Shakeology: Just How Healthy Is "The Healthiest Meal Of The Day"?

I had to think really hard about whether or not I wanted to write this article.  After all, I've been drinking Shakeology almost daily for the last three months and can't argue that it has helped me achieve my health and fitness goals.  But little by little thoughts started to creep up causing me to question why I'm drinking Shakeology.  It got to the point where I could no longer ignore my curiousity, so I dug.

What first got me doubting my cornerstone of health was a comment on the Team Beachbody message boards.  At one point, while doing P90X, the discussion turned to Michael Pollan's Food Rules--a book of concise rules that anyone could easily understand and follow to improve one's diet.  One of the food rules is "don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food."  As much as I love Shakeology, I'd have to admit that it would be difficult to explain to great-grandma the concept of a meal in a glass.

And then I started on the Precision Nutrition (PN) system.  In it I learned a number "habits" to develop to improve my diet as well as a number of practical techniques to make improvement a reality.  Almost immediately I found myself cooking my own meals from whole foods and eating vegetiables with every meal.  No doubt my diet was improving.  Along those lines, the PN system is very conservative in it's recommendation of supplements; they don't even recommend a multivitamin!  The concept is exceedingly simple--your food choices should be the primary source of your nutrition, and you should only supplement for very specific reasons.  Sadly, there's not a whole lot of room for Shakeology in that plan.

But PN is not without supplement recommendations entirely.  It does recommend a greens supplement.  Well, hey!  Shakeology has a "phytonutrient super-green blend."  Maybe that was the key to keeping Shakeology in my diet.  Well, before I could hit the "I Believe" button, I had to see how it stacked up compared to other greens supplements.  After all, Shakeology's super-green blend is only a portion of it's overall ingredient list, which numbers over 40 discrete items.  Is there enough greens in Shakeology to make it an effective greens supplement?

It turns out, no, not so much.  No doubt, Shakeology contains a number of phenominal and exotic ingredients that you're probably only going to get from Shakeology.  However, 1000 milligrams of lettuce, tomato, spinach, chick pea, black olive, onion, and carrot powder does not a salad make.

I looked at each individual ingredient in Shakeology's super-green blend to see how much of each ingredient you would have to consume in order to achieve any useful benefit.  While some of the ingredients in the super-green blend have no minimum dosing recommendations or established values, like blue-green algae, of all the supplements I could find dosages for, you would have to consume a minimum of nearly 36.5 grams/day to receive the benefits of all the ingredients contained in the super-green blend; the blend in Shakeology totals 1.8 grams.  Chlorella alone has a recommended minimum dose of 5 grams/day for maintenance, according to chlorellafactor.com.  While Shakeology contains a number of potent ingredients, you could easily make an argument that it doesn't contain enough of them to offer any real benefit.

If the low levels of any particular ingredient are cause to question the health benefits of Shakeology, then there needs to be something else to support the health claims.  Perhaps there's some sort of synergy in all of the ingredients that results in health benefits unique to Shakeology.  While Shakeology has a slew of positive customer reviews and claims the support of no less than 100 doctors, unfortunately it is lacking in supporting research.  The only study that was conducted was an uncredited, independent 90-day study.  The study revealed a number of health benefits, to include lower total cholesterol and LDL levels, but there are products out there that have more compelling research backing them.  Though it has positive implications, one study of unknown origin can hardly be considered conclusive.

What then, does that mean Shakeology is bunk and is not worth drinking?  Not necessarily.  Comparing Shakeology's micronutrient content to other greens supplements, Shakeology is comparable if not better in certain categories.  Shakology does make for a tasty and filling shake, so from a satiability and sustainability standpoint, Shakeology works very well.  Shakeology is low on the glycemic index and is gluten free, which allows people with gluten sensitivities to have a healthy meal that is easy to prepare.  And having personally done the Shakeology 3-Day Cleanse with great results, I can absolutely say that Shakeology does have its merit.

So what's the bottom line?  My current position on Shakeology is that it has its place and will remain in my nutritional arsenal, though I will not be using it every day once my 30 day supplies run out.  The numbers don't lie, and Shakeology's macro and micronutrient content make it a worthy contender as a meal replacement, probably the best there is.  I think Shakeology is most beneficial for those with average diets, and by "average" I mean that they've done nothing, or little to improve it.  If you're eating a modest breakfast like cereal or oatmeal or (gulp) fast food breakfast sandwiches/bagles/donuts, a sandwich for lunch, a microwave dinner, and granola bars for snacks like I was, then Shakeology is probably for you.  If, however, you have taken significant steps toward improving your diet, such as eating vegetables and lean protein with every meal and prepare your own meals using whole ingredients, then Shakeology might be a little overkill.

I tend to travel a lot, and there's no doubt that my nutrition suffers when I travel.  So I will keep a supply of individual travel packs on hand for when I travel so that I can guarantee that I have at least one decent, nutritious meal when I'm unable to prepare my own meals.  That's how I intend to use Shakeology from now on.  You'll have to decide for yourself if Shakeology fits your lifestyle and where.  And if you need help with that, feel free to contact me.  I'll be glad to help you determine if Shakeology is for you!