Shakeology: What You Need to Know About Beachbody’s Superfood Shake

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POV: You want to start eating healthy, but you don’t know where to start. Your friend tells you about “a nutrient-dense superfood protein shake” that she is just OBSESSED with so it couldn’t hurt to try a few samples… then you see the price tag and can’t help but wonder, “Is Shakeology worth it?”

What is Shakeology

Shakeology is a powdered shake supplement that is sold by the multi-level marketing company, Beachbody. In their own words, “Shakeology is a powerful superfood shake, crafted with nutrients that help your body perform at its best. Not just protein, vitamins, and minerals, but antioxidants, phytonutrients, digestive enzymes, fiber, adaptogens, and more.”

Their website goes onto claim that drinking Shakeology can help you feel better, lose weight, curb cravings, support healthy energy, benefit overall health, and support healthy digestion.

Before you fall for the hype words and transformation pictures, I am here to tell you that Shakeology is nothing more than an example of excellent (albeit baseless) marketing. 

Related Blog Post: Do MLM Weight Loss Programs Really Work?

As recently as 2017, Beachbody was investigated by the city of Santa Monica (where the company is headquartered) and had to agree in part of the settlement to stop making unreasonable health claims about Shakeology. Beachbody previously made claims that Shakeology could prevent mental decline, slow the aging process, detox the body, and even help prevent heart disease and cancer. 

What Beachbody claims now is much milder: essentially that Shakeology curbs appetite and increases energy. The key to their marketing, according to the CEO of Beachbody himself, is to ramp up the focus on the “superfoods” within the shake and encourage his distributors to preach about their personal experiences with the shakes- both things that are exempt from regulatory oversight.

Put simply: the marketing claims are made up as part of a legal loophole.

Shakeology Ingredients List

We can see the push for the superfoods claim continues in the ingredients list of the Shakeology label as they try to justify every ingredient by categorizing it in parenthesis. Parentheticals in ingredient lists are a marketing ploy and unregulated- so try to look past these.

Using my food science background, I took the time to reverse engineer Shakeology and tease out the dosages of these “superfoods” because the benefits of a supplement are only as good as taking it in the appropriate dose.

The first thing that catches my attention is their “proprietary protein blend” of whey, pea, flax, and quinoa. All wonderful foods in their whole form, but blending these things together actually reduces the amount of protein that could have been in this formulation.

Flax and quinoa powders are not protein powders- each only containing up to 18% of their weight in protein. Pea protein is a good plant-based protein but still not as high quality as whey or soy. I still gave them the benefit of the doubt and assumed that their “proprietary protein blend” was 95% whey isolate protein and that they added the other items just to have clout on the label.

Using the nutrition label which states there is 17g of protein per serving, and knowing that whey isolate is roughly 88% protein, I figured that each serving has around 18.35g of whey isolate protein in it. Adding in the pea protein, flax, and quinoa to this equation, I am assuming that their “proprietary protein blend” takes up 19g of each serving.

Related Blog Post: Protein Guide: How Much Protein Do You Really Need?

The label also states that each serving contains 32g of their “proprietary superfood blend” which includes the protein blend. That means that the serving of superfoods you are getting per scoop is equal to about 13g. Even more alarming is that this 13g is divided among 27+ other ingredients which mean if all other ingredients were added to this formulation equally then at most you are getting a dose of about 0.48g per superfood…

To put that in perspective, a packet of Splenda is 1g. So at most you are getting about ½ packet of Splenda per “superfood” per serving of Shakeology.

Below is a table of the average recommended daily dosages to see benefits from each of the superfoods listed in Shakeology compared to the maximum dose that may be in one serving of Shakeology. If an ingredient isn't listed in this chart, it is because it did not have research supporting a safe recommended dose.

As you can see, there is a HUGE difference between the maximum potential Shakeology has, and the promises it is delivering on. It doesn’t come close to meeting the average daily dosing recommendations for any of these foods in supplemental form.

Shakeology markets their product as an economical way to get all of these “superfoods” into your diet with one supplement, but by trying to fit all these benefits into one supplement they diluted the product so much that they can’t claim to deliver on ANY of the benefits!

If you remove all the benefits of “superfoods” from Shakeology’s marketing, what are we left with? Some of their distributors call it a protein shake, but an optimal amount of serving of protein is closer to 30g and so, again because Shakeology’s formulation is diluted down to 17g, it falls short of effectively supplementing protein.

Some other distributors refer to it as a meal replacement shake, but it falls short in calories. At about 160 calories per serving (this varies slightly by flavor), that isn’t enough nutrition to effectively replace a meal- and Beachbody’s own website says that by itself, Shakeology can not replace a meal.

Related Blog Post: Is There A Benefit To Eating Organic Food?

If it’s not a superfood shake, it’s not a protein shake, and it’s not a meal replacement shake, what is Shakeology good for?

Shakeology Claims (Debunked)

We already know that Beachbody got in trouble for its outrageous claims and had to dial them back. Their current claims are less likely to get them in trouble because, frankly, they don’t mean anything:

Claim: Feel Better/Support Healthy Energy

Fact: Calories are what give your body energy, and Shakeology has calories, however a balanced meal or even a simple snack would be more just as if not more effective at boosting your energy levels as Shakeology would be.

