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Diet Shakes? Herbalife? Juice plus? Vi? Almased? Lighter life? etc.....

Claire_Terry

Member
Afternoon all,

What's everyone opinion on these meal replacement shakes? I so badly want to lose weight and I see people doing so well on them. I am torn 50/50 about going ahead and doing them.

I have T2 and take 2000mg Metformin currently. I do moderate exercise and eat healthy. I can't shift my weight. Also having PCOS makes it harder to lose weight but this isn't an excuse. Also suffer from a couple of other medical conditions such as high blood pressure, arthritis and stomach gastro issues.

Having considered these protein type shakes, I need to know if they are safe for diabetic people? Has anyone tried them too?

Thanks
️ x
 
Hi Clair...not really sure but have an idea they could be high in carbs so maybe not good for diabetic?.....no idea really. Have you tried very low carb eating as that seems to make weight drop off quite well. I am sure others will know more about the shakes than I do and be right along to help you sort it out
 
Eating low carb...probably less than 30g a day helped me lose 14 pounds in barely a month. If you feel you could handle low calorie the Newcastle diet might work for you...it is also meant to be very good for diabetics but such a low calorie count wouldn't suit me...I'd be starving all the time and end up eating the wrong things.
 
Hi Claire,

You are in the same dilemma as many of us before we take that first step in taking control of our respective conditions. There is another recent thread with the same sort of questions and there is plenty of information here & when trawling the site.

I started the Newcastle Diet with meal replacements on 23rd April. Like you I was on 2000mg Metformin plus Gliclazide plus BP medication. In less than 6 weeks I've lost 2 stones, halved my medication (Diabetes & BP) and my BG readings are under control, pending confirmation with a 3 month HBa1c.

Take a look at the other thread and see that others have travelled this path very recently and you may find many of your concerns are put to rest.
 
My opinion is that meal replacement shakes are just unhealthy factory processed food full of industrial chemicals.

However, the Newcastle diet seems to work for many people, but it's not a long term solution.

If you are not having success with a low carb/high fat diet, I suggest having a look at this web page:

http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

To me, a big part of a healthy low carb diet is avoiding factory processed foods and eating lots of whole, fresh, real food.

Good luck.
 
NoCrbs4Me said:
My opinion is that meal replacement shakes are just unhealthy factory processed food full of industrial chemicals.

However, the Newcastle diet seems to work for many people, but it's not a long term solution.
Click to expand...
I tend to agree. Pre-dieting I avoided processed food as much as possible, but I did like too many "treats". For me the pre-prepared replacement meals are a very short-term solution to kick-start my new eating regime and achieve some rapid beneficial results as far as my diabetes is concerned. They are nutritionally complete, measured and simple to follow. After almost 60 years existence I thought 8 weeks of the packets would not harm me excessively whereas the longer-term benefits offered by the rapid weight loss and control of BG readings most definitely would outweigh the downside of them.

I acknowledge it is not a long-term strategy, nor would I want it to be. I am enjoying the research into future meal plans for myself and my family while I count down the days remaining on my own self-imposed 8 week plan before I migrate on to LCHF to lose any remaining weight necessary and then modify my intake to a maintenance plan.
 
Hi. I can't comment on shakes but beware of carb content and cost. What typical foods did you have when low-carbing? How many carbs per day had you set as a limit?
 
If you want a low carb shake, try Promax /Promax lean shakes from Maxi nutrition. I use Promax lean alongside a LCHF diet. I mix with sugar free almond milk although you can have it with just water. Around 5g carbs/shake . You can get the tubs of shakes around £25 on t'internet. Herbalife / Slimfast etc all full of sugars (esp Slim fast)
 
I have no experience whatsoever of meal replacement shakes but I do have experience of weight gain, hypothyroidism, diabetes, LCHF and weight loss.

How much do you need to lose and what is your current BMI?

