14 - Meal Replacements: Miracle Tool or Hype?

Hello, welcome to the "Scientific Weight Loss Course." I am Jessica.

From the previous courses, we know that the key to weight loss is

creating an energy deficit. For this energy deficit, we need to put

thought into every meal - eating with satiety and not feeling hungry

afterward, while ensuring the energy intake is low enough; ensuring

rich nutrition and healthy eating, while also being tasty and

delicious... For modern people with fast-paced lives, this is indeed

too troublesome.

Businesses discovered this pain point and developed various meal

replacement products. It's said that although meal replacements have

very low total energy, their ingredients are carefully formulated - not

only nutritionally rich but also providing strong satiety without

hunger afterward. As for flavors, there are many varieties - chocolate,

matcha, you name it. Most importantly, they're very convenient to

consume.

Meal replacements sound wonderful, but can they actually help us lose

weight?

The Miraculous Effects of Meal Replacements

Let me give you the answer directly. Currently, there are thousands of

studies worldwide on meal replacements, and the conclusions are very

consistent - meal replacements can indeed help with weight loss, and

the effects are quite good. How good exactly?

Most simply, they can reduce weight. And this weight reduction effect

can withstand the test of time.

There's a very famous meal replacement study called LOOK AHEAD. After

studying 5,145 patients for ten years, researchers found that having

obese people persist in eating meal replacements for 1 year resulted in

an average weight loss of 7.7kg more than those not eating meal

replacements after 1 year; after 2 years, they could still maintain a

5.2kg difference; and after 4 years, there was still a 3.4kg weight

loss effect. You see, long-term effectiveness without rebound.

Besides weight reduction, meal replacements can also shape the body,

meaning reducing body fat percentage and waist circumference. This

result is truly exciting - as mentioned before, such body shape is

healthier.

What's even more miraculous is that meal replacements are very safe

while achieving weight reduction and body shaping.

Not only are there no serious side effects, but meal replacements are

actually healthier in terms of vitamins and minerals. What does this

mean? Many experiments have found that compared to meal replacement

weight loss, people who choose their own weight loss foods will have

deficiencies in 9 types of minerals and vitamins after a year. This

isn't hard to understand - to ensure comprehensive nutrition with so

little energy requires choosing more food varieties, but eating very

small amounts of each. It's like asking you to eat twenty types of

vegetables and fruits in one meal, but only one bite of each - very

difficult to achieve, right?

Meal replacements are directly supplemented - how much of which

nutrient, how little of another, it's all pre-formulated, making it

easier to ensure our daily micronutrients.

Effective, convenient, and safe - so the medical community generally

recommends meal replacements. Even the diabetes guidelines of the

United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom recommend that diabetic

patients with obesity use meal replacements for weight loss, though

under medical supervision.

How to Choose Suitable Meal Replacements?

Since meal replacements are so effective, can we happily use them for

weight loss?

Of course not entirely. In today's weight loss market, various

so-called meal replacement products are everywhere. From an energy bar

to a few small cookies, from powder that can be mixed with water to

shake-and-drink milkshakes, from a cup of yogurt with nuts to a

reduced-portion regular meal - they often wear the hat of meal

replacements. How to choose?

Here I must tell you that although they're all called meal

replacements, unfortunately, most of them only carry the name and

aren't the weight-loss meal replacements I'm talking about. The meal

replacements I'm referring to have a simple medical definition: they

are food products developed for weight loss or maintaining

post-weight-loss effects, meant to replace one or two meals in a day.

Note, replace one or two meals in a day. If you eat meal replacements

for all three meals a day, then it exceeds the scope of meal

replacements and becomes a medical-grade product with the professional

name "complete formula" meal replacement RCD. This dietary plan can

only be used under medical prescription monitoring for people with very

high BMI. Don't try it yourself. The meal replacements we're discussing

below all replace one or two meals in a day.

Ideally, we don't need to think about anything with meal replacements -

just eat them directly. But back to reality, in terms of specific

formulations, the differences between different meal replacement brands

become apparent.

First, a good weight loss meal replacement must contain a certain

amount of energy.

Meal replacement means replacing regular meals. That is, after eating

meal replacements for this meal, you can't eat anything else, and you

can't eat any caloric foods or drinks between meals. Otherwise, meal

replacements become snacks, the energy deficit disappears, and weight

loss success becomes impossible. Given this, meal replacements must

contain a certain amount of energy, about 150-350 calories, otherwise

even the body's basic metabolism can't be guaranteed, let alone health.

