Can you life off of drinking protein shakes alone?

NicholeWrightHR

I usually don't eat anything solid at all. Just drinking protein drinks. Seems to be working and I have really trimmed down lately and feel great! Anyone else try this? How long can i keep doing this?

Alatariel75

Are they providing all the micro nutrients and vitamins you need? As protein shakes are generally intended as a supplement and are not intended as a complete meal replacement, you may end up with health issues.

NicholeWrightHR

i am using mostly the Slim Fast meal replacement protein powder mix since it has the extra nutrition and vitamins, etc. in it. Been doing this about 2 weeks. But have to admit I have been eating bananas & greek yogurt too.

DietPrada

Even slim fast don't recommend it. You're supposed to have 2 shakes and a meal. Technically you could though, just as people can survive on eating junkfood every day - wouldn't be any worse for you. Just make sure you're getting enough calories, they are quite low.

Alatariel75

Yeah, Slim Fast don't recommend it. I believe there are complete meal replacements out there though, try Googling Soylent. (not the one that's people).

annacole94

Soylent is for people that want to eat only that. I don't see why anyone would want to, but it would be more healthy than other options as it's meant to be a complete diet.

Annie_01

Here is a study done by Vanderbilt University on liquid diets...

http://healthpsych.psy.vanderbilt.edu/HealthPsych/LiquidDiets.htm

TLDR...

Slim Fast was mentioned as being safe up to 12 weeks..."IF THE DIET PLAN WAS FOLLOWED".

IOW...If you follow the plan...2 shakes and one meal plus whatever snacks they recommend.

The one problem that they were concerned with...People abusing the plan...such as not eating that one meal and only drinking the drinks.

Theo166

NicholeWrightHR wrote: »

I usually don't eat anything solid at all. Just drinking protein drinks. Seems to be working and I have really trimmed down lately and feel great! Anyone else try this? How long can i keep doing this?

Why not just put a tube through your abdomen and pump it it? I did that to my cat once and it worked really well!

Then you won't even have to brush your teeth after every 'meal'

broseidonkingofbrocean

As long as you're hitting your caloric needs for the day it doesn't matter where your nutrition comes from. I would never go this route but say I had to for some unexplained reason I would go for a quality protein powder, whole foods carb powder, and I would also add in a whole foods greens powder over slimfast.

Just my advice. Pick a diet you think you can sustain for the rest of your life. Something like the slimfast or a liquid diet isn't going to be long term. Eventually you'll get sick of it which may lead you to binge eating.

Gallowmere1984

NicholeWrightHR wrote: »

I usually don't eat anything solid at all. Just drinking protein drinks. Seems to be working and I have really trimmed down lately and feel great! Anyone else try this? How long can i keep doing this?

Add in EFAs and cover micronutrient needs via supplementation and you could do it indefinitely. That doesn't make it a good idea, but it's biologically doable. You would just need to eventually get to a point where you consume enough to meet maintenance calorie needs, or you slowly starve to death.

CTcutie

Why? Slim fast/protein powders are Zombie repellents?!

evilokc

I'm not as worried about the negative effects of a liquid only diet if its for a short time. people have tried more extreme measures than that. take a multivitamin in addition to the shakes and chew gum. remember that not eating anything will probably lead to rebound once your back on food. so be careful. take pics everyday so you can see if its working. good luck and be safe.

psuLemon

Also, take into consideration how poor the quality is for slimfast: https://labdoor.com/rankings/meal-replacements

But it's definitely going to be inferior to get adequate nutrition and be able to sustain long term.

MegansMom2011

I did a 21-day liquid-only fast through my church, kind of like lent. I was very lenient in that I allowed myself to have anything that I was able to make into a liquid form. This included many protein shakes, slim fast meal replacements, as well as bananas and Greek yogurt blended into other smoothies. Once my 21-day fast ended, I had to relearn how to eat calories because I went overboard when I was able to eat food again and gained back 5lbs in 3 days (I lost 11.2lbs in 21 days). Just be careful when you decide to introduce food back into your diet more, that you don't go overboard because you will gain all of the weight that you lost, right back. Also I was working out while I was fasting, and I did notice that I had gotten very weak very quickly, and I noticed in my macronutrients that I was lacking iron, potassium, and sodium because of the fast. I immediately had soup broth to combat that effect and felt much better. So make sure that you have enough of all of the nutrients that your body needs, or you will not feel very well. It took about 10 days before I felt the effects of low sodium, low potassium, and low iron. This method works for a kick start to weight loss, but not for long term. I'm now logging food and exercise, and losing weight slower, but it's something I can maintain long term (this is my second go at MFP, where I previously lost 42lbs). I have learned how to balance my calories from drinks vs food, in order to be healthy and get to a healthier weight.

trigden1991

Probably but it would be miserable.

quiksylver296

Come back in another four weeks and give us an update on how it's going, @NicholeWrightHR.

It sounds completely miserable to me...

bpotts44

This sounds like a terrible idea; HOWEVER, if you are going to do it temporarily I would blend some fresh foods into the shakes. Recommendations would be: romaine, kale, spinach, chia, flax, berries, bananas, apples.