Rootana Health Benefits

By now, you are probably aware of the many practical benefits of Rootana. It’s easy to store, easy to prepare (taking just 40 seconds), and unlike most meals, it requires very little washing up afterwards. But this article focuses on the health benefits of Rootana.

Benefit #1 Fat Loss

Most meal replacements are used for weight loss purposes, and they are incredibly effective for this. Several studies have found meal replacement shake diets to be more effective than regular calorie deficit diets.

A 2003 study in the Journal of Obesity found that subjects who followed a partial meal replacement diet (1 or 2 shakes per day) saw significantly more weight loss than subjects who followed a regular diet. Averaging a 7-8% loss in body weight compared to a 3-7% loss [1].

After three months the average weight loss for subjects on a partial meal replacement diet was 2.54 kg greater than that of regular dieters.

One of the most common theories as to why meal replacement diets are more effective than regular diets is that people are bad at estimating calories. A 1992 study found that obese people underestimate their calorie intake by around 40-50% [2].

This is completely understandable, calorie estimation is very difficult, and it is tempting to discount calories or underplay their importance. Forgetting to calculate the calories in the oil you cooked your food in, for example, is common. But this represents 100-200 calories per meal!

Meal replacement shakes take away this issue. Rootana is 400 calories per 100-gram serving. You can’t underestimate the calories for that, and you are less likely to accidentally end up in a calorie surplus when your calories are planned out in advance.

A 2012 study by Tsai & Wadden postulated that one reason for the success of meal replacement shake diets is simple to follow [3].

“Obese individuals typically underestimate their calorie intake by 40% to 50% when consuming a diet of conventional foods because of difficulty in estimating portion sizes, macronutrient composition, and calorie content and in remembering all foods consumed. Meal replacements seem to decrease these difficulties and simplify food choices”

Instead of having to change all three of your main meals, you only have to change one, while the other two are replaced by a meal replacement shake that provides you with protein, fibre, and essential vitamins and minerals.

“Meal replacements (liquid or solid pre-packaged) provide a defined amount of energy, often as a formula product. Use of meal replacements once or twice daily to replace a usual meal can result in significant weight loss.” American Diabetes Association position statement (2008) [4]

Another benefit is the lack of variety available. This sounds backwards, but having fewer options to choose from has been found to reduce your desire for unhealthy snacks or overconsumption. A 2006 study placed overweight people into two groups: one group ate the same snack for eight weeks, while the other was allowed more variety.

While both groups reported weight loss, the group with no variety saw improvements in satiety and a reduction in pleasure in eating the snack [5]. This sounds like a bad thing, but when on a diet, lowering the pleasure you take in snacking is important, as it helps you to stay on the diet.

Where meal replacement shake diets stand out from the competition is in their longevity. There are diets that can be just as effective in the short term, but very few people are able to follow them for longer than 2-3 months.

According to WebMD, the average amount of time that people stay on a diet is six months [6]. However, the stricter the diet, the shorter it lasts. This is one of the biggest issues with dieting, and it is an area that meal replacement shakes excel at addressing.

Meal replacement shake diets outlast almost all other diets, due to their convenience, the lack of preparation required, and the relatively low price per serving (compared to some diets such as paleo or keto).

As a 2012 study in the Journal of Obesity Research put it:

“However, the patients in this study who dropped out for several months then re-entered the program had not gained weight. The convenience and low cost of meal replacements compared with usual higher calorie meals may have favourably influenced their eating patterns.” [7]

To put this quote into context. One of the biggest problems with nutrition studies is that people fail to continue (for the many reasons we have mentioned).

This study was no different, however, the patients who had left the study and returned had not gained weight, because they were able to follow the diet on their own.

Bottom Line: There are hundreds of long-term studies that have shown meal replacement shake diets to be more effective for fat loss than regular diets [8][9][10].

This is due to the diet being easy to follow, convenient, and cost-effective. Meal replacement shakes provide a satisfying and calorie-controlled meal option that is unlikely to result in overconsumption, making it perfect for anyone struggling with their weight.

Benefit #2 Muscle Building

To build muscle, many aspects of your life need to be optimised. You need to be exercising regularly, you need to be sleeping well, and keeping stress to a minimum. You also need to be consuming enough calories, particularly protein.

Meal replacement shakes can help with each aspect of muscle building, either directly or indirectly. What a meal replacement shake can’t do is automatically grow your muscles. You still need to do the work!

So, how can a meal replacement shake help you to build muscle? Most people who start off at the gym don’t consume anywhere near enough protein to support optimal muscle growth. Protein plays a key role in muscle growth and recovery. This is through a process called muscle protein synthesis.

