- Cal 100
- Protein 17g
- Fiber 2g
- Carb 7g
- Sugar 4g
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Pros:
Tastes like dessert; good-quality proteins
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Cons:
Low in fiber; 5g of sugar from maltodextrin, fructose, artificial flavors & more
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User's Rating
Summary :
Have you heard of the LadyBoss?! Kaelin Tuell Poulin is making a fortune in 2019 on her perfectly-targeted health and fitness products, including a protein shake for women. She markets this weight loss drink, called the Lady Boss Lean Shake, as “entirely different from shakes made for men,” containing “natural ingredients” that can help you slim down, improve digestion, boost immunity and more.
One of the biggest marketing angles of this diet shake is that it literally “tastes like cake”. The company encourages people to use the LadyBoss Vanilla Cake protein powder as a daily meal replacement along with an alternative ingredient in baking recipes.
But does the shake really taste good? And is the company being totally honest with consumers about the ingredients in it? Are they all good for your health? Plus, how are the company’s business practices? Are they conducting themselves with integrity? Read on to get all the dirt on this protein shake and find out if it’s worth the hype…
TASTE FACTOR
The LadyBoss Lean Shake comes in just one flavor: Vanilla Cake. And if you can make any drink taste like cake (especially a weight loss one), chances are people will love it! Which is exactly the case with this diet shake! Many users in Lady Boss Lean Reviews on Amazon and other sites fussed over the shake, giving it 5 stars, and saying it “tastes amazing,” and they’re “absolutely obsessed with it”! (1)
But not everyone was as enthusiastic. It turns out if you like “super-sweet”, this shake will win you over. Most people mention that it tastes like dessert, but do you really want cake for every meal?! Those who didn’t like the shake noted that it was too sweet for them and left an unpleasant aftertaste. We’ll dig into the sweeteners they use a little later on…
Whether or not you truly enjoy drinking this shake, the truth is, you may get bored with only one flavor. Yes, LadyBoss does offer a variety of shake recipes on their site, but you may not always have the time to pull out ingredients and equipment for smoothies. If you just want to drink the shake with water or a low-fat milk and mix it up in a shaker cup, the cake flavor may get old.
LADY BOSS LEAN SHAKE INGREDIENTS
Moving onto the shake ingredients, things get more interesting… Lady Boss Shakes may taste like cake, but what is used to create them?! Turns out, that simple question is not as straightforward as it should be.
On the Lady Boss Labs website, there’s plenty of girl power, motivational quotes, feel good messages, and reassurances that everything in their products are great for your health. But when you go to the Ingredients tab on their site, there is only 6 items listed. That can’t be all that’s in this shake?! Well, it’s not.
Scrolling down to the Nutrition Facts label, they only show you the basics. Again, there is no full list of ALL the ingredients in the shake. And you won’t find it anywhere on their site, or other sites that sell the product (like Amazon), either.
What you will find on Amazon is Lady Boss Reviews from real users, including photos of the back of the shake bag – which finally include all the ingredients. Many of these users express frustration that the ingredients were not made easily visible to them before purchase. (1)
In looking at the full, complete list of ingredients, there are a few that we don’t recommend for a healthy lifestyle. However, they are frequently used in other meal replacement shakes. So, then why all the cover up? Why is LadyBoss purposely removing the full list from their site? Let’s read on to find out the details…
CALORIES
100 Calories Per Serving
In looking at the calories, this is a good start for the LadyBoss protein shake. At only 100 calories per serving, you’ll have a lot of options with this shake. And since there is only one flavor, and you’ll most likely be making a lot of smoothies with it, you can add in other ingredients without worry.
The reason we recommend that you stick with a meal replacement shake that’s around 100 calories per serving or less is because it gives you flexibility. If you add some unsweetened almond milk to the shake and some other healthy ingredients like fruits and veggies, you’ll have a nice, low calorie shake for weight loss.
Or, if you’re looking to boost your fat intake, you can add in some healthy fats, such as MCT Oil, peanut or almond butter, or avocado, and still have a healthy shake. Since the calorie count started low, it won’t matter too much that you’re adding in the higher calorie ingredients.
