Boost, Ensure, and other Meals in a Drink

[Jolly_Penguin]

How good are these really? You can find these drinks at the local drugs store here. They list themselves as having all the nutrients you need, all the vitamins etc. All they seem to be missing is fibre. My sister is an ER doc and she calls it hospital food (apparently they feed the stuff to people there so it must be somewhat legit).

Do you think could really get by and live healthy on this stuff? Is it that legit? Or is there something else here we're not aware of?

 

[bilby]

Humans are omnivores; There are a huge number of possible diets that we can thrive on, and an even larger number on which we can survive.

Any diet that contains little or no variety over the long term is likely to lead to some detrimental health effects, so I wouldn't recommend living on nothing but one particular product for years and years; and a shortage of dietary fibre is no joke over the long term. But it seems plausible that these things can be a perfectly good short-term diet.

We did evolve in an environment where certain nutrients were often lacking for months on end, so we are pretty adaptable. Malnutrition is pretty rare in people who consume an even slightly varied diet, that is adequate in energy content; It's possible to become both malnourished and obese, but to do so requires quite the commitment to an unhealthy and homogeneous diet.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

On a doctor's advice I have lived on a completely liquid diet for a period of months. However, this was a product specifically designed for the purpose, not a consumer approximation of such a thing. It was utterly lacking in fiber, however--not a good thing but fiber is not essential to survival.

 

[Treedbear]

...
Do you think could really get by and live healthy on this stuff? Is it that legit? Or is there something else here we're not aware of?

I think they're marketed as supplemental. You still need real food like cheeseburgers and pepsi.

 

[Valjean]

I've seen long term hospitalized patients, unable to eat solid food for various reasons, apparently thrive on the stuff and even gain considerable weight.

 

[braces_for_impact]

In hospitals there may be medical need for the stuff. Also, often times people expect something "healthy" so it has a placebo-type effect perhaps. But, most doctors agree if you have a decent diet, there's really no need for vitamin supplements at all. The vitamin industry has been likened to a huge scam by many medical professionals. There are situations where it's required, medically - but for most people you're paying for very yellow piss.

The Vitamin Myth: Why We Think We Need Supplements

Multivitamin researchers say "case is closed" after studies find no health benefits

How Lobbyists Will Keep You Hooked on Vitamins

 

[thebeave]

I have a friend who works (along with his wife) in an eating disorder clinic for teens, and in fact, I did some minor construction work at the clinic earlier this year. They have a ton of that stuff on hand to try to get the patients to gain weight in a healthy manner. They employ a lot of nutritionists at the clinic, so I presume the stuff is on the up and up.

 

[bilby]

In hospitals there may be medical need for the stuff. Also, often times people expect something "healthy" so it has a placebo-type effect perhaps. But, most doctors agree if you have a decent diet, there's really no need for vitamin supplements at all. The vitamin industry has been likened to a huge scam by many medical professionals. There are situations where it's required, medically - but for most people you're paying for very yellow piss.

The Vitamin Myth: Why We Think We Need Supplements

Multivitamin researchers say "case is closed" after studies find no health benefits

How Lobbyists Will Keep You Hooked on Vitamins

For sure, supplemental vitamins and minerals are pointless for anyone who gets adequate quantities of these in their diet. But the OP question is about subsisting entirely on a diet of 'complete' nutrition drinks - if this is your only source of nutrition, then it is essential that they contain sufficient trace nutrients, if long term use is expected. It should go without saying that quantities in excess of 'sufficient' are a waste - the reason we need to continually consume vitamins and other trace dietary nutrients is that we can neither synthesize nor store large amounts of them, so eating thousands of milligrams of something of which you need mere tens of mg/day is just waste - the unused portion will simply end up in the urine.

Really high doses of vitamins can be harmful - the adage 'if a little is good, then a lot must be better' has long since been proven false.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

In hospitals there may be medical need for the stuff.

You can have a medical need for the stuff outside a hospital environment. It would have been a good thing for my father when he didn't pay attention to the fact that he was setting the ladder on a sloped surface and it dumped him. His jaw was wired shut for weeks--he could only eat through a straw.

 

[Malintent]

most brands of these contain far too much sugar. These are good supplements to an otherwise healthy diet, but the best use is short-term, during an acute issue relating to digestion. If you had major dental work and must avoid all but soft food for a while, these are decent choices to supplement your mashed potatoes and water, for example.

 

[Playball40]

My child has to have them as a supplement, not as a full meal.

How good are these really? You can find these drinks at the local drugs store here. They list themselves as having all the nutrients you need, all the vitamins etc. All they seem to be missing is fibre. My sister is an ER doc and she calls it hospital food (apparently they feed the stuff to people there so it must be somewhat legit).

Do you think could really get by and live healthy on this stuff? Is it that legit? Or is there something else here we're not aware of?