Is It Safe to Drink Ensure on an Empty Stomach?

Ensure is a brand of nutritional shake that contains essential vitamins and minerals 2. Physicians recommend Ensure to patients that have nutritional deficiencies or other conditions that limit their nutritional intake. Because Ensure is considered a meal replacement, you can consume the beverage on an empty stomach or with meals. Consult your physician before you decide to make Ensure a part of your diet.

Identification

There are different types and flavors of Ensure. The basic Ensure helps to replace vitamins and minerals to help make sure that you obtain all of your necessary nutritional needs. Ensure Plus helps you gain or maintain weight. Other types of Ensure target bone health, muscle health, increase immunity or provide extra protein. If you need or want to drink Ensure, the shake comes in several different flavors, including chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, butter pecan and coffee latte 12.

Nutrition

How Many Calories Does Ensure Have Per Bottle?

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The standard Ensure shake contains 24 essential vitamins and minerals 12. One serving size of the shake contains 50 percent of your daily recommended value of vitamin C. The shake is also high in iron and calcium. It is a good source of vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K and many of the B vitamins. One bottle of Ensure has 200 calories and 6 g of fat. The standard Ensure also has 9 g of protein and 1 g of fiber.

Recommendations

The ways you use Ensure will depend on your nutritional needs. Some people need the extra calories and nutrients offered by the shake. However, you can also use Ensure as a meal replacement. You can drink the beverage on an empty stomach. If you have difficulty eating certain meals, Ensure can help add much needed nutrition to your diet 2. Consume the drink first thing in the morning on an empty stomach or at other times throughout the day as a snack or meal replacement.

Precautions

The Sugar Content of Ensure Plus

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Consult your doctor for specific recommendations on drinking Ensure. Ensure does contain a high amount of sugar and may be contraindicated with certain conditions, such as diabetes. If you are using Ensure as a meal replacement, you should only replace two meals. Since Ensure does have a high amount of sugar and only a small amount of fiber, you will still need to eat at least one regular meal to obtain the rest of your nutritional needs. This meal should contain grains, with a high amount of fiber.