The Five Best Shakes for Glucose Control
I tried and ranked 5 top meal replacement shakes including Muniq, Glucerna, Boost, Vega and Pure Protein. Here’s how they compare.
By: Mila Clarke Buckley
As a note, since this post, Muniq has rebranded to Supergut. All links here should forward, but discount codes may no longer be applicable to your purchase.
As someone living with diabetes, It’s important for my overall health for my blood sugar to stay in range.
Meal replacement, or glucose control shakes have always been on my radar, since my diabetes diagnosis. I wanted to know if they could help me properly manage my blood sugar.
I tried and ranked five of the most popular meal replacement shakes to share the benefits of how they can help people with diabetes.
1. Muniq
The biggest differentiator about Muniq is it has 15g of fiber (50% of your daily recommended value)!
And it includes resistant starch — a special type of prebiotic fiber that has lots of science showing how it feeds the good bacteria in your gut that help improves blood sugar control.
The showstopper for me…I saw my blood sugar reduce SIGNIFICANTLY after I drank Muniq! Check out my glucose readings from that day after having a Muniq shake around 9 a.m. for breakfast.
Muniq also tasted the best as an added bonus. I look forward to drinking the shakes because I know they’re delicious – the chocolate is my absolute favorite!
Muniq should be blended with ice and unsweetened almond milk, or water. It gets the smoothest texture that way.
Out of all of the options I tried, Muniq kept me the fullest. When my blood sugar is a little high after a meal, I’ll replace my next meal/snack with Muniq and I can see my blood sugar come down over time.
2. Vega
Vega has a decent amount of fiber compared to most shakes at 4g. It also boasts 20 grams of plant protein and only one gram of sugar.
After drinking it, I noticed that I wasn’t hungry after 2-3 hours, which is pretty typical for a meal replacement shake.
One thing I liked is that Vega comes in a large bottle. Seeing how much I was getting in comparison to the other shakes was definitely a plus for me overall. I felt like my bottle of Vega would last a while.
As for making the shake, it was on the slightly messy side to prepare. I put it into a blender bottle and took it to go.
This option kept my blood sugar steady and I loved the chocolate flavor. Blending it with ice and unsweetened almond milk resulted in the smoothest texture and best taste. Otherwise, I found it gritty.
3. Pure Protein
One of the biggest shortcomings is that Pure Protein only has 1 gram of dietary fiber. More fiber keeps you fuller, for longer, so it’s important for nutritional shakes to have plenty. This helps you avoid snacking between meals.
It kept me full for about 2 hours and I did not see a spike in blood sugar with this option, but I didn’t see a drop either.
As for taste, I wasn’t as impressed with Pure Protein as some of the other options, but it’s high protein and low calories are a plus.
Similar to Vega, I was able to put it in a blender bottle and shake it up to take with me. It does take some time to prepare, but not much.
4. Boost
I was excited to try Boost Glucose Control because it’s a popular meal replacement shake option for people with diabetes.
This one gets recommended in a lot of diabetes forums. It’s specifically made for blood sugar control with 3 grams of dietary fiber, 16 grams of protein, 4 grams of sugar, 190 calories and 5 grams of healthy fats.
It does have more sugar than some of the other options out there. That surprised me, especially for it being specifically made for glucose control.
As far as taste, boost does taste like chocolate milk, but I didn’t like the artificial ingredients and colors included in the drink. I also felt like I had the most cravings after drinking Boost.
Boost needs to be refrigerated, before drinking for the best taste. For me that meant no prep, which did save time.
5. Glucerna
Glucerna is last on the list. It contains 4 grams of dietary fiber, and 15 grams of protein from milk or soy. It has the highest sugar content on the list with 6 grams of sugar and 180 calories per serving.
It did keep me full for about two hours, but Glucerna actually spiked my blood sugar slightly despite it being specifically recommended for people with diabetes.
Although my blood sugars stayed in range, I was surprised by the spike.
It’s possible that ingredients like maltodextrin and corn oil could give my glucose a bump. Those aren’t the best ingredients for blood sugar. I usually try to avoid them.
It’s not uncommon to see a spike like that happen with those ingredients. However, I didn’t expect a significant rise since this is specifically formulated for blood sugar management overall.
Like Boost, it’s a grab and go option, so I appreciated the time savings, even though I didn’t love the ingredients.
Overall meal replacement shakes can be a good option if you’re looking for an easier way to get your meals in.
Hopefully this guide helps you discover the best things about each meal replacement shake and gave you an idea of what each of them contains.
