Ensure – the “healthy” drink that contains mostly sugar and refined carbs

August 15 2016 by in Industrial food-like products, Junk food

Want to ensure that you stay healthy and free of disease? Well this Ensure “healthy drink”, recommended for patients at risk of malnutrition, sounds really promising! Until you take a closer look at the nutrition facts, that is…

if you want to "ensure" that you stay sick, swill a bunch of this corn syrup garbage parading as a health supplement pic.twitter.com/FcoFwKNHnl

— Shawn Baker (@SBakerMD) 8 augusti 2016

Sugar…

Just look at the two main ingredients (after water): corn maltodextrin and sugar. WHO recommends no more than 10% of energy in the diet to come from sugar, ideally below 5%. The sugar in this drink makes up a full 25 % of the energy. Five times more than the maximum recommendation.

…and then more bad carbs

Add the refined starch (corn maltodextrin) that rapidly turns into glucose in the blood, and the truly bad carbs add up to 56 % of the energy in this drink.

This is not that different from eating a bag of candy or drinking soda. Add a vitamin pill and you’ll get something very similar.

If you want to ensure that you become obese and sick, then you should buy this drink.

A better alternative

Low Carb for Beginners

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37 comments

Top comments

Janknitz
August 16 2016 6
If I had a family member who is an "elderly person who is wasting away and has difficulty eating solid foods. Perhaps someone with anorexia or orthorexia who begins eating "real" foods again but despite his or her best efforts can't gain weight without supplementation" I would be making smoothies out of real ingredients dairy or coconut milk, adding healthy fats, collagen or gelatin, perhaps pureed veggies and some fruit for flavor. Or fortifying broth with good fats and pureed veggies. Not this stuff.

Replies: #7, #8, #11

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Leanne S.
August 15 2016 5
I spent a month in the hospital 6 years ago. I was supposed to drink one of these with EVERY MEAL. I refused. They got very angry with me, treated me like a recalcitrant child; they could not understand my objection to drinking all that sugar and processed crap. I couldn't eat the processed dollar store-level food they brought me, it killed my appetite. But they wouldn't bring me fresh fruits and vegetables and eggs. Finally, my husband starting bringing fruit and veg and cheese and meat and yogurt and eggs. The Ensure was thrown out, unopened, every single meal for a month, but still they brought it.

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All comments

1
Mike A.
August 15 2016 1
I'm an advocate for a low-carb paleo diet; however, I have to take exception to the black-and-white nature of this post. One thing I've learned from witnessing disordered eating and talking to nutritionists who deal with people that have eating disorders, is that labeling foods as inherently "good" or "bad" is irresponsible. Context matters. If someone is wasting away and can't maintain their weight regardless of how much "real food" they are able to keep down, products like this can be a wonderful help. I certainly agree that products like this shouldn't be marketed as health supplements for regular use; however, in certain circumstances they can be beneficially applied. I'm sure many people place a great deal of weight on your opinions, so please recognize that some people will struggle with the notion of "good" or "bad" foods. In some cases, almost any food is "good".

Reply: #2
2
Reply to comment #1 by Mike A.
Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt, MD Team Diet Doctor
August 15 2016 4
You're right that context matters. Of course this is "good" for the manufacturer, because they can charge dollars for ingredients that costs a few cents, at the most.

However, I struggle to think of anyone for whom relying on mainly added sugar and maltodextrin as food would be a good idea. Perhaps someone who is starving and there is nothing else to eat?

Replies: #17, #25, #36
3
Mike A.
August 15 2016
Perhaps an elderly person who is wasting away and has difficulty eating solid foods. Perhaps someone with anorexia or orthorexia who begins eating "real" foods again but despite his or her best efforts can't gain weight without supplementation (this indeed happens). Again, I support your efforts to promote healthy diets. I simply take issue with this post because it is very black and white and will serve some people poorly. Surely, as a physician, you can appreciate that a nuanced view is sometimes best. It would be inappropriate for me to assail your motives here and accuse you of simply appealing to a broad audience for the sake of web traffic. Perhaps you shouldn't impugn the motives of the manufacturer in this case.

