While it is important to maintain a real-food balance diet, meal replacementscan be a better choice for your busy lifestyle. Below, you will learn how to choose the perfect meal replacement for a healthy and satisfying lifestyle.
Todays’ lifestyle is crazy. Busy schedules, unhealthy foods, and it seem life won’t get any better any time soon. How many times have you missed meals simply because you had no time to prepare food, or if you did, you didn’t have time to eat it? Fortunately, there is something that gives you a chance to have an active lifestyle, consume a healthy diet, and get the nutrients your body needs- meal replacement. So, what is it, and how do you choose the right one?
Who Should Use Meal Replacements?
Typically, anyone can use a meal replacement. People have different nutritional needs. Hence, it’s impossible to have an all-people solution for replacing meal options. Still, certain groups or individuals are in greater need of meal replacement. They include;
- People who don’t have time for meals
- People who want meals outside the home
- People who want all-nutrients-foods but can’t prepare on their own
- People who want easily available, convenient, and low-calorie foods
What Does Meal Replacement Consist Of?
According to the European Food Safety Authority and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, meal replacements effectively achieve calorie deficit and manage weight.It’sproven substituting one meal with meal replacement helps reduce weight. A meal only qualifies to be a meal replacement if it has the following;
- The energy of 200-250 calories
- Proteins of 25-50%
- Fat
- Vitamins and minerals
How Do Meal Replacements Work?
Meal replacements are high sources of proteins. They make you full for a long time without loading you with extra calories. The common alternatives are shakes, bars, and powders. You can opt for premade meal placements available as shakes in serving bottles or as a powder that you’ll mix with water or milk.
Importance of Using Meal Replacements
Provides your body with complete nutrients
A meal replacement is a great option if you want to get nutrients, particularly those who don’t have time to eat.Instead of rushing to a fast-food restaurant and load your body with unhealthy foods, carry your meal replacement shake. After all, you’ll spend more on a chicken burger than a meal replacement shake.
It helps you avoid unhealthy meals.
What’s making fast foods more popular than healthy meals is the preparation time. When in a hurry or stressed, fast foods are easy to get. Meal replacements are portable and can help you resist the urge to go for unsafe processed foods. More so, they’re easy to drink wherever you are, even outdoors, and still healthier than fast foods.
Contains low calories
Calories have been a big issue for many individuals. Calculating calories before choosing the meal you’ll eat to ensure you maintain a calorie deficit is frustrating. Watching weight comes with a certain barrier; hunger pangs. With meal replacements, you’ll overcome this, and maintaining good health will be easy and less frustrating.
Adds fiber amounts to the body
Meal replacements are generous providers of fiber. Having them in the morning or on your way to work will give you healthy digestion and protect your stomach from bloatsand constipation during the day.
Disadvantages of Meal Replacement
Contains unhealthy ingredients
Meal replacement may involve using processed powders. So, it’s not surprising they may contain artificial content to preserve the product and boost nutrients. Most of them have unhealthy sugars to make them taste better. Always read the ingredient list to avoid the ones with unhealthy stuff.
Some lack quality
Although meal replacements are popular for their nutritional value, not all will reach the expectations. Some may include more innutritious content than the allowed amount. Ensure whatever you pick from the market has high quality.
A quality meal replacement meal should;
- Not have corn syrup
- Less than 10 grams of sugar per serving
- No hydrogenated vegetable oils
- More than 33% of the daily requirement of vitamins and minerals
- More than 15 grams of proteins per serving
Extremely low calories
As much as this is an advantage, it can as well be a disadvantage to some. It’s alright if you want to cut off lots of calories. However, your body needs calories too. Meal replacements have a calories range of 150-200, which may be too low for a body requirement.
The Best Meal Replacement Shakes
It’s impossible to have a meal replacement that is suitable for everyone. We’ve grouped the meal replacement shakes according to price, texture, ingredient, and taste preferences.
Gluten-free; smart for life protein bars
Smart for life protein bars offers all the necessary macronutrient; carbs, protein, and fats. They’re gluten-free and available in different flavors like lemon, strawberries, peanut butter, and caramel apple.
For weight gain; Ample Original complete meals shake
One bottle contains 400-600 calories. They’re high in proteins, fats, and fiber. You can mix it with water, milk, coffee, or juice. They are free from artificial sweeteners or flavors.
Those who with high appetite; Idealshake
IdealShake is an excellent powder that will make you full for a long. You can consume it with almond milk and peanut butter to add taste.
Vegans, Those who want to keep it strictly organic; Garden of life raw organic meal
The Garden of life may not be the tastiest, but it’ll help you remain organic. You can blend it with fruits to make it delicious, but that’s not needed.
For those who don’t have time for breakfast; soylent comfiest
It requires no preparation at all. You can easily replace your morning coffee with it without having to look for extra minutes from your time.
Considerations when choosing the right meal replacement;
- It should have enough macronutrients- proteins, carbs, and fat.
- Go for high-quality brands that are recognized to ensure you’re getting real, nutritious meals.
- Look at the ingredients to ensure they’re convenient enough to fit all your lifestyle needs.
- Consider your daily activities. If you’re active during the day, go for meal replacement types with many calories that will help you feel full for a long to support your activities.
- Your budget; some types are budget-friendly while others are expensive, depending on the nutritious benefits. Choose what you can afford.
Conclusion
Meal replacements are meant to help you acquire the full package of nutrients your body needs. They are available in shakes, bars, and powders and have different tastes and nutrients. When buying a meal replacement, ensure you choose the perfect option that works well with your health goals!
Ksenia Sobchak enjoys blogging on fashion, style, lifestyle, love and CBD areas. Prior to becoming a blogger, Ksenia worked for a renowned fashion brand. Ksenia is a contributing author to leading fashion, lifestyle and CBD magazines and blogs. You can bump into Ksenia at her favourite cafe in South Kensington where she has written most blogs. Ksenia is a staunch advocate of CBD and its benefits to people. Ksenia is also on the panel of CBD reviewers at CBD Life Mag and Chill Hempire. Her favourite form of CBD are CBD gummies and CBD tinctures. Ksenia is a regular contributor at leading fashion, lifestyle as well as CBD magazines and blogs.
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