Weight Loss Shakes - Are They Healthy?

There are a lot of weight loss drinks being consumed daily by people hoping to improve their health by losing excess weight. These drinks are usually low in calories but they contain micro-nutrients like vitamins and minerals and they are typically consumed by dieters as meal replacement shakes or as liquid diets.

Drinks that are sold to improve weight reduction are typically weight loss 'shakes', and the most popular brands are SlimFast, MediFast, and the NutriSystem Diet.

These liquid diets are frequently reserved for severely obese patients and are administered with medical supervision.

They can be extremely efficient in helping such persons to lose weight but the use of weight loss drinks and additional meal replacements is usually a short term answer to weight control because these diet programs do not educate dieters on how to develop healthy eating habits.

Therefore, even though nutritional drinks designed for weight control are useful in attaining necessary calorie reduction, they are not a long term key to the growing problem of obesity.

Water remains as the best drink for watching your weight as it has no calories and it helps in preserving a vigorous metabolism. Soon after you drink as much water as you need, you should very rapidly notice a diminished appetite - perhaps from the very first day.

Weight Loss Shakes As An Appetite Suppressant

For individuals who have problems with huge appetites but need to consume less, weight loss shakes could prove to be helpful. When used as directed the shakes can reduce your appetite and help you to lose weight by eating less.

Normally, the recommendation is to have a shake for breakfast and another one for lunch, then have a healthy meal for dinner. When they are consumed in this manner each day, less food is required but you still get the nutrition that your body needs.

However, it is not recommended that you replace all your meals with these diet shakes. Your body needs certain vitamins and minerals, and though the shakes can act as an appetite suppressant for a while, they are not intended to replace food. Serious or even fatal problems can occur by the misuse of these drinks, so please use them exactly as directed.

Keep in mind that there are also other liquids you can drink and lose weight. They are all natural products and in fact, much healthier. One of them is plain old milk. Milk has a lot of calcium and it can augment weight loss by raising fat breakdown in your body’s fat cells. This does not mean you should drink a gallon of milk on a daily basis, but just adding milk to your diet in temperance may double the speed of your fat loss.

Green tea weight loss tea is also helpful, and you could potentially increase your metabolism and burn up to 40% more fat during the day by drinking 3 to 5 cups every day. Vegetable juices are another healthy drink that if consumed before meals could cause you to eat up to 135 calories less.

If you have a problem drinking these natural weight loss shakes, you can surely stick to water - drinking a couple of glasses before every meal. Because the water helps to make you feel fuller, you will naturally eat less and lose more weight.

The Blood Type Diet

Peter D'Adamo, a natural health practitioner who considers a person's blood type to be the most important factor in determining their ideal diet, developed the Blood Type Diet in his book Eat Right 4 Your Blood Type'.

How Does The Blood Type Diet Work?

Because the blood type diet considers that food lectins react differently with different types of blood - A, AB, B or O - some creating antigens which cause a reaction as if to an allergen or invader, you are advised to consume more of some foods and avoid others, according to your blood type and cellular profile, in order to lose weight.

Group 0 - The Hunter: A high protein diet of meat, fish, fruit and vegetables is recommended for what is claimed to be the oldest blood type.

Group A - The Cultivator: Suitable for a vegetarian diet as it consists of very little red meat and more vegetables, seafood, tofu, fruit, beans, and legumes.

Group B - The Nomad: Though dairy products are not recommended for the other blood groups, they are allowed for this group, along with most foods including meat, vegetables, beans, fruits, and grains.

Group AB - The Enigma: Intermediate between groups A and B, in moderation.

There are many foods that should not be eaten for each blood type because of the action of the lectins.

Does The Blood Type Diet Work?

Although Dr. D'Adamo claims to have around a 70% success rate in terms of improved health conditions and/or weight loss, these results are self-reported and do not come from independent research (people who respond to polls). There is no analysis of the results of the people who have read his books and tried the diet because there is no way of tracking all of them. There apparently have been no structured clinical trials of the diet.

In cases where people have had good results with the diet, losing weight and/or regaining health, it is possible that the diet happens to suit them, but it could also be the result of simply being more conscious of what they eat and avoiding certain foods.

Since a much larger percentage of the population have either group A, AB or O blood types (where dairy products are not recommended), just cutting out the dairy products can result in significant weight loss for the majority of people. It's surprising how many processed foods contain milk in some form, so avoiding dairy products will automatically cut out a lot of fat, fast food and junk food in the average person's diet, almost certainly resulting in weight loss.

Any Drawbacks With The Blood Type Diet?

Virtually all independent research suggests that there is no link between blood type and diet, and as a result Dr. D'Adamo has been heavily criticized for the lack of structured research to back up his ideas.

Also, many scientists consider that lectins in foods do not act in the way that extracted lectins might act. That is, when they are included in food they do not set off a hostile reaction with antigens or antibodies. Additionally, research has not found a link between blood type and food allergies.

You may be suited to the blood type diet if you like a diet with lots of rules that clearly lays out what you can and cannot eat, but it is a somewhat complex diet, and some people will not be suited to some versions of it. As always, of course, consult your doctor before going on this or any other weight loss programs.