Sometimes at work, every minute you save counts. Especially when you are chasing a deadline.
There’s a new product in the market that claims to be a meal replacement. That can help you shave off a few minutes from your work-day.

For busy executives who tend to skip meals or eat junk on the go, this drink promises to be a meal in itself, complete with all the nutrients your body needs. The product called myDaily Meal comes in powder form and is available in three flavours- chocolate, vanilla, and neutral. You’re supposed to add water and have it like a shake.

The business head and co-founder, Saurabh Garg, an IIT, IIM alumnus and a former Hindustan Unilever executive told me he went without food for a week and just lived on the drink.

I decided to try it on myself and started the day with a very light breakfast. I skipped lunch altogether and instead had the meal replacement drink. I had the chocolate one, and I must say it tasted pretty good.

But did it kill my craving for lunch? No, it didn’t. The first half an hour or so was difficult as I felt like eating something. I had almost starved myself since morning and it’s also a matter of habit for most of us to eat at certain times of the day, so the struggle was real.

Maybe it’s just the tastebuds crying out for some satisfaction, maybe the mouth wants to munch on something, I told myself. I had to do justice to the product review, so I curbed my urge to eat. Soon enough it became okay and I wasn’t hungry anymore.

So while the product may take care of your hunger and give you the nutrients you need (or so they claim), you’ll have to control your cravings yourself.

I had the drink around 1 pm, the first 30 minutes, as mentioned earlier was difficult. Then I was sorted till about 5 pm, after which I was completely famished. At 6 pm I had my first meal of the day, and it felt like one of the best I’d had in a long time.

myDaily Meal, which is very similar to Soylent, has been developed under the tutelage of research scientist Dr Ezhil Arasan, a former vice president at pharma major Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and promises to provide all the proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, fats, fibre that your body needs in a meal.

The ingredients used in myDaily Meal are deemed safe by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and are not known to cause any side effects, according to the company. The product has no added preservatives, artificial colours and is completely trans fat free, it said.

A pack of 10 costs Rs 1249 and is available on Amazon and myDaily’s website.

---