Almased is popular but has been warned by the FDA for making claims about diabetes. We take a further look.
Almased is a meal replacement supplement designed to support the product’s own weight loss programme. It comes with a high quality glossy website and plenty of product information and is the best selling supplement in Germany. It is also well known in the USA, although less so in the UK, and looks impressive at first glance.
Almased is a supplement powder that you mix with water or skimmed milk to make a meal replacement drink. The idea is that you take it as part of an Almased diet or fasting plan.
This protein powder contains three major ingredients; soy , yoghurt powder and honey; ingredients that include a whole range of amino acids and enzymes said to help healthy digestion.
According to the advertising, Almased contains all the nutrients that your body needs without any added sugar or filler ingredients.
The advertising states that unhealthy eating habits slow down your metabolism. The aim of this supplement is to give your body a healthy boost that will increase the speed of your metabolism and keep it functioning properly.
This way you can lose weight and avoid many of the weight related health issues such as diabetes.
Mix the appropriate amount of Almased in 10 to 12 oz of bottled or filtered water, skimmed milk, almond milk or soy milk. For best results mix with water.
On average, the general serving size is 8 level tablespoons per shake mixed in 10-12 oz of cold liquids.
You use the drink as a meal replacement depending on which Almased diet programme you are following. Some plans require you replace all meals with Almased.
However, in general, the idea is that you replace 2 meals a day with Almased®, ideally breakfast and dinner. At lunchtime, eat a “sensible” meal: 2-3 oz (size of your palm) of skinless chicken or fish, 1-2 cups of green leafy vegetables or a salad with olive oil and vinegar dressing, and ½ cup of brown rice.
You are also recommended to eat a lot of home made vegetable soup – detailed on the product website, to help reduce hunger pangs.
You are encouraged to follow an Almased weight loss plan while taking the supplement and most of these involve replacing meals with the diet drink.
A typical Almased diet is The Bikini diet plan that requires that you replace ALL of your meals with the diet drink for a week plus eat a vegetable broth you can make up by following the website recipe.
The second week and beyond you are advised to replace breakfast and dinner with the Almased drink but can eat a light lunch and as much vegetable broth as you like.
There are other diet plans on offer but they are similar and involve cutting meals and eating the vegetable soup.
Almased was created in 1985 by German scientist Herbert Trouillé and has been popular there ever since. The company is now run by his son. In 1998, Almased USA Inc was founded and appears to have had similar success in America.
Almased claims to be “the weight loss phenomenon….simply because it works”. According to the product information;
A well-functioning metabolism is important for weight loss but also for overall health. Many diseases occur because the metabolism does not function properly. Unhealthy eating habits are one of the main causes of a slower metabolism – usually salt, sugar and fat intake are too high.
We had not heard that a slow metabolism caused disease but obviously we do agree with the importance of a healthy diet.
Although at this point you may think, changing your diet may be an option, the easy answer is to take Almased because;
It provides the body with optimal nutrients a regular diet may lack. It is “vital nourishment” in the true sense of the word. The powder, made from high quality soy, probiotic yogurt and particularly enzyme-rich honey, provides the body with all essential amino acids.
There are four key points.
Almased ran into problems with the FDA in 2012 and received a warning for claiming to cure, treat or prevent diabetes but do not appear to have fully heeded the warnings!
The type of claims that got them into trouble included.
Almased® actively fights high blood pressure and insulin resistance
Almased® can help people with diabetes …. fasting blood sugar level, the fasting insulin level and the long-term blood sugar level- improved noticeably
The company were warned to change their information or risk “seizure or injunction”.
Source: http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/ucm289570.htm
Almased is a dietary protein powder supplement that you use to make a meal replacement.
Each serving size is 50g (approximately 8 spoonfuls)
Potassium Chloride, Magnesium Carbonate, Calcium Citrate, Vitamin C, Niacin, Colour Additive: Riboflavin (Vitamin B 2), Vitamin E, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Fumerate, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B1, Vitamin A, Folic Acid, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Selenite, Biotin, Vitamin D3, Vitamin B12.
It also contains 12 amino acids.
Almased has undergone clinical testing in Germany under its own brand name.
One test found that type 2 diabetic patients often struggled with glycemic control and that Almased a protein rich meal replacement, might improve glycemic control
Source: DocGuide article
Another clinical test carried out by the University of Freiburg on 76 women over a year found that replacing 2 daily meals with Almased and taking 60 minutes of exercise three times a week reduced fat, waist measurements and improved hormone levels – most notably leptin and insulin.
The results demonstrate that the meal replacement beverage, additional dietary counselling and guided physical activity sessions, was associated with considerable weight loss in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women.
In addition, after the intervention, metabolic risk factors in women were decisively lower; indicating the usefulness of this lifestyle approach to reduce both metabolic syndrome and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in women
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2164948/
Replacing some of your meals with Almased may help you lose weight and improve your health. This supplement has undergone clinical trials and has been found to be effective. However, is this so surprising?
Cutting down on food and sugars and taking out the unhealthy stuff from your diet is bound to have a beneficial effect. Taking exercise will also boost health and weight loss.
We love the healthy ingredients contained in Almased but as a meal replacement taken over weeks it might not be so easy to stick at, let alone a year.
According to the Almased website, side effects are rare although they state you may experience headaches in the first few days.
