Slim Fast offers a variety of meal replacement and snack foods designed to control hunger and help dieters lose weight. It's 3-2-1 plan recommends having three snack bars, two shakes or meal replacement bars and one balanced meal a day. Research supports the effectiveness of meal replacement diets particularly with obese people at risk for weight-related disease. However, people with diabetes have a unique metabolic condition that requires they monitor their carbohydrate intake. Many of the meal replacement foods, including Slim Fast have carbs and sugar. Always check with your doctor before starting a diet, especially if you have a condition like diabetes.
Diabetes
While treatable, diabetes is a serious condition that can cause blindness, heart disease, stroke and death. Diabetes occurs when the body is unable to produce or effectively use insulin to feed glucose to cells. Because the body coverts carbs to glucose, diabetics need to manage their carb intake to avoid having too much glucose. Your doctor will recommend how many carbs you can eat, usually between 45 and 60 g a day.
Slim Fast Nutrition
Slim Fast products are designed to provide protein, carbs and other nutrients to replace a balanced meal. The shakes and meal bars have 200 calories and 8 to 20 g of protein. Some have as much as 32 g of carbs, 22 g of which is sugar and up to 5 g of fiber. The shakes tend to have the most vitamins and minerals providing 25 to 100 percent of the daily recommended value. The meal replacement bars provide about 20 percent of your needed vitamins and minerals.
Weight Loss and Diabetes
Many diabetics can improve their condition through weight loss. The American Diabetes Association says, "Losing just 10 to 15 pounds may improve blood glucose levels, cholesterol levels and blood pressure. Losing weight can also reduce the need for diabetes medications." It also says that Slim Fast can be an effective weight loss strategy but isn't needed if you eat a balanced diet. If you choose to use Slim Fast, drink the low-carb shakes, which have only 6 g of carbs, 4 from fiber and 1 from sugar. It also has 20 grams of protein, the most all the Slim Fast products.
Considerations
As a diabetic, what you consume can have serious implications for your health, so always consult your doctor or a certified dietitian before starting a diet. If you want the simplicity of a meal replacement diet, your health care professional can approve your use of Slim Fast or recommend an alternative better suited for people with diabetes. Ultimately, learning to eat a balanced diet will give you more variety and enjoyment of eating than limiting yourself to meal replacements.
References
- Slim Fast: Products
- "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition"; Metabolic and Weight-Loss Effects of a Long-Term Dietary Intervention in Obese Patients; H.H. Ditschuneit, M. Flechtner-Mors, T.D. Johnson, G. Adler; February 1999
- American Diabetes Association: Diabetes Basics
- American Diabetes Association: Are Slim Fast Shakes Okay for Me to Drink?
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