Nested Naturals has a different vibe to a lot of other greens powders: it tries hard to convey transparency and social responsibility. It’s certified by Good Manufacturing Practices, it’s third party tested, and they donate a portion of their profits to the non-profit organization Vitamin Angels, which combats malnutrition around the world.
The site is also refreshing in that it clearly states that this is not intended to replace a healthy intake of vegetables, it’s meant to supplement a healthy intake of vegetables with extra micronutrients. So let’s check out the ingredients.
(We tried 47 brands: check out our best green superfood powder picks!)
Ingredients
There are more than twenty organic ingredients split up into six categories: an “Alkalizing Blend” that includes the usual barley grass, wheat grass, spirulina and chlorella; a “Fiber Blend;” an “Antioxidant Blend” that includes beet root powder, bee pollen, broccoli extract, green tea powder, and berries; an “Immunity Blend” of echinacea, concentrated royal jelly, and milk thistle; a “Probiotic Blend” of six strains of probiotic bacteria; and an “Enzyme Blend” of six kinds of digestive enzymes.
While you get the weight of each category, you don’t know that of the individual ingredients. This could be frustrating for folks who buy the product for the royal jelly or the milk thistle, but would also like to know if they’re getting an effective dose of the ingredients. (For the record, milk thistle is usually dosed at about 100mg three times per day. In Super Greens, it’s the last ingredient in a 200mg blend of four herbs. Super Greens is meant for once-a-day usage. The math doesn’t seem to add up to an effective dose.)
Super Greens is also very proud to include “truebroc,” which is displayed front and center on the label. It refers to an antioxidant called glucoraphanin, found in broccoli, that they say is particularly effective at combating inflammation and oxidation.
One scoop contains 35 calories, 1 gram of fat, 4 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, and 2 grams of protein.
Taste
It’s not that good, but it’s not as repellent as a lot of greens powders. (Faint praise, I know.) It’s not far from the grassy, dirty taste of products like Ormus Super Greens, but it’s just palatable enough that it reminds me more of bran. It tastes like raisin bran without the raisins or added sugar. It’s not fun, but if you like whole grain cereal, you won’t wince when you drink it.
Effectiveness
One thing I like about Super Greens is that the website is emphatic that this is not a replacement for vegetables on your plate — it’s intended to “give you a boost of micronutrients found in raw leafy greens” instead.
That’s great! So what are the micronutrients?
Well, the nutrition label is pretty short. Here’s what it says, along with the percentage of the recommended daily intake it provides: Vitamin A (9 percent), Vitamin C (46 percent), calcium (3 percent), iron (11 percent), and sodium (2 percent).
This is all the vitamins and minerals that can be found on this health supplement’s label. The Vitamin C and the iron aren’t half bad, but they’re not especially impressive either. This product is pretty adamant that it provides a very significant amount of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. It doesn’t do anything to convince me.
What about truebroc? Isn’t that meant to be a really potent antioxidant? Well, that’s what the website says. But what’s the antioxidant content of a serving of Super Greens? What’s it equivalent to, as far as servings of fruits and vegetables? Does it have an ORAC rating, which is usually considered the best way to measure antioxidant potency? Nope. I do not know if this is a good source of antioxidants.
Now, it does contain 1.5 billion probiotics from six strains of bacteria, and while that isn’t actually very much (some contain up to 25 billion), it’s a nice addition which, along with the digestive enzymes, should improve nutrient absorption and provide a little boost to digestive health.
But as a vitamin, mineral, and antioxidant supplement, to me it falls a bit flat.
Price
It’s $25 for 30 servings, or about 83 cents per serving. That’s super cheap! But Amazing Grass is cheaper and provides more vitamins. Ormus Supergreens is cheaper and provides more probiotics. Macro Life Greens is cheaper and provides more vitamins and more probiotics. Then again, they don’t try quite as hard to be socially responsible.
Compare Nested Naturals with Kylea’s Total Living Drink Greens ($3.33/serving), Athletic Greens ($3.23/serving), Onnit’s Earth Grown Nutrients ($2.30/serving), Organifi Green Juice ($2/serving), Patriot Power Greens ($1.96/serving), Emerald Balance ($1.30/serving), Green Vibrance ($1.08/serving), ORAC-Energy Greens ($1/serving), PharmaFreak Greens Freak ($1/serving), Macro Life Greens ($0.72/serving), Sun Warrior’s Supergreens ($0.55/serving), and Amazing Grass’s Green Superfood ($0.52/serving).
The Takeaway
Nested Naturals tries hard with its social responsibility, relaxed language, and low price, and while it is outstanding insofar as the information it provides about its corporate workings, it doesn’t do enough as a nutritional supplement to separate itself from the pack. At the very least, I expect a supplement that claims to be a great source of antioxidants and micronutrients to disclose its antioxidant and micronutrient content.
Nested Naturals Super Greens Review
Per Serving - $0.83
Pros
- Inexpensive
- Broad spectrum of ingredients
- Source of probiotics and digestive enzymes
Cons
- A lot of vitamins and minerals are missing from nutrition label
- No information about antioxidant content
