Meal Replacements Products (MRPs) are either pre-packaged powdered drink mixes that you mix with water, milk, or juice and then drink; or bars that you eat. Both are consumed in place of a whole-food meal. Generally MRPs are high in protein, low in fat, have low to moderate amounts of carbohydrates, and contains wide array of vitamins and minerals. The majority of MRPs use whey protein, calcium caseinate or micellar casein, soy protein and Egg albumin as the protein source. Carbohydrates are typically derived from maltodextrin, oat fibre, brown rice, or wheat flour. Some also contain flax oil powder as a source of essential fatty acids (EFAs). MRPs can also contain other ingredients that are deemed beneficial to bodybuilders. These can include, but are not limited to creatine monohydrate, glutamine peptides, l-glutamine, calcium alpha-ketoglutarate, additional amino acids, lactoferrin, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and medium chain triglycerides (MCT).
Benefits of Meal Replacements
- Several studies have found that meal replacements are as effective as traditional calorie-counted diets in terms of helping people to lose weight in the short term.
- Better still; the commonly held belief that meal replacements only help people to lose weight temporarily doesn't seem to be supported by current research.
- In fact, long term follow up studies suggest that meal replacements may actually help people to keep their new lower weight.
- Many people also like meal replacement products because they are convenient, they take away the need to think about food during the day and they mean the calorie counting has already been done for them.
Dangers of Meal Replacements
- Firstly, most studies have provided meal replacement products free of charge - it's unknown whether people would be as likely to stick to the diet if they had to buy the products themselves.
- Secondly, most studies have used meal replacements as part of a comprehensive programme, which includes support and dietary advice from health professionals; little is known about the weight loss achieved and maintained by people who buy and use meal replacement products on their own.
- Finally, most studies have involved people who are overweight or obese - few have studied normal weight people with a Body Mass Index of 20-24.9, who simply want to lose a small amount of weight.
- One of the other main problems with meal replacement diets is that on their own, they do little to educate people about their eating habits. While replacing high-calorie breakfasts and lunches with a shake, soup or bar will almost certainly result in weight loss, returning to poor eating habits once you stop taking the products mean you will almost certainly pile the weight back on again.
- Most nutrition experts recognise that if meal replacement products are to be effective at keeping the weight off in the long term, it's essential to provide education and support on healthy eating when meal replacement products are no longer used - and this isn't always a priority for people who want a quick weight-loss 'fix'.