Research
Hormonal
Meal replacements improve satiety and reduce cravings during caloric restriction through mechanisms like stimulus narrowing and ketosis, despite expected hormonal changes.
You might worry that eating less will make you hungry, but using meal replacements can actually help control hunger. By limiting food choices (stimulus narrowing) and potentially inducing ketosis, MRs can reduce cravings and make sticking to a diet easier.
GoodSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Despite the expected increase in hunger with reduced calorie intake, several studies have shown that MR used as part of a VLCD has been associated with reduced cravings, symptoms of hunger, and improved satiety during treatment.
Why this rating
Based on RCTs and fMRI studies cited, though exact mechanisms are noted as 'unclear'.
Source
The latest evidence and clinical guidelines for use of meal replacements in very‐low‐calorie diets or low‐calorie diets for the treatment of obesity
Shenelle Edwards-Hampton et al. · Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism · 2024
DOI 10.1111/dom.15819
narrative_reviewCited 15×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Total Diet Replacement (TDR) using meal replacements in very-low-calorie diets (VLCDs) produces significantly greater weight loss (average >10 kg over 12 months) and superior diabetes remission rates compared to usual care or food-based diets.Strong
- Meal replacement interventions improve cardiometabolic health outcomes, including glycemic control, blood pressure, lipids, and liver fat, often independent of or proportional to the degree of weight loss.Strong
Related findings · Hormonal
- Initial treatment for type 2 diabetes should be a combination of metformin and either an SGLT-2 inhibitor or a GLP-1 receptor agonist to achieve cardiorenal protection, rather than monotherapy or older agents like sulfonylureas.Strong
- For patients with specific monogenic obesity syndromes (leptin deficiency, POMC/PCSK1/LEPR mutations), targeted pharmacotherapy (recombinant leptin or setmelanotide) is highly effective and should be prioritized, unlike in polygenic obesity.Strong
- Continued weekly administration of 2.4 mg subcutaneous semaglutide prevents weight regain and promotes further weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity, whereas switching to placebo results in significant weight regain.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →