Raw Organic Meal Replacement Powder - Vanilla, 28 Servings, 20G Plant Based Protein Powder, Superfoods, Greens, Vitamins Minerals Probiotics & Enzymes All-In-One Meal Replacement Shake

If u know then you know

I don't know how to describe the taste but, it's almost impossible to ingest due to taste and smell.

I'm writing this review as someone who has tried the unflavored, chocolate, and vanilla spiced chai. First things first, this is ridiculously healthy. It will absolutely make you have more energy and keep you full for a surprising amount of time, blah blah blah. There are enough reviews saying this, so let me get into the nitty gritty. Something that can be revulsive to people trying this to the first time are the texture; say farewell to the dairy based meal replacement shakes that reminded you of your childhood Yoohoo days! This stuff is thick. Unless you are prepared to chug it right away, I recommend extra liquid for one scoop of powder. Upon my first use, I made my shake (two scoops of powder to their recommended liquid) and got in my car. When I arrived at my destination, I popped the lid of my shaker bottle to find it had all but solidified. My preferred consumption is now 50% more liquid to one scoop. That also brings me to another issue I have become accustomed to: the way it absorbs water will likely lead to a lumpy shake if only using a shaker bottle unless you can VIGOROUSLY shake constantly like a blender until your arm falls off or the entire shake is consumed. Like I said, this is just what I adjusted to in the morning when I am running out the door. Chewing your morning shake is like flexing your jaw muscles! It's not a great textural experience, but that is what I get for hitting snooze too much. Onto the flavor reviews!! UNFLAVORED: Be prepared for a bitter taste followed by an almost sour aftertaste. No matter how much fruit, almond butter, and even chocolate I tried blending it with, it NEVER got rid of that absolutely awful taste. Perhaps I got a bad batch, but I ended up throwing the ENTIRE tub of powder away after 10 failed attempts at making it palatable. Holding your nose while drinking a shake is no way to be. CHOCOLATE: Though my first experience was so awful, I decided to go back because I like the fact that this product is raw and vegan. Chocolate was a HUGE improvement, but there was still a twinge of an unwanted aftertaste. Unlike the Un-Flavored, I finished the whole tub! It isn't chocolatey like most other meal replacement shakes, but it can still be satisfying while still helping you be super healthy. VANILLA SPICED CHAI: There was a about a year between finishing the chocolate tub and buying the chai mini tub. I kept eyeing the chai, but was worried that without the heavy masking flavor of the chocolate, I would be left with that abhorrent aftertaste. I purchased a small tub, and mixed it in my shaker bottle with almond milk. With my first reintroduction to the meal replacement from Garden of Life, there was a faint unpleasant aftertaste, but it didn't linger! After three days, there was no note of any remote unpleasantness. Not only that, but this flavor is INSANELY delicious. It's not too sweet, not as overpowering as the chocolate, and I look forward to my breakfast shake EVERYDAY. I've since signed up for Amazon Subscribe and Save to regularly receive the large tubs. In the mornings when I have a bit more time, I blend one scoop Vanilla Spiced Chai flavor with extra unsweetened almond milk (vanilla or flavor free) and a whole banana. I cannot begin to express how incredibly delicious this combination is. I even crave it over my lunch salads. It's basically the healthiest dessert-y breakfast you could treat yourself to in the morning. Yes, this stuff is worth it. Find a flavor you love! I recommend buying the mini tubs to sample the different offerings before investing in something that might just get thrown away. And if you are new to this product, keep an open mind. The texture hard to adjust to, but it will give you the energy to feel like a super hero!