How Protein Synthesis Works

When you exercise, each movement causes muscle fibres to break down. This process is called muscle protein breakdown. Keep this in mind, as we will be returning to it in a second.

When you consume protein, your body digests it and breaks it down into amino acids. These amino acids are then transported to parts of your body (such as muscle) that are in need of repair, replenishment, or growth.

When amino acids are used to repair and grow muscle fibres the process is called muscle protein synthesis. The aim for anyone looking to build muscle is to ensure that the rate of muscle protein synthesis is higher than the rate of muscle protein breakdown.

This is why dietary protein is so important. If you don’t consume enough protein you will struggle to build muscle mass. It is also why you can’t exercise 24/7.

How Can Rootana Help Protein Synthesis?

As most people don’t eat enough protein throughout the day to build muscle, consuming a meal replacement shake such as Rootana can help to fuel protein synthesis. The benefits of using Rootana are that it is easy to prepare and consume, and has a low cost per serving of protein.

You can schedule it for before or after your workout, or just have it during the day. The antiquated belief that you need protein immediately after a workout has been disproven. It’s all about your total daily protein intake. Have one or two Rootana shakes per day, and a high-protein evening meal and you will easily hit your protein targets.

Benefit #3 Sleep

How can a meal replacement shake help you sleep? It must seem as if there is zero connection between the two. To be fair, drinking a meal replacement shake won’t make you drowsy, and you are perfectly safe to operate heavy machinery afterwards!

But how well we sleep is affected by many factors. Stress, anxiety, depression, diet, hormones, exercise, and body fat can all negatively affect sleep quality and duration.

Rootana is able to help reduce body fat and support an active lifestyle, and these can, in turn, reduce stress, anxiety, and the side effects of depression.

Studies have shown that a diet rich in phytonutrients (nutrients found in plants) can help to improve sleep outcomes [11]. That is why plant-based meal replacement shakes such as Rootana will always outperform low-quality meal replacement shakes that use artificial ingredients rather than real food ingredients.

A 2013 study found that high protein diets were associated with fewer wake episodes per night, leading to a better overall quality of sleep [12]. Having a high source of healthy carbohydrates was also associated with better sleep.

If you take Rootana as an evening meal, then the protein found in each serving can help your body recover from your workout while you sleep. A 2019 study found that taking a high-protein meal before bed can help:

“Increase muscle protein synthesis rates during overnight sleep and can be applied to support the skeletal muscle adaptive response to resistance-type exercise training.” Snijders et al (2019) [13]

But the main way that meal replacement shake diets can help with sleep quality is their ability to lead to weight loss.

According to Harvard Health, losing weight, particularly body fat stored around the stomach, can lead to improvements in sleep quality and duration [14].

Studies have shown that losing weight can help with a number of health issues that affect sleep. These can be issues such as sleep apnea [15], which directly affects sleep, or it can be mental health issues that can indirectly affect sleep.

Benefit #4 Hormonal Support

Your hormones play an incredibly important role in your overall health. Men with low testosterone are more likely to suffer from depression, and impotence and they are at risk of obesity and other metabolic diseases. Women with low levels of estrogen can suffer irregular periods, depression, and weak bones.

Rootana or other meal replacement shakes won’t automatically boost your hormones, but they can help to create an environment that supports healthy hormone production. By helping you to burn fat, exercise regularly, and sleep better, meal replacement shakes can lead to better hormone function.

Reducing your body fat, sleeping better, and leading a more active lifestyle can produce several benefits, such as:

Increased testosterone levels in men
Increased growth hormone levels
Reduced cortisol levels
Proper functioning estrogen levels in women
Better regulated leptin and ghrelin levels (control appetite and satiety)

What’s really cool is the fact that these improvements in hormone function can then lead to further improvements in your fat loss, sleep quality, ability to build muscle, and an improvement in your mood. If you are pregnant, then check out this article on whether meal replacement shakes are a good idea or not.

Benefit #5 Mood

The relationship between nutrition and mood is well established, but a stronger relationship exists between health and mood. If you are sleeping well, your body fat is lower, and your muscle mass is relatively high you are more likely to have a positive mood.

A 2019 study found that higher levels of body fat were associated with an increased risk of depression [16]. Having high levels of body fat can affect sleep quality, and hormone production, which can in turn lead to an increased risk of depression [17].

Studies have shown that leading a more active lifestyle, walking more, cycling more, and going to the gym can help to reduce the symptoms of mild depression [18].