When protein powders are calorie-heavy, you don’t have as many options, and you run the risk of eating too many calories per meal. This can hinder instead of help your weight loss goals.
PROTEIN AMOUNT
17g of Protein Per Serving
The best diet shakes will have a great amount of protein, so they’ll keep you full and help your body perform at its best. Protein is intricately involved with a number of vital functions in your body. Research shows that upping your protein consumption each day can help you burn more calories and fat. (2)
This is because protein helps your body build muscle, which can boost your metabolism. Eating a diet that is higher in protein can also help to boost your energy and support increased mental focus.
At 17g per serving, the LadyBoss meal replacement shake offers an ideal amount of protein per serving. A good goal is to aim for a shake that has 15-20g per serving and this falls right in line with that. At 17g, you can have this shake once or twice a day in place of meals, as a snack in between meals, or as a pre- or post-workout shake. It will help you “up” your overall protein intake, and ensure that the nutrient is a cornerstone of your meals.
PROTEIN TYPE
Grass-Fed Whey Protein Isolate & Whey Protein Concentrate
As for the type of protein used, Lady Boss protein shakes include a mix of grass-fed whey protein isolate and whey protein concentrate. The product bag shows that these ingredients are also rBGH-free and non-GMO (no genetically-modified ingredients).
In general, whey is an incredibly popular choice for protein shakes, because it contains all the essential amino acids, including important branched chain amino acids. This means it’s very effective for increasing muscle mass and strength. (3)
We like that they include a blend of both the isolate and concentrate forms of whey, since they both have different benefits. Whey isolate has more protein and less lactose and fat, while whey concentrate has more raw nutrients, and offers the best flavor.
It’s also a very clean protein powder, based on the description. The whey comes from cows that were not treated with the synthetic hormone, rBGH. This is very important because although rBGH is the largest selling dairy animal drug in America, it’s banned in Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the 27 countries of the European Union. This is due to its potential dangers to human health. (4)
Being non-GMO is also important since some experts have expressed their concern over genetically-modified ingredients being bad for humans, animals and the environment.
FIBER/CARBS
2g Fiber
Up to this point, the ingredients have been promising, but things start to go downhill with the fiber content. There is only 2g of fiber in each LadyBoss Shake, which is definitely not enough for a meal replacement! With such a focus on “total body health”, it’s hard to understand why they wouldn’t put more fiber in the shake!
The best meal replacement shakes will have 5-10g of fiber per serving. Fiber is essential because it helps keep you full, one of the main goals of any weight loss shake. It also assists with optimal digestion and bowel health. Since fiber is a staple of any well-balanced meal, it should also be the staple of the best protein shakes. And we think LadyBoss falls short on this one.
CARBOHYDRATES
7g Carbs
As for carbohydrates, there’s 7g of carbs per serving of Lady Boss Vanilla Cake Shake. This is a nice low amount of carbs, so it could work for low-carb diets. However, since there is only 2g of dietary fiber, the net carbs for this shake is 5g. Especially for those on extremely low-carb diets (like the keto diet), you ideally want a shake that’s lower in net carbs (around 2-3g).
However, you could still use this shake on a keto diet, but you would have to factor it into the overall carbs you consume for the day. You also need to take into account the sugar content (which is higher than a lot of other meal replacement shakes). We’ll discuss that next…
SUGAR CONTENT
5g of Sugar
Moving onto the amount of sugar in each LadyBoss Meal Replacement Shake, there’s 5g per serving. For weight loss and a healthy lifestyle, we always recommend you pick a diet shake that’s as low in sugar as possible. Unfortunately, Lady Boss does not meet this requirement. Though some of the worst shake offenders have much higher sugar amounts per serving, 5g is still higher than most.
