Are There Any Benefits to Meal Replacements Products?

Meal Replacements

The 21st century has seen a rise in the popularity of a diet termed by many as a ‘liquid diet’. It is the concept of acquiring your daily nutrition in some liquid form, usually as a replacement for an actual meal. These are called meal replacement products, or MRPs. They are pre-packaged or powdered drink mixes consumed in place of a real meal, although they are also available in an edible bar form, such as an energy bar. They are generally high in protein, low in fat, contain low to moderate amounts of carbohydrates, and are packed full of a variety of vitamins and minerals. The most common types of MRPs rely upon whey proteins, calcium caseinate, soy protein, and eggs as the primary source of protein, rather than traditional sources such as meat. The premium varieties are derived from pea protein, a superior source of highly digestible protein, with no fillers or known allergens. Carbohydrates are derived from brown rice, wheat flour, oat fibers, or maltodextrin, and many contain flax oil as a source of essential fatty acids. Again, the premium brands do not contain artificial sweeteners, artificial flavorings, or preservatives, and generally contain fruit or vegetable powders for ultimate antioxidant value. These brands usually rate quite high on the ORAC measurement scale.

Meal replacements options were derived directly as a method for meeting increasingly busy schedules, wherein a healthy replacement was required to augment an individual’s diet, as opposed to an alternative of a fast, but unhealthy processed meal option. As such, meal replacements are the perfect way to fit a nutritionally balanced meal into one’s daily routine without the time commitments of a traditional meal. There is no doubt that meal replacements can provide your body with some significant benefits, but there are also potential downsides as well if one chooses an inexpensive brand replete with fillers and high in sugar and unhealthy fats as compared with the very few high-quality, albeit nutrient dense alternatives available from a few reputable companies.

The Pros

One of the most important aspects of eating healthily is to consume micro meals. Micro meals are small meals eaten five or six times a day, or roughly every two to three hours. The reasoning behind the micro meal is that the body struggles to digest large amounts of food consumed when one eats in the traditional three-meal-a-day scenario, which deprives the body of energy as it directs resources to the digestion process. Furthermore, this style of eating prevents the gastrointestinal tract from extracting the necessary nutrients from the food; it simply cannot assimilate the nutrients while struggling with the digestive process. By eating micro meals several times a day, the body has an opportunity to more fully extrapolate the ultimate nutrient value from the foods, fully digest the small meal, which thus provides the body with a continual source of energy, allowing one to maintain a higher metabolic rate and thus more easily prevent the body from converting consumed calories into fat as it avoids the feast or famine dilemma so often encountered in modern society.

However, many people find that it is difficult to find time in their busy schedules to prepare, much less consume, five or six healthy meals throughout the day, so meal replacements have become the norm. Since they are well-balanced liquid meals with a multitude of vitamins, minerals, and critical micronutrients, they are the perfect way to enjoy a quick and nourishing micro meal. In fact, most professional athletes, actors, and models consume three to four meal replacement shakes per day in conjunction with regular meals, balancing between the two.

The Cons

Enzymes are an important part of the process whereby food entering the body is broken down into materials which can be easily accessed by the body. Saliva contains one of the essential enzymes that begin the digestive procedure that completes once the food has arrived in the stomach. Saliva is stimulated by the physical act of chewing food. Once you have removed that aspect from your diet, your body no longer secretes the necessary amounts of saliva to start that chain reaction of digestion. As a result, nutrients within the stomach are not absorbed as efficiently as they would be had saliva been introduced into the procedure from the start, as nature intended.

In addition, the physical act of chewing food strengthens the enamel of our teeth, as well as the ligaments and muscles in our jaw. A rising problem with people who live solely on a liquid diet is a higher risk of developing cavities, because the enamel covering their teeth has been allowed to weaken due to the physical act of chewing food being removed from their eating habits. Decreased strength in the ligaments can lead to other problems as well, such as tooth loss. And while there is no doubt that meal replacement shakes are an excellent aid in both weight loss and protein/antioxidant consumption, they should never be used as a complete substitute for healthy natural foods. One key to maximizing the use of meal replacement shakes is blend seeds, nuts or fruits with a liquid base and the powder, and to actually chew the beverage as opposed to simply swallowing. The very act of chewing stimulates the release of the enzymes required for digestion. Furthermore, premium brands of meal replacement powders include digestive enzymes to facilitate this process. .

Are They Right For Me?

As previously noted, most meal replacement powders contain chemical additives which should be avoided. It is important when choosing a meal replacement to examine the label for hidden sugars, fillers, allergens and preservatives. The importance of choosing a quality powder which provides high antioxidants, proteins and essential fatty acids cannot be overestimated as a tool to aid in optimizing health through nutrition, coping with stressful situations encountered daily, and feeding the body a highly digestible, high quality blend of quality carbohydrates, proteins and healthy fats. Indeed even with the best of intentions, many of us are unable to consume such a healthy package of nutrients at even once per day.

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