A few years ago, I tried ordering Shakeology, and actually loved the convenience of a healthy powder blend that I could use to whip up a healthy smoothie. The only problem? The price. It costs more than $130 for a 30 serving bag of the stuff! Also, I recently discovered that I have a sensitivity to dairy, so any products with whey protein are out. So, I stopped ordering it, and there weren't any comparable products on the market at that time for me to order. I recently wanted to find an alternative to Shakeology and found a couple of products that have the same idea in mind but at about a quarter of the price. I stuck with vegan products because I can't have whey protein. Also, I needed a product that was gluten free because of my gluten sensitivity. The two products are the Garden of Life RAW Organic meal replacement shake (in Slightly Sweet because I don't like stevia), and the Nutiva Organic Plant Protein Superfood 30 Shake (Vanilla). Here is my comprehensive review of the two. Price: Buying a jar of both of these powders will run you at about $40. The only difference is that the Nutiva shake has 18 servings per jar and GoL has 30 servings per jar. GoL also tends to be a little bit cheaper, depending on which flavor you get. Winner: GoL - 30 servings for less than $40 is a BARGAIN compared to Shakeology! Nutrient Macros: A scoop of either of these blends is going to be about 125 calories. The only difference is that the GoL has a little more fiber, and Nutiva has a little more healthy fat. Both brands have 20g of vegan protein, are still fairly high in fiber, and are low sugar. Winner: Tie. Ingredients: Here's where I am really impressed with the Garden of Life version. There are just dozens of health foods crammed into this powder that it is really reminiscent of Shakeology. Every ingredient comes from a pronounceable food, with the exception being the addition of digestive enzymes and probiotics (1.5 billion CFUs or colony forming units per scoop). I am a bit of a health nut, and seeing all of these healthy ingredients just makes me jazzed! In nearly every category here, GoL beats Nutiva. With two exceptions: flax seed meal and proteins from grains. I have to be really careful about what I eat because I have a mild form of crohn's disease that flares when I eat something I'm sensitive to. Something in the GoL powder causes me to react, and though I think it is the flax seed meal, it could also be the protein from rice, which can also cause celiac sufferers to flare. That being said, I am a rare case, and I am truly impressed with GoL here. Nutiva is also a great shake, with lots of grain free protein, digestive enzymes, and probiotics as well, though the ingredient list is about half as diverse as GoL. Winner: GoL by a landslide. Taste: Here is the kicker. I want to make this abundantly clear: these are HEALTH drinks, not a vanilla milkshake. Anything you make with these products is not going to taste like a milkshake. There are tons of reviews for both products about how bad it tastes. To be honest with you, I enjoy the taste of healthy things. And if you blend it up with some fruit for natural sweetness, they become downright delicious! Here's another thing: yes, I have been eating healthy for a long time, and I have a high tolerance for bitterness and grittiness when it comes to these powders. But as you put more healthy foods in your body, it begins to heal, and your brain will actually start to crave things that you used to hate. A perfect example for me is avocados. I couldn't stand avocados, but I ate them in whatever way I could stomach them because I knew they were good for you. In about a month, I got to the point where I craved them regularly! Sometimes you have to just push through the initial dislike before reaching nirvana. I think it is worth it! Okay, now that we have that aside, I'll compare the tastes one by one. I went with the Slightly Sweet flavor of RAW Meal, and I genuinely loved it! But I also blended it with other things! A typical smoothie for me consisted of unsweetened almond milk, RAW meal, some pumpkin seeds, some greens, and about a cup and a half of dark berries. This usually resulted in the perfect amount of sweetness for me, which is about the sweetness of 70% dark chocolate (slightly sweet but also bitter). Yum! The best part about blending it with other ingredients is that it also covers up the slight grittiness of the powder. Vegan proteins are never going to be as smooth as whey. The only downside to the RAW Meal powders is that you only have two options for sweetness: sweetened with stevia, and sweetened with sugar. There isn't a sweetener free option. The Nutiva shake powder smells better than the RAW meal powder - almost like a healthy cake batter. But Nutiva is sweetener free (except for a small amount of monk fruit extract, which you do NOT taste). This means that you can add in natural sugars, like from fruit, and have your smoothie sweetened that way. I actually like this option, because I prefer to sweeten my smoothies with bananas, which would make the RAW meal smoothie too sweet. Nutiva is also a little bit gritty, about the same level as RAW Meal. However, I did always notice that I enjoyed the RAW Meal smoothies more than the Nutiva ones. Winner: GoL - though if you want a sweetener free option, Nutiva still tastes pretty good! Drinkability: This category is similar to the 'Taste' category, but here is where I want to mention that both are a little gritty. Also, some other reviews mentioned that the powders congealed when left too long. I never had this problem, but I have a high power blender and always drank my smoothies fresh. Winner: Tie - with slight edge toward GoL. Final Thoughts: I really really wanted RAW Meal to be my new go to drink. It tastes better, has more flavors, is more cost effective, and has an incredible ingredient profile despite still being organic. However, I personally can't drink it. The flax meal in it causes my crohn's disease to flare up. I also know people who can't eat rice, and they would also react to RAW Meal (though Nutiva does have a little bit of 'rice extract' in it, the people I know don't react to the rice extract in Nutiva). Both are great alternatives to add a little extra dose of healthy to your morning shake, and, even though I can't drink the one I really like, I am grateful that Nutiva created a product that someone with my disease can drink!