Reply: #10
4
Stealth
August 15 2016 3
What frightens me is commercials suggesting Pediasure for children who are poor eaters. The commercials make parents feel they SHOULD be supplementing their children's diets with this crap.
5
Leanne S.
August 15 2016 5
I spent a month in the hospital 6 years ago. I was supposed to drink one of these with EVERY MEAL. I refused. They got very angry with me, treated me like a recalcitrant child; they could not understand my objection to drinking all that sugar and processed crap. I couldn't eat the processed dollar store-level food they brought me, it killed my appetite. But they wouldn't bring me fresh fruits and vegetables and eggs. Finally, my husband starting bringing fruit and veg and cheese and meat and yogurt and eggs. The Ensure was thrown out, unopened, every single meal for a month, but still they brought it.
6
Janknitz
August 16 2016 6
If I had a family member who is an "elderly person who is wasting away and has difficulty eating solid foods. Perhaps someone with anorexia or orthorexia who begins eating "real" foods again but despite his or her best efforts can't gain weight without supplementation" I would be making smoothies out of real ingredients dairy or coconut milk, adding healthy fats, collagen or gelatin, perhaps pureed veggies and some fruit for flavor. Or fortifying broth with good fats and pureed veggies. Not this stuff.

Replies: #7, #8, #11
7
Reply to comment #6 by Janknitz
Cindy C
August 16 2016 1
Yes, to your list, plus 2 eggs-boiling water will "cook" the eggs. It would be easy to also add a jar of baby food vegetables, into the blender. For flavor , you can add some sea salt, turmeric, cinnamon, and vanilla flavoring.
8
Reply to comment #6 by Janknitz
John
August 16 2016
You are absolutely right!!
9
Vicky
August 16 2016 4
My partner was given this rubbish after having cancer treatment for throat cancer. He fed through a tube into his stomach and this stuff made him feel so sick. At the time we were naive and followed medical instructions but of course the cancer came straight back at which time I realised that these meal replacements were lethal. I blended all his food, nuts, seeds, coconut milk, fruit veg, protein etc etc. every time we were in hospital we were treated like crap and they tried to starve him to force the rubbish on him. Unfortunately due to their 10 month delay in finding out the cancer had come back, the stress of how we were treated when in hospital (dehydration, starvation and negativity) and the vengeance with which the cancer had returned(I mean it had been fed Ensure 3 times a day for 10 months before they even admitted it had come back) we were unable to save him. I wish I had the knowledge from the start. I wouldn't give Ensure products to my worst enemy.
10
Reply to comment #3 by Mike A.
Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt, MD Team Diet Doctor
August 16 2016 1

Surely, as a physician, you can appreciate that a nuanced view is sometimes best.

Sure, often it indeed is.

But there's no need to waste nuance on something that contains *five times* more than the WHO recommended maximum amount of sugar. Especially not when it's sold with laughable marketing like "complete balanced nutrition to get strong on the inside".

Sometimes it's best to just speak the simple truth. This is junk food, sold in a clever and utterly misleading way.

Reply: #12
11
Reply to comment #6 by Janknitz
Mike A.
August 16 2016
Of course that would be better, but not everyone has someone like you to do that for them. Don't confuse sub-optimal with "completely bad in any and all circumstances."
12
Reply to comment #10 by Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt
Mike A.
August 16 2016
Even junk food, in certain circumstances, shouldn't be demonized as always bad. If someone has an eating disorder (in part because they think some foods are "completely bad in any and all situations"), I hope you wouldn't slap a Snickers bar out of their hands when they reach for one because it exceeds the recommended amount of sugar, has a high glycemic index, or contains high-fructose corn syrup.

I agree with you that I find their marketing abhorrent. But their pushing this product in most any circumstance is a similar logical error as claiming it's always bad.

Replies: #13, #14
13
Reply to comment #12 by Mike A.
Apicius
August 17 2016
Mike A, you are defending an organization (Abbott) who is guilty of paying for biased research that promotes the cheap crap they make and market. Check out this organization that they prop up (http://malnutrition.com/alliance/abbottnutrition). It looks like a non profit organization, but it is funded by them to drive their propaganda and market the cheap liquid junk food. This is criminal behaviour. Dr Eenfeldt is correct. You are wrong. Please stop defending this product.
14
Reply to comment #12 by Mike A.
Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt, MD Team Diet Doctor
August 17 2016

Even junk food, in certain circumstances, shouldn't be demonized as always bad.

I'm sure under some circumstances cigarettes are not all that terrible either. But we should still criticize companies trying to profit by promoting cigarettes as a healthy part of a balanced lifestyle. That would be unacceptably misleading marketing. Same thing.
15
Mike A.
August 17 2016
The only thing I've advocated in these posts is a nuanced view instead of black-and-white thinking.

