How to Find the Best Meal Replacement Shakes for Chemo Patients

📌 Overview and Key Takeaways

This is a Certified Nutrition Coach’s guide to finding the best meal replacement shakes for chemo patients.

Discover how to safely meet your nutritional needs during chemotherapy.

Last Updated
Aug 6, 2026

Author and Medical Reviewer

Written by Jack, CNC

Jack is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Nutrition Coach.

Disclaimer: This communication is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for personalized medical advice. Consult a licensed healthcare professional before making changes to your diet.

Meal Replacement Shakes for Chemo Patients

Are Meal Replacement Shakes Good for Chemo Patients?

Yes, meal replacement shakes can help chemo patients eat enough calories and nutrients, particularly protein.

Malnutrition is common during cancer care.

In fact, one large study found that up to 70% of cancer patients may be malnourished (Oncotarget, 2017).

Chemo patients often become malnourished because they have higher nutritional needs at the same time that their appetite drops.

When cancer-related malnutrition goes untreated, the effects can be serious.

Malnutrition can contribute to greater treatment side effects, more complications, reduced physical function, and lower survival rates (J Clin Med, 2019).

Not getting enough protein, in particular, has been shown to contribute to fatigue and increased mortality in patients with advanced cancer who are undergoing chemo (Nutr Cancer, 2015).

Adequate intake, on the other hand, reliably preserves weight and muscle, and in nutritionally at-risk populations has translated into mortality benefit (Ann Oncol, 2021),

In other words, eating enough protein is important for patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Experts suggest that adult chemo patients aim for 25-30 calories 1.2-1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day (Cancer Med, 2024).

Whenever possible, chemo patients should try to get their calories and protein from regular meals.

Meeting 100% of your nutritional needs through regular meals alone can be hard, however, especially for patients with nausea or poor appetite.

This is where meal replacement shakes can help.

Adding a meal replacement shake to your diet is an easy way to meet your basic nutritional needs during chemo.

What Are the Best Meal Replacement Shakes for Chemo Patients?

As long as you are eating a balanced diet – getting nutrients from a variety of sources – any type of meal replacement shake or powder can help you meet your daily nutritional needs.

Ingredients do matter, however.

Many meal replacement shakes and powders contain ingredients that might indirectly contribute to painful side effects and even long-term health problems.

Among the top offenders are artificial and ultra-processed food additives.

🚫 Avoid Food Additives

Regularly consuming emulsifiers, thickeners, artificial sweeteners, and other ultra-processed additives might alter the makeup and function of your gut microbiome – the community of microbes living in your digestive tract (North Clin Istanb, 2020).

This is a big deal because your gut microbiome plays an important role in cancer treatment efficacy (Nat Rev Microbiol, 2023).

An altered gut microbiome is also associated with resistance to chemo drugs and has even been linked to the development of certain cancers (Gut, 2020; Front Pharmacol, 2023).

It is important to note that much of this research is still emerging, so more studies are needed to clarify these relationships.

That said, the preliminary findings suggest that because shakes and powders are something you consume regularly, if not every day, the cumulative effects of small amounts of potentially harmful ingredients is worth taking seriously.

⚠️ Here is a list of the most common food additives in meal replacements:

• acacia fiber
• acacia gum
• acesulfame potassium
• artificial flavors
• ascorbic acid
• aspartame
• calcium carbonate
• carrageenan
• cellulose gum
• dextrin
• dicalcium phosphate
• dipotassium phosphate
• erythritol
• gellan gum
• guar gum
• gum arabic
• inulin
• locust bean gum
• maltitol
• maltodextrin
• mono- and diglycerides
• ‘natural’ flavors
• rice bran extract
• rice dextrin
• rice hulls
• rosemary extract
• silica
• silicon dioxide
• sodium alginate
• soluble corn fiber
• sorbitol
• soy lecithin
• sucralose
• sunflower lecithin
• tocopherols
• tricalcium phosphate
• xanthan gum
• xylitol
• zinc oxide

As a rule of thumb, if you cannot find an ingredient in nature or make it at home, it is likely a food additive.

🚫 Avoid Protein Concentrates and Isolates

I also recommend avoiding protein concentrates and isolates.

Most meal replacement shakes and powders are made from one or both of these ultra-processed protein sources, which have been mechanically and/or chemically stripped of everything but the protein.

This includes the enzymes, fiber, and other natural digestive aids that help you break them down.

You therefore might not digest them in the same way that you do whole foods, which could affect your gut health.

For example, one study shows that regularly consuming protein concentrates and isolates might disrupt your gut microbiome (Nutrients, 2018).

Another study shows that it could cause the formation of toxic byproducts in your gut (Mol Nutr Food Res, 2024).

Although further research is needed, you can play it safe by choosing meal replacement shakes and powders made from minimally-processed protein sources like egg whites and almonds.

Our customers find them to be more gut-friendly.

Order Samples to see for yourself.

Sources

1. Oncotarget (Oncotarget). Prevalence of malnutrition in patients at first medical oncology visit: the PreMiO study.. 2017.
2. Journal of Clinical Medicine (J Clin Med). Nutrition in Cancer Patients.. 2019.
3. Nutrition and Cancer (Nutr Cancer). Low Recent Protein Intake Predicts Cancer-Related Fatigue and Increased Mortality in Patients with Advanced Tumor Disease Undergoing Chemotherapy. 2015.
4. Cancer Medicine (Cancer Med). Summary of Evidence on Nutritional Management for Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy. 2024.
5. Annals of Oncology (Ann Oncol). Nutritional support during the hospital stay reduces mortality in patients with different types of cancers: secondary analysis of a prospective randomized trial. 2021.
6. Northern Clinics of Istanbul (North Clin Istanb). Food additives and microbiota.. 2020.
7. Nature Reviews Microbiology (Nat Rev Microbiol). The gut microbiome modulates the efficacy of cancer therapy. 2023.
8. Gut (Gut). Commensal bacteria promote endogenous resistance to chemotherapy by inducing autophagic and apoptotic pathways. 2020.
9. Frontiers in Pharmacology (Front Pharmacol). Understanding the role of the gut microbiome in gastrointestinal cancer: A review.. 2023.
10. Nutrients (Nutrients). Effect of a Protein Supplement on the Gut Microbiota of Endurance Athletes: A Randomized, Controlled, Double-Blind Pilot Study.. 2018.
11. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research (Mol Nutr Food Res). In Vitro Fermentation of Animal and Plant Protein Isolates by the Human Gut Microbiota Under High and Low Carbohydrate Conditions.. 2024.

Editorial Guidelines

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This article was written by a Certified Nutrition Coach and reviewed by a Registered Dietitian. We rely on peer-reviewed research and trusted medical sources, and we regularly update our content to ensure accuracy and clarity.