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Should you Take a Greens Powder?

Yum

January 24, 2021 By Laura Ligos, MBA, RD, CSSD Leave a Comment

It’s always amazing to me what fads become popular and which ones fade away. The greens powder fad seems to be one that started out kind of slow and is now more popular than ever. Usually when a fad is this popular it’s because many are making claims about it in the media. Now that it’s 2021 you can also guarantee that a nutrition or diet fad became popular because it was being pushed by someone famous or you know, a bunch of Instagram & TikTok influencers with no nutrition expertise. It’s not to say that they shouldn’t be sharing what they love but MOST are getting paid to promote it and many will probably not be doing that said fad years from now (I have no research on this, just a hunch). So now that we are here, let’s discuss greens powders and if you should be taking them. 

What are Greens Powders?

Great question. Greens powders are quite literally what they sound like, a powder that is green. I will give them that; they are very transparent in the marketing of what the product actually looks like. These greens powders have a variety of ingredients depending on which brand you are purchasing. Some of the ingredients include:

  • Powdered green vegetables, some examples:
    • broccoli flower powder
    • beet root powder
    • carrot root powder
  • Powdered fruits, some examples
    • papaya fruit powder
    • apple powder
    • acerola fruit juice powder
  • Digestive Enzymes
  • Powdered herbs
  • Powdered mushrooms
  • Prebiotics
  • Probiotics 
  • Green tea powder (aka Matcha) 
  • …and more

As I mentioned, every brand is different, but here are a few brands that I have heard about over and over again that you can check out for yourself (I am by no means promoting them, just sharing the ones I see often):

  • 1st Phorm ($59.99/ 30 servings)
  • Amazing Grass ($29.99/30 servings)
  • Athletic Greens ($97/ 30 servings or $77 if you get a monthly subscription)
  • Vital Proteins Collagen Beauty Greens ($49/14 servings)
  • …not to mention MLM brands like Arbonne ($54/30 servings), Beachbody ($34.95/20 servings) & Monat ($59/30 servings)

Note: I included the price for reference in case you were wondering how much it costs to get powdered down veggies, greens, fruits, etc.

What are the claims?

The crazy thing about supplements is that they are not highly regulated. What does that mean? That means that many companies can get away with skirting around the whole truth when it comes to their products. While, yes there are certain claims they CANNOT make, they may be able to make some wishy-washy claims that sound great to the consumer but really mean nothing and are backed my little to no research. OR they are grasping at straws. For instance, many of these greens products have “proprietary blends” which means they may be listing the actual components of the blends but never tell you how much of each product or ingredient are in the blend.

This is troublesome because you may be thinking, WOW I’m getting green tea powder (matcha) in this product which does have some solid research behind it (see below) but it’s actually in there in such a tiny amount that it more or less is useless to you the consumer. So you aren’t getting what you pay for which in some of the cases of these products is a shame because you are shelling out a great deal of money for them.

Many people fall victim to the claims made on food products. Why? Because I think we all want to believe that we are truly doing the best for our health. What’s wrong with that? Absolutely nothing. The problem is that companies prey on this because they know what sells. The claims may not be all that solid and so you may end up spending far more money on something with the false pretense that it’s going to give you X outcome when really it may not even come close to that outcome for you. 

So here are some of the claims I have seen made on the greens powders:

  • Supports Energy
  • Supports Brain & Neural Function
  • Supports Immune system
  • Supports Gut Health & Digestion
  • Supports Liver Function
  • Supports Hormone Function
  • Supports the body’s natural detox process
  • Supports Blood Sugar Levels Already within normal range
  • Naturally Balances and Increases Alkalinity

And while you are sitting there in awe of the power of greens powders (I am being sarcastic of course) please do not ignore the fine print you will find on the bottom of many of these packages:

**These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

What does the research say?

Okay so you see the claims and know the ingredients of these products, but what does the research say? While I could go through every last ingredient in these products (that would take me WEEKS), it would be pointless because as I mentioned before, most of these products have “proprietary blends”. That means I have no way of knowing how much of each ingredient is truly in there which then kind of defeats the purpose of scouring the research for each ingredient as they may have a large quantity of the ingredient with the least amount of know health benefits.

