GNC Total Lean Shake Review: Will It Work for Weight Loss?

If you already know the name GNC, it’s probably for a reason. GNC is one of the largest health & wellness retail brands in the country and the world at large.

They have a variety of different weight loss supplements that are sold in stores throughout the country. These include various categories, like fat burners, meal replacements, appetite suppressants, protein bars, and carb blockers.

One of their more highly regarded weight loss supplements is their GNC Total Lean Shake, a part of the ‘GNC Total Lean series’. The shake claims to have 8 grams of fiber, 25 grams of protein, and 23 different vitamins and minerals. What’s more, they claim to do all of this while only having 200 calories.

In this review, we put this claim to the test. Can GNC’s Total Lean Shake help you lose weight and, if so, how much can you lose on it?

WHAT IS GNC TOTAL LEAN SHAKE?

The GNC Total Lean Shake is marketed as a weight-loss supplement. It claims to act as a hunger suppressant and a substitution for solid meals throughout the day. They claim that the shake contains a considerable amount of nutrition, including both proteins and fiber.

Just some of the listed features include:

* HUNGER SUPPRESSION: Dietary fiber has been proven to satiate the body and reduce appetite

* VARIETY OF NUTRIENTS: Each serving is reported to have 8 g fiber, 25 g protein, and 23 different vitamins and minerals

* WORKS BEST WITH OTHER PRODUCTS: While results can show when taken alone, it is reported to work optimally while alongside their weight loss program

 

Related: The 10 Best Fat Burning Supplements for Women

 

HOW DOES THE TOTAL LEAN SHAKE WORK?

When compared with other weight loss items, meal replacements are unique as they are food that does contain calories. This is far and away different from even whole food supplements, where’d you have to take a considerable amount to reach even 100 calories.

Why is this important?

Simply this. Rather than simply gaining the nutritional aspects of the food (i.e., whole food supplements), you are essentially just consuming food as a smoothie instead of as a solid. By taking a 52g scoop of the shake mix and combining it with water, you are essentially able to “skip” a meal.

Again, the challenge is that you’re NOT “skipping a meal”. You’ve just made your meal a liquid instead of a solid. If you used milk rather than water, you’d likely feel more satiated, but that would only be because you added more calories to the shake. It’d be no different from drinking a milkshake and calling that a replacement meal.

 

WHAT’S ACTUALLY IN A GNC TOTAL LEAN SHAKE?

GNC’s Total Lean Shake does come with some admittedly good things in its ingredient formula. Just some of the ingredients contained in a single serving include:

VITAMINS & MINERALS

To start, it’s reported to have upwards of 23 different vitamins and minerals available. Here are just a few of the most notable mentions that have been proven to help with weight loss and weight reduction.

* VITAMINS B6 AND B12: A one-two combo that is often found in gym supplements. Vitamins B6 and B12 are the first areas hit when performing a thorough workout. As such, replenishing them allows you to have more energy throughout the day. This is especially important for vegetarians, as Vitamin B is more readily consumed from meat sources.

* CHROMIUM: Chromium, in small doses, helps regulate your blood sugar. This can result in a reduction of food cravings throughout the day. A working dose is around 200mcgs or roughly 0.2mg.

* IRON & FOLATE: Both irons, as well as folate, have continually been shown to be instrumental to the body and its ability to create new blood cells. Not only is this useful when exercising in general, but females can especially benefit from this, as the blood loss from menstruation can potentially risk anemia.

* SELENIUM: Selenium is a mineral that helps the production of Vitamin E. It is also useful to slow down certain eye-based conditions while also improving hair and nail growth.

* ZINC: Primarily found in testosterone production, zinc seems to correlate with overall weight loss directly. Studies have shown that higher amounts of zinc can reduce body weight, while a lower amount has been shown to increase body weight.

PROTEIN SOURCES

Regarded as the primary macronutrient for anyone on their fitness journey, protein is not only ideal for those looking to gain muscle. Still, it is also an ideal method of repairing body tissue.

Protein is also known as an appetite suppressant. This is because, like fiber, consuming high amounts of protein instead of sugary food or foods high in carbohydrates can directly result in a net reduction in caloric intake.

The GNC’s Total Lean Shake is comprised of protein from Milk Protein Concentrate, Why Protein Concentrate, and Whey Protein Isolate.

DIETARY FIBER

While protein is ideal for building and repairing muscle, fiber is the most ideal method of reducing appetite and cravings naturally. It allows you to eat less while feeling fuller. This is done by slowing the rate of food getting to the digestive tract. As a result, you feel fuller for longer as the food has not yet been broken down.

You can start to feel the effects at around 8g per serving.

 

HOW EFFECTIVE IS GNC’S TOTAL LEAN SHAKE?

As stated earlier, there are some legitimately good things in GNC’s meal replacement shake. The problem is that it’s unclear exactly how effective this method is at stopping cravings with one shake. While you’d certainly feel satiated for potentially an hour or two, it’s unclear if much of that is coming from the ingredients themselves or simply because you are drinking a meal and your body is reacting to the calories consumed.

