The Institute for Vibrant Living is an Arizona-based company that claims their greens powder, All Day Energy Greens, is “one of the most potent, energizing, alkalizing, immune-enhancing drinks available” and that it “exceeds the nutritional equivalent of five servings of fruits and vegetables.” But what’s actually in it?
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Ingredients
There are close to forty ingredients that are all lumped into one proprietary blend, unlike some greens powders that separate them by their function, like digestive health, antioxidants, and so on.
The list includes powdered alfalfa, spirulina, barley grass, acerola cherry, watercress, spinach leaf, astragalus root, green tea leaf, beet root, maca root, yerba mate, and a variety of fruits and berries.
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Notably absent are probiotic bacteria, but there are several kinds of digestive enzymes — amylase, cellulase, protease, and lipase — which are linked to improved nutrient absorption.
One serving contains 25 calories, 1 gram of protein, 5 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, and no fat.
Taste
While it smells like your standard grassy, earthy greens powder, the taste is in fact very pleasant — I’d liken it to a mixed berry flavor, with undertones of grape and carrot. I really liked it.
Effectiveness
It’s a proprietary blend, which I’m not personally a fan of in greens powders because I like to know if I’m getting a clinically effective dose of some of the more medicinal ingredients in the list, like astragalus and maca root. They’ve been linked to circulatory health and sexual health (though not very conclusively) and are typically used in doses of 30 grams and 1.5 grams respectively. Since they both appear in the second half of an ingredients list of an 8.25-gram serving, they probably aren’t going to confer many of their alleged benefits.
However, unlike a lot of greens powders, this does provide a very comprehensive list of the vitamins and minerals present in a serving, and in this respect the nutrition is extraordinarily high. One scoop contains 633 percent of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin C, 100 percent of your daily Vitamins D, K, B12, biotin, riboflavin (B2), and folic acid (B9). There’s also 80 percent of your Vitamin A and 10 percent of your daily iron, magnesium, and potassium.
That’s a serious amount of nutrition that makes All Day Energy Greens outstanding in its field. Given the ingredients, it’s also likely that it delivers a potent dose of antioxidants, though that particular benefit isn’t quantified on the label.
With all that said, it’s tough to conclusively say that All Day Energy Greens provides “the nutritional equivalent of five servings of fruits and vegetables.” If it provided, say, the nutrition in five servings of spinach, many of the vitamins and minerals would be higher (it would contain three times as much magnesium and Vitamin A, for example).
That said, it is a very nutritious supplement, particularly when you look at the price.
Price
It’s $29 for 30 servings, or 96 cents per serving. That’s inexpensive for a greens powder, particularly one that delivers this much nutrition.
Compare that with Athletic Greens ($3.23 per serving), Onnit’s Earth Grown Nutrients ($2.30/serving), Patriot Power Greens ($1.96/serving) AI Sports Nutrition Red & Greens XT ($1.33/serving), Green Vibrance ($1.08/serving), ORAC-Energy Greens ($1/serving), PharmaFreak Greens Freak ($1/serving), Sun Warrior’s Supergreens ($0.55/serving), and Amazing Grass’s Green Superfood ($0.52/serving).
The Takeaway
I liked everything about this product except for the marketing. But given that the greens powder industry is awash in similar claims, I can’t truthfully say that “five servings of vegetables” is an extraordinarily inaccurate claim — but the language should nonetheless be toned down a little.
This is a very solid supplement that delivers an outstanding amount of nutrition for a very low price. I would have liked to see some probiotics thrown in too, but for the price point, the nutrition, and the transparency, this is one of the better deals you’ll find.
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All Day Energy Greens
Per Serving - $0.96 Pros
- Very high in most vitamins and minerals
- Contains digestive enzymes
- Inexpensive
Cons
- No information about the amount of each ingredient
- Over-the-top marketing claims
- No probiotic bacteria