I gained 4 stone without trying due to a whacky thyroid and lost most of it once I started on NDT as Levo didn't do much for me. If your thyroid gland isn't up to scratch there isn't much you can do about excess weight. It's one of the main symptoms of hypothyroidism.

I then started HRT for menopause and promptly put on a couple of kilograms, then came the diabetes diagnosis and I stopped HRT and went a very strict LCHF diet and lost ten kilograms over a some months.

You say you've tried LCHF and didn't lose weight on it. Can you tell us what your diet looked like? You see, even if not everyone lose weight on LCHF most people do if the fat content is high enough and it is said to work very well for PCOS indeed. The problem is that with PCOS you may have to go very low carb indeed as the condition in itself causes severe insulin resistance. And very low carb means very high fat or it may not work as well.
 
I would stay away from artificial food. Promax Lean Shake ingredients: Whey protein concentrate (milk),milk protein concentrate, isolatedsoya protein (contains emulsifier:soya lecithin), cocoa powder (9%), fructooligosaccharide, L-carnitine L-tartrate, flavourings, maltodextrin, thickener (cellulose gum), caffeine anhydrous, sodium chloride, sweeteners (sucralose, acesulfame K), green tea extract, vitamin mix (niacin, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, vitamin B6, thiamin, vitamin B12).

Eat real food instead.
 
what is your current calorie/carbs intake including diet/food and what exercise are you doing each day?

my opinion on these "quick weight loss" products is they work for a while (if at all) but its not something you can carry on for any amount of time as rapid/minimal calorie shake diets cause body upsets, lack of real nutrition and a shock to the system.

the only place you really lose is in the wallet
 


Hi there - for me I cant praise it enough. I have been taking it for the past year and feel a lot healthier. My cholesterol and my blood pressure are now " normal". The shakes don't contain sugars like sllimfast etc. I add frozen fruit to my shake with almond milk( I am diary free now ) and it tastes like a smoothie. Research shows that its fine for diabetics. It contains 27 fruit/ veg in powder form.
But really it what best suits you . I eat " clean" now since I was diabetic. So no jarred sauces etc make my own , and salad dressings and use the slow cooker a lot.
Good luck when you find what best suits you.
I drink a lot of green tea with mint also
 
Almased probably has the least impact on blood glucose - provided you can tolerate soya in large quantities. A lot of people can't.
 
Claire I am in exactly the same position as you and I desperately want to lose weight, have tried everything and still no weight loss so now contemplating doing the Newcastle diet or the 5:2 diet - going to speak to my GP about this on tues


Sent from my iPad using DCUK Forum
 
I did slim fast 3 years ago and lost 2 and 1/2 stone in 6 weeks. Then went on holiday and collapsed on the plane had some kind of convulsions/fitting. I lost control of my bladder, was sick and my eyes were rolling. It was the most terrifying experience and I would not advocate this diet. I later found out that this is not uncommon. Look on the low carb forum and research Jason Fung. He has a book called the obesity code available in library. I've just got it. He's basically saying hormones make us fat.
 
I'm currently using Atkins products as they are low in carbs and sugar but have heard Almased is good for diabetics and I might try that too and see which one I like best. Slimming World and Weightwatchers didn't work for me.
 
I drink slim fast shakes as a meal replacement sometimes when I'm too busy. But beware as there are different kinds. The ones I drink are the 'advanced nutrition' kind and contain 1 or 2 net carb. They are great and I don't need to bolus for them, so I'm sure they're good for a T2. They're absolutely full of chemicals though. I don't mind it, but some do!
 
As I said I'm using Atkins products at the moment and combined with a low carb diet, it is working for me. I have an Atkins breakfast bar in the mornings with x3 brazil nuts and then at lunchtime I have an Atkins meal replacement bar and then mid-PM I have a piece of fruit (usually an orange) and then in the evening a healthy low carb meal. I feel really positive about this because it is working for me and I can actually see results whereas Slimming World and Weightwatchers was a waste of money.
 
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