Any-who, when I started looking through the research it is truly quite vacant in the powdered greens department. There is a good deal of research on powdered green tea (better known as Matcha to most) but not too many research articles on these superfood type products. Not shocking. I’m sure it would be hard to do research on a “greens powders” in general because each product seems to be a completely different mix of ingredients. That being said I was able to find a few studies, which I figured if you’re interested you can nerd out on.  

In this 2011 study, you can see that 10 participants (low number in research land) took three to six teaspoons of greens powders per day (that’s 1-2 Tbsp) for a 4-week period. They tracked the blood levels of total antioxidant capacity, polyphenol content, protein, lipid and LDL oxidation, and the level of glutathione peroxidase. The results showed that the powders were well tolerated and that a reduction of oxidative damage in their blood showing that the greens were effective in that small sample size. Also important to note that they used 10 “healthy” individuals who were non-smokers and not on any vitamin supplementation but we don’t know what their diet consisted of so hard to know if this was a big improvement for them or not diet-wise.

Next up,

The only other research article I could find was one done in 2009 and had to do with testing out greens powders on hypertensive (high blood pressure) individuals. The subjects took the supplement for 90 days and they did show a reduction in blood pressure. However, it is unclear what the diets of these individuals looked like prior to the study and if diet and lifestyle changes would have made the same results.

So while it does appear that there may be some positive results from greens powders I just don’t think we have enough information to declare them a superfood or a must add to our regimen quite yet. However, if you are interested in adding greens powders to your daily routine please make sure you do your research on the quality of the product. You ideally want a product that is third party tested and is transparent on their website.

An independent study on ConsumerLab.com did find that 4 of the 13 products they tested did come back exceeding the limit for lead and 1 of those high in cadmium and another high in arsenic. None of that is meant to scare you only empower you to buy from companies that are getting their products third party tested (by places like NSF, Informed Choice, UL, etc.) and to find a brand that is transparent.

Are greens powders worth it?

In my personal and professional opinion? No. They are overpriced and there truly isn’t enough research out there touting the claims that the companies who sell them are. Does that mean if you like them or you feel better using them you shouldn’t use them? Of course not. As with anything in this world, you get to make that final decision for yourself.

I personally think time and money would be better spent doing the following:

  • Drinking ½ your body weight in ounces in water daily
  • Getting 7-9 hours of sleep per night
  • Aiming for 3-5 servings of vegetables per day
  • Grabbing for 1-2 servings of fruit per day
  • Moving your body (But not overdoing it) daily
  • Managing stress as you are able

Yes, none of that is as sexy as taking the coolest new greens powder your fave celeb is taking BUT I promise you that they probably wouldn’t be taking those powders either if they didn’t receive them for free and/or were not getting paid to promote them.

I’d love to hear from you! Have you or do you currently take a greens powders? What has your experience with them been like?

As always, feel free to come hang out on Instagram with me or sign up for my email list for more Q&As and insider info.

Xoxo,

Sassy

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@thesassydietitian

We’ve made it over a week together and it feels We’ve made it over a week together and it feels like it’s always been this way.

Motherhood is a wild ride & it’s only getting started. I have never been so tired & simultaneously so fulfilled in my life. That’s not to say it’s not filled with tears, worries and doubts but what fun would it be if it were all sunshine and roses anyway?

Going into this all I have felt so supported by friends going through this with me BUT I felt so unsupported by the general public. It seems like we want to fear and shame moms because misery loves company, right?!

The focus quickly shifts from mom to baby (still shocked that I only have an appointment at 6 weeks even though my body went through the biggest event of its life) and there also seems to be this shift from joy to shame & guilt.

Here’s some of what I heard from people:

😕Sleep when baby sleeps. You’ll never sleep again.
😕Don’t let baby sleep in a car seat, or a bouncer, or anywhere but their crib EVER. 
😕You’ll never have time to shower again, enjoy it now. 
😕Cry it out is cruel and harmful to the baby. 
😕Get baby on a schedule/never put baby on a schedule.

These are all things I heard and that truly led me to believe I was going to lose all sense of who I was and my life as I knew it.

