I've been considering replacing either my lunch or supper meal with a protein meal-replacement shake, and have been looking around at some different options. I'd love to get some "real" feedback from anyone here who may have used these; I'm scared to buy some and HATE the taste, and I'm also concerned that I'll "drink" a meal and it won't satisfy me (I do love my crunchies!)
The first question you need to ask is whether you need convenience or not. A lot of people looking for a meal replacement for health reasons reach instinctively for convenience even though that wasn't their actual need. We do shakes instead of meals maybe two or three times a week, and probably will be increasing that as we get into summer (a shake is pretty darned refreshing in the heat, eh?) However, the powders are -- well -- powder. We've found that we end up with
MUCH better-tasting shakes if we don't use powders at all. And, of course, by using fresh protein sources (in our case, tofu and Soy milk), you're avoiding a good portion of the artificial stuff that a lot of folks worry about.
We start with some ice and blend it into snow. We also add fruit. If the fruit is frozen, then we add it with the ice and blend both into snow. For a really yummy (sweet) shake, we replace the ice entirely with frozen fruit (and therefore end up with more fruit than otherwise). If we're just using fresh fruit, we add it after we blend the ice into snow. Either way, we then add between 1/4 and 1/2 package of lite silken tofu. We typically include an ounce or two of Açai juice, which is an excellent anti-oxidant. Finally, we blend in as much lite Soy Milk (vanilla flavored typically) as necessary to get the desired consistency.
In terms of fruit, we often do banana, and/or mixed berries, and/or peaches. Including banana really improves the nature of the shake, making it a lot thicker, naturally. I think mangos do the same, to some extent. Without a fruit that helps thicken the shake, you might need a little instant pudding to help thicken. We aim for the cheesecake flavor, because it doesn't really impose a flavor that shouldn't be there (like chocolate would). Use regular instant pudding to keep the recipe vegan; sugar-free instant pudding has dairy in it, so that would make the shake just vegetarian.
My wife tends to add Splenda. I think that's overkill, if the fruit is sweet enough. Part of the issue here is that we could stand to wean ourselves off of our penchant for sweetness.
I would hate to drink a meal. I personally couldn't do it. I eat the Kashi protein bars for breakfast and find them very satisfying. But I don't know how the protein statistics compare to a shake, though.
Putting aside personal preferences, the difference in terms of how filling they are, between a protein shake and a protein bar, doesn't break well for the protein bar. The shake has a lot of liquid in it which, itself, helps give people the feeling of full-ness. One of the first "tricks" you learn with regard to contrlling your appetite is to drink lots of water. Well, a protein shake is conceptually a protein bar blended together with water, so you get all the benefit of the protein bar, plus the benefits of the water.
And as I alluded to above, a cool, frosty beverage goes really well as a summertime meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner. (In the winter, I would make mochas -- hot chocolate/coffee beverages, however, I've only ever done that with the powders. I do not know if it will work as well with the silken tofu.)
Oh you could eat so much quality food for the calories in a protein shake!
Generally not. Our shakes run about 250 calories and they're incredibly filling. 250 calories of "quality food" the way I think you mean it wouldn't amount to enough satisfaction as far as I'm concerned. Regardless, the shakes we make (see above)
are "quality food": Fruit, tofu, Soy Milk -- these are really good for you.
I personally believe that if you use them as a replacement you will eventually miss the act of chewing and binge later.
That would argue for chewing coffee beans rather than drinking coffee.
It should be noted that shakes are not a replacement for vegetables. You still need to eat your vegetables, and that typically requires chewing. You don't need that much chewing to keep the teeth and gums happy.
And really, protein shakes are intended for muscle recovery after a hard workout.
Some are, but many actually aren't. They're intended either as meal replacements or snacks.
