Saturo Meal Replacement Shakes, Original, Ready-to-Drink Meal, All Essential Vitamins and Minerals, Gluten-Free, 500 kcal, Pack of 12 (Original, 12x500ml)

As a PhD researcher, time has always been a somewhat limited commodity for me. Though fast food options are aplenty these days, these are clearly not the most healthy option. And preparing a healthy meal can be both time consuming and costly. Herein lies the problem: a choice between time and health (and, for me, that equals science vs. health - and I love science!). But this dilemma may finally have a solution.I first heard about 'complete foods' a few years ago, when the first (Soylent) went on sale in the US. The idea: everything a person needs to live a healthy life, in the form of a powder you simply add water to and shake. Unfortunately though, Soylent did not (and still does not) ship to Europe. Since then, a number of companies have started producing complete foods in Europe. I've tried a few (Joylent, Huel, and Queal), but none of these powdered foods were quite what I was looking for.But then came Saturo. It is a pre-made 'ready to drink' liquid food that is a game changer. I first tried it a few months ago, and now replace about 80% of my meals with it. Why? Because it tastes amazing, it is filling, it makes me feel healthier than ever before, and (importantly!) it take 5 seconds to open a bottle containing a healthy meal :-)I mostly use Saturo if I need to work late in the evening and don't have time to spare preparing a meal (the original, neutral, flavour is great for this). I do also love to have the coffee one in the morning for breakfast - it tastes like a premium latte. The chocolate one tastes like chocolate milk, though you can also put it in the microwave for about 1.5 minutes to make a lovely hot chocolate. I've also taken it travelling, as it is a wonderful source of energy when hiking.It's also vegan and gluten-free. Personally, I've been a carnivore for my entire life, and never imagined that I'd find a vegan food that tastes nicer than meat. I kid you not, I'd rather drink this than have a steak... and I can't believe I just said that.What about disadvantages? Honestly, the only one is the cost. At the current Amazon price, it is £3.45 per meal. It is a little cheaper on the Saturo website (I get mine on a subscription for about £2.50 per meal). Amazon does deliver next day though, wheras if you order from Saturo directly it takes 4-5 days to ship to the UK (from Austria).The price aside though, I can't recommend it enough. If this is the future of food, then I was sold from the very first taste.

If you're looking for a chocolatey delicious shake... You're probably not looking in the right place. These shakes aren't designed to be delicious. They're designed to meet dietary needs and be palatable.Smell - pretty neutral, doesn't smell like chocolate, smells like a meal replacement shake.Taste - you can taste chocolate, not milk chocolate, but a coco chocolate. Its palatable taste.Consistency - no lumps, no bumps, just a surprisingly smooth consistency.Price - overly priced like every shake on the market.I went for the saturo because its 100 extra more calories than its leading competitor.There isn't much to say really. Most shakes designed as meal replacements, are pretty bland and taste fine if you aren't picky. They're all seemingly made to meet dietary and nutritional needs. I don't exactly savour the taste as much as I drink it in one and go about my day knowing I've just had a meal.Pros -500 calories per servingSmooth and palatableSeemingly dietary/nutritionally balancedCons -Expensive

Great product for me. Has a chocolate taste but some hints of milk and aspartame (artificial sweetener) too. I'm fine with the sweetener, it's good that this drink is low in sugar and the sweeteners are safe to consume.Thanks for being gluten-free, unlike Soylent.It tastes fine at room temperature, there's no need to refrigerate before drinking like it says on the label in my opinion.Quite expensive however, even for 500 Calories.Worth noting that this DOES NOT make me feel full, so I'm sceptical of its abilities for weight loss. It's also less than 25% of my daily requirement as a moderately active person.It also contains vitamin D and, in the case of the coffee flavour, caffeine, both of which can cause insomnia if consumed in the evening. This is why vitamin D supplements say to consume them in the morning. So this might be better suited as a breakfast or lunch replacement.

Bought this to make it easier count calories and loose a little bit of weight quickly ( please dont judge) in time for a holiday in a few weeks times.I've tried Huel, the powdered version before last year and i just got really bad bloating and did not enjoy the faff of making it etc so this time i thought i'll try this.Plan is to replace all my meals for 2 weeks with saturo. I've also bought some carb killa drinks just in case i get any bad hunger pangs as i totally want to stay on shakes for at least 2 weeks to make sure my calories are counted exactly. Will count my calories burnt from day to day & exercise too via my samsung watch 2. Update: seems Galaxy watch doesn't measure calories based on heart rate. arghStarting stats are5ft 8,80.5kg,24% bodyfat,BMR 1766 ( BMR from samsung watch)Will keep updating this as i go along in a few days time to see how it pans outSo far, the shake is nice and thick and seems to have kept the hunger pangs at bay, next few days will be the test.Taste delicious!Day 1. 2035 Calories Burnt, 698 consumed. Zero hunger issuesDay 2. 79.7KG

Nutritionally this was the best premix replacement drink I could find on the market - high fibre, high protein, low sugar, great!The chocolate flavour was nice (not too sweet), but the drink has quite a weird oily feel to it that makes it sit poorly in the stomach. Given the price, I was hoping for something that felt a bit more like a milkshake. Perhaps if they had a non-vegan variant based on milk it might feel less artificial.Overall, I'll be trying something else next time.