How To Drink Boost For Weight Loss The Easy Way As you probably know, if you want to lose weight, it’s best to eat healthier and exercise. And while that approach can be effective, there are times when it’s not always convenient and/or you don’t have the time.
What is Boost?
Firstly, let’s take a quick look at the definition of Boost nutrition drinks. Boost is a nutritional supplement from Nestle brand. It is typically designed to help people meet their nutritional needs after age 50.
Today, Boost provides the market with a diverse product portfolio, including 12 different drinks to meet a variety of requirements. But if your goal is to gain weight, here are the two most popular Boost drinks that help.
Benefits
BOOST® Very High Calorie Nutritional Drink contains 530 nutrient-rich calories in each 8 fl oz serving with 22 g high-quality protein to help gain or maintain weight plus 26 vitamins and minerals to help meet daily nutritional needs.
- The Highest Calorie BOOST® Drink to Help Gain or Maintain Weight: Nutritionally-dense, high calorie, high protein nutritional drink providing 530 Calories per 8 fl oz serving with 22 g protein to help gain or maintain weight.
- Nutritional Support: BOOST® Very High Calorie can be consumed as a snack or with a meal providing nutritional support for: weight gain or maintenance, increased energy needs, fluid restriction and malnutrition.
- Key Nutrients for Immune Support: BOOST® Very High Calorie Drink contains 26 vitamins and minerals, including Vitamins C & D, Zinc, Iron & Selenium, key nutrients for immune support.
- No Artificial Colors or Sweeteners: BOOST® Very High Calorie is available in Chocolate, Very Vanilla & Creamy Strawberry flavors. Creamy Strawberry Flavor is made with natural strawberry flavor.
What is the shelf life of BOOST nutritional drinks?
The shelf life of BOOST® drinks is between 12 to 18 months depending on the product you purchase. Please check the expiration date on the label to determine the drink’s “use by” date.
Am I required to refrigerate BOOST® drinks before consuming them?
It is best to chill BOOST® drinks before consuming. However, refrigeration is not required.
When should I consume BOOST® nutritional drinks? Are they considered a meal replacement drink or can I drink them with a meal?
In general, BOOST® drinks may be consumed with meals, as a snack or mini-meal, or even after a workout
Can I consume more than one bottle of BOOST® nutritional drink in a 24-hour period?
BOOST® drinks may be consumed with meals, or as a snack or mini-meal, and may be consumed more than once a day. A general guideline is up to three bottles per day so that you may enjoy a variety of other choices in your diet. Everyone’s nutritional needs are different so we suggest talking to your healthcare provider about the actual amount need to meet your nutritional requirements.
Are nutritional supplements (like Boost and Ensure) good for you?
Americans spend millions of dollars each year on liquid nutritional supplements in an effort to improve their health. But these supplements can also be harmful, so it’s important to make sure that you are using them only under the guidance and recommendation of your healthcare provider.
Nutritional supplements can be extremely beneficial for someone who is unable to consume enough calories, protein, vitamins, and minerals on a daily basis. Some indications for daily supplement use include loss of appetite (due to a chronic medical condition), difficulty chewing and swallowing, illness or post-surgical recovery, or when caloric needs are dramatically increased, such as during cancer treatment.
Nutritional supplements in the form of shakes can be purchased in your local grocery store, pharmacy, or wholesale club. They contain a balance of calories, protein, and fat and are fortified with vitamins and minerals. They are intended to serve as a meal replacement or as a supplement to meals if a person cannot eat enough to maintain their caloric needs (or if rapid weight gain is desired due to malnutrition).
But for the average person with no medical conditions that put a person at risk for malnutrition, these drinks can have harmful side effects if consumed in excess. Most of these commercial shakes are high in sugar, which can lead to excessive weight gain if consumed daily. More importantly, the vitamins and minerals in these supplements can quickly exceed recommended daily amounts if ingested in conjunction with regular food. Some vitamins and minerals can also cause side effects when taken with prescription medications, so it’s important to check with your healthcare provider to make sure that there are no potential harmful interactions.
If your goal is simply to add more calories into your diet, think about creating your own nutritional supplement through whole foods. Juicing your favorite fruits or making a smoothie with fruit and yogurt can add extra calories to your diet without adding excessive amounts of vitamins, minerals, or added sugar. If you suffer from a condition such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or chronic kidney disease, there are specialized formulas that your healthcare provider can recommend that will help you meet your unique nutritional needs.