Want to criticize the company? Go ahead. Want to criticize them for how they market this product? Makes sense to me. However, it doesn't logically follow that because Abbott may have done things wrong that this product is always something to be avoided. We could probably all cite numerous things the medical community has gotten wrong, yet we would not advocate that no one ever listen to Dr. Eenfeldt as a result. It's a simple logical mistake you all are making.

The cigarette analogy is a bit tortured as we are no longer talking about nutritional products at that point, which all of us need. However, I take your point. Criticizing the company seems legit.

Or try looking at it from the other perspective. Some people talk about "superfoods" and make miraculous claims about how they've saved their life. I suspect this kind of talk is bogus. However, I'm still correct to enjoy the benefits of a cup of blueberries from time to time. Their overstated claim doesn't change anything.
16
Ms. Evan
November 5 2016
Mike A. - A man with common sense. I just want to say that I am nearly 34, and have never in all my life been so sick with the stomach flu. I am 6'0" and weigh 145lbs. I have very thin bone density overall and I am naturally thin. I fell ill a few weeks ago with non-stop diarrhea for 6 days straight. I literally thought I was dying. Regaining my ability to eat solid food has become a tremendous obstacle, because I am limited to the amount of food my stomach is OK with. And I am still getting sick if I eat anything that isn't bland. I'm now suffering with extreme side Effects of dehydration. Drinking Ensure is the only guarantee that I'm getting the nutrition my body desperately needs. I think anyone who is stating otherwise is in serious denial and has no formal education on how sugars are processed in a human with malnutrition and complete lack of vitamins. It really comes down to COMMON SENSE. I would highly recommend this type of product for any human who is sick with severe vomiting/diarrhea/fever sweating, the ELDERLY, and anyone with digestive issues NOT related to obesity/acid reflux/diabetes.
17
Reply to comment #2 by Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt
CommonSenseOfLife
January 7 2017
I use Ensure myself. The point of it's existence is for moderate to severe malnutrition. A calorie is a calorie. The average ensure shake has 250 calories per serving. This beverage has saved my life, and gotten my strength back on well over a dozen occasions. I think society has a tendency to ignore biological science when it comes to how our bodies put on weight, and how we lose it. Sorry to hurt anyone in the following statement. It all comes down to body type, and activity level. Endomorphs typically have the hardest time losing weight, and keeping it off. They are the ones who can diet to near self obliterating points, and still not lose that much weight. Their bodies store fat much more readily than the next two body types: Mesomorph, and Ectomorph. Also, dieting is the wrong way to go. They should never drop below the bare minimum of 1,250 (F) 1,500 (M) calories required for BASIC life functions. Doing so only tricks the brain into thinking it's in starvation mode, and what's it going to do in that mode? Well, normally it would attack fat, but since it registers there is food still coming in, it's going to immediately store what it can as FAT, anticipating a future need for it. Somewhere there is a goldilocks zone in that. A point where the body burns more fat than it attempts to store, but this doesn't make it safe. Macronutrients, 27 of them in all, NEED to be ingested every day to avoid macrodeficiencies. Next, I'll cover Mesomorph. That body type easily builds muscle, and muscle consumes a lot of energy to function. It can also store body fat readily, but because of the high energy consumption of muscles, this goes mostly unnoticed if the individual is active, and healthy. EctoMorphs. This is the coveted body type of all wishful weight loss desiring people. (Before I go any further, I personally have a mixture of an Ecto, and Meso body types.) Ectomorphs have an extreme difficulty storing any fat, and even building muscle. The high metabolic rate of an ectomorph is not the primary reason, it's the genetics behind fat storing, and muscle building DNA codes. A mixture in this type though, can be fit, and lean at the same time, but require much more caloric intake to prevent muscle degeneration. In conclusion, what makes Ensure effective is that it is meant to have everything needed to both nourish, and gain weight in a body. The saying to much of anything, even if it's good, can be bad? Yeah, that's common sense. But for the purpose ensure is meant to serve, it is always a good thing for the malnourished, elderly, or pediasure for children who just won't eat, and are suffering developmental delays as a result. I am surprised that as an MD, you could be so ignorant of it's uses, and blantently call it bad. Ensure is nutritional therapy. If I have a headache, I take an aspirin. If I'm malnourished, that helps treat it. It's medical.

Reply: #18
18
Reply to comment #17 by CommonSenseOfLife
bill
January 7 2017
There are only 3 macronutrients: fat, protein and carbohydrate. There are no essential carbohydrates.
19
waeght
April 13 2017
You may be right but the way you wrote or replied in comments sound so rude and angry.
20
Jeff
August 17 2018
Ensure helped me through gastroparesis and was the only thing that could keep adequate vitamins and minerals inside of my body. It helped me stay at a healthy weight because I was losing weight at high dangerous rate. If not for this drink I would have huge problems with malnutrition and weight loss. So to say it’s terrible for everyone would be very black and white of you.

