Liquid Diet Reviews

Liquid diets based on meal relacements were really popular 10 or 20 years ago and to be fair, are still a popular choice for many dieters today.

People who don't like to cook, or just don't have the time to cook may benefit from a diet based around liquid meal replacements.

However, the debate has invariably revolved around whether liquid diets are a long term solution to weight loss.

If you're considering a liquid diet, let's take a look at the options.

Liquid Diet Reviews - What are the Options...?

#1. Diets composed of just liquid meal replacements

These normally take two forms:

The former are usually for very obese patients, to be used under medical supervision and are designed to kick start a weight loss program with a period of rapid weight loss.

Examples include the original Medifast Diet and the Cambridge Diet.

The diets are usually followed for two weeks to a couple of months after which solid food is reintroduced.

The latter are often promoted as detox programs or rapid weight loss diets, have no scientific basis or medical supervision and are intended to be followed for a few days to a week max...

Avoid.

Examples include the Cabbage Soup Diet, Sacred Heart Diet and the Hollywood 48 Hour Miracle Diet, so check out these liquid diet reviews.

Under the proper medical supervision the former have a place when treating very severe obesity.

The latter have no place at all. Any weight that is lost will be largely water and will go straight back on when you start eating regular food again.

#2. Diets composed of a combination of liquid meal replacements and regular food

Unless you've been living on the moon, you'll be familiar with these commercial diets.

They've been around for years and are widely marketed through retail outlets and through direct sales and multi-level marketing companies.

Typically, one or two meals will be replaced with a ready made shake or a shake made from a shake mix powder combined with milk, fruit juice or water.

One or two meals will consist of home prepared food or a pre-packaged meal supplied by the company.

There are many of these diets around, examples of which are Slim Fast and Herbalife's Shapeworks.

Liquid Diet Reviews - Do They Work...?

The debate really centres on whether you'll keep the weight off.

Successful dieting relies on you making the necessary changes to your eating habits and lifestyle whilst losing weight.

This is essential to ensure that you don't go back to eating the types and quantities of food that caused the weight gain in the first place.

The criticism levelled at meal replacement based programs is that they fail to address this crucial factor.

This is a particular problem if the solid food that's eaten is a pre-packaged meal.

It's effectively fast food dieting. Convenient for sure, but you hardly have to think about food, make food choices or learn new food preparation and cooking skills.

Drinking two shakes a day can also get pretty boring.

If you're going to follow a shake based diet, then choose one where you can make up your own shakes in a blender. You can then build in some variety by adding different fruits and juices each time.

On the positive side, meal replacements have been shown in clinical trials to result in weight loss.

The BBC Diet Trials, carried out by Bristol University in the UK, showed that participants who followed the Slim Fast plan lost a comparable amount of weight to those on calorie controlled solid food based plans.

Furthermore, many of the men on the trial liked it as they didn't have to cook anything or worry about what to eat.

Meal replacement based plans can be somewhat low in calories, so snacking on low calorie foods like fruit and fat free yoghurt and cottage cheese in between shakes can help.

However, you know exactly what you're getting in a meal replacement - just read the nutritional info on the packaging and follow the directions.

This can really help if you're counting calories.

It will also help to ensure you get the optimum balance and amount of nutrients each day.

Liquid Diet Reviews - The Bottom Line...

Whether you'll keep the weight off in the longer term is more open to question.

They can get boring and prove hard to stick to, but are very flexible and convenient.

Pick a reputable plan or brand of meal replacement and you'll get a nutritionally complete meal in a glass.

A good strategy might be to incorporate meal replacements into your diet on an occasionally basis.

For instance, a shake as a quick breakfast or lunch when time is tight.

Customising a shake or smoothie is also a good way to get a couple of your portions of fruit each day.

Try our smoothie and shake recipes for some inspiration!

If you like the idea of a diet based in part on liquid meal replacements, then check out the Slim Fast Optima Diet at eDiets.

Our liquid diet reviews verdict? They score well for convenience, but may not result in long term weight loss!

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