In addition, there’s also the question of sustainability. For many people, the idea of “drinking” a meal may not sit well psychologically. An excellent example of this is Bulletproof Keto Coffees. These drinks are essentially butter in coffee, which similarly acts as a meal replacement, often a breakfast meal replacement.

Still, because it psychologically felt like they were simply drinking a cup of coffee, many people didn’t recognize the fact that any additional food they had would be more calories coming in. In other words, people may end up GAINING weight instead of losing it because they are likely to take the shake with a full-course meal.

A more realistic and sensible option could have been solid food with fat burner supplements that aided Thermogenesis. This would have ensured people knew they were eating food while also specifically aiding in the fat-burning process instead of the meal replacement process.

 

THE POTENTIAL SIDE EFFECTS

Luckily, the side effects surrounding GNC Total Lean Shake are fairly mild. At most, people report feeling slight constipation due to the additional fiber and protein in their diet.

The other, more severe side effect is the aforementioned continued desire to eat food. This is not only counterproductive for the shake but self-defeating. Rather than the shake reducing the number of calories consumed in the day can often have very little impact on how much a person eats, instead only adding to their total calories for the day.

This, ironically enough, can result in people gaining weight on the product rather than losing it.

 

CUSTOMER REVIEWS

While there are many reviews for the product, almost all of them are written reviews with very few “before and after” photos or video testimonials showing the product’s effectiveness. Not only that, but even when reading the reviews given, almost none of them talk about whether the shake has helped them lose weight.

This should immediately be noted as a red flag, as a weight loss product’s number one goal is to present proof of concept. If they cannot show evidence that the product works, how can you know whether the product works?

Still, after going through and reviewing many of the comments and testimonials surrounding the GNC Total Lean Shake, here’s what we found:

POSITIVE REVIEWS

For positive reviews, many people gave the shake high marks due to its overall taste and its being fairly easy to blend in most blenders. The closest reviews that specifically touched on its effectiveness were reviews that noted how it helped them not feel hungry before bed.

BAD REVIEWS

In terms of the negative reviews surrounding the shake, few responded with any actual notes surrounding the shake’s effectiveness. Most did, however, note that they had upset stomachs after taking the shake, received their shake mix with a broken seal, and dealt with “off” tasting mixes even after first opening it.

While these points (on either side) are indeed interesting as additional information, none of them speak to how well the shake works. This lack of crucial information should automatically make you wary of the product itself.

CAN THE TOTAL LEAN SHAKE HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT?

Simple answer: Yes, it can help you lose weight. The GNC Total Lean Shake has many vitamins and minerals that help promote weight loss. That alone can start to show signs of weight loss.

The issue is that that is not the right question to ask. Instead, the correct question is, ‘WILL the GNC Total Lean Shake help me lose weight?”

This answer, unfortunately, not going to be the same. While it can potentially help, more often than not, you will need a fairly strong amount of willpower and discipline only to consume this shake as a meal replacement. Generally, suppose you are mentally strong enough to add in this shake while dieting and exercising successfully. In that case, you’ll likely be mentally strong enough to see serious results by JUST dieting and exercising.

Ultimately, while there is some good to the meal replacement shake, it seems like it’s just more trouble than it’s worth, at best, and likely to make you gain weight, at worse.

 

THE PROS & CONS

PROS

• No hidden or proprietary blends
• Great for women while not adding stimulants
• A great supplemental option for vegetarians (not vegans)

CONS

• Has a bit too many unnecessary vitamins added just for the sake of having vitamins
• Each container only has 16 days worth of servings; meaning you’ll have to get two containers per month
• Psychologically difficult for many people to understand the replacement meal is meant to replace your meal

 

WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ADDED

Rather than some of the unnecessary vitamins added, GNC’s Total Lean Shake could have added some of these supplements instead:

* CHOLINE: Choline is a nootropic brain chemical that helps to improve mood and increase focus. Not only that, but choline also helps normalize a person’s metabolism to break down fats faster in the body.

* NATURAL CAFFEINE: Caffeine, natural caffeine, in particular, has been shown time and time again to affect improving one’s physical endurance and mental motivation. This, among other things, are very useful in helping a person get more physically active. Note that you’ll want NATURAL caffeine instead of the caffeine from sugary energy drinks.

* TURMERIC: Often added to curry sauces, turmeric is said to help with inflammation and cognitive brain function. As much weight gain is due to a chronically inflamed body, reducing inflammation would naturally reduce one’s overall weight.

 

CONCLUSION

While it would be disingenuous to say that GNC Total Lean Shake has absolutely no value or benefit, the simple fact of the matter is that whatever benefit it does have is offset by its inability to promote healthy living, lack of evidence that it works, and most importantly, the fact that it is incredibly easy to gain weight while using.

If you are already mentally resilient enough, you could potentially use GNC Total Lean Shake to help reduce your gross total calories. However, at $90 a month ($45 every two weeks) with no testimonials or evidence of its effectiveness, I’d consider looking at more proven weight loss methods with a higher chance of success.