Nutritional shortcuts: fake or phenomenon? Part 1

Key Takeaways

• Powdered greens are heavily advertised and marketed on social media, but they really don’t live up to their claims.
• The ingredients are inconsistent, and they could pose a risk for vitamin toxicity.
• Powdered greens are not regulated or tested for safety or efficacy.
• They do not have the same fiber levels as whole fruits and vegetables.
• There are a couple caveats, but the vast majority of people are better off eating whole fruits and vegetables.

Let’s face it: we’re all incredibly busy.

Work, school, sports and other activities, family gatherings and celebrations, they all take up time none of us can spare.

On top of all of that, we’re supposed to eat right, exercise, stay hydrated, and get eight hours of sleep. There just aren’t enough hours in the day!

As a result, we’re all looking for shortcuts that can save time and make life a little easier.

In this blog series, we’re going to talk about a couple of products on the market that allege to make life simpler: powdered greens and gummy vitamins.

There are many television and radio commercials and social media ads/posts about various types of powdered greens and other powder-based food replacements.

Let’s discuss whether they really live up to the hype.

Are powdered greens a good substitute for fruits and vegetables? Do they provide nutritional benefits?

The short answer is no.

There are a lot of reasons why powdered greens aren’t a good substitute for fruits and vegetables. When you think about powdered greens, they often contain a wide variety of ingredients depending on the brand. Ingredients are not consistent from product to product.

Some of them may contain things like crushed up broccoli, kale, and spinach, while others add a lot of other compounds to them or may add mega doses of vitamins.

You really must be very attentive to the ingredients in your product because if they do contain compounds like mega doses of vitamins and you’re taking them daily, this could pose a risk of toxicity.

No regulations

Powdered greens are a supplement, so they are not regulated by the FDA. They’re not required to be tested for safety and efficacy.

If you have a chronic health condition or if you are on prescription medications of any kind, you want to make sure you address those with your doctor, your dietitian, or your pharmacist to see if it’s OK to use them

Not whole fruits and vegetables

When we think about whole fruits and vegetables, they come to us with a host of compounds that are beneficial for our health, including fiber.

Fiber is something you’re not going to necessarily find in powdered greens. It’s incredibly beneficial for our cardiovascular and digestive health, and 90 percent of Americans don’t meet recommended amounts.

Fruits and vegetables have a large body of research behind them when it comes to decreasing the risk of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer. We don’t have that kind of research behind powdered greens.

Powdered greens are expensive. We would much rather see people use money to go to the grocery store or farmers' market to purchase actual whole fruits and vegetables and get a lot more benefit.

A caveat

There are some instances where powdered greens could be useful.

If I have a patient with severe food aversions to taste or texture and they really cannot consume fruits and vegetables, that may be a reason to consider adding powdered greens.

Also, if there is a reason a patient cannot properly chew or swallow whole foods, then sometimes powdered greens could be used as a supplement.

If you are considering using powdered greens, you should discuss the use of these supplements with your dietitian or your physician first to see how they could work into your diet.