Shakeology FAQ

Shakeology has a good amount of protein. The regular formula contains whey isolate protein, which is one of the most—arguably the most—bioavailable sources of protein that exists because it can be absorbed more quickly by your body than other proteins.

The vegan formula contains a proprietary blend of plant-based proteins from chia, flax, sacha inchi, quinoa, rice, pea, and oat that deliver all nine essential amino acids.

The primary source of protein is from whey isolate, which comes from milk. Whey is one of the most bioavailable protein sources so it rapidly gets to work on repairing your muscles and the amino acids are easily absorbed and used by your body.

Yes, the whey isolate protein used in Shakeology is free of antibiotics.

There are both regular and vegan Shakeology formulas. The only non-vegan ingredient in the non-vegan flavors is whey isolate protein, which comes from milk.

There are four vegan Shakeology flavors—Vegan Chocolate, Vegan Vanilla, Tropical Strawberry, and Vegan Café Latte.

The vegan formula contains a proprietary blend of plant-based proteins derived from chia, flax, sacha inchi, quinoa, rice, pea, and oat that deliver all nine essential amino acids.

Here’s an informative and detailed post about the ingredients in Shakeology—What’s In Shakeology?

Please click below to view the nutritional information for each individual flavor in the U.S. (message us if you need the Canadian version):

• Chocolate
• Chocolate (vegan)
• Vanilla
• Vanilla (vegan)
• Strawberry
• Tropical Strawberry (vegan)
• Café Latte
• Café Latte (vegan)

With the complexity of sourcing over 70 ingredients from all over the world, it was not possible to certify all the ingredients as organic. However, they have been carefully selected and processed under strict controls to retain the highest density of nutrients possible.

You can learn more about the ingredients here—Where Do Shakeology Come From?

It might be confusing because the nutrition label indicates there is wheatgrass and kamut grass in Shakeology. However, after extensive testing, Cookies & Creamy Shakeology has been found to be 100% gluten-free.

As such, it should be an appropriate snack or meal for people suffering from gluten allergies or celiac disease. However, since individual allergies and conditions vary, it is recommended to test a small dose first before proceeding with a full serving.

Beachbody is working on making the other flavors 100% gluten free.

No. Shakeology does contain green tea extract, but the caffeine has been removed.

Ingredients like herbal powders, grass powders, vegetable powders, spirulina, chlorella, chocolate, plus some of the fruit and berry powders are what impact the colors of each flavor.

Shakeology uses several whole-food sources of nutrients rather than using only synthetic extracts or isolates (like some multivitamin pills).

The benefit of whole food-derived ingredients is that the nutrients are preserved as close to their natural state as possible and are, therefore, delivered to your body in the most holistic way possible. Your body will better absorb and more efficiently use the nutrients from whole-food sources.

The process of converting a food from its natural state to a powder, if done incorrectly, can destroy the nutrients in that food. With Shakeology, they ensure the highest levels of nutrients are preserved through strict temperature-controlled drying and processing.

Yes! Fresh fruits and vegetables will always be important for a healthy, balanced diet. Shakeology can help you fill in the nutritional gaps that occur when you’re too busy to eat the right balance of fruits and veggies. Plus, it’s much easier to tuck Shakeology into a purse or backpack than a head of lettuce!

Yes, but it is not recommended to replace more than two meals per day.

At 3 grams per 140 calories, Shakeology is a balanced source of fiber. More importantly, its fiber sources are varied, coming from apple pectin, flax, chia meal, and yacon. Yacon also happens to be one of the best prebiotic sources known to man.

Because of the way Shakeology is formulated, one shake pretty much covers your body’s normal daily requirement for vitamins and minerals, so most people do not need to take a multivitamin on top of their daily shake.

If you were doing a hard-charging fitness routine—like one of the P90X Workouts, Body Beast, 21 Day Fix Extreme, LIIFT4, etc.—you may need some additional supplementation from the Performance Line to make sure your body recovers properly.

While the flax seed and chia seeds in Shakeology provide some Omega-3 fatty acids, it is still recommended you take an Omega 3 supplement to meet your daily requirement.

The recommended daily allowance of calcium is 1,200 mg for pre-menopausal women and 1,500 mg for post-menopausal women.

Shakeology provides 500 mg of calcium, so it IS recommended to supplement with calcium to meet the daily recommended allowance. Due to the digestive enzymes in Shakeology, taking Core your calcium at the same time you drink Shakeology will help your body to better absorb the nutrients.

Because the needs of every child may vary, please check with your pediatrician. However, since Shakeology is a healthy drink with low sugar and a wide variety of nutrients, it is a much healthier option than many other drinks or snacks on the market and should be appropriate for most children over the age of six. You may want to start out with a smaller serving size until you are sure of the child’s tolerance. It is not recommended to be given as a meal replacement for children younger than six years old without first checking with your pediatrician.

