Talk about losing weight and the first thing that we are often advised is to follow a low-fat diet. Most diet plans, especially fad diet that support weight loss are based on half baked theories and moreover deprive our body of essential nutrients. This can have an adverse impact on our health in the long run. The aim is to become slim healthily, which can always be achieved by adding meal replacement shakes to our daily diet.
What are Meal Replacement Shakes
As the name suggests they are formulated to be swapped for a meal. Available in liquid and powdered form, meal replacement shakes have all the essential components of a healthy meal. Their protein content is high but calorie-wise they are low, hence drinking these shakes in place of a meal allows to shed weight but at the same time you do not lose any muscle mass.
Benefits
Convenience: These healthy shakes are often sold as a ready-to-drink liquid. Also, those available in powdered form can be made in minutes. So, you don't have to spend much time in preparing these drinks.
Guarantee Appetite Satisfaction: Unlike a fad diet or a weight loss diet that make you feel hungry and tired throughout the day, weight loss meal replacement shakes are formulated to increase your energy levels and keep hunger pangs at bay.
Wholesome Meal: A meal replacement shake contains all the nutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals) of a healthy balanced meal. They provide a minimum of 200 calories, which is equivalent to taking a meal.
Variety in Taste: These healthy drinks come in a variety of flavors, including strawberry, chocolate and vanilla. Thus everyday, you can drink that tastes new, making it an enjoyable experience.
Points To Remember
- Meal replacement shakes are primarily formulated to reduce consumption of calorie dense foods. So, depending only on these shakes and avoiding food altogether will do more harm than good.
- When taking this meal replacement shake, one can either skip one or 2 meals of the day. For instance, if you are taking this shake in the morning, you can avoid breakfast and/or lunch depending upon your convenience.
- Make sure to follow an exercise routine and sensible diet plan when taking this meal replacement drink. This is crucial to 'shake off' weight safely. Also buy those that contain sugar and saturated fat in minimal amounts. In case you are doing muscle building exercises everyday, do not forget to have this health drink within an hour post workout.
- As far as frequency of usage is concerned, having meal replacement shakes to no more than twice in a day is advised. You need to focus more on eating fresh fruits and vegetables, rather than increasing dependency on these weight loss products. By simply consuming a serving of this health drink in place of lunch or dinner for a stipulated period of time, people have eventually achieved the desired weight loss.
- Meal replacement shakes are meant for those who are overweight and unable to control their food cravings. One cannot forget that these drinks are a type of processed food. So, individuals with healthy weight neglecting fresh wholesome food and swapping it with these drinks is not a good proposition.
Caution
Although meal replacement shakes provide a convenient way to drop extra pounds, one should be very careful when it comes to choosing these weight loss products. This is because quite a few brands selling these shakes add artificial sweeteners (sucralose, aspartame) to enhance their palatability. These sugar substitutes do help to impart a pleasing taste to the drink but unfortunately their usage has been associated with onset of serious health problems including cancer. So, either go for meal replacement shakes that contain 100% natural ingredients or a better option would be to have homemade weight loss smoothies. Dream Protein from Doctor for Nutrition available at various health stores is also one such high quality weight loss product, free from artificial sweeteners and can be safely used to replace a meal.
Health Drinks Vs. Diet Pills
Diet pills or drugs that provide quick weight loss may cause serious health problems in the long run. Weight loss drugs speed up your fat loss by interfering with your body's metabolic process, but this can lead to short and long-term side effects. On the other hand, meal replacement shakes allow you to lose weight consistently without causing harm to your health. Also, the practice of replacing one meal per day with these shakes can be continued for long-term as they provide adequate nutrition of a healthy meal.
Also read another useful article about protein shakes for weight loss and muscle gain.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is solely for educating the reader. It is not intended to be a substitute for the advice of a nutritional pharmacist.
Article Source: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/weight-loss-meal-replacement-shakes.html
Article Author: http://www.buzzle.com/authors.asp?author=27128
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