Everyone has heard of green powders at one point or another, but most people don’t know how to properly analyze a Supplement Facts Panel (SFP). In this article, our expert CNC (Certified Nutrition Coach) uses top notch SFP analysis to answer the ultimate question: are green powders a waste of money or not?
Are green powders a waste of money?
The real answer to the question is actually both yes and no. Green powders can be extremely nutritious and produce a litany of health benefits, but just as is the case with every other type of supplement, only some of them are worth your money.
This is where having the ability to analyze the SFP of a particular supplement becomes extremely important. The SFP will tell you the overall amount of superfoods the supplement contains and which specific superfoods are included in the blend. If you know what to look for, you can tell almost right away whether or not a particular green powder is worth your money.
An average green powder provides about 5,000-7,000 milligrams worth of superfoods per serving. This may sound like a lot of superfoods, but our most highly recommended green powder supplements provide as much as twice that amount. Our top ranked green powder provides 15,000 milligrams worth of superfoods per serving…now that’s a lot.
Green powders that contain the right superfoods and provide well above the average amount of superfoods per serving, such as our top recommendation, are certainly worth your money. If you buy just an average run of the mill green powder, then are most likely wasting your money. On the other hand, if you choose a top-shelf green supplement, it’s completely worth every penny.
So…do green powders really work? Long story short, YES, but you have to make sure you pick the right one. You need a nutritionally complete and comprehensive product that covers every spectrum of the superfood panel. Luckily for you, we already did all of the hard work for you and separated the good from the bad…
We did your homework for you! View our top 10 rated options here:top greens powders.
Here’s a spoiler alert: the top ranked green drink is NOT Athletic Greens. Shocker, right? That company spends a lot of money on advertising all over the place, which is why everyone reading this has probably heard of them, but just because they spend the most money on advertising does NOT mean their product is the best option. In fact, we found one that is way better for you…make sure to check that article out!
Are green powders healthy?
Green powders are arguably the single healthiest type of supplement you can add to your daily regimen in terms of overall nutritional value. Most people do not get enough fresh produce, vegetables, fruits, and other important nutrients on a daily basis, which is a big problem that can be solved by green powders.
We’ll look into the answer to this question more deeply in the next section, but the bottom line really is that using a green powder, you able to consume way more fresh greens and veggies than you normally would be able to since the supplement comes in the form of powdered greens. You can only eat so many fresh fruits and vegetables, but when they are powdered for you, that method allows you to get a LOT more nutrients into your body.
Greens powder benefits
Greens powders can produce benefits related to digestion, detoxification, gastrointestinal function, gut health, metabolism, immune system boost, blood pressure, blood sugar, weight loss, cholesterol, energy levels, and even mental health. All of these benefits can be experienced only as a result of an ultra potent and comprehensive superfood blend. The average green powders may produce some of these benefits, but only the top shelf green supplements can produce all of these benefits.
When you choose the right green powder, you are consuming a combination of the healthiest nutrients on the world. There’s a reason these nutrients are classified as “superfoods.” These nutrients earned that title because of what they can do for your body in terms of benefits.
Even if you’re someone who eats fruits and vegetables daily, there is no way you are getting anywhere near enough nutrients as you would be getting if you supplemented with a greens powder instead. There are three key reasons for this…
Reason #1: Greens powders contain pre-juiced vegetables and fruits, which means you are getting significantly more phytonutrients than you would be if you ate the same fruits and vegetables raw. You see, there’s a major reason juicing become such an enormous trend.
When you eat whole raw vegetables, you are getting all of the nutrients the vegetable has to offer, but the truth is that the most nutritious part of every vegetable lies in the juice of the vegetable. In other words, it’s obviously not bad to eat vegetables, but it is significantly more beneficial and nutritious to strictly consume the juice that vegetables contain.
The reason vegetables are so healthy is because of the phytonutrients they contain, and almost all of the phytonutrients are found in the juice of any given vegetable. Therefore, if you take a few healthy vegetables, juice them, and drink the juice, you are essentially squeezing all of the crucial phytonutrients out of the vegetables and strictly consuming that as opposed to having to eat a whole serving of vegetables.
For example, would you rather eat 5 servings of broccoli, spinach, and kale in one sitting, or juice 5 servings worth of these ingredients and drink the small cup of juice?
This is the reason juicing become such a huge trend, but there was still one problem…the juice tastes disgusting. With green powders, the superfoods are first juiced to extract the phytonutrients, then the juice extracts are converted into powder form, and all you have to do is a mix a scoop of the powder in with a glass of water, juice, or a smoothie.
Green powders essentially take all of the effort, money, and energy out of juicing while still providing all of the health benefits.
Reason #2: Each serving of a greens powder (as long as it’s a high quality one) contains several servings worth of fruits and vegetables. In other words, green powders contain way more nutrients in one serving than you could possible eat raw even if you juiced the raw ingredients.
Let’s say you bought a juicer, and then bought 10 servings worth of fruits and vegetables and juiced them. Would you essentially have the equivalent of a green powder? Yes, but you would also have about 5-6 cups worth of disgusting juice to drink, and you would have spent way more money on the juicer and the ingredients than you would spend on a green powder.
