Fat Loss Lie #4: Meal replacement products and diet shakes help you “burn” fat.
Some supplement companies would like you to believe that meal replacement products (MRP’s) have some sort of “magical” fat reducing properties. The truth is that MRP’s are nothing more than “powdered food.”
Listen: The primary benefit of MRP’s is convenience.
It’s difficult to eat frequently, so MRP’s are great when you’re in a hurry and you don’t have time to eat whole foods, but they are not better than food, no matter what any supplement “guru” says. Owners of supplement companies will say that MRP’s are the “greatest thing since sliced bread.” That shouldn’t come as any surprise; sales of these products run in the tens of millions of dollars each year.
Whenever you have a choice, and whenever time permits, you should always choose whole foods over MRP’s.
Eating real food is better than drinking meal replacement products (MRP’s). The human body has evolved to efficiently digest whole food, not powders or pills. The process of digesting solid food every three hours actually increases your metabolic rate. This is known as the “thermic effect of food.” Powders fail to take advantage of this metabolic boost.
John Parillo is a trainer, nutritionist and author of several excellent books on bodybuilding. Even though Parillo sells his own line of supplements (and he does push them quite heavily at times), listen to what he wrote about MRP’s:
“Food is the cornerstone of nutrition. If you do not eat the proper foods – lean proteins, starchy carbohydrates, and fibrous carbohydrates – nothing else matters. No supplement can ever provide you with all the benefits that food supplies. We were built to process foods – proteins, carbohydrates and fats – not powdered or liquid supplements alone. If you want to make the best possible progress with your physique, I suggest that you forget the hype surrounding all supplement diets or meal replacement programs and get back to basics. And that means food.”
I suggest you heed Mr. Parillo’s advice