Reply: #34
21
Selma
August 28 2018
A lot of Abbott company-payrolled shills to defend this crap nutritionless product, mainly using fake first-person tales.

Reply: #23
22
Anne
September 18 2018
This stuff saved my young daughter. Yes, she ate fruits and veggies along with it, but those alone where doing nothing for her as her body could not break them down. She only had 1 ensure a day, to help build up her calories and get her nutrients, but she never ate anything else with sugar because she doesn't like sweets. Don't trash a good product, it has a place and a purpose when used correctly. There is always a gray area for everything, the world is not so black and white.
23
Reply to comment #21 by Selma
Clare
November 26 2018
Selma "everyone who disagrees with me is a fake." No, ensure isn't the healthiest thing on the planet, and its best used in the short term. But there are many circumstances where it has its place. I'm sure you'll dismiss me as a shill too. I don't disagree that their marketing is unethical. But I eat as much as I physically can, but that's simply not enough right now when I need to be at a significant calorie surplus. Many days I've got a choice between Ensure with more sugar than I'd like, or missing meals. There are times where I couldn't manage 300cals equivalent of junk food. Try eating anything when you've had a migraine for weeks on end, cant get out of bed and even sitting up is enough to make you vomit. Right now the biggest threat to my health is malnutrition, anaemia and an ever growing risk of osteoporosis. Not sugar.
24
Trevor Bostrand
December 12 2018
As a cancer patient undergoing chemo therapy and radiation therapy to my abdomen, and awaiting a bone marrow transplant, I can say that in my experience, eating solid food is not as easy as it was before these treatments. The loss of appetite accompanied with stomach problems and involentary weight loss brought on by treatment and the cancer itself, I will say that ensure in combination with eating as much as I can is the only way I can maintain a somewhat healthy weight. I do agree that nothing beats eating your fruits, veggies, meats, nuts, ect. but for some people, the added, easy to injest calories from ensure can be a godsend. Hope this perspective is helpful.
25
Reply to comment #2 by Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt
Mike
December 20 2018
Ensure is no different than any other bodybuilding supplement, no different than protein bars, no different than the drugs you prescribe like PPI which ultimately lead to dependence. Cry me a river. Ensure is actually beneficial for anyone eating regularly and wanting to add an extra meal to their diet.
26
God
January 24
Lets Be REAL. This crap is only a GOOD option in extreme circumstances (if you're starving to death, on Survivor, having a low sugar incident and need sugar fast, etc.) Other than that, putting poisons into your body and expecting healthy benefits is asinine and doesn't take a medical doctor to realize...just someone with a working brain. Vitamin supplements are also a racket so nothin good there either. I command thee to stop drinking this abomination sayeth the Lord, a.k.a.....me. Don't argue with God.
27
Katy
January 24
As a user of the product myself , prescribed due to being underweight , at first I felt ok gained a couple lbs in the first week, now 2nd week in , have horrific tummy cramps , smelly gas and constipation, mouth sores , shortness of breath and fast pulse I just feel like I’ve been on a junk food bender , hence the reason I’ve actually started to research it, my dad was also on this product he put on his desired weight (he’s also diabetic) controlled by insulin injections so now I’m concerned about the sugar content and his diabetes , either way I do not feel great on this product , my aim was to gain weight healthily via a referral to a diaretic, I feel like I’ve been fobbed off with a bottle of junk food , which can not be healthy , I’ve found also I have increased anxiety maybe this is the high sugar content , I have to agree with most that it’s incorrect advertisements this is clearly not a healthy balenced addition to your diet , you may as well throw a 1/4 lb with cheese down my neck and a bottle of soda , yes they taste nice but again probably the sugar content , I will be discontinuing and just eating little and often adding healthy snacks.
28
Eli
February 7
Every situation is different. However, no doubt, the amount of sugar in each Ensure is absurd. No need for this. Ridiculous.
29
Margo
February 24
There are other brands of real nutritional protein shakes around. For instance Orgain which uses grass fed non gmo items. Ensure is crap marketed as nutrition. It is a gmo sugar laden product IT IS NOT GOOD NUTRITION! Those believing it is sadly don't know much about nutrition.
1 comment removed
31
Katherine R
April 21
I am not someone who deals in absolutes. I have an anxiety disorder which, when I go through a very bad time, makes it nearly impossible for me to eat. Once, I had somewhat of a breakdown and lost almost 10 pounds in 5 days. This product is what helped me get back on track and get energy to go about my day.

