On occasion over the last few years, I’ve known people, usually elderly, that were told by their physicians to take “Ensure” or “Boost”, or some other meal replacement beverage, in order to be certain they are getting all the nutrients they need. And even when a plate of healthy, real food is offered, the dutiful patient follows the doctor’s advice and chooses the artificial drink instead, believing they will get better nutrition from the drink than from the food. Doctors are doing their very best, but please remember that most have had very little if any nutrition training at all. The weight-loss industry also frequently markets meal-replacement beverages as part of their weight-loss plans. Having looked at the ingredient list on these beverages, I don’t think they should be recommended to anyone!

Here is the ingredient list for “Ensure”: water, sugar (sucrose), corn syrup, maltodextrin (corn), calcium caseinate, high-oleic safflower oil, canola oil, soy protein isolate, whey protein concentrate, corn oil, calcium phosphate tribasic, potassium citrate, magnesium phosphate dibasic, natural and artificial flavor, soy lecithin, sodium citrate, magnesium chloride, salt (sodium chloride), carrageenan, choline chloride, potassium chloride, ascorbic acid, ferrous sulfate, alpha-tocopheryl acetate, zinc sulfate, niacinamide, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, cupric sulfate, vitamin A palmitate, thiamine chloride hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, folic acid, chromium chloride, biotin, sodium molybdate,
sodium selenate, potassium iodide, phylloquinone, vitamin D3 and cyanocobalamin.

After water, the first three ingredients are all sugar, two made almost certainly from genetically modified corn, as the product is not organic. Sugar devastates the body, accelerating heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, cancer and most other diseases of civilization. Soon after on the list are three vegetable oils, which increase inflammation due to their high omega 6 content (canola and corn oil being worse than the high-oleic safflower) and the fact that the oils are almost certainly refined, meaning they are rancid and will cause free radical damage in the body. Then we have soy isolate on the list, an endocrine disruptor, and whey protein, which is also a highly processed product. After that for the most part is a list of synthetic vitamins, mixed in with flavourings, which entails another long list of chemicals that they do not have to put on the label. Do the synthetic vitamins redeem the product? I don’t think the isolated synthetic vitamins can overcome the fact that one has consumed a bottle/can of sugar and rancid vegetable oils, two of the most harmful ingredients one can have if one values one’s health. And of course, the poor liver has to detoxify all the chemical ingredients, of which there are many! Not a burden one wants to put on the liver if unhealthy!

The bottom line is to be healthy one needs to consume real food. What comes from a factory simply will never be as healthy as fresh foods that are picked, pulled out of the ground or chased after to obtain, or come from the ocean. The food needs to come from live sources, not made out of chemicals. Real food does not need to advertise that it is healthy. If a label is telling you it is healthy, it probably isn't.

I realize that these meal replacement beverages are a convenience, and sometimes when people are sick they need something liquid. There are so many healthier options than artificial meal-replacement beverages, if it is possible to take the time to make them. Soups made of bone broths, containing a variety of pureed vegetables, and possibly some pureed meat too. Smoothies with natural yogurt as a base, and filled with all kinds of wholesome, real food, including nuts, berries, coconut oil, an egg etc. Freshly made mixed vegetable juices with flax
oil added. It takes some planning, but one would get all the nutrition needed without the problems, and it would taste better too!

Related posts
Sugar, the disease generator
GMO, crossing the species barrier
Essential fats: omega 3 to omega 6 ratio
Oils and fats - the good, the bad, and the ugly
The soy controversy
Artificial and natural flavours

Online Dietary Supplements Labels Database Ensure Plus Nutrition Drink

Copyright 2008 Vreni Gurd

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