De lo mejor que puedan ofrecer las diferentes marcas comerciales

3/29 - Revised review: So I have to add the people that say the cans of this from Amazon are fresher are correct - it's even the newest recipe and the first one I got was the "old" recipe, even though it doesn't expire until next year. One of the main differences is the previous version didn't have pea protein in it, and this one does. Also, I no longer add cocoa powder to it and I still enjoy it with the greens added to it just fine :) Another reason I love this stuff - my hair has almost quit falling out by adding this to my diet. I have gastroparesis and am having issues with absorbing nutrients from my food. This seems to have done the trick - my skin looks 100% better too, I was very washed out looking and now I am back to looking like I used to. Back to first review: I love this stuff! Of course, now I have to tell you why :) So, first - I was a little worried about the taste after reading all of the reviews, so I bought the vanilla flavor as it got the most favorable reviews for flavor. I did buy it at a local store for the first time, even though it cost a little more because I wanted to get started, next time I'll be buying it on Amazon. The amount stocked on the shelves seemed to uphold the popularity of the vanilla because there was only one left of the vanilla in the large size. Second - it does seem to settle a lot, but it's sold by weight, not volume. See the picture - it looks half empty, but it's a weight measure package so I'm sure it's just settling that causes it to be that way. I suppose I can weigh the empty container and then weigh the next one to ensure I get all I pay for even when it looks half empty (I have a scale that weighs in ounces). Taste - The person who described it like Ovaltine was right on for me. I mix one scoop of Raw Organic Meal per 8 ounces of goat milk and add half a tablespoon of Ghiardelli dutch cocoa powder to it and mix it using my Blender Bottle. As long as you add the milk first and then the powders, it mixes effortlessly. That is not to say it will be perfectly smooth, because it won't - it's grainy, like everyone says, but the texture doesn't bother me. Sometimes I also add a scoop of Amazing Grass Green Superfood with chocolate to it. How filling is it? - If I mix 2 scoops of Raw Organic Meal with 16 ounces of goat milk and one tablespoon of cocoa powder - I'm good for 6 hours without being hungry. If I mix 2 scoops of Raw Organic Meal with 16 ounces of almond milk and one tablespoon of cocoa powder - I'm hungry - starving, can't stop eating! I tried it once and regretted it all day! It does also negatively change the taste to more of a watered down version of Ovaltine. However, if you are adding other things to this, like a nut butter and fruits, then the almond milk might work just perfect with the other foods. My goal is to keep it easy for work and not something that requires a blender other than the Blender Bottle. How does it make me feel? First few days - my body did have to adjust to the extra 11gm of fiber and to be honest I'm allergic to legumes so I wasn't sure if this would bother me or not (I eat most legumes just fine but not an entire meal of them). The first few days I was a little gurgly and I'll leave it at that. Starting day 3, my stomach felt amazing! My stomach is a lot flatter, completely happy, and I have a lot of energy. I am craving this and feeling like I'm addicted to it at the end of the first week. I'm not missing eating food and I would rather drink this over eating a piece of pizza because of how great I feel drinking this. I'm totally hooked! I've also lost a few pounds without really trying and that's nice too :) I drink it for lunch, so it's additional fiber over my high fiber breakfast and homemade kefir, and then I eat whatever I want for dinner with a few servings of vegetables. This is great though to add a lot of variety that I wouldn't get every day since we tend to get in a rut and eat the same veggies all of the time.

well made product, leaves me feeling full and works wonders.