WHY DOCTORS RECOMMEND BOOST
Doctors recommend BOOST® products to their patients in order to supplement their diets and help make sure they’re getting the nutrients they need. Here are a few reasons why your doctor might recommend supplementing your nutrition:
You’ve lost weight
To gain or maintain weight, the calories and nutrients you’re getting through regular food / normal diet alone might not be enough. A supplemental drink can help fill in the gaps with extra calories, vitamins, and minerals.
You’re not as active as you should be
Being inactive for no particular reason may be a sign that you’re not getting the nutrition you need. Our bodies need fuel, and running low is never good.
You’ve had surgery or sustained an injury
During the recovery process, you may need more nutrition than normal to help your body bounce back to where it was before.
You’ve lost your appetite
A complete nutritional drink can help meet your protein, calorie and nutritional needs, and is typically easier to enjoy than big, heavy meals.
You have difficulty chewing solid foods
A ready-to-drink nutrition supplement is easy to swallow, and may help meet your nutritional needs with less pain or discomfort.
Eating Habits To Speed Up Weight Loss
1. Snack right.
Snacking is one way to stay out of the danger of becoming ravenous and falling into the habit of overeating. But snacking can be a minefield if you survey the landscape of packaged snack foods. They can be full of calories, unhealthy fats, including the worst, trans fats, sodium, and sugary, fast-burning carbohydrates. Choosing your snacks wisely turns this danger zone into a helpful and healthy weight-loss practice, says registered dietitian Molly Hembree, MS, RD, a recognized expert in plant-based nutrition. One of her favorite snacks is walnuts, a good source of the heart-healthy omega-3 fat alpha-linolenic (ALA), a plant-based polyunsaturated fat. “Be sure to keep walnuts to just a 1/4 cup serving at snack time to help aid weight loss efforts,” Hembree notes.
2. Make a protein-rich breakfast.
Another sugar-filled minefield can be your breakfast table because so many breakfast foods—cold cereal, flavored yogurt, pancakes, muffins, and doughnuts—are loaded with sugar and devoid of fiber. For a weight-loss supporting breakfast habit to get into, registered dietitian nutritionist Bess Berger, RDN, owner of Nutrition By Bess, recommends two easy-to-fix choices:
Eggs. “Scrambled, hard-boiled, or as an omelet, eggs are a great way to get protein for breakfast,” says Berger. For a bonus of vitamins and fiber, add vegetables to your omelet.
Smoothies. But keep out the sugary add-ins. Use Greek yogurt, berries, which are full of antioxidants, instead. “In addition, I recommend adding 1 to 3 teaspoons of seeds to smoothies for healthy fats and a handful of kale or other leafy greens for more vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber,” she says.
3. Pregame your happy hour.
What we mean by that is to plan ahead when going out for drinks or dinner with friends. Social pressure can sabotage your weight loss efforts, warns registered dietitian Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN, best-selling author of Diabetes Create Your Plate Meal Prep Cookbook. “Your best bet is to review the menu in advance and determine, based on your intake for the day, what you’ll be eating. It is okay to leave room for dessert, if you know your friends like to order it, but recommend sharing one dessert with 1 or 2 other people.”
4. Keep track of what you eat.
Remember playing the Telephone game as a kid? You know, where one person whispers a message in your ear and then you pass the message along to the next person in a whisper and so on around the circle? By the time the message reaches the last person, it usually doesn’t resemble the original message at all. Well, that’s how our brains work; we miss stuff. We forget, especially when we’re not paying close attention. The same goes for remembering what and how much we ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And don’t forget those snacks.
If you want to reduce the number of calories you eat in a day, keep track of your food and beverages by recording them on paper or on your smartphone, as well as portion size. Studies show that the nit-picky process really does work for weight loss. In a 2019 study in Obesity, people who recorded their three meals a day over a 6-month program lost more weight than other participants who did not keep track of food intake. Some of the biggest losers dropped more than 10% of their body weight. And the tracking only took about 15 minutes of their time per day.
The Takeaway
Boost is inexpensive, nutritious, tasty, free of artificial sweeteners, and contains a hit of prebiotic fiber. The downsides are it’s pretty high in sugar, not particularly high in protein, and it has artificial flavors. It’s also safe for people with celiac disease, though it does contain GMOs. It really depends on what you’re after, but there are plenty of folks for whom Boost will fit the bill — even athletes.