Does MET-Rx Really Work?

MET-Rx makes a bunch of different products for the bodybuilding and fitness community, and weight loss shakes are one of them. These are designed to replace a meal, or be used to add a meal so that you’re eating more frequently throughout the day. But can a liquid really take the place of solid food, and what sort of quality protein are you getting at this price point?

Overview
If you’ve never tried replacing a meal with a shake, you might need a few days to get used to it. Eventually the body will start to accept it as a food substitute. The overall effect is that you’re consuming fewer calories than you would with a normal-sized meal, and you’re getting the proper balance of carbs, proteins, and fats, which is hard to do when preparing your own meals. The idea has been around for a long time now, with Slim Fast saying long ago that you could drink two of their shakes for breakfast and lunch, and then have a sensible dinner.

But most people don’t go that extreme, and only replace one meal a day, or use shakes for their 4th or 5th meals if they’re following a diet and exercise program that advocates eating several meals a day. This is the healthier way to go about it, and provides the best results over time. Once you start including a shake into your daily meal line-up, you’ll probably be surprised by how well it fills in.

The Claim
MET-Rx claims that their shakes are free of the artificial sweetener aspartame and unhealthy hydrogenated fats, but still provide all of the protein your body needs if you’re working out instensely in the weight room, or with an at-home workout DVD.

The Hype
MET-Rx has a lot of big name endorsers behind their products, one of which is Greg Plitt. If you’re not familiar with him he was the basis for the body of Dr. Manhattan in The Watchmen. He broke down his protein requirements and claimed that he uses MET-Rx to get him to his daily levels of protein, in addition to whole food sources. These sort of endorsements can go a long way in hyping people up, thinking that they might get a bodybuilder’s body by taking these supplements.

The Cost
MET-Rx protein shakes can be found for about $2 a serving, which puts them at the average price for your typical meal replacement shake. When you consider that you won’t have to go to the grocery store to buy food, come home and prepare and cook the food, and then clean up the resulting mess, it’s a pretty fair deal. Especially if it an fill you up and keep you full until your next actual meal.

The Commitment
It’s up to you how committed you want to be to using these. They work best when you drink a shake each day. This lets your body get used to the idea, and if you’re following a consistent workout program you will always need to be feeding your muscles.

Evaluation
MET-Rx makes quality products, and their protein and meal replacement shakes are no exception. They get good reviews from users, with some of the most common comments being that it tastes good, and provides the protein needed to repair blown out muscles. When you’re looking into supplementing, there will always be plenty of people that have gone before you, call them the early adopters, and they will report back on how they like certain products. In this case, the resulting feedback is overwhelmingly positive, not just with the shakes, but with most of what MET-Rx puts out.

Other Benefits of Shakes
Besides having the right mix of proteins, fats, and carbs, shakes are very quick to make, and can come through in an emergency when you missed a feeding time and are now ravenous and thinking about eating chips, cookies or other junk. Drinking a chocolate protein shake can often take the edge off, even if you end up eating a meal a little later on, at least you avoided a potential cheating situation. They’re also versatile, you’re able to add things like bananas, berries, and other foods to them in order to make them more substantial.

Final MET-Rx Review

There’s no denying that MET-Rx consistently brings high quality supplements to a very saturated marketplace. In this

industry it’s hard to get noticed, and hard to stay in business over the long term, and they’ve done both of those by providing effective nutrition to those that need it most. Their shakes are no exception. It may be a good idea to mix things up a bit as well, as they have meal replacement bars and other powders that each have their own specific functions so you’re always getting exactly what you need.

Our Recommendation
Since you’ll end up consuming any protein or meal replacement shakes you buy, we recommend sampling 4 or 5 potential winners over a 4 or 5 month period to see which one you like best. It doesn’t make sense to just try one, decide you like it and then stick with it indefinitely. What if there’s another shake that tastes just as good but delivers better results? We’d put the MET-Rx line on our list of shakes to try, but also include a few other highly rated options to see which is best for you.

What do you think? Does MET-Rx work or not?