Rather than Shakeology, we recommend Daily Sunshine for the kiddos as it’s formulated specifically for them!

Shakeology should only be taken by pregnant women and nursing mothers under the direction of their physicians.

Because needs vary for each diabetic person, it is recommended you check with your doctor first. However, since Shakeology is a low-caloric meal replacement with a lower glycemic index than most meals, it should be acceptable for most people with diabetes.

While Shakeology has been tested as safe for most people, you should always consult with your physician if you are on any medication (especially heart medication, since it contains Vitamin K1) or if you have any other unique health conditions.

Shakeology would be a better option than a full meal prior to working out. However, if it’s immediately before a workout, you’d be better served by something with more sugar and less fiber for rapid absorption, such as the Performance Pre-Workout Energize Formula.

It’s better than many other options available, but less perfect than something designed primarily for this purpose—such as Performance Post-Workout Recover Formula).

It’s not ideal, but you could do worse. When you’re training at an intense level—like a body shaking level, Performance Recover is the better choice because it replenishes glycogen quickly. The more quickly you can get your glycogen levels back where they should be, the less damage there will be to your muscle cells and the faster you’ll recover. This is only time sugar is a preferred nutrient in your diet.

Performance Recover has much more sugar than Shakeology, so it’s much more effective in helping your body recover. I say “you could do worse” than Shakeology because it has other ingredients that help it deliver nutrients to your body more rapidly than some of the other shakes or sports drinks out there.

Yes, you can take both supplements—but, not together.

The Performance Recover formula should only be taken during or after exercise, when you’ve been exhausting your body’s blood sugar. At any other time, Shakeology would be your preferred option.

Cooking or heating Shakeology would destroy many of the nutrients and upset the nutrient balance. Therefore, it’s highly recommended that you drink it at room temperature or cooler.

The short answer: yes. But, it’s more complex than that because P90Xers have different nutritional considerations than most.

Meal replacement shakes, including Shakeology, are designed so you drink them instead of eating a full meal in order to help you lose weight. (Given how nutrient-dense Shakeologyis, it’s one of the very best supplements on the market.) Despite containing a full day’s worth of many nutrients, one Shakeology shake has only 140 to 150 calories.

This falls short of the caloric requirements in the P90X Nutrition Guide and it does not serve the average P90Xer to cut out calories. As you get fitter and your body composition changes, your nutritional needs also change. When you first start working out, you can lose weight simply by taking in less calories. However, as you gain muscle – like you will on P90X, you’ve got to eat more in order to keep losing weight…usually a lot more than you ate when you first got started, sometimes more than twice as much. If you don’t eat enough while doing P90X, your weight loss can plateau and you can lose your ability to even do the workouts.

Shakeology is an excellent way to add more healthy calories to your meals. We’ve got some killer recipes that’ll boost your calories and have you seriously excited for your next meal:

The Portion Plan is designed to help you get more macronutrients in order to maintain a balanced diet. Shakeology has equal amounts of carbs and protein and almost no fat, so it can replace one block of protein and one block of carbs.

Shakeology is an awesome snack for P90Xers! Your body puts its nutrients to use very quickly making it ideal for a little pick-me-up, especially when you’re on the go. It’s so much better than most of the energy drinks out there. Sure, you’ll get a burst of energy from something like Red Bull, but Shakeology gives you sustained energy because of its high quality macro and micronutrients. It’s (certified) low glycemic index also helps keep your blood sugar stable.

Because Shakeology helps you digest whatever you eat with it, there really isn’t a wrong time to drink it. The ideal time for a workout drink is one hour before you start. Shakeology will help you not crash at the end of your workout, especially if your glycogen is depleted. It can also be effective post-workout or at any time of the day that you’re starting to drag. It’s a much better alternative than a cup of coffee!

Beachbody has natural supplements that are a bit better tailored for pre- and post-workout than Shakeology. If you’re looking for help before and after you workout, definitely check out Performance Energize Pre-Workout Formula and Performance Recover Post-Workout Formula.

On the surface, it appears that Shakeology is expensive and I’ve seen price hold a lot of people back. While it might seem expensive, I assure you that most people CAN afford Shakeology if you just do a little creative and thoughtful analysis.

Americans in particular look at foods more from a “cost-to-calorie” instead of “cost-to-nutrient” ratio. Sure, you can buy a Jamba Juice for a little less money, but what you’re giving up is a ton of micronutrients in exchange for sugar, empty calories, and probably chemicals. If you’re truly serious about your health, you should look a lot closer at exactly what you spend your money on. I bet you’re dropping drop $3-$4 a day on things that are NOT good for you without even thinking. Maybe a latte, a smoothie, a burger…the list is long. The only way to end the obesity trend is to take responsibility for – and invest in – our health and begin to make better food choices.