Ensure Plus

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fitodg
fitodg Posts: 6 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hello, I am 5 9 and weigh 123-126 ish. i need to gain some weight. Is ensure plus good for you? Im concerned about its 20 grams of sugar and its sodium.

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  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    I'm not sure how many calories it has, but if you like it and don't have any medical issues around sugar or sodium I don't see why there would be an issue with having it.
    If you want to make your own high cal/meal replacement shake you can do that too.. protein powder, full fat dairy, nut butter, banana, oats, you can even add ice cream if you really want to increase the cals.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    You don't need a specific product, you need a calorie surplus.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,394 MFP Moderator
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    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1

    This thread can be helpful. And while ensure plus has some good calories, you really need to figure out how many you need to maintain and eat above that.
  • Morriganmum
    Morriganmum Posts: 37 Member
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    Just be sure the ingredients of ensure or any of that ilk are ones you can eat. I tried them only to have them make me LOSE weight due to them completely screwing up my gut. I do have food sensitivities and those "shakes" were death in a bottle for me. They are basically a bunch of corn oil with a big price tag.
  • flagrantavidity
    flagrantavidity Posts: 218 Member
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    I couldn't stand how sweet ensure plus was. Since I am always low on time, I was looking specifically for a meal replacement, with complete nutrition with a healthy amount of calories, so I went with a product called Soylent. However, if you are looking to add extra calories to your diet, just for calories sake - Nuts, Dried Fruit, Oats, Red Meat. Otherwise you could always get some Muscle Milk or something similar.
  • comptonelizabeth
    comptonelizabeth Posts: 1,701 Member
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    Morriganmum wrote: »
    Just be sure the ingredients of ensure or any of that ilk are ones you can eat. I tried them only to have them make me LOSE weight due to them completely screwing up my gut. I do have food sensitivities and those "shakes" were death in a bottle for me. They are basically a bunch of corn oil with a big price tag.

    I'm with you on this - they make my gut flare horribly
  • dutchandkiwi
    dutchandkiwi Posts: 1,389 Member
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    The product is specifically for those at risk of malnourishment. Usually given to those that have difficulties eating. Have you been diagnosed with that or is it simply a case of wanting to gain some weight? If you have been diagnosed then go for it, but if you simpy want to gain and have no other reasons I'd suggest working on eating more as a better approach.

    My grandfather used it for a while in the last stages of his life. He could not handle solid food as well anymore, so needed the calories to not become malnourished. He used it in his coffee as a creamer. He too was complaining about the sweetness, but then again he was complaining about the taste of everything at that stage :-)
  • Hamsibian
    Hamsibian Posts: 1,388 Member
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    comptonelizabeth wrote: »
    Morriganmum wrote: »
    Just be sure the ingredients of ensure or any of that ilk are ones you can eat. I tried them only to have them make me LOSE weight due to them completely screwing up my gut. I do have food sensitivities and those "shakes" were death in a bottle for me. They are basically a bunch of corn oil with a big price tag.

    I'm with you on this - they make my gut flare horribly

    Same, there's hardly any ingredients in there that's necessary for human consumption. I understand it for emergency purposes, but you can easily make really good shakes with whole milk, some greens and fruits, and protein sources like nut butters or flax seeds.

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