So, how can a meal replacement shake help improve mood? Primarily by helping to burn fat by creating a calorie deficit. But the added fibre can help with digestion, and studies have shown that a high fibre diet can help to reduce depressive symptoms, particularly in women [19].

A 2020 study found that eating a high fibre diet can help to fight depression, due to it affecting the gut-brain axis communication [20].

Of course, if you are suffering from depression the first thing to do is talk to a professional. Losing weight, and increasing dietary fibre may help a little but they may not address the cause of depression and are no substitute for medical advice.

Benefit #6 Gut Health

Meal replacement shakes are great for digestion as they are often very high in fibre. Rootana contains between 7 and 9 grams of fibre per serving (it differs depending on what flavour you use). Meaning that if you take it twice per day you are getting 60% of your recommended daily intake (30 grams).

Most people consume less than 20 grams of fibre per day, so your Rootana shake is helping you to consume more than the average person. Rootana gets most of its fibre from oat flour, which has long been associated with improved digestion and gut health.

A 2020 study found that eating oatmeal led to improvements in gut microbiota, and saw a reduction in cholesterol [21]. In 2019 Korczak, Kocher, and Swanson performed a review of the literature and concluded that:

“The evidence in humans shows beneficial effects of oats on gastrointestinal health, with supportive evidence provided by in vitro and animal studies. “ [22]

A 2021 study found that oats can help to boost beneficial bacteria growth in the gut, particularly in people who suffer from gastrointestinal diseases [23].

Gut health has many related health benefits, it can improve digestion, regulate your immune system, and it can also affect mood and cognitive health [24]. The use of foods such as oats, pea protein, and flaxseed, can help Rootana to improve your gut health, and Rootana’s ability to help you lose body fat can also improve it.

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Benefit #7 Cardiovascular Health

Rootana can help to improve cardiovascular health in a number of ways. It contains a lot of fibre, which can help to lower bad cholesterol, it can also help with weight loss, and it can help to improve sleep quality and daily exercise levels. All of which contribute to cardiovascular health.

One of the biggest contributors to improved heart health is weight loss. A 2011 study found that moderate weight loss of around 5-10% led to a significant improvement in heart health and that the greater the weight loss the greater the results [25].

You can also improve heart health via the foods that you eat. Oats are excellent for reducing your risk of heart disease. This is because they contain beta-glucan which can lower your levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol over time [26].

Oats can also reduce inflammation, improve insulin sensitivity, improve blood lipid levels, and lower blood pressure [27]. But it isn’t just the oats in Rootana that can improve cardiovascular health, the flaxseed contained within Rootana may also be able to help.

Flaxseed contains alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) which can help protect the heart from cardiovascular disease [28]. Following a healthy diet that is high in protein and fibre can also help to improve sleep quality, which is another factor in heart health.

Benefit #8 Immune System

Most people are aware of the importance of a well-regulated and healthy immune system. Finding ways to keep it in top condition should be a priority for everyone. Rootana is an excellent product for this, thanks in the main part to its use of high-quality oat flour.

Oats contain a number of nutrients that can help to protect the immune system. They contain beta-glucan (dietary fibre), as well as “copper, iron, selenium, and zinc, polyphenolics (ferulic acid and avenanthramides) and proteins (glutamine)” [29] all of which help the immune system to thrive.

But it isn’t just oats, the proteins found in flaxseed have also been shown to help support a healthy immune system [30]. There is also some evidence that pea protein can help to protect the immune system while also working as an anti-inflammatory [31].

Meal replacement shakes can also help to support hormone production, improve sleep quality, and lead to weight loss, all of these can help to protect the immune system and allow it to thrive.

Benefit #9 Stress Relief

Stress can have numerous negative effects on your health, leading to insomnia, weight gain, low testosterone in men, inflammation, and issues with cognition and fatigue. Meal replacement shakes such as Rootana can’t directly prevent stress, but they can help in other ways.

Rootana is effective at improving gut health, which can have a knock-on effect on stress and mood. Rootana is also highly effective at burning fat and improving sleep quality, both of which can help you to deal with stress.

One of the best ways to reduce stress is to spend time in nature. Check out our article on why Rootana is perfect for hiking to learn more

Benefit #10 Natural

Unlike many meal replacement shakes, Rootana ensures that it is free from artificial sweeteners such as sucralose and aspartame. It uses natural coconut sugars for sweetness as well as natural flavourings. Find out more in our article on artificial sweeteners in meal replacement shakes. It is an excellent source of plant-based protein and uses top-quality oat flour as a carbohydrate source.

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