Our top-rated diet shake, 310 Shake, has no sugar, and is only sweetened with natural sugar alternative, Stevia. This makes it one of the healthiest shake options on the market. Let’s take a look at the types of sweeteners that Lady Boss Labs uses in their shakes, next. This is one of the things you WON’T find on the LadyBoss Lab website, but you WILL find on the back of the bag…
SUGAR TYPES
Maltodextrin, Fructose, Natural & Artificial Flavors & Stevia
Well, it’s no wonder this shake tastes like cake! It may contain healthy sources of protein, but it has sugar/sweeteners from 5 different places. Interesting, that of all the sweeteners it uses, the ONLY one mentioned under Ingredients on their website is Stevia. And it’s the LAST ingredient listed on the back of the bag.
Let’s examine the other sweeteners listed much higher up in the ingredients list…
MALTODEXTRIN
3rdingredient, right after whey protein isolate & whey protein concentrate
This is a highly-processed additive that’s used to improve texture, flavor and shelf life in foods. It’s made from starchy foods like corn, potatoes, wheat and rice. Though it’s commonly used in many processed items, there are some health concerns. Evidence shows it may alter the healthy balance of gut bacteria, which can negatively affect people’s health. (5)
In addition, it can be quite the problem ingredient for diabetics. This is because it has a glycemic index that’s even higher than table sugar! So, it can cause sharp spikes in blood sugar shortly after consumption.
In one LadyBoss Lean Shake Review, a diabetic mentioned that she purchased the product after seeing on the site that it was sweetened with Stevia, which is safe for diabetics. However, after drinking the shake, her blood sugar level soared and she felt awful. After reading the label on the bag carefully, she was disheartened to realize the shake also contained maltodextrin and fructose, both bad for diabetics. (6)
FRUCTOSE
Fructose is one of the two major components of added sugar, with glucose as the other. Health experts believe that when fructose is consumed in excess, it's the more detrimental ingredient, and here’s why… The only organ in your body that can metabolism fructose is your liver. So, when you eat a high-calorie, high-fructose diet, the liver gets overloaded and turns fructose into fat. (7)
For this reason, many scientists also believe that a diet including excess fructose from added sugars can put you at a higher risk for serious diseases. These may include obesity, type II diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, heart disease and more. (8)
ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS
Another ingredient listed on the bag of Lady Boss meal replacement shake is “Natural & Artificial Flavors”. Whereas natural flavors are at least derived from substances found in nature, artificial flavors aren’t. Instead, they’re made completely of chemicals. Basically, they’re lab-concocted chemical substances that are made to mimic the flavors of natural, real foods.
VITAMINS/MINERALS
18 Vitamins and Minerals
As for the nutrients in each shake, there’s a decent number of vitamins and minerals included, 18 in total. These nutrients include essential staples like Vitamins A, C, D3, and E. It also includes minerals iron, magnesium, and zinc. However, there’s only 25% daily value of each nutrient, whereas other weight loss shakes usually contain much more.
Furthermore, there are no additional superfoods, greens blends, whole food nutrients, or probiotics in this shake. Probiotics, in particular, assist with peak gut health, along with digestive and immune health. The protein powder does include a proprietary digestive enzyme blend to help with proper digestion and absorption of nutrients.
PRICE
It should be noted that nowhere on the shake product page can you find the actual price of this shake! And then, even when you blindly click “Add to Cart”, you STILL aren’t shown the price! Instead, they make you fill out your name, email and phone number to get
“discounted pricing” or encourage you to call customer service to order.
Once you fill in the info, you’re finally able to see the price. One 30-serving bag of Lady Boss Lean Shake costs $57.95, which comes to $1.93 per serving. Although this is a good price for a diet shake in general, we believe the value of this shake goes down with the unhealthy sweeteners that are in it.
Plus, if you do go with LadyBoss, make sure you don’t move through the check-out process too swiftly. When you first get on the price page, the default selection is 2 bags of shake, which would cost you $97.95 if you simply hit continue. Instead, you have to manually move the cursor over to just 1 shake bag, if that’s what you want.
Finally, if you join the Lady Boss LABS “club”, which is their monthly autoship program, you can save 15% on orders.
COMPANY INFO
The “LadyBoss movement” was started in 2014 by Kaelin Tuell Poulin. The mission of the company is to “help women across the world lose weight while loving themselves again”. LadyBoss LABS was launched in 2017. This sub-company carries fitness and weight loss supplements and products, including the LadyBoss Lean Shake.
