What does meal replacement mean? Is meal replacement harmful to your health?

What does meal replacement mean? Is meal replacement harmful to your health? What are the consequences of long-term food substitutes? Director Xu said that eating meal replacement is equivalent to dieting in disguise, and the purpose of losing weight is achieved by increasing the difference between the required calories and the actual calories. If meal replacement food is completely used instead of three meals a day, the body will be in a state of low energy intake for a long time, which is harmful to the body.

Zhang Tian, a nutritionist in the Clinical Nutrition Department of Aviation General Hospital of China Medical University, explained that in order to maintain the basic metabolism and normal activities of the human body, healthy adult women need about 1.500 ~ 1.800 calories a day, while men need 1.800 ~ 2.200 calories. It is suggested to reduce 500~600 calories on this basis and lose weight safely. "But most meal replacement can't meet the calorie and nutrition requirements for safe weight loss." Take the milkshake of celebrity meal replacement on the Internet as an example. A bottle (75g) of Ceylon milk tea-flavored meal replacement milkshake contains 275 calories. "One bottle per meal, two meals a day, lunch and dinner," said the seller. According to the seller's suggestion, drinking two bottles a day is only 550 calories. "It's still very low. Even very obese people need to lose weight in this low-calorie way under the guidance of a doctor."

What if meal replacement is used instead of dinner for a long time? Director Xu said, "This will lead to long-term energy shortage and protein shortage, as well as the decomposition of muscle protein in the body, which will lead to malnutrition, anemia and insufficient blood protein, often manifested as weakness, grayish yellow emaciation, dizziness, insomnia, hair loss, irregular menstruation, bad temper and a series of other problems." Moreover, this means that it is unscientific to lose weight with very low calories, and it is also difficult to persist for a long time. Even if it has obvious effect in a short time, once it stops, it is easy to cause weight rebound.

What is the principle of satiety in meal replacement? In addition to low calories, satiety is another label that food substitutes are proud of. Professor Ai Hua from the Nutrition Laboratory of the Institute of Sports Medicine of Peking University Hospital explained that dietary fiber has the function of absorbing water and reducing swelling, and can not be absorbed by human body, but also has the function of satiety. Dietary fiber will also attach to fat when passing through the intestine, thus reducing energy intake. Take konjac as an example, it is rich in glucomannan and has strong water absorption, so a few solids can form a lot of konjac gum, giving people a very full feeling.