If there are people who have access to better options, that’s great for them. But if this product works for you, use it. I am not a medical professional, but I have a problem with those who think the world is completely black or white. Perhaps this is not a good product for long term use, but it does help if you are physically unable to eat.
32
Angel
April 24
If it was not for ensure I would be almost 6 feet tall and would probably be 75 pounds again. I have severe IBS, Endometriosis, and Chronic pain syndrome! I am constantly nauseated due to IBS and pain I'm on medication for it however there are days I cant even eat at ALL!! I went 5 days only drinking water and that scared me so badly I had no choice it was get something I could drink that had vitamins at least in it to help me or probably end up hospitalized. Ensure has kept my weight up, has helped me feel better, only issue is I've been on ensure for well over a year now! I'm thinking of making shakes but even looking at food makes me want to be sick 98% of the time. So all I can say is when you cant handle food and you try so hard to eat but end up throwing it up what else is there? Ensure is just in a bottle I dont have to look at food and can just drink it and know there is something at least in my body. I was anorexic from 12 till I was 17, I am scared to go back to that I'm trying so hard not to. They may not be the best thing, but when they keep you from becoming sicker they are good enough in my books!
33
Anne
May 9
I agree the ingredients in Ensure are questionable but when I was severely sick very malnourished aneamic with severe pan ulcerative colitis and stopped eating It helped at the time as i was able to tolerate it then real food... when I was able to start eating again I was not getting nutrition so it was prescribed to me as I was so severely aneamic malnourished so it was quick way to quickly get some nutrients back into my body. Yes I ate some food but it was not staying in my body and I was not getting nutrition so it was another way to supplement some nutrition and I was able to tolerate it. It took me over 2 years before i was healthier so it does have a purpose when someone is very unwell. If I wasn't so unwell and able to eat healthy food or drink broth I would off instead of using ensure. But In saying all this I would only recommend these type of supplements like Ensure when a person is very malnourished like I was and if they are unable to tolerate food like I was.
34
Reply to comment #20 by Jeff
Elle
May 18
Me too! I bristle when I hear people say "throw out this garbage, you need coconut milk, and quinoa and kale and eggs..."

If you can eat those things (and have the energy to prepare them), then good for you!

Gastroparesis left me in almost constant suffering and starving to boot. As if I was going to cook. It's so demoralizing to be that sick. I craved salads, and meat, and broccoli - all things that would (and did, when I'd cave) make me violently ill. Sugar is easy to swallow and easy to keep down. I lived on Boost for a time.

I wish people wouldn't be so judgmental :-(

Criticize Abbott all you want, whatever, they probably deserve it. But lay off the sick people please!
35
kesh mani
July 4
If they Hide the 56% of sugars that are wrong to suggest to people who need to control their blood sugar levels (Diabetics type 1 & 2) and or people trying improve insulin sensitivity (post-diabetes) than I would seriously question their disclosure on the other contents and their quantitative percentage Vitamins, Nutrients Minerals.

If their credibility in disclose is proven deceitful then it stand to reason. Profits over customer's health?
36
Reply to comment #2 by Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt
David
September 17
My mom is a severe Crohn's sufferer. Out of the many things you recommend, ensure is the only thing she seems to be able to get and keep down most times. It has been a life saver for her.

And if you say coconut milk to me, I'm gonna ask which manufacturer sponsors you. She tried various things with it. It didn't take.

So I agree with who you're responding to here. It IS pretty bad to label foods as inherently good or bad. But you went off on a spiel about corporate economics which...hmm. Isn't *supposed* to be your forte.
37
JT Kong
October 6
Mike A and the few others praising this filth are shills for Abbott. There is nothing good about this product and it causes real injury to the body. Except for cockroaches and few other insects, most living organisms do not benefit from corn syrup, maltodextrin and artificial petroleum flavoring. It is also criminal for Abbott to engage in deceptive and fraudulent marketing, which preys upon the innocent.
38
Ms. J
October 18
Glad I found this article and comments! I heard that Ensure was a chemical cancer-causing sh**storm! My doctor recommended and gave me a bottle of ensure for pre-surgery. The nurse said it's supposed to help you heal faster (?!) I cannot find any scientific data or studies that confirm this. How does it help you heal faster? My nutritionist laughed when I told her about it. So I do not plan on drinking it the night before, but juicing real super-foods instead.