Glucerna Nutritional Shakes for Diabetes

Glucerna is a brand of nutritional shakes and bars formulated for people with diabetes or prediabetes. The vitamin-fortified meal replacement drinks and snacks are made with low-glycemic carbohydrates, which have less of an impact on blood sugar levels.

Glucerna diabetes products are designed to help improve blood sugar control. The products are also used as a weight-loss program for people with or without diabetes.

This article discusses Glucerna for diabetes, which is sold by Abbott Laboratories. It describes the various Glucerna product lines and the nutritional values of the original shakes and bars.

Glucerna Product Lines

Glucerna offers several product lines of premixed shakes, ready-to-mix powders, and snack bars. Glucerna shakes products include:

• Glucerna Original Shake, with 10 grams (g) of protein per 8-ounce serving
• Glucerna Hunger Smart Shake, with 23 g of protein per 16-ounce serving
• Glucerna Protein Smart Shake, with 30 g of protein per 11-ounce serving

The Glucerna product line also includes meal-replacement snack bars, which are low in sugar and carbs and high in protein, like the shakes. Glucerna Mini Treat bars are intended to serve as a healthy dessert choice or small snack that won't spike glucose levels.

All Glucerna products are:

• Gluten-free (excluding bars)
• Halal (excluding Berry nutritional drink and bars)
• Kosher
• Suitable for people with lactose intolerance

Glucerna products contain milk proteins and are not safe for people with an allergy to casein or whey. They also contain fructose (a natural fruit sugar) and artificial sweeteners such as acesulfame potassium, which may cause potential health issues in people with diabetes.

Glucerna can be purchased online at Amazon or other major retailers and grocery stores.

Glucerna Original Shakes

Glucerna Original Shake comes in an 8-ounce bottle containing 180 calories, 16 g of carbohydrates, and 10 g of protein. It is available in five flavors:

• Chocolate caramel
• Classic butter pecan
• Creamy strawberry
  
• Homemade vanilla
• Rich chocolate

Glucerna Original Snack Shake comes in an 8-ounce can containing 140 calories, 19 g of carbohydrates, and 7 g of protein. Flavors include homemade vanilla and rich chocolate.

Glucerna Hunger Smart Shakes

Glucerna Hunger Smart products come in three varieties.

Glucerna Hunger Smart Shakes come in a 10-ounce bottle containing 180 calories, 16 g of carbohydrates, and 15 g of protein. It comes in four flavors: 

• Creamy strawberry
• Homemade vanilla
• Peaches & creme
• Rich chocolate 

Glucerna Hunger Smart Meal Size Shakes come in a 16-ounce Tetra Pak carton containing 250 calories, 21 g of carbohydrates, and 23 g of protein. It comes in two flavors: homemade vanilla and rich chocolate.

Glucerna Hunger Smart Powder is a read-to-mix snack replacement that comes in a 22.3-ounce tub that makes 19 8-ounce servings. One scoop contains 120 calories, 3 g of carbohydrates, and 22 g of protein. The powder can be mixed with 8 ounces of water, juice, or milk. It comes in two flavors: homemade vanilla and rich chocolate.

Glucerna Protein Smart Shakes

Glucerna Protein Smart Shakes come in a an 11-ounce Tetra Pak carton containing 150 calories, 7 g of carbohydrates, and 30 g of protein. It comes in two flavors: homemade vanilla and rich chocolate.

Glucerna Original Nutrition Facts

Designed as a meal replacement or a between-meal snack, all Glucerna products are fortified with vitamins and minerals.

Glucerna's nutrition facts are in line with recommendations from both the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the American Heart Association (AHA). According to the ADA, a healthy diet should include more monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats than saturated or trans fats in your diet. The AHA maintains that saturated fats should be as low as 5% to 6% of those calories.

While Glucerna offers several different formulas and flavors, most of the products contain the same key ingredients and nutrients.

Glucerna products also contain smaller amounts of additional vitamins and trace minerals, such as riboflavin, chromium, and manganese depending on the product.

Pros and Cons

Glucerna shakes offer benefits for people either trying to lose weight or maintain tighter control of their blood sugar. But they also have shortcomings, particularly for those who do not have diabetes. Among the considerations:

How Glucerna May Help Diabetes

If you're trying to better manage your glucose levels and/or weight, Glucerna products can supplement a diabetes-friendly meal plan that's lower in carbs and higher in protein. Glucerna is formulated from slow-burning carbs that are designed to be digested slowly so as not to quickly raise your blood sugar.

Try occasionally incorporating a shake as your breakfast or use it as an after-lunch snack to hold you over until dinner no more than a few times per week. Test your blood sugar levels before and after to see how Glucerna affects you personally.

With type 2 diabetes, your best bet for long-term success is to center the bulk of your diet on low-glycemic whole foods such as whole grains (oats, whole wheat bread, brown rice, etc.) and non-starchy vegetables (peppers, onions, cauliflower, leafy greens, etc.), lean protein (poultry, fish, and legumes), and healthy fats (olive oil, avocados), and use Glucerna to help fill in the gaps when necessary.