Carnation Instant Breakfast Compared to Slim Fast

Carnation Instant Breakfast and Slim Fast are both brands that have shakes you drink instead of eating a meal. Both can be healthy options, filled with protein and vitamins. You can use these products if you are looking to lose weight, need a liquid diet for health reasons or want to gain weight by adding the shakes to meals. Though they serve the same purposes, there are many differences between Carnation Instant Breakfast and Slim Fast.

Both Carnation Instant Breakfast and Slim Fast make liquid and powder meal replacement shakes. Carnation Instant Breakfast comes in two versions--with and without sugar. There are five flavors in the original Carnation Instant Breakfast and two (chocolate or vanilla) in the sugar free. Slim Fast has five types of shakes, including one that is free of gluten and lactose. Each type of Slim Fast shake offers at least three flavors, and the Optima line offers five.

Carnation Instant Breakfast makes only the breakfast shakes. Slim Fast also sells bars. These come in snack versions and meal replacement formulas; the meal replacement bars are larger and have more calories and protein. The bars come in many different flavors. The Optima line has nearly a dozen, including strawberry cheesecake.

Carnation Instant Breakfast has around 200 calories--a bit more in the original and less in the sugar-free version. Both types have 13 g of protein and less than a gram of saturated fat. The different types of Slim Fast products vary in nutritional values. All Slim Fast shakes have at least 10 g of protein; Optima has 15. Slim Fast shakes have around 200 calories and 2 g or less of saturated fat.

Carnation Instant Breakfast provides nutritional and product information on its website, but not weight loss planning. The Slim Fast website has calculators and tools to help you plan your weight loss and also offers individualized meal planning that includes its shakes, other products and suggestions for nutritional meals. Slim Fast also offers an interactive forum for customers.

Though costs may vary, the prices for Carnation Instant Breakfast and Slim Fast are similar. You can find Carnation Instant Breakfast on the Internet for under a dollar per serving in the powder form; Slim Fast costs a little less. In the ready-made versions, Carnation Instant Breakfast costs less, under $2 a bottle; Slim Fast in a can costs a bit more.