The claimEvidence B · meta-analysis
Meal replacement shakes have weight-loss magic
The evidence
Meal replacements are portion-control tools, nothing more. Stop using them and weight returns; Heymsfield 2003 meta shows no advantage over isocaloric diet.
The mechanism, in brief
Global weight-loss supplement market > $30B/year, ~ 60% of US adults have tried at least one (NIH ODS 2023). The marketing playbook never changes:
Sources (2)
- Wilding, J. P. H., Batterham, R. L., Calanna, S., Davies, M., Van Gaal, L. F., Lingvay, I., et al. (2021). Once-weekly semaglutide in adults with overweight or obesity (STEP-1). New England Journal of Medicine, 384(11), 989-1002.
- Jastreboff, A. M., Aronne, L. J., Ahmad, N. N., Wharton, S., Connery, L., Alves, B., Kiyosue, A., Zhang, S., Liu, B., Bunck, M. C., & Stefanski, A. (2022). Tirzepatide once weekly for the treatment of obesity. The New England Journal of Medicine, 387(3), 205–216.