Meal replacement shakes, drinks, and bars are becoming more popular. My personal opinion is that I prefer people eat a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables, meats, and fish that the earth provides us. However, for brief periods of time, meal replacement products could be helpful in certain people for weigh lifting and body building purposes or for those trying to lose a few extra pounds.

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Weight loss with meal replacement
Clinical trials show meal replacement products to be safe when used as part of an overall low-energy diet. In certain people, a partial meal replacement diet with a shake or drink may be a viable alternative strategy to medications for weight maintenance. However, it is best to limit the use of a meal replacement diet to only a few weeks.

Meal Replacement bars
Once staples of the low-carbohydrate dieter and high performance athlete, meal replacement bars have evolved into a product category fueled by consumer demand for portable meal options that combine balanced nutrition and a wider variety of flavors to suit every palate. Low-carbohydrate food bars accounted for a majority of food bar sales but consumers are now seeking bars with a complete nutritional balance of calories, fat carbohydrates and protein. Other trends making an impact on this category include whole grains, fiber, low sugar and glycemic index. Many food bar manufacturers and formulators have responded to consumer demand with bars that taste almost candy-like, while still providing a balanced amount of protein, carbohydrates and fats, in addition to healthy ingredients like vitamins and minerals. The bar market is fueled by an influx of new companies and products offering myriad varieties, from traditional granola and breakfast bars to high-tech, motivational diet bars and nutrient-packed power bars. Typical bar consumers include children, women, ethnic consumers, young adults, health aficionados and time-trapped business executives.

Meal Replacement questions
Q. Are meal replacement shakes a good idea? I ask as a (wannabe) recreational bodybuilder, and as someone who is interested in actually being healthy, not just having big muscles. Do meal replacement shakes really adequately nourish the body; for example, I tend to think that some, especially many marketed for bodybuilders, actually contain alot of sugar to make up for calories. So are they adequately nourishing, and are they actually as filling as they should be? What would you suggest a person should look for when selecting a good meal replacement (MRP)?
     A. There are countless different meal replacement products on the market and it is difficult to make a generalization that would apply to all these products, but, as a rule, many of them lack fiber, have too much sugar, and are too calorie dense.

Q. Can a diabetic use meal replacement shake?
     A. As long as the sugar content of the meal replacement shake or drink or a meal replacement bar is low, a meal replacement diet is a viable strategy for weight reduction in patients with diabetes.

Q. What is the best meal replacement supplement?
     A. This is difficult to say, but as a rule look for a product that does not have too much sugar.

Q. I have a meal replacement bar that says there is creatine in it. Do you think this creatine could be helpful?
     A. Most likely the amount of creatine in the bar is not that high, but if it has more than a quarter of a gram, it could be helpful.

Q. In my meal replacement shake i see there is lipoic acid and coq10. Are these good nutrients?
     A. Yes, these two nutrients are healthy.

Q. Which protein meal replacement shake or diet is preferable, soy or whey?
     A. In one study, soy meal replacement shake or drink, as part of a low-energy diet, is associated with slightly but not significantly greater weight loss over a 12-week period than milk meal replacement use.