Introduction
With our modern day, high-calorie diets, more and more people are turning to meal replacement shakes to help them escape the shackles of their entrenched negative-eating patterns.
In this Redcon1 MRE review, we’re taking a look at whether or not this product is able to offer users a means in which to lose body fat quickly.
Readers please note that statements on this page are fair comment based on observation. This content is produced on a matter of public interest. Statements on this page are our honest opinion.
What Is Redcon1 MRE?
MRE (which stands for “Meal, Ready to Eat) is a self-proclaimed “real whole food” meal replacement shake created by a US-based supplement company named Redcon1.
One canister of the MRE Meal Replacement costs $79.99, contains 25 servings and will last users between 8-25 days, depending on how many meals per day are replaced (those looking to lose weight will ideally need to be replacing 3 meals per day with the shakes, and not eating anything in-between them); it can be ordered directly from the official Redcon1 MRE website, GNC and Amazon.
Like many other Redcon1 products, MRE is a product targeted towards those who are either looking to lose weight or looking for something to help them sustain weight (with the former being the most common reason to use this shake).
The product itself is essentially just a complex of various dehydrated whole foods with an added pea, rice, egg, beef isolate and chicken protein powder blend. Redcon1 proudly boast that MRE Meal Replacement does not contain any Whey protein (though we aren’t really sure what’s so bad about Whey to begin with).
Redcon1 describe MRE as a product designed to replicate the nutritional-completeness of the “MRES rations” given to soldiers in the military, going on to state that the shake gives you “the fuel you need to repair and recover muscle tissue”.
Interestingly, Redcon1 doesn’t actually ever claim this product is designed for the purposes of helping the consumer lose weight, though meal replacement shakes are typically used for this exact purpose, so maybe they felt that they didn’t need to mention it?
Does Redcon1 MRE Work?
After some further inspection, we believe that the MRE Meal Replacement Shake will likely mean multiple things to multiple people.
For some, this shake may just be a convenience product that they can use to get all their required nutrients if they don’t have time to cook a meal, but to others the shake can be viewed as a weight loss product (as 99% of “meal replacement shakes” are).
We believe that, if you’re just looking for a convenient shake you can use as a stand-in meal every now and then, the Redcon1 MRE shake is a great product (albeit expensive).
If you’re looking to lose weight with this product, then it’s also a decent choice, but you’ll need to ensure you use it in the correct manner – if used incorrectly, you may not really see any weight loss results at all.
To ensure there are no misconceptions, while we would personally class this as a weight loss product, Redcon1’s MRE replacement shake is not actually capable of “burning fat” or boosting your metabolic rates; no ingredients inside this product have the ability to directly and independently “burn body fat”.
Any weight you lose using this shake will be via natural means only.
In order to see genuine fat loss from the Redcon1 MRE Shakes, you’ll need to use them to place yourself onto a low calorie diet. By swapping out your breakfast, lunch and dinner with a serving of MRE Meal Replacement (and not eating in-between the shakes), you’ll be dropping your daily calorie intake down to exactly 1536Kcal. Sustaining this over a period of 8-16 weeks can help you naturally lose weight, but it’ll certainly require some willpower.
The Pros & Cons Of Redcon1 MRE
Let’s take a look at the top level pros and cons of this product:
The Pros
- Very high in protein per serving.
- Formula is made with real food ingredients.
- May support weight loss if used as a meal replacement shake for 3 daily meals over a period of 8-16 weeks.
- Unlikely to produce any negative side effects for users.
The Cons
- Product doesn’t contain any ingredients that directly and independently “burn fat”.
- Will not improve the users metabolic rates.
- Will only work (for weight loss) if used correctly.
- High in calories and carbohydrates per serving (not ideal if you’re using it for the purposes of weight loss).
What Are The Redcon1 MRE Ingredients?
We have found the following supplement facts for this product:
One 130g Serving Contains: Calories 512, Carbohydrates 75g, Protein 47g, Rolled Oats, Beef Protein Isolate, Salmon Protein, Chicken Protein, Egg Albumin, Brown Rice Protein, Pea Protein, Dehydrated Yams, Dehydrated Sweet Potato, Pea Starch, Coconut Water Powder, Dehydrated Blueberry Fruit, Dehydrated Goji Fruit, Maltodextrin, Dextrose, MCT Oil, Natural Flavoring, Cellulose Gum, Cinnamon, Salt, Sucralose and Acesulfame-Potassium.
Is Redcon1 MRE Safe?
After carefully inspecting the ingredients used inside Redcon1’s MRE shake, we are confident in saying that this product is completely safe. The formula does not contain any banned or dangerous ingredients as far as we can see.
What Are The Redcon1 MRE Side Effects?
We’ve compiled the following potential side effects based on the ingredients inside this formula:
- Gas
- Bloating
- Diarrhea [1]
Note: these side effects are possible but may not be the typical user experience.
Are There Any Redcon1 MRE Reviews From Customers?
We have found the following Redcon1 MRE review testimonials via customers on Amazon:
I’ve had many side effects with Whey Protein. I tolerated them and noticed much worse with new artificial sweeteners like Moltitol.. people can get awful gas/cramps from that crap. I tried some Chicken protein, unflavored…that was brutal, lol. I wondered why someone couldn’t create a Food-Sourced protein WITH Carbs for before/after training & meal replacement with good flavor… Oh, and that doesn’t give me gas, cramps and sh*ts if consumed by itself.
Well These guys did just that! Take it seriously and use it wisely. I noticed body composition changes within two weeks.
The flavor is terrible. I bought the sweet potato pie flavor, but all I taste is sucralose; the sweet potato doesn’t come through at all. Then there is a weird bitter aftertaste in the back of the mouth that reminds me of the flavor of organ meat (offal). It also has a greasy, slimy mouth feel. On top of all that the powder keeps sinking to the bottom unless I constantly shake or stir it, which makes it look greasy and slimy.
Our Final Verdict On Redcon1 MRE
To conclude our Redcon1 MRE review, it’s certainly not a terrible product for those looking to naturally lose weight by replacing their meals, however it’s definitely not the most potent or cutting-edge weight loss shake we’ve ever seen (as it contains no clinically-proven fat burning ingredients).
Starting with the positives, we like how this product uses real whole foods – that’s a very unique trait and there’s a chance it may keep users feeling fuller for longer than the Whey-based alternatives. Furthermore, the formula is very high in protein, which is great for those looking to gain or maintain their lean muscle mass while dieting.
The main downsides are, this product doesn’t contain any fat burning or metabolism-boosting ingredients. While it’s not directly marketed as a “weight loss shake”, we believe that meal replacement shakes are commonly viewed as such and for the price tag (which is frightfully high by the way), we feel Redcon1 should have included ingredients that’ll help the user lose weight faster.
Furthermore, this shake is very high in calories (512Kcal per serving) and is loaded with carbs, which leads us to believe that weight loss using this product will be slow-and-steady, rather than quick and instantly-noticeable.
Make no mistake, losing weight with this product will require lots of willpower, and the rate you lose weight won’t exactly be fast (due to the formula being high-in-calories and not containing any fat burning ingredients), but if you see it through you’ll very likely get there in the end.