Claim: Lose Weight

Fact: Shakeology claims according to this study that participants who drink Shakeology eat 180 fewer calories at their next meal. Not only was this a badly performed study entirely funded and hosted by Beachbody but their marketing interpretation of it leaves out some glaring details:

Yes, participants consumed 180 fewer calories at their next meal after consuming Shakeology but the act of consuming Shakology means they were also taking in around 160 calories which completely negates the caloric deficit the marketing suggested the supplement caused.

This is more damning when you consider it is common practice to add in foods like peanut butter and bananas to Shakeology shakes to mask the vegetal flavor which further increases the caloric cost of the supplement.

Related Blog Post: How Does Weight Loss Work?

Claim: Curbs Appetite

Fact: Your appetite is an internal signal to eat, so by definition, eating will curb your appetite. Eating Shakeology will curb your appetite but not any more than having a snack of regular food would.

Claim: Benefits Overall Health

Fact: None of the ingredients in Shakeology are at a dose high enough to effectively supplement a person’s diet and improve their health.

How Much Is Shakeology a Month

At the time of writing, Shakeology retails for $129.95 (+shipping and handling) for a 30-serving bag. That is approximately $4.33 per serving for a supplement that is so diluted with its own ingredients, it cannot deliver on any of its claims.

Your health and your wallet are much better off using alternatives to Shakeology to help you supplement your diet if needed.

Related Blog Post: Honestly, Is Beachbody Good For Weight Loss?

Alternatives to Shakeology

To know what is best to replace Shakeology with, let’s take a look at the benefits promised and find the supplements that match that category.

Protein: to improve your protein intake, a protein supplement is a great option to include in your diet! When selecting a protein powder, you don’t need anything fancy but there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Aim for a powder that has 20-30g of protein per serving.

• Ideally, there should be less than 10g of carbs and fats combined.

• It should have a full amino acid profile, including Leucine. This is especially important for plant-based protein powders.

• It should be a flavor and texture that you enjoy using!

I recommend the protein powders from Enhanced Performance Nutrition. Each serving provides you with 24g of protein and has digestive enzymes in the formulation to help improve absorption. It is $42.99 for a 28-serving container but make sure to use my code CBM10 to get you 10% off every time you order.

Vitamins and Minerals: to improve your intake of essential vitamins and minerals, I recommend taking a good old-fashioned multi-vitamin.

My favorite multivitamin is the 2-A-Day Vitamin by Thorne Research. Thorne Research obviously puts thought into their formulations and the nutrients they can get into their capsules will never not astound me. Take a look for yourself at their nutrition panel compared to Shakeology’s!

A 30-serving bottle of these vitamins costs about $28 for a one-time purchase on Amazon, and you can save 10-15% by opting to subscribe to deliveries!

Phytonutrients: and lastly, if you were looking to take your nutrition a step further, we have the phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are nutrients from plants that are not essential to stay alive the way vitamins and minerals are but they do offer health benefits.

I like the Immuno Greens powder from Enhanced Performance Nutrition because it’s not just a greens powder. They also include a red antioxidant blend and an immune support blend that is full of adaptogens/nootropics. What I love the most is that all these blends together provide a good amount of B-Vitamins (hello energy boost!) and a little bit of fiber.

A 35-serving container costs $37.99 but you could also use my code CBM10 here for 10% off every time you order.

If you were to buy all three of these recommended supplements at full price and in place of Shakeology, you would save $30 a month and get higher-quality nutrition than Shakeology could offer you. If you remembered to use the discounts detailed here you would get another $10 off of that total, saving more than 30% off the cost of Shakeology! 

How to return Shakeology

If you have recently bought Shakeology, you’ve unknowingly bought a product that cannot deliver on what it promised. You shouldn’t have to pay for a useless product!

Thankfully Beachbody has a return policy that takes back bags of Shakeology within 30 days of it being delivered- even if they’ve been opened or even completely used up. You’ll just need to sign in to your account and start the return process. Click here to access the Beachbody returns policy where you can start your return.

+ References

1. Beachbody, LLC. (n.d.). Beachbody Nutrition Facts & Ingredients List. Team Beachbody. https://img1.beachbodyimages.com/teambeachbody/raw/upload/Teambeachbody/shared_assets/Shop/Shakeology/Shakeology%20Chocolate/Benefits/Ingredients/shk-ing-chocolate-en-us-040620.pdf.
2. City of Santa MONICA: Official website. santamonica.gov - City of Santa Monica. (2017, August 29). https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2017/08/29/beachbody-to-pay-3-6-million-in-consumer-protection-case.
3. Sharafi, M., Alamdari, N., Wilson, M., Leidy, H. J., & Glynn, E. L. (2018, June 23). Effect of a high-protein, high-fiber beverage preload on subjective appetite ratings and subsequent ad libitum energy intake in overweight men and women: A randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled, crossover study. OUP Academic. https://academic.oup.com/cdn/article/2/6/nzy022/5034947.
4. Shop Shakeology. Team Beachbody. (n.d.). https://www.teambeachbody.com/shop/us/b/shakeology?code=SEMB_SHK_GOOGLE&gclid=CjwKCAjwsNiIBhBdEiwAJK4khtcnQczIOFL4tqRlgiRtZVHZuiW9-Je3F12w-YwZTfA6zvhOwLo9rxoCYoUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds.

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