All of the Lady Boss LAB supplements are part of the “LadyBoss Transformation System” and include BURN, FUEL, LEAN, REST and RECOVER. Along with the Lean meal replacement, the system has motivating/restorative drinks for before and after exercise, an energy-boosting supplement and a sleep aid.
In 2018, Poulin won the “Female Entrepreneur of the Year” Stevie®Award. In addition, the Lady Boss Transformation System earned the Bronze Stevie Award for Best New Product. (9)
CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS
Though LadyBoss LABS became very popular in 2018, it seems they couldn’t keep up with the influx of orders. The Better Business Bureau currently has 99 complaints logged so far for LadyBoss products! This is a very high amount considering the products launched in 2017, and it’s still early 2019.
Most of the complaints are regarding trouble with orders, such as paying for an order and then not receiving the product. There are also lots of customer service issues stating that “no one at LadyBoss ever answers the phone”, and they would also continue to email and get no reply.
CONCLUSION
In summary, how does the Lady Boss Lean Shake measure up to other healthy lifestyle shakes in this market? Unfortunately, we think the company could make some improvements. When looking just at the product itself, LadyBoss markets it as “designed specifically for women.” But we don’t see anything incredibly unique about this shake that would somehow make it “special” for women.
As for the positives, it does contain good quality whey proteins, and has a nice, low calorie number per serving. It also has 18 vitamins and minerals, and digestive enzymes. And most people love the taste of these shakes, claiming they taste exactly like dessert.
But for the negatives, the protein powders are low in fiber, and contain maltodextrin as the third ingredient in the shake after the proteins. They also contain fructose and artificial flavors, which we believe are counterproductive to your health and weight loss goals.
And finally, we think the biggest issue with this company is the lack of transparency we found between what they say on their website, and what is actually the case. This leads us to question the overall integrity of the company. Not to mention the pile of current customer complaints about customer service and order errors.
However, LadyBoss founder, Kaelin Tuell Poulin, and her Transformation System products did receive awards in 2018. So, maybe there’s some potential yet to be uncovered with this company, we just ask that they keep things honest! And knock off some of the sugars!
Before you make a final decision on the shake for you, be sure to check out the other reviews on this site, for comparison. Start with the options below!
Lady Boss Lean Shake Comparison:
310 Shake
IsaLean Shake
GNC Total Lean Shake
Sources:
- https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Protein-Powder-Replacement-Shakes/product-reviews/B07B2ZLSYY/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewopt_srt?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=1&sortBy=recent
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/protein-shakes-weight-loss#section1
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/whey-protein-101#types
- https://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-dangers-of-rbgh-in-your-milk.html
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322426.php
- https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R32TNILI59RNVV/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B07B2ZLSYY
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-fructose-bad-for-you-201104262425
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/why-is-fructose-bad-for-you#section2
- https://www.prweb.com/releases/kaelin_poulin_of_ladyboss_wins_female_entrepreneur_of_the_year_stevie_award/prweb15937547.htm
Protein quality : 8/10
Each serving of the LadyBoss Shake contains 17g of protein, which is a good amount for a meal replacement shake. The protein in the shake is what boosts your metabolism and energy and keeps you full and satisfied, along with fiber. Protein is also low in calories, yet filling.
Appetite Suppressant : 5.5/10
2g of Fiber in each serving. Fiber is one of the two most important ingredients in a meal replacement shake, along with protein, since it forms the bulk of the shake and is responsible for keeping you full and satisfied. Having adequate fiber in the shake also helps streamline your digestive processes and rids your body of toxins.
Taste : 8.5/10
So, how does the cake taste? Most Lady Boss Lean Reviews said that it’s actually quite delicious. In fact, this is why most people buy this shake… so they can indulge in a tasty treat that is low in calories. A number of reviews revealed that the shakes have rich and creamy textures and a dessert-like, true cake flavor that goes well with a lot of different ingredients such as peanut butter, cocoa powder and banana.
Value : 8.5/10
One bag of Lean shake is $57.95 (or $1.93 per serving)
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