Do your research or perish. It sounds dire, doesn't it? I chose the title specifically because so many people jump into things without researching what it is they want to do. If someone approaches you about Beach Body or Herbalife or one of the dozens of other fitness companies, do you jump right in or do you check things out first? If you don't do your research you are sure to miss all your goals.
Research Product Ingredients
When you are presented with a new product you always need to check out the ingredients. There are many things on the market today that contain things that might hinder your goals. It is so very important to understand this when deciding what products to use. By way of example, let's examine the ingredients from the Shakeology Chocolate flavor.
The fir
st thing I notice about this product is that it lists whey as a proprietary superfood. I find this intriguing. I also notice that it contains only 17 grams of protein per serving, far below a standard whey shake. We also see that this product contains pea protein,and brown rice protein in a proprietary blend. To me that's an instant red flag. How much whey is there in this thing? How much pea protein? How much brown rice protein? We don't know because it is part of a proprietary blend.
Next I see the product contains camu camu, a product high in vitamin c that alleges to improve the immune system. The serving size should be 1/2 a teaspoon, but we have no idea how much is in this product because, once again, it is part of a proprietary blend. This is another red flag for me.
Maca root is yet another ingredient in this product. It alleges to help with sexual function, mental focus and a boost for the immune system. How much is in this product? We have no idea because it is listed as part of a proprietary blend. More red flags for me!
Due to all the red flags, I am pretty sure what research will reveal, but we should conduct the research regardless. Going to Google and typing in “third party scientific proof for shakeology” yields many articles. The first result is an obvious advertisement for a Beach Body affiliate. The next article comes from the Huffington Post and it is quite helpful. This article points out there are no legitimate third party studies of Shakeology. It suggests a “back to basics” approach where you simply eat less, but continue to eat whole foods. I personally agree with this approach. The final article I reviewed makes some great points about the contents of Shakeology. It turns out that the whey protein (which is the major component of Shakeology) comes from a less than desireable source. The article compares Shakeology to making a salad and then topping it with a ton of Oreo cookies. Yes, the salad is healthy, but those Oreo cookies ruin it all. The article even points out some problems with the vegan version of Shakeology.
“Holy phytic acid. Oat, rice, quinoa and amaranth are all loaded with lectins and phytic acid, gut irritants and enzyme inhibitors. Phytic acid binds to calcium, zinc, iron, manganese, magnesium and other minerals, preventing them from being absorbed.”
Now, armed with our research, we can safely turn down any suggestion that we use Shakeology.
Research Saves You Time
By doing a little bit of research we have saved ourselves a major hassle and a lot of money. While there are many good ingredients in Shakeology, they don't offset the problems that exist with the product. The research we did has shown us that we won't get the results we are after with Shakeology.
