You know how important it is to eat your fruits and vegetables. Rich in nutrients and low in calories, fruits and vegetables offer so many health benefits. They help with weight management, protect against chronic health problems, and support your immune system.
But consuming the recommended 3-5 cups of fruits and veggies a day isn’t so easy, just ask the 90% of adults who fail to meet these recommendations on a daily basis. If you’re not getting enough fruits and vegetables, you may consider trying a greens powder.
Like red powders, greens powders are fruits and vegetables pulverized into a very fine powder that you can blend, mix, or sprinkle into your food or drinks. It’s an easy and convenient way to get your fruits and vegetables, which is why so many people drink greens powder supplements every day.
Here, you’ll learn about greens powder and what might happen to your body if you use it every day.
The 10 Best Greens Powders of 2024, Tested and Reviewed
The Significance of Greens Powder
Greens powders are dietary supplements made from freeze-dried fruits, vegetables, and grasses like alfalfa and barley. These supplements may also contain other ingredients like adaptogens, prebiotics, probiotics, digestive enzymes, and herbs. There’s no set guideline for what a greens powder must contain and each manufacturer comes up with their own formula.
The ingredients are blended together to create a fine powder that you can easily mix into any type of fluid, from water to pancake batter.
Nutrition information varies, depending on the ingredients and serving size of the supplement, but most powders have 40 or fewer calories per scoop. They also contain essential nutrients like fiber, vitamins A and C, B vitamins, potassium, and magnesium in varying amounts.
Greens powder supplements also come in different flavors. However, the grasses make most powders bitter.
7 Benefits of Greens Powders, According to a Dietitian
Benefits of Greens Powder
Greens powder supplements are a concentrated source of nutrients that may provide some health benefits. Research on greens powder supplements is limited, but there’s some evidence that the supplement may lower blood pressure, boost energy, and support recovery following surgery.
Because greens powder is a dietary supplement, you should consult with your primary care provider before making it an everyday habit.
Jordan Hill, MCD, RD, CSSD, a lead registered dietitian at Top Nutrition Coaching says, “Greens powder can provide some nutritional benefits but they should not be viewed as a perfect substitute for whole fruits and vegetables. They do contain a concentrated source of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients and can be super convenient, but they lack in fiber, which is good for digestive health, maintaining healthy blood sugar levels, and promoting satiety."
May Boost Energy
Many people drink greens powder for an energy boost. But the evidence to support the energy boosting powder of greens powder is minimal.
A clinical trial tested the energy-boosting effects of a popular greens powder in a small group of women. Though the researchers found a slight increase in reported energy in the greens powder group, the results weren’t statistically significant. Meaning, the group drinking the placebo also reported a boost in energy.
May Reduce Blood Pressure
Eating more fruits and vegetables may reduce your risk of developing high blood pressure, a chronic health condition that increases risk of heart attack or stroke. Fruits and vegetables are rich in nutrients that lower blood pressure, like potassium and magnesium.
Greens powder supplements also contain these nutrients and may help people with high blood pressure improve their numbers, according to a small pilot study published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine in 2009.
Though the results of this study show some promise for greens powder, it was a small study of 40 participants, and more research is needed.
May Support Healing
Your nutritional health affects your recovery from an injury, illness, or surgery. Good nutrition may speed up recovery and prevent complications. There’s some evidence that drinking greens powder in the weeks prior to a procedure may provide the extra nutrition your body needs to improve recovery.
A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial investigated the potential health benefits of supplementing adults with a greens powder 10 weeks before a dental procedure. Results from the study found that pre-supplementation with greens powder reduced post-procedure pain and complications.
Fills In Nutritional Gaps
Greens powder may fill in vitamin and mineral nutrient gaps in the diet, provide antioxidants that help strengthen the immune system and offer anti-inflammatory elements to reduce inflammation.
“Another benefit of greens powder is the sheer convenience of getting multiple vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients in one scoop,”says Hill.
Risks and Considerations
Greens powder is a dietary supplement so it isn’t regulated by the FDA. It’s up to the maker of the supplement to ensure that their product is safe and effective.
If you choose to drink greens powder, look for brands that have a seal of quality assurance from organizations like ConsumerLabs.com or NSF International. This seal indicates the supplement was independently tested by a third party and contains the ingredients listed on the label and no harmful contaminants.
All supplements contain active ingredients that may affect the body, which is why you need to have a conversation about supplements with your provider before taking them. The active ingredients can affect your health or interact with medications.
If you have food allergies, you should carefully read the ingredients list to make sure it doesn't contain any ingredients that may trigger an allergic reaction.
Greens powders may also have unpleasant side effects, like abdominal discomfort. Hill recommends paying close attention to how your body reacts to the supplement, especially if you have food sensitivities.
One of the main concerns of greens powder is nutrient overload or toxicity. “If someone is taking both a greens powder and a multivitamin, they could potentially be consuming above the upper limit (UL) for a particular micronutrient,” Hill warns.
Greens Powder: Is It Worth Trying?
Will Drinking Greens Daily Change Your Health?
What happens to your body when you drink greens powder every day depends on many factors, like your overall health and usual diet. According to Hill, “it should be safe for most individuals to consume greens powder daily.”
Though greens powder offers some nutritional benefits, it’s far from a perfect substitute for whole fruits and vegetables. Instead of drinking greens powder every day, consider modifying your health goal to eat more whole fruits and vegetables.
Instead of adding greens powder to your yogurt, sprinkle in some fresh blueberries or raspberries. Or, add a cup of kale to your fruit smoothie or protein shake to get some leafy green nutrients without the bitter taste.
It’s okay to drink greens powder, but use it to complement your diet, not as a substitute for whole foods.
How To Drink Greens Powder
Most greens powders have a bitter taste. While you can add the supplement to water and drink it straight, you may find it more palatable mixing your greens powder with something that offsets the bitterness, like your fruit smoothie.
But you don’t have to drink greens powder either. Consider adding it to the batter of your zucchini bread or pancakes, or use it to make a savory dip for your favorite raw vegetables.
You may have to experiment a bit to find the right greens powder to suit your taste.
12 Ways to Make Greens Powder Taste Better, According to a Dietitian