However, some customers have had problems. Many customers have been unable to cope with the taste;
I threw it up every time. The after taste is awful.
And
This is the WORST tasting protein drink EVER!!! I only drank 2 glasses and got sick
Caution: Avoid if pregnant or breast feeding (standard advice for all supplements)
See your doctor first if you suffer from hyperthyroidism or diabetes and if you are taking medication for high blood pressure, heart disease or similar. According to Almased, interactions are rare but soy may interfere with thyroid function and you may need to change your medication if you are diabetic.
Men need to take care when taking soy supplements as this substance can affect testosterone and fertility levels.
A big part of the Almased advertising is focused on satisfied customer testimonials and there are some amazing weight loss stories featured on the website front page.
I dropped from 140lbs to 120lbs “I went from size 16 to 6
However, there are plenty of independent customer reviews too and many people are satisfied.
I love this product, it taste great and I also lost 3 pounds in the first week of using it!
And
Lost weight using this product as recommended. Been using it on and off for a few years and it’s the perfect way to jump start a diet.
are typical positive comments.
Not everyone is happy. According to one customer, the weight loss effects are short-lived;
I lost 5 pounds in 2 weeks, but then stalled out and have gained it all back. I can’t believe I could survive on so few calories, but when I went to 2 shakes and a salad every day it started creeping back on.
And
This product is not for me. After 5 days of continuous use and hopeful that it will work, the only thing this product did for me was leave me hungry and constipated. I mixed it accordingly to the instructions and still no results.
The taste is a major bone of contention and described by some as “a delicious nutritious shake”.
But by others as horrible.
Nothing I mixed with this product made it tolerable. I had to gag it down every time.
Is a typical negative comment.
If you replace most of your meals with Almased and follow their diet instructions then you will probably lose weight. You cannot really fail.
However, the diet options provided are extreme and fall into the fad diet category. You cannot live long term on this plan and the suggestion by Almased that you follow it for 6 weeks will not be possible for many people.
Replacing your meals with diet shakes is never going to be a proper way to live and we feel it will lead to yo yo weight gain once you are free from this difficult regime.
US customers can buy Almased direct from the product website.
One tub of 10 servings costs $37.95 – so will not last you very long. If you decide to do the full fast this is only just over 3 days supply. If you take 2 servings a day this is just 5 days supply.
You can make savings on larger orders and buy a kit of three containers (30 servings) This comes with a measuring scoop and a weight loss booklet and costs $109. 95
American customers can buy Almased via Amazon.com. 2 containers of powder (20 servings) costs $52.41.
Almased is also on sale throughout Europe. You can buy it from Amazon in Germany and one 500g container (10 servings) costs € 15.99 plus shipping.
Almased is on sale via from Amazon.co.uk. 500 g (10 servings) costs £15.74 and includes free shipping.
You can also find Almased on sale from a variety of online pharmacies as well as some health food shops and chemists around the world.
Almased does not provide a money back guarantee. This has angered some US customers who have received defective packages and have been unable to return them.
Energetic Nutrition was the company my order was shipped from. I have used Almased before with great success, but not with this batch. The expiration date was fine, but the product was defective. Clumpy, chalky, smells off and with a bad aftertaste
Other customers have reported the same problems.
Almased is a well-known supplement and comes with some impressive features including the glossy website, clinical testing and worldwide presence. There is a lot of extremely positive feedback and many customers feel that Almased has helped their weight loss.
Despite these good points, we still do not rate Almased very highly. Weight loss is dependant on replacing most of your meals with the drink and we do not think this actually works for long.
In addition it is expensive. If you take 2 servings a day it means that each canister will last for just 5 days so to follow for the recommended 6 weeks you are going to need a whopping 36 canisters!
The problem with Almased is that to lose weight you have to enter the realms of the fad diet. It may reduce your hunger pangs while you fast but once you finish this restrictive regime and eat again, your weight will undoubtedly pile back on.
A better option would be to change your diet and lifestyle and forget about using diet drinks as a replacement for healthy low fat real food.
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Disclaimer: Our reviews and investigations are based on extensive research from the information publicly available to us and consumers at the time of first publishing the post. Information is based on our personal opinion and whilst we endeavour to ensure information is up-to-date, manufacturers do from time to time change their products and future research may disagree with our findings. If you feel any of the information is inaccurate, please contact us and we will review the information provided.
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I am wondering if the high protein content of Almased could be too much protein–potentially dangerous for the kidneys.
I mix it with unsweetened organic soy milk, stevia, and a lot of cinnamon. I really like the taste. I am unable to find organic almond milk and notice that almond milk has a lot of other ingredients mixed in.
i would like to know if almased can be used after the expiration date, i bought two cases and was not able to diet at that time.
my purchased almased is one year over the expiration date, can it still be used?
My maths is not the best, but 6 weeks of two servings a day would *not* be 36 cannisters! One canister every 5 days for 42 days…just over 8, no? Or am I misunderstanding what you mean?
I tend to have low blood pressure and noticed that my blood pressure was much lower after using Almased 2x day for a few days – would not recommend it if you have low blood pressure. Stopped using it after the first week when I ran out of powder. I did like the taste, I mixed it with unsweetened vanilla almond milk.
This product works for me and my husband. It is a good replacement for a meal and keep the sugar craving down. Love the product. Also, stabilizes our blood sugar.