Super green powders are packed with essential nutrients, they’re easy to consume, and they’re often more cost-effective than buying and preparing your own greens – all of this, we already know.
However, with many super green powders claiming they provide you with the equivalent to a certain amount of vegetables, the question of whether super green powders can replace vegetables has come about.
Certain brands push the idea that super green powders are completely capable of replacing fresh vegetables, claiming that the nutrients within the powders are enough to sustain you. On the other hand, nutritionists, other supplement brands, and health and wellness influencers claim otherwise – that you need fresh vegetables as a part of a balanced diet.
In this article, we will take on and get involved in this hot topic, looking at both the case for super green powders and the case for fresh vegetables, ultimately coming to a conclusion of whether super greens can replace vegetables.
So, let’s dive in and take a look.
The Case For Super Green Powders
First, let’s take a look at the case for super green powders over the consumption of fresh vegetables.
Super Green Powders Are Easy To Consume
One of the biggest benefits of super green powders is that they’re easy to consume.
Rather than having to spend time going grocery shopping and preparing fresh vegetables, you can consume a super green powder simply mixed with water, milk, juice, or within a smoothie in a matter of minutes.
Super Green Powders Can Provide You With Essential Nutrients
Super green powders, as long as they’re of high quality, don’t contain proprietary blends and have a fully disclosed ingredients label, can provide you with essential micronutrients that are needed to stay in an optimal state of health and wellbeing.
The thought of deriving their essential micronutrients from one drink is very appealing to many.
Super Green Powders May Expose You To Vegetables You Wouldn’t Otherwise Have Consumed
A huge benefit to super green powders is that it’s likely they will provide you with exposure to vegetables and ingredients you may otherwise never have consumed.
Most super green powders contain algae, herbal ingredients, and adaptogens – unless you’re very well equipped at cooking and you know where to buy special, rare ingredients, you’re unlikely to have ever consumed some of these ingredients.
Additionally, specific types of algae in green powders are impossible to consume unless in powdered form.
The Case For Fresh Vegetables
Now, let’s take a look at the case for consuming fresh vegetables over super green powders.
Fresh Vegetables Don’t Have The Ability To Contain Proprietary Blends
One of the biggest issues with the super greens market is that a lot of brands produce powders that contain proprietary blends.
These blends make it impossible to know how much of each ingredient exists within the powder and therefore it’s unclear whether the powder actually provides a sufficient dose of each ingredient.
Instead, when you consume fresh vegetables, you don’t have to worry about whether or not you’ll be deriving benefits from them, since they are whole foods.
There is nowhere for fresh vegetables to hide, so you know what you’re getting.
Fresh Vegetables Provide High Levels of Unprocessed Nutrients
Since the ingredients within super green powders have to be processed in order to produce powder, key nutrients could be lost (especially when powders aren’t processed properly).
However, fresh vegetables, like whole foods, provide you with high levels of unprocessed nutrients. Vegetables are packed with vitamins, minerals, acids, and each vegetable has a specific list of health benefits associated with it!
Fresh Vegetables Make You Feel Full
Although super green powders can provide satiety, eating fresh vegetables definitely makes you feel full. The process of eating a meal that contains fresh vegetables, or fresh vegetables on its own, also reduces the likelihood and frequency that you will snack.
So, they may help more with maintaining a healthy weight if you’re someone that has to eat meals in order to feel satiated.
So, Can Super Green Powders Replace Vegetables?
No. Well, to say no isn’t entirely fair.
Super green powders can replace fresh vegetables for a short amount of time.
For example, if you’re traveling for a couple of days and you don’t have the ability or time to consume fresh vegetables, a super greens powder can support your nutritional health and bridge the gap until you can once again consume fresh vegetables.
However, as wonderful as super green powders are, they shouldn’t be used as a full replacement for fresh vegetables. Instead, they should be used in conjunction with a healthy balanced diet that contains fresh vegetables.
The Perfect Diet = Vegetables and Super Green Powders
Consuming super green powders is the best way to provide yourself with nutritional insurance and benefit from the array of nutrients found within the wide range of super greens, fruits, adaptogens, and herbal ingredients that are found within green powders.
Taking a serving of super green powder every day can do wonders for your physical and mental health, and improve your overall wellbeing.
However, when choosing a super green powder you need to ensure that you look for one that has a fully disclosed ingredients label, doesn’t contain proprietary blends, and actually provides substantial doses of each ingredient.
Otherwise, there’s not much point in consuming one!
Be careful – there are a lot of super green powders out there that don’t provide sufficiently dosed ingredients.
Additionally, if a super green company suggests using their product solely instead of eating fresh vegetables, they can’t be trusted.
Even if you are consuming the highest-quality super green powder, you still need to be consuming fresh vegetables as part of a balanced diet. For the best possible health, the USDA suggests that you should be consuming between 5 – 10 servings of fruit and vegetables per day.
The perfect diet would consist of a balanced fresh diet and a serving of a super greens powder every day.