Keto Chow is a wellness brand that makes a variety of dietary supplements, but their most popular are their meal replacement shakes and their electrolyte drops. The brand suggests their products can help support a healthy weight, describing their shakes as “Meal Replacement Shakes for Weight Loss.”
But can Keto Chow’s shakes actually cause weight loss? What’s actually in Keto Chow, and is it healthy? Does it have any questionable additive? And is Keto Chow better or worse than popular keto weight loss supps like Pruvit?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Keto Chow shakes and Keto Chow Electrolyte Drops to give our take on whether or not the products are likely to be effective, and whether or not they're healthy.
We'll also highlight some questionable health claims on the brand's website, and compare Keto Chow products to other popular keto weight loss supplements to pick our winners.
Key takeaways:
- Shake contains effective protein dose for muscle-building
- We recommend Keto Chow Electrolyte Drops
- Keto diet can support weight loss
Keto Chow Shake Review
The ingredients list below is from Keto Chow’s “Mocha” flavored shake:
Milk protein isolate is the ingredient which provides most of the protein and calories. The shake contains 26 grams (g) of protein, which is an effective dose for maximizing muscle gain post-workout according to a 2013 clinical trial.
26 g of protein is also a high enough dose to provide satiation and reduce food cravings, and the 5 g of fiber in the form of acacia gum will help with that as well.
The majority of ingredients in this shake are a blend of vitamins and minerals such as potassium chloride and vitamin B2. As we mentioned in our review of Vitapod, we haven’t come across any medical evidence that taking supplemental vitamins and minerals is beneficial for people without a deficiency in those vitamins and minerals.
And taking so many fortified vitamins and minerals may even have negative health consequences.
In 2022, a separate supplement company had to recall their products from the market according to the CBC because some consumers were experiencing toxicity from the high levels of supplemental vitamins.
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener that Keto Chow describes as a “healthy sweetener,” which is a descriptor we haven’t seen used for artificial sweeteners before.
This compound has been shown in a clinical trial published in the Nutrition Journal to have negative effects on blood sugar and insulin levels in healthy adults.
Overall we don’t recommend Keto Chow due to the vitamin and mineral blend and the use of an artificial sweetener.
MBG Whey Protein Isolate+ is our top meal replacement shake pick.
Like Keto Chow, it provides an effective protein dose for muscle-building and satiation (>20 g).
The main difference is that MBG Whey is entirely free of additive ingredients we consider to be unhealthy.
It's sourced from grass-fed cows and contains healthy flavoring ingredients like organic vanilla powder and organic monk fruit extract.
Does the Keto Diet Cause Weight Loss?
Some of the marketing for Keto Chow suggests that the shakes can help cause weight loss, and many consumers are curious if a keto diet generally can cause weight loss.
A medical review published in the Journal of Nutrition found that ketogenic (keto) diets can be effective for obesity and type 2 diabetes. The study authors reviewed many clinical trials on the topic, and found that carbohydrate restriction is more effective than fat restriction for treating obesity.
While the keto diet may be favorable for overweight and obese patients, we haven’t come across much evidence that it’s better than a Mediterranean-style diet for healthy adults.
As we referenced in our review of another keto supplement called Pruvit, we can’t find any clinical trials comparing the keto diet to other healthy diets to test its effect on healthy individuals.
There are many high-carb foods like potatoes, sweet potatoes and oats which can form the base of a healthy, whole foods diet, and we consider it illogical to cut those foods out of the diet without any specific reason to.
Questionable Claims on Brand Website
The Supplement Facts label for Keto Chow, shown above, has different serving suggestions. One is using the product alone, and one of the others is with adding a half-stick of salted butter.
We’re not sure that eating a half-stick of salted butter daily, especially if this product is used multiple times per day, is the best health decision.
Butter can increase cholesterol levels including LDL-C levels, which is associated in some medical research with worse cardiovascular outcomes.
A clinical trial published in the BMJ Open journal compared the effects of butter, coconut oil and olive oil on cholesterol levels in healthy adults. The researchers found that butter caused LDL-C levels to increase more than consumption of the other two oils.
We understand that the keto diet requires a high intake of fats, but individuals on this diet may benefit from speaking with their doctor about different fat sources than butter, including olive oil, coconut oil, and especially whole food fat sources like nuts and avocados.
Keto Chow Electrolyte Drops Review
The ingredients in Keto Chow Electrolyte Drops are shown below:
This product may be beneficial to individuals following a keto diet, because this type of diet can cause electrolyte imbalances as documented by medical research.
The keto diet has a diuretic effect, which causes the body to excrete more electrolytes through urine than on a higher-carb diet, so supplementing with electrolytes can be beneficial.
This is one of the healthiest electrolyte supplement formulations we've reviewed to date, because it contains no unhealthy additive ingredients.
The low serving size and the dropper allows for more flexible dosing than popular electrolyte supplements like LMNT, which may be beneficial for consumers looking to take a lower dose of sodium than is contained in most electrolyte supplements.
From a formulation perspective, we would recommend this product to consumers seeking supplemental electrolyte.
Keto Chow vs. Popular Keto Weight Loss Supps
Here's how Keto Chow compares to other popular keto weight loss supplements in terms of potential effectiveness and healthiness, in our opinion:
Pruvit
Brand sued over lead levels and alleged false advertising, as documented in our Pruvit Ketones reviews article.
More unhealthy inactive ingredients than Keto Chow.
Winner: Keto Chow
Keto Gummies
Gummies often contain added sugars, making them a poor keto option.
We have not come across a single keto gummy brand with an effective dose of ketones.
Winner: Keto Chow
Konscious Keto
Marketed more as a gut health supplement than for weight loss, this brand uses at least one research-backed active ingredient for supporting the gut barrier.
Free from unhealthy additives.
Winner: Konscious Keto
Keto Chow Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Contains research-backed protein dose for muscle-building
- Keto diet can optimize short-term weight loss
- Electrolyte Drops are well-formulated
Cons:
- Shakes contain artificial sweetener
- Shakes contain synthetic vitamin & mineral blend
- Doesn't appear clinically tested
- Questionable health claims on brand website
