To Slim Fast or Not to Slim Fast

“Two shakes and a sensible dinner.”

You’ve heard the miracle sales pitch of Slim Fast.

Well, should you buy it or not?

Is Slim Fast a good product or not?

Like most things in training, diet and life, the answer is…it depends.

It depends on who you are, what your genetics are, why you are drinking them, what is your current health status is, what’s the purpose of you drinking them and what your personality is.

Most people buy Slim Fast or something similar because they want to lose weight and so that is the angle I’m going to lead from.

First – great job for wanting to lose weight and thinking that far ahead that you might get hungry while you are out and will need something to eat besides a convient bag of chips or cookies!

That’s an improvement already!

The quality of Slim Fast is questionable.

It contains Sucrolose which is an artifical sweetener and has  side effects.

Straight from Dr. Mercola’s site :

Sucralose (which Splenda is)

• Reduces the amount of good bacteria in your intestines by 50 percent
• Increases the pH level in your intestines, and
• Affects a glycoprotein in your body that can have crucial health effects, particularly if you’re on certain medications
• They also found unmistakable evidence that sucralose (Splenda) is absorbed by fat, contrary to previous claims.

If that’s not bad enough, artificial sweeteners like sucralose (read your labels!!!) will NOT help you lose weight and, in contrary, can cause you to KEEP it on or gain.
Nearly a decade ago, studies were already revealing that artificial sweeteners can:

• Stimulate your appetite
• Increase carbohydrate cravings
• Stimulate fat storage and weight gain

So, for that reason alone, it’s a no go for me, personally.

It also had canola oil. Canola has partially hydrogenated oil which causes inflammation in your body which causes heart disease, arthritis, Chrone’s disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer to name a few.

However….if you are just starting out and you need to simply decrease your calorie intake and don’t know where to start, this could be a stepping stone for you.

If you know you’re a  person who will get overwhelmed with the thought of suddenly eating 9 vegetable servings, protein and olive oil (make sure it’s not counterfeit!) and fall back into eating those chips and cookies, then by all means, go for the slim fast to control the portion sizes and hunger levels.

It could be a big first step for you.

If you are someone who knows how to cook, likes fresh food and the idea of eating whole, fresh food is a change, but not foreign, than skip the Slim Fast. It’s a low quality pseudo-food.

So, as you can tell, knowing if Slim Fast is a good product for you to use or not….depends:)

Let me know if you have any questions!

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