Many products on the market that use pure enzymes or a 15g small cookie

as meal replacements, or meal replacement bars claiming to provide one

hour of satiety, shouldn't be chosen. Because their energy doesn't meet

standards, you'll get hungry quickly after eating them, easily leading

people to eat other things, resulting in even more energy intake.

Besides containing energy, the energy substances in meal replacements

must be proportioned according to certain ratios.

Specifically, carbohydrates should be reduced to within 40%. As

mentioned before, carbohydrates are "fast in, fast out" - eating too

much makes you hungry easily. Protein should account for 20%-30%.

High-proportion protein not only fights hunger but also minimizes

muscle loss during weight reduction. Fat should be controlled within

30%.

Among these, saturated fatty acids can be reduced to below 10%, and for

people with high blood lipids, it can be as low as 7%, with the rest

preferably being unsaturated fatty acids.

Having energy and reasonable energy substance proportioning - most meal

replacements can achieve this now. But in terms of various vitamins

and trace elements, different meal replacements vary greatly.

A good meal replacement should contain vitamins A, B, C, D, E, K,

calcium, iron, zinc, and fiber. Research shows that people eating meal

replacements are prone to vitamin B deficiency, leading to hair loss,

oral mucosal ulcers, and other problems. So check the ingredient list -

those containing vitamin B1, B2, B6, niacin, and pantothenic acid are

better choices.

Products like nut bars or yogurt cups on the market can't provide

sufficient minerals and vitamins, so they're not meal replacements.

Remember, meal replacements need to be eaten consistently - regularly

eating these as meals will definitely lead to mineral and vitamin

deficiencies, which won't work.

The standards for good meal replacements are basically what I mentioned

above: First, containing energy with reasonable energy substance

proportions; second, sufficient various vitamins and trace elements. As

long as these two conditions are met, it's a qualified meal

replacement.

As for other aspects, different brands don't differ much - choose

cost-effective ones. Meal replacements have low costs, and different

manufacturers use basically the same raw materials - no exaggeration,

they're bought by the ton, so there's no need to be fooled by

manufacturers' gimmicks.

How to Use Meal Replacements as Miracle Tools?

Now we know meal replacements are effective and how to choose them, but

how exactly should we eat meal replacements? How can we use meal

replacements to feel like miracle tools?

First, it must be clear that meal replacements don't enhance physical

fitness, much less extend lifespan - we eat meal replacements only for

weight loss. If you don't need to lose weight at all, naturally you

don't need meal replacements.

If you indeed need to lose weight but find it too troublesome to

formulate weight loss meals yourself and want a convenient solution,

while also not having other nutritional diseases like diabetes, kidney

disease, severe indigestion, severe vitamin deficiency, etc., then

congratulations - you can spend money on meal replacements.

Why can't people with these diseases use them? Because their

nutritional needs or body metabolism differ from healthy people and

require special supplementation.

How exactly to eat them after buying?

Look at this research data and you'll understand. Oxford University

research found: If only using meal replacements, after 1 year people

lost only 1.44kg more than those with dietary restrictions; but if meal

replacements are combined with nutritional management, they can lose

3.87kg more; if exercise management is added, the difference can reach

6.13kg. Moreover, if not compared with people on dietary restrictions

but with ordinary people wanting to lose weight, this effect can reach

7.7kg.

Understand? To use meal replacements as miracle tools, you can't simply

eat meal replacements - you must also maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Meal replacements are just a tool, a tool to help us achieve energy

deficit - they can't replace our other efforts. Only by adding

dietary management and reasonable exercise can meal replacement effects

be maximized.

Because of this tool nature, meal replacements can't be eaten today and

skipped tomorrow, nor can they be stopped once ideal weight is reached.

If you haven't developed healthy lifestyle habits, especially if you

haven't learned to adjust dietary structure, then meal replacements, as

one of your three daily meals, can't be stopped - you must keep eating

them. Otherwise, weight easily rebounds, making previous efforts

futile.

Key Points

1. Meal replacements have good weight loss effects and are recommended

to try.

2. There are two standards for choosing meal replacements: First,

containing 150-350 calories of energy with reasonable proportioning;

second, sufficient vitamins and trace elements.

3. Meal replacements must replace regular meals. After eating meal

replacements, you can't eat anything else.

4. Adding dietary adjustments and reasonable exercise maximizes meal

replacement weight loss effects.

5. Before developing healthy lifestyle habits, meal replacements can't

be stopped.