As someone who is always on their feet and experiences some days more strenuous than others, I have come to love and appreciate nutritional supplements to tie me over until my next meal.
While it is important to get the majority of your nutrients from whole foods, there are some days when a healthy alternative to ensure can come in handy.
It’s no surprise that Ensure is one of the most popular supplements on the market. It’s affordable, easy to find, and comes in a variety of flavors. Supplemental drinks like ensure are a great way to get some extra calories and nutrients, but they’re not the only option out there.
Now, I’ve done the upfront homework for you and rounded up 10 meal replacement shakes that I’ve tried and love them.
Trust me, your taste buds will thank you!
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A list of my favorite nutrition shakes that boost my energy levels
Soylent
While skimming the outer aisles of Target on a rainy day, my eyes landed on a clearance bin with individual bottles of Soylent. I had seen this product all over social media but never thought to give it a try.
During those peak busy weeks, this nutritional drink saved me from skipping meals entirely. It’s also vegan, which is great for those who are looking for a plant-based alternative to ensure.
Unique Qualifier: Outside of offering some of the best options for vegan meal replacement drinks, Soylent offers six flavors that are all pretty tasty. If you don’t like one, it’s likely you’ll find another that better fits your taste.
The drink’s health benefits range from containing all 9 essential amino acids that support lean muscle maintenance and 39 essential nutrients.
Orgain Organic Nutritional Shake
This nutritional drink made with organic ingredients in mind provides 16 grams of protein, 20 vitamins, and minerals that is both gluten and soy free. Orgain’s grass-fed milk protein concentrate also gives this drink a creamy taste that makes it one of my favorites on the list.
Unique Qualifier: While you can find some great healthy alternatives to ensure at many grocery stores, Orgain is one of the only organic options I trust due to its rigorous quality control processes. The company is also USDA organic, non-GMO project verified, soy-free, and Kosher certified.
Ripple Vegan Protein Shake
Made with healthy nutrients, Ripple’s protein supplement drink offers you 20 grams of high-quality pea protein bliss in every bottle. I’m a sucker for anything creamy, so their chocolate or vanilla flavor is my favorite, but they also have a coffee option for those mornings you need an extra boost.
Unique Qualifier: An important thing to remember about Ripple’s supplemental nutrition drinks is that they are made for those with lactose intolerance. It’s also consistently good, the days of chalky-tasting protein shakes are behind you.
OWYN Vegan Protein Shake
“Meeting the nutritional requirements of a meal”, OWYN’s healthy alternative ensures lives up to its promise. With 20 grams of protein, this shake promises to provide your body with nutritional needs in every bottle. When in rotation with my other adequate protein drinks, I usually go for their chocolate flavor, but the recently released flavor, chai has me intrigued.
Unique Qualifier: OWYN’s high-quality drink has an impressive shelf life of 18 months. Not to mention that this drink is made with Omega 3 oils, which is unique to this list.
Premier Protein Shake with Oats
When oats started to become a food frenzy in the wellness space, it was then that I realized that the nutritional supplement made with oats scored extra brownie points.
Oats are a healthy complex carbohydrate that will help you feel full and satisfied, in addition to the 20 grams of protein this drink packs. Blueberry creme is my weakness, but they have plenty of other flavors to choose from.
Unique Qualifier: Besides the inclusion of oats, this drink is seriously good at room temperature. Other impressive stats include 7 grams of fiber, and 1 gram of sugar resulting in “guilt-free indulgence.”
Iconic Protein Drinks
A keto-friendly dairy product drink that boasts impressive healthy stats. Iconic’s healthy alternative to ensure has no sugar added, is low in calories and carbs, and is gluten-free. The chocolate truffle is my favorite flavor as it reminds me of the protein powder for recovery.
Unique Qualifier: One glimpse at their nutrition label and you’ll immediately be able to detect that this drink provides the perfect blend of protein, toting a complete amino acid profile, BCAAs, made with no gluten, soy, carrageenan, lactose, or GMO makes this a mindful real food option.
Kate Farms Organic Nutrition Shake
This drink offers some of the best sources of nutrition in a bottle I’ve come across. Health goals in a drink, am I right? With 16 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, and phytonutrient extracts from kale and broccoli, this drink is a powerhouse.
Unique Qualifier: Kate Farms is big on providing protein that leads to good health for you. They care about your digestive system so much that the drinks were made to help make digesting a little easier on your tummy. Kate Farms also promises that you’ll be able to taste the difference in quality.
Good options for those who are looking for nutritional shakes
If you’re looking for a healthy alternative to ensure, there are plenty of options out there that offer similar nutritional benefits. I’ve personally tried and loved all of the options on this list, and I’m sure one of these will resonate with your tastebuds and health goals.
No matter what you choose, you can’t go wrong with any of these healthy, delicious options!! Notice I didn’t place much emphasis on weight gain or weight loss. As a wellness advocate, it’s important to focus on healthy habits over any type of diet. It’s always a good idea to speak with a doctor or nutritionist to cater to your specific needs.
10 comments
Great informed article. I am wondering why the need for a “healthy” version of Ensure? I thought Ensure was healthy. What are your markers of health for a supplement drink?
It is a case by-case when it comes to what one person deems as “healthy” versus the other. Ensure is healthy but the purpose of me writing this piece was to provide more healthy options outside of Ensure.
Which one of these alternatives would you say taste just like or close to a vanilla ensure?
Great question. Everyone’s taste and palate are different. I’ve tried all of these shakes, and I would say I would compare Ensure (vanilla flavored) to Premier or Organic Nutrition drink. Hope that helps you and thank you for leaving a comment here 🙂
Wow, thank you for sharing these amazing alternatives to Ensure! As someone constantly on the move, I understand the need for nutritional supplements to keep us going. While Ensure is popular, it’s great to explore other options too. Soylent caught my eye too, and I was pleasantly surprised by its effectiveness during busy weeks. Being vegan, it’s a perfect plant-based alternative. What sets Soylent apart is the variety of flavors, ensuring there’s something for everyone’s taste buds. Its health benefits, from essential amino acids to 39 nutrients, make it a solid choice. Cheers to a healthier and more energized lifestyle!
You’re welcome! I enjoyed giving a round-up of some of my favorite protein drinks that I’ve had and continue to buy throughout the year and thank you for listing the ones you’ve tried and loved. Feel free to check out our other healthy lifestyle content 🙂
Hello, Ms. Williams:
I was looking for healthier alternatives to Ensure and Glucerna (and I am not a fan of Canola oil which it contains). Nevertheless, I am glad I found your website and plan to visit it again as it seems to have articles that can benefit everyone.
I am a 67-year-old Black male but others say that I look a lot younger – – LOL!
It is important that all of us indulge in SELF-CARE as a Lifestyle.
Thank You for listening and much Success to You.
G-S X (Long Island City: Queens, New York)
That’s so awesome that you found a lot of value from our site. I’m very happy to read this. Self-care is definitely a lifestyle. I hope you continue to come back and read more content on our site. Thank you so much!
-Kb
The amount of added sugar in each of these seems really high. Any suggestions for alternatives that are less sugar?
Hey David! Some of these products may have zero or reduced sugar. Have you checked online or in stores?