Asklemmy

I think they're fine for people with health problems who need additional nutritional support but as a part of a healthy person's diet they should play a limited role.

Obviously if you're going to be doing something where you won't have access to healthy food or the ability to cook then sure, take something with you. But if you have the ability to meal prep a healthy alternative and safely store it, strictly from a health perspective that will be better.

If you are going down the meal replacement route, limit both sugar and artificial sweeteners. These foods tend to be either high sugar or high in artificial sweeteners which, although approved for human consumption, may have some adverse health effects or unforseen effects on metabolism.

You also want to watch the sodium content because various forms of sodium that do not taste salty are used as preservatives. Anything with the word sodium will be some kind of salt and it can be sneaky when it's a form of sodium that doesn't taste salty like sodium chloride. Add up all the sodium on a label and sometimes it can be a little shocking.

Edit: personally I rarely eat meat so I use unflavored pea protein fairly regularly to ensure that I get enough protein so I just wanted to clarify that I'm not judging you by saying that this should play a limited role in your diet if possible.