What are the worst meal replacement shakes?

What is a bad meal replacement? 

There are three things that can make a meal replacement bad. The first is a lack of essential nutrients. If your meal replacement does not contain a balance of healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, complete proteins, it is not going to meet your nutritional needs.

Ideally, a meal replacement would also contain a healthy dose of vitamins and minerals, but this is not super important if you are eating a balanced diet. Plus, simply spiking a meal replacement shake with vitamins and minerals, which is what most companies do, is not a natural or healthy way to get the nutrients you need. It would be like eating a multivitamin instead of eating fruits and veggies.

The second red flag when it comes to meal replacements is lots of Added Sugar. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that no more than 10 percent of your daily caloric intake come from Added Sugars. Eating too many Added Sugars can raise your risk for chronic diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

The third thing that can make a meal replacement bad is food additives. Unfortunately, many meal replacements, especially ready-to-drink shakes, contain a cocktail of emulsifiers, thickeners, flavors, and sugar substitutes. Ingredients like these can cause painful side effects and long-term gut health problems. Specifically, additives can alter the composition of your gut microbiome – the collection of microorganisms living in your gut. Keep reading to learn why this is a huge problem. 

The worst meal replacement shakes

Nine times out of ten, what makes a meal replacement good or bad has nothing to do with the amount or source of essential nutrients like fats, carbs, and protein. What really matters are is the presence of absence of ingredients like emulsifiers, thickeners, flavors, and sugar substitutes, as regularly eating additives like these can cause serious health consequences. With that in mind, here are the top 5 worst meal replacement shakes on the market:

1. Ensure

Ingredients:

Water, Corn Maltodextrin, Sugar, Milk Protein Concentrate, Blend of Vegetable Oils (Canola, Corn), Soy Protein Isolate, Nonfat Milk. Less than 0.5% of: VITAMINS & MINERALS (Potassium Citrate, Magnesium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Citrate, Ascorbic Acid, Choline Chloride, Calcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Potassium Hydroxide, Ferrous Sulfate, dl-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Zinc Sulfate, Niacinamide, Calcium Pantothenate, Magnesium Sulfate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Copper Sulfate, Riboflavin, Vitamin A Palmitate, Folic Acid, Potassium Iodide, Chromium Chloride, Sodium Selenate, Sodium Molybdate, Phylloquinone, Biotin, Vitamin D3, Vitamin B12), Natural & Artificial Flavors, Cellulose Gel, Salt, Cellulose Gum, Monoglycerides, Soy Lecithin, Carrageenan, and Sucralose

2. Boost

Ingredients:

Water, Sugars (Corn Syrup, Sugar), Milk Protein, Vegetable Oils (Canola, High Oleic Sunflower and Corn), Soy Protein, Salt, Vitamins (Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D3, DL-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Sodium Ascorbate, Ascorbic Acid, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Niacinamide, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Folic Acid, Choline Bitartrate), Minerals (Sodium Citrate, Potassium Citrate, Potassium Hydrate, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Magnesium Phosphate, Ferrous Sulphate, Zinc Sulphate, Manganese Sulphate, Copper Sulphate, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Selenite, Sodium Molybdate, Chromium Trichloride), Cellulose Gel and Gum, Soy Lecithin, Flavour, Carrageenan, Stevia Extract, Dimethylpolysiloxane

3. SlimFast

Ingredients:

Ingredients:

drink wholesome is made with real foods.

A final reason why we make the best meal replacement shakes is that we do not use protein concentrates or isolates. Practically every other meal replacement is made from one or both of these protein sources, which have been stripped of everything but the protein. 

Making protein concentrates and isolates requires heavy processing using machinery and chemicals. As a result, what you end up putting into your body looks almost nothing like real food.

Your gut is designed to break down unprocessed or minimally-processed real foods. Regularly eating heavily-processed protein concentrates and isolates, it follows, can disturb your gut microbiome.

Instead of using protein concentrates or isolates, we make the best meal replacement shakes with whole foods like egg whites and almonds. Minimally-processed protein sources like these are a gut-friendly alternative to protein concentrates and isolates.

Unlike protein isolates and concentrates, egg whites and almonds contain enzymes that help you break them down. Almonds are also prebiotic, meaning they improve the diversity of your gut microbiome. Egg whites, on the other hand, are low in fiber, low FODMAP, alkaline (maintaining healthy pH levels in your gut), and bioactive (promoting the growth of healthy gut bacteria). 

In summary, we make the best meal replacement shakes with a short list of simple ingredients. The difference between our shakes and the top 5 worst meal replacement shakes is night and day. Order samples to experience the difference for yourself.

Unlike ready-to-drink shakes, our meal replacements have to be mixed with milk or water. This is a small inconvenience for safe, quality nutrition, however, and also allows you to customize the shake to suit your needs and preferences.

★★★★★

no stomach issues

“The only meal replacement I could find that doesn’t have soy, dairy, or pea protein. I love how it tastes (not chalky at all) and most of all I love how it makes me feel. No bloating or gas for the first time!” – Kayla

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