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Healthy Living

Meal Replacement Drinks

Meal Replacement Drinks

The concept of a meal replacement drink is simple. You replace a high calorie regular meal with a low calorie replacement. Most often the replacement is shake or a drink. The meal replacement drink must perform two functions. First, it must provide the nutrition the normal meal would have. Second, it must satisfy you so you are not hungry shortly after finishing the drink.

The second criteria is tougher to fulfill. It's surprising how the lack of chewing can affect appetite. The act of chewing may be linked to feeling full. I believe most liquid meal replacements fail because of this one factor alone.

You have several options for meal replacement drinks. These include Slim-Fast, Atkins nutritionals and Carnation Instant Breakfast, There is a relatively new player in the field of diet drinks you may not know about. It is the whey protein shake. The whey shake results are exciting.

Meal Replacement Drinks on TV

Whey shakes are being used by fitness trainers and contestants on the NBC TV show, "The Biggest Loser".

"The show trainers and doctors have been incorporating Whey Protein into the lives of our contestants for the last few seasons," says Mark Koops, Creator and Executive Producer of The Biggest Loser.

"Contestants of The Biggest Loser season seven will use the cross-branded Designer Whey and The Biggest Loser Protein in their quest for better health on the show, and after"

Meal Replacement Drinks and Nutrition

Anytime you cut calories from your diet you have to be careful not to deprive your body of the nutrients it needs. Most meal replacement drinks are satisfactory in this arena. You likely get the carbohydrates and fats from your regular meals. Meal replacement drinks tend to focus on protein. Your body requires protein, and cannot easily store it like fats or carbohydrates. This makes protein ideal for weight loss drinks, because it will pass through the body. You must also get adequate vitamins and minerals from your diet. You can easily supplement this with a multivitamin.

Whey shakes offer 20 grams or more of protein per shake. They also have 200 or fewer calories. Thus you have the reduced caloric intake you need for weight loss, plus you protein to provide necessary nutrition

Meal Replacement Drinks and Appetite

The second requirement of meal replacement drinks is where many drink far apart. Shortly after finishing a drink, you are often hungry. From my personal experience both Slim-Fast and Carnation Instant Breakfast do little to control the appetite. Within an hour or drinking either, I'm hungry again.

The whey shake is different. Because of the large amount of protein you are ingesting, you will feel full. In addition, whey protein triggers the release of certain hormones in the bloodstream. The hormones suppress your appetite, dampen any food cravings and leave you free to concentrate on other things. I believe this is related to the fact that whey protein is extremely high quality and biologically useful. It has a much better absorption rate than egg protein (previsously thought to be the top of the chart). There are many reports on how satisfied dieters feel after consuming a whey shake.

Whey Meal Replacement Drinks

* Continue you normal eating habits. Simply replace one or two meals with a shake, like breakfast

* The protein allows you to keep the muscle while losing fat.

* Combat daily stress with whey protein.

* Prevent illness and slow the signs of aging with whey protein.

* Whey protein has being show to boost the metabolism which burns more calories.

* Whey protein has proven very effective at removing weight in the traditional problem areas like the hips or waist.

* Stop feeling hungry.

* Stop feeling tired and have more energy.