Greenergy is the green drink we make, and this article is an attempt to describe it the way you would want it described if you were the one deciding whether to buy it. Everything below comes off the current label. Where the powder does something well, I have said so. Where a green drink cannot do what green drinks are usually sold as doing, I have said that too.
What is in the jar
A 9.0 oz (256 g) jar. One scoop is 9 grams, and the label declares 30 servings. A serving is 25 calories, 6 g of carbohydrate and 2 g of fibre. It is certified organic to the USDA National Organic Program by Organic Certifiers, and the Greenergy Superfood Blend is listed by name in the USDA Organic Integrity Database, which means you can verify the certification yourself rather than taking our word for it.
There is no stevia in it. The sweetness such as it is comes from organic flavors and malic acid. That is unusual in this category and it is the main reason the powder tastes like plants rather than like sweetener.
The 9 grams are divided across three blends:
- Greens and herbal, 6,562 mg. Organic alfalfa grass, wheat grass, barley grass, spirulina, lemon, oat grass, chlorella, apple, astragalus, acerola, spinach and broccoli.
- Digestive and enzyme, 1,792 mg. Organic inulin, apple fibre, guar gum, amaranth sprout, papain at 110,000 USP units, 6 probiotic strains, and bromelain at 96 GDU.
- Energy, 335 mg. Organic maca root, ashwagandha root, turmeric, green tea leaf and yerba mate.
Micronutrients declared on the panel: vitamin C 15 mg (17% of the Daily Value), vitamin E 16.75 mg (112%), calcium 30 mg (2%) and iron 0.9 mg (