What I wish people had said instead were:

🥰Your heart will grow bigger than you could imagine.
🥰You’ll cry the happiest tears you’ve ever cried.
🥰You’ll feel like a giant hole was filled that you didn’t even know was there.
🥰You won’t feel guilty about cleaning your house, it just won’t matter anymore.
🥰Babies pooping will make you laugh so hard you will feel like a kid again.
🥰You will have time to eat and shower and you don’t have to neglect yourself.

We need to do a better job of building each other up, supporting one another and our decisions while refraining from offering unsolicited advice and opinions. 

So for all you future mamas and new mamas out there, I see you, I’m proud of you and I cannot wait to share our stories with one another and the world.

Let’s stop fear mongering (just like the diet world) and start building one another up.

Xoxo,
Sassy & lil sassy man
🌈Some things truly are worth the wait. It’s b 🌈Some things truly are worth the wait. It’s been a long year of loss, unknowns and worry but it’s all been worth it to get to meet my lil man🥰
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Now time to introduce this sassy human who is already so well loved to the world...
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Introducing 

💙 Connor James Ligos 💙
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After an almost 24 hour labor, Connor joined us over a week past his due date on 2/12/21 at a whopping 9lb2oz & 22.5 inches long with a full head of hair and lungs to scream hello to us with.
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We are so in love already and cannot wait to share him with the world. Thank you for all the love and support from friends and family and to all those that helped us in the hospital. Holy cow labor & delivery teams are truly magical and I cannot imagine doing it without all of their support.
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Now back to snuggling this human of mine and trying not to cry at every last thing he does 🥰 
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Mom, Dad & Bode are all doing well!
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#babyboy #pregnancyafterloss #rainbowbaby #birthdayboy #birthannouncement
I get it, we all eat so we all then want to talk t I get it, we all eat so we all then want to talk to others about what worked for us. That's great!
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What's not great is when we push our nutrition and eating behaviors onto others ESPECIALLY when we are not qualified to do so.
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So often when people meet me for the first time they are worried to eat around me and/or buy groceries around me. My friends can attest I am not judgemental around food and will gladly eat that cake, queso dip or sip on that glass of wine right alongside of you. I am not the food police and do not offer unsolicited nutrition advice unless it's a client who is paying for my help OR on Instagram and other social media platforms where my goal is to educate.
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Why do I share this? 
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Because I see far too many people diving down diet rabbit holes, finding success & then claiming to be nutrition experts purely because something worked for them. 
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I've also seen this alot being pregnant, everyone wants to tell you what worked for them. IF you use that stipulation of "this worked for me" then fine, share away but if you start doleing out advice please pause, take a breath and think about NOT doing it.
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People are OVERWHELMED by diet culture and some so badly want to change but YOUR way is not the only way and it most likely is not what will work for your friend/coworker/cousin/neighbor so please, stop trying to be an expert in something you aren't.
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Got it!?! 
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Ok, carry on.
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xoxo,
Sassy
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#nutrition #nutritiontips #nutritionist #dietitianapproved #rdapproved #rdchat #dietitiansofinstagram #dietitian #dietitiansofig #albanyny #albanynutrition #albanynutrition
Your nutrition does NOT need to be all or nothing. Your nutrition does NOT need to be all or nothing. I'm not saying you have to find perfect balance (does that even exist?) but I am saying that we shouldn't feel like either we have to eat perfectly or that we might as well give up.
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Instead we should look to the grey area in between for our nutrition guidance. 
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What do I mean?
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I mean that we need to realize that we can still eat cookies but we probably should throw some veggies in there. 
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We can have a glass or 2 of wine but we should probably also drink some water. 
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We can take rest days but we should also find ways to move our bodies regularly.
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And the list goes on.
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It's not about all or nothing it's about doing something daily to help your health and nutrition without it feeling like a set of rules or a free for all.
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How do we find that grey area in between?
👉🏻 stop hopping on and off fad diets
👉🏻listen and trust your self, not your coworkers and cousins 
👉🏻focus on the simple things (ie drinking water instead of worrying about supplements)
👉🏻work to remove guilt and shame around food & body
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Where do you currently fall Right now?!
🤪 all
👍🏻in between 
🙅🏻‍♀️ nothing 
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Xoxo,
Sassy
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#dietitian #dietitiansofig #dietitiansofinstagram #nutrition #nutritionist #nutritiontips #thesassydietitian #rdchat #realtalk

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