Ensure drink

Ensure is a brand of drinks aimed at increasing your calorie and nutrient intake. It’s often used to help people who are at risk of malnutrition, or are currently under-nourished. It’s particularly helpful for making sure that older people are able to get as much nutrition as they need on a daily basis.^[1]

This means that alongside being a typically calorie-rich drink, it’s formulated to be fortified with vitamins and nutrients in order to make it a safe meal replacement on a short-term basis.

How does Ensure drink work?

Because it provides you with both a good amount of calories and a range of vitamins and nutrients, it means that a ‘serving’ of Ensure drink should provide you with all the same benefits that you should get from a meal.

This means that it can work to maintain your weight if you’re unable to eat for whatever reason, or you can use it to help you to gain weight if you drink it alongside your regular diet.

Because of this, clinicians often ‘prescribe’ drinks like Ensure to people who are either suffering from or at risk of suffering from malnutrition due to other health factors. Malnourishment can often be a concern for the elderly as they might struggle to eat or retain nutrition for physiological reasons, such as cancer or digestive issues, or psychological reasons such as dementia or depression.^[2]

What types of Ensure drink are there?

Ensure has two different types of product: Nutrivigor and Max Protein. They’re both pretty similar, but Ensure Max Protein contains more, well, protein. This basically just means that Ensure Max Protein can be more useful for you if you’re looking to gain more muscle – as protein is an essential component for helping to build more muscle mass.

The process for using Ensure drinks is pretty simple. Just combine six level scoops of the powder (the scoop will be provided) with 195 ml of cold water and stir it until all of the powder is dissolved.

How long does it take Ensure to work?

If you’re using Ensure to try to combat malnutrition, then it can take a few weeks for your health to start improving. But it’ll typically depend on your condition, how much you’re using it and what else you’re eating.

You should always follow the advice of a clinician when you’re using meal replacements like ensure for long periods of time. Ideally, Ensure should be used alongside a healthy diet – rather than replace it.

What should I do if I make a mistake when using Ensure?

If you use the wrong amounts of powder or water in your drink then it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. If you have any concerns that you’ve used Ensure incorrectly then you should contact your clinician for advice.