Reason #3: High quality green powders contain significant servings of probiotics and and digestive enzymes, which allows your body to properly digest, absorb, and utilize all of the phytonutrients the superfoods provide.
Bottom line: In order to accomplish what a green powder accomplishes with one scoop, you would have to buy 7-10 servings of 20-30 different superfoods, a juicer, a probiotic supplement, and a digestive enzyme supplement, and then throw all of it into your juicer. The end result would be the same, but you would have spent a lot more money and energy, and you’d still have a few cups of some nasty green sludge to drink.
One last point…the superfoods that high quality green powders contain can very expensive and hard to find, so in the end, you may not actually be able to produce a juice drink that is as beneficial as green superfood powder in the end.
Some of these leafy greens and powerful antioxidant ingredients include chlorella, spirulina, wheat grass, barley grass, beets, goji berry, green tea extract, alfalfa, beta-carotene, chia seeds, blue-green algae, kelp, vegan protein powders, and various multivitamins.
Greens powder side effects
Green superfood powder supplements do not often produce side effects, which makes sense if you think about it. At the end of the day, you’re consuming a combination of powderized, pre-juiced fruits and vegetables. These are 100% organic nutrients and are highly unlikely to cause side effects.
The only possible side effect is that you may have a little bit of stomach discomfort the first couple times you try a green powder just because your body is not used to digesting so many nutrients at once yet. If you already have a relatively healthy diet, you probably will not experience much stomach discomfort at all.
Also, some of the lower quality green drinks contain caffeine, which can cause side effects such as headaches and elevated heart rate. The low quality green powder brands add caffeine to essentially trick the user into feeling like the supplement is boosting their energy levels, when in reality, it’s just the caffeine. This is another reason why it’s crucial to choose a top-shelf green supplement.
You will also want to avoid any green juice supplements that contain sweeteners, ingredients that aren’t non-GMO, heavy metals, chlorophyll, filler ingredients, or artificial additives. All of these elements can cause side effects. PS: None of our top recommended green juice supplements contain any of these harmful elements.
What does the research say about green powders?
There is a plethora of exciting research with regard to green powders and superfood supplements. Superfoods are the real deal ladies and gentlemen, and the research proves it.
The results of one critical study showed that fruit and vegetable powder mix could “significantly decrease both systolic and diastolic blood pressures.” This is an absolutely crucial benefit that in our opinion makes superfood powders worth the money even if there were no other benefits to be had. However, research shows there are plenty more benefits to be had…
Another study showed that one of the most commonly used superfoods, Spirulina, could have positive cholesterol-lowering benefits. The study also shows that Spirulina could potentially play a role in reducing chronic fatigue, although they state that more high level studies still need to be done. Our top rated green powder contains 2,000 MG of Spirulina, which is the highest dosage in the whole industry.
Last but not least, another clinical study showed that juice powder concentrates (superfood supplements) can help reduce inflammation. We only cited three studies for the purpose of this article, but the list of clinical research behind superfood supplements truly goes on forever.
Do green powders work? Our conclusion
All things considered, yes, there is clear evidence that green powders really work and can produce a wide variety of health benefits. However, it’s extremely important to remember that you must be very selective. Make sure your green powder contains a significantly above average amount of superfoods. It also should ideally have a probiotic and digestive enzyme component to assist with digestion and absorption of the superfoods.
We strongly recommend our #1 ranked green powder supplement, which is Total Living Drink Greens. It contains 15,000 MG of superfoods per serving, plus probiotics, digestive enzymes, antioxidants, herbs, vegan protein powder, minerals, vitamins, and more. You can find the full review in our Greens Powders section up above!
FAQs
Can green powders replace vegetables?
Yes, green powders can replace vegetables, you should still eat healthily of course, but green powders do essentially eliminate the need to eat veggies. That is, as long as you are taking the right one. You need one that is potent enough to replace vegetables.
How do I choose a green powder?
First and foremost, you need to carefully examine the superfood blend. You want to make sure the blend as a whole provides at least 10,000 milligrams worth of superfoods per serving (our top ranked green powder provides 15,000 MG). You also want to check the SFP for probiotics and digestive enzymes.
Are green powders worth it?
In my opinion as a Certified Nutrition Coach, yes green powders are worth it. A solid green powder is actually the most common thing I recommend to my clients. If you choose a top notch one like our #1 ranked option, you get a very potent blend of extremely nutritious superfoods, which can produce a wide array of amazing health benefits and really make a difference for you.
Do green powders taste bad?
Many green powders do taste bad because they are composed almost entirely of superfoods, vegetables, and fresh produce, which generally are not items that taste very good lol. With that being said, the truly elite green drinks actually taste pretty good because they carefully mask the taste of the greens utilizing natural sugar substitutes. For example, our top recommended green supplement uses a hefty does of natural blueberry flavoring, which makes it taste delicious!
I’m not just a supplement analyst. I’m an extremely qualified one! I am a Certified Nutrition Coach (CNC) and actually received my certification directly from the National Academy of Sports Medicine. I am also a Nutrition & Wellness Consultant, certified by the American Fitness Professionals Association (AFPA).
