Fundamentals
of Nutrition

What is a
Food Portion?

Your Nutrition Style

Your Activity Style

Physiology
of Nutrition
Lecture Series
Lecture 1
Lecture 2
Lecture 3
Lecture 4
Lecture 5
Lecture 6
Lecture 7
Lecture 8

Lecture 5 page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Meal Replacements and Portion-Controlled Foods
The basic biochemical fact of weight gain and loss is this: In order to lose weight you must take in fewer calories than you are burning. There are two ways to reach this goal. You can eat fewer calories by eliminating the trigger foods and eating meal replacements and portion-controlled foods, or you can increase your calorie burning through exercise. The most efficient thing to do is to use both these methods to lose weight and keep it off permanently.

While many diets are based on some magic property of either fat, protein, or carbohydrate, you need to understand that the human body can convert calories between protein, fat, and carbohydrates. This means that anything you eat—from a cheesecake to a sandwich to a steak—can turn into body fat if it is not burned as fuel. The reasons why diets work and don’t work will not be found in a simplistic biochemical statement about eating any specific food type in any specific amount.

Of course, there are differences between individuals. I have known patients who would be able to lose weight easily and get away with pretty poor eating habits. On the other hand, I have had patients who eat very well and cannot lose weight easily. But losing weight with ease or with difficulty has nothing to do with counting proteins or carbs or fat grams. Humankind has had to survive on different diets in different climates, and so there are no simple weight-loss guidelines in terms of the three basic types of foods. The only simple fact is that if you take in more calories than you burn off, you will gain weight.

Someday you will be able to eat food that tastes great and is designed just for you. It might look like your favorite dessert or even a hot dog, but it will have a specially designed mix of protein, fiber, vitamin, minerals, and other nutrients to match your own unique needs.

What are the elements that will make this future food so great? First of all, it will have all the nutrients you need. Experts will put a lot of thought into designing the food to have health benefits and great taste, and to be affordable. We are not there yet, but there is one food of the future that millions of Americans have tried. These foods are called liquid meal replacements.

What are my criteria for choosing a meal replacement? First, it must provide healthy nutrition, including high-quality protein, fiber, minerals, and vitamins. Second, it must taste good, so that you will incorporate into your diet for the long term. Third, it must be affordable and widely available.

While there are several meal replacements that fit this description, the one I have had the most experience with is Ultra Slim-Fast. I have personally prescribed it to thousands of patients, and I have conducted a study with over 300 participants at six different sites throughout the United States using Ultra Slim-Fast. In this study, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 71 men and 230 women participated in a 12 week weight loss program and then continued to use Ultra Slim-Fast for two years to maintain their weight. Ninety-one percent completed the first twelve weeks of the study and men lost an average of almost 19 pounds and women lost an average of 14 pounds. Both men and women lost about 7 percent of their body weight. A total of 133 subjects completed the two year study representing 56 percent of the total group. At the end of two years, average weight loss in men was 14 pounds and in women it was 13.6 pounds. Similar results were obtained in studies done at the University of Ulm in Germany over a two year period with a much lower number of patients discontinuing the plan. This study by Dr. Ditschuneit and colleagues has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Finally, in the town of Pound, Wisconsin, Ultra Slim-Fast was tested on a large segment of the population of the town (about 170 people) for four years. With few people leaving town there were very few dropouts, and again people lost weight and kept it off. So cutting calories and fat using a meal replacement for two meals a day and eating a healthy dinner leads to sustained weight loss.

There are other meal replacements available, including so-called private label brands. If the nutritional value is the same and you like the taste, then go for it. However, read the label carefully. Be sure there is adequate fiber, since this is important in having a filling effect in your stomach. And if the cost is outrageous, you won’t use it for the long term. I encourage people to try to find the meal replacement that is best for them.

Weight loss with meal replacement shakes or bars may seem magical, but it’s not. A meal replacement takes the place of skipping a meal, while providing a balance of nutrients designed for weight loss. For example, you could have a meal replacement instead of a deli-counter tuna sandwich for lunch. The tuna sandwich would have 722 calories, 54 grams of fat, and only some of the essential vitamins and minerals you need every day. The meal replacement would have only 220 calories and 3 grams of fat, along with about one-third of the daily requirement for vitamins and minerals. For calcium, which is important for strong bones, it would have about 40 percent of the daily requirement in a single serving. I suggest to my patients that they keep a six-pack of canned shakes in the car in case they miss a meal. It beats pulling into a fast-food restaurant on the way home. You can also freeze these shakes and eat them in the form of ice cream. You can add coffee crystals to the mix, or place banana slices or strawberries on top, or add noncalorie flavorings, such as rum or coconut.

A meal replacement is not meant to be your only source of nutrition. It is not intended to replace all of your eating in any day. It is meant to replace one or two meals each day and perhaps some snacks. Have a meal replacement for breakfast with a fruit and a cup of coffee if you want. Have another shake or bar for lunch with a fruit and a vegetable as suggested in the section below.

When you are losing weight using meal replacements, you eat fewer calories and fat, and you get more nutrition. Each meal replacement shake or bar contains the carbohydrate, protein, fiber, calcium, and other vitamins and minerals you need.

By adding to this healthy base 11 servings a day of vegetables and fruits you will obtain more of some of these nutrients as well as a supply of preventive substances which are not available in meal replacements or dietary supplements. Your diet now, which probably includes some high fat, high sugar, high calorie foods, doesn’t provide the healthy nutrition you will get from meal replacements, vegetables, and fruits. The beauty of this approach is that it provides complete nutrition without the fat and calories.

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