulsifiers, stabilizers, thickeners, sweeteners, and flavors. Ingredients like these improve characteristics like taste, texture, and shelf stability, but can cause uncomfortable side effects and long-term gut damage (more about this soon). This is why I recommend that you make your own lactose-free meal replacement shakes with meal replacement powder. That said, not all meal replacement powders are created equal, and many contain the same additives found in ready-to-drink meal replacement shakes!
Why drink wholesome?
drink wholesome is additive-free.
One of the reasons why we make the best lactose-free meal replacement shakes is that we do not use food additives. Most meal replacements, on the other hand, are full of food additives. Although not necessarily bad for you in small quantities, additives can add up quickly (especially if you drink a meal replacement shake every day) and cause gastrointestinal (GI) side effects like bloating, constipation, diarrhea, gas, and stomach pain. This is because food additives are hard to digest, and sit in your gut for longer than food should, which gives your gut bacteria more time to eat. As they eat, these bacteria produce gas, which causes bloating and stomach pain. Gas also slows colonic transit (the amount of time it takes food to travel through the colon), and can lead to constipation. In the long term, food additives can disrupt regulatory pathways in the intestine, which can result in the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and systemic inflammatory disorders.
When buying meal replacement for lactose intolerance, one ingredient to avoid in particular is artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners are among the most harmful food additives in the long term as they alter the composition of your gut microbiota (the collection of microorganisms that help you digest food). This can lead to serious, chronic GI problems, widespread inflammation, and permanent damage to the gut microbiome. Some sweeteners, especially sugar alcohols like xylitol, are also poorly absorbed by the gut (meaning they feed those hungry gut bacteria), and cause diarrhea because they draw water into your intestine. Now you finally have something to blame for those post-meal replacement shake trips to the bathroom!
Here is a list of the most common food additives in meal replacement powder:
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
When it comes to identifying food additives, go with your gut. 😉 As a rule of thumb, they are the ingredients that you cannot pronounce. Food additives are not the only thing to look out for when buying meal replacement powder, however. There are several other ingredients that can upset your stomach.
the alternative:
SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, CANOLA OIL, MALTODEXTRIN, ISOMALTULOSE, SOLUBLE CORN FIBER, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, VITAMIN AND MINERAL PREMIX, CELLULOSE, NATURAL & ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, SOY LECITHIN, SALT, MONO & DIGLYCERIDE, XANTHAN GUM, SUCRALOSE
*This is the actual ingredient list of one of the best-selling meal replacements in the United States.
drink wholesome is made with real foods.
Another reason why we make the best lactose-free meal replacement drinks is that we do not use protein isolates. Most meal replacements, on the contrary, are made with protein concentrates and/or isolates, foods stripped of everything but the protein. They are listed on the ingredient list as “pea protein” and “whey protein” as opposed to “peas” and “whey.” I will not go into the details, but protein concentrates and isolates undergo heavy mechanical and chemical processing before becoming meal replacement. Sometimes, manufacturers use chemical solvents like hexane to isolate (separate) the protein from the food. This means that what you end up putting into your body looks nothing like real food.
If you think about it, your gut was designed to digest naturally occurring foods, not laboratory formulated imitations, so if you feed it anything but real food, it might get upset. The long term implications of eating processed foods are still not well understood, but more and more research is finding that it can alter the composition of your gut microbiota, and lead to permanent damage to the gut microbiome. It is therefore in your best interest to avoid meal replacements made with protein concentrates and isolates.
Instead of protein concentrates or isolates, we make the best lactose-free meal replacement shakes with whole foods like egg whites and almonds. Egg whites are simply pasteurized and dried before becoming meal replacement. Almonds are just roasted, pressed, and ground. Whole foods like these are an easy to digest, gut-friendly alternative to protein concentrates and isolates. This is in part because whole foods contain a variety of enzymes and other digestive aids that help to break down the food, making it easier for the body to absorb the nutrients. Protein isolates and concentrates, on the other hand, have been stripped of these digestive aids, making them harder for the body to digest and absorb. Moreover, minimally-processed plant-based foods like almonds are rich in fiber, which helps promote healthy digestion and regular bowel movements.
Unless you have a sensitivity or allergy to eggs, egg white protein is the best protein for your gut. Egg whites are low in fiber, low-FODMAP, naturally alkaline, and have the highest protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) of any whole food. Our customers have experienced fewer digestive issues with egg white protein than with any other type of protein. If you cannot eat eggs, try our almond meal replacement. We prefer almonds to other minimally-processed plant protein sources because they are more gut-friendly. Research suggests that almonds possess prebiotic properties and can improve the diversity and composition of the gut microbiome.
★★★★★
“I’ve tried out so many protein powders and meal replacements, and they always gave me stomach issues…That’s why I got drink wholesome.” – Tommy
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Some people will tell you that egg white or plant protein does not measure up to whey protein, which this is simply not true. Whey protein is a highly bioavailable complete protein, but that does not make it better than any other dietary protein. mBioavailability is a measurement of how well the body can absorb and use a nutrient. It is measured on a scale of 0-100%, and both whey and egg white protein score 100%. Most plant proteins score lower, but this is nothing to be concerned about. It just means that you have to eat a few more plants in order to get the nutritional benefits of whey or egg whites.
Lots of people also praise whey for its complete amino acid profile, which is misleading. A complete protein is a protein that contains all of the essential amino acids that the body needs, but cannot produce on its own. Not all dietary proteins are complete, but if you eat a balanced diet, this is nothing to worry about. In other words, eating a variety of proteins will give you all of the amino acids that you need. In case you were wondering, egg whites also have a complete amino acid profile. Most plant proteins do not, but again, if you are getting your protein from a variety of foods, this does not matter.
In summary, egg white protein is, from a nutritional standpoint, basically identical to whey protein. Most plant proteins are slightly inferior, but if you consider the many side effects caused by whey, plant proteins emerge as a clear winner. As I see it, whey protein is a waste product of the dairy industry that some clever farmers decided to market as a dietary supplement. It is not good for you, or the planet, so find yourself an alternative.
drink wholesome makes the best lactose-free meal replacement drinks.
MEAL REPLACEMENT POWDERS
MEAL REPLACEMENT POWDER SAMPLES
This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. drink wholesome is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.