Reviewed by최연승대표원장
I'm thinking about starting a meal replacement program, like using diet shakes. What method do you recommend as a TKM doctor?
While meal replacement shakes are effective for short-term calorie control and convenience, long-term use can lead to nutritional imbalances and a drop in basal metabolic rate. Therefore, I recommend first evaluating your digestive health and constitution, then using herbal medicine to balance your body's systems before implementing a dietary plan.
I've personally tried extreme diets in my youth to lose weight quickly, only to end up feeling dizzy and completely exhausted. That experience taught me that such methods are unsustainable.
Meal replacement programs certainly have advantages: they drastically reduce meal prep time and allow for precise calorie control, which is highly efficient for busy professionals. However, the drawbacks follow. The loss of the pleasure of chewing leads to psychological stress, and more importantly, the digestive system becomes underutilized. For those with 'Bi-heo' (脾虛, a deficiency in Spleen function), relying solely on liquids can further weaken digestive capacity, leading to severe fatigue.
Furthermore, liquid diets alone cannot resolve 'Dam-eum' (痰飮, accumulated phlegm-fluid/metabolic waste) or 'Eo-hyeol' (瘀血, blood stasis/stagnant blood) within the body. If these wastes remain, you are likely to hit a weight-loss plateau early or experience rapid bloating as soon as you slightly alter your diet.
The answer depends on the individual. Rather than blindly following a shake-only regimen, we must first assess your current metabolic state. By using constitution-specific herbal medicine to boost metabolism while managing your diet, the process will be much smoother and more sustainable. Let's figure out the best approach for your body together.