Is Shakeology Safe?
It is not easy to find a safe meal replacement product in the market. One has to weigh various factors such as quality of ingredients, customers’ opinion, clinical studies etc. Sometimes even the purely natural content of a product does not guarantee the effectiveness and lack of side effects. The following review is aimed to answer the question “Is Shakeology safe?”
This meal replacement is designed to increase energy, suppress craving, support weight loss and improve digestion. In 2016, this shake ranked among the top protein shakes despite of its relatively high price. A pack of 30 servings costs almost $130. For such amount of money, customers expect to obtain some unique and qualitative ingredients. Let’s find out what Shakeology offers.
Ingredients
The content of this shake includes around 50 ingredients. We cannot say that all of them are natural. The main danger relates to fructose. It is a hazardous sweetener, which is known for such side effects as increasing sugar in blood, metabolic disturbance and preventing satiation. However, fructose is not the only concern of the shake.
Spirulina is bacteria that supply nutrients and amino acids. It may contain increased level of hazardous heavy metals.
Extract of green tea leaf is a known stimulant providing caffeine. Caffeine increases energy and metabolism. You should be careful with this ingredient, since large amounts of it can trigger numerous unwanted effects.
Xanthan gum is a regular component of processed foods. Unfortunately, this ingredient is likely to cause digestive issues, nausea and vomiting.
In addition to the above-mentioned side effects, the customers complained about diarrhea, gas, bloating and stomach pains.
Protein
It is commonly known that protein is the key component of meal replacement products. So, the quality of protein directly affects the quality of the entire product. It is advised to avoid shakes with soy protein. The protein of Shakeology is a blend of plant-based protein sources (pea, flax, chia, sacha inchi, and quinoa) plus whey protein isolate. Pea protein is known for triggering joint pain. Chia protein can lead to gas and bloating. The effectiveness of other sources is not well studied. Whey protein is the only reliable source of protein. Unfortunately, no information about the percentage value of each source is available.
All this mixture of proteins results in 16 grams per serving. This value is rather good for a meal replacement product.
Fructose
Along with the high price, Shakeology has another significant issue. Each serving of the shake provides 7 grams of sugar that comes from fructose. Fructose is a sweetener that is famous as a source of numerous health issues including promoting obesity, liver disease, high blood pressure, increased cholesterol etc.
Customer’s opinion
In general, the users of Shakeology are dissatisfied with the price of the shake. The quality of the content is not worth such amount of money. Nevertheless, the meal replacement also has other issues associated with potentially harmful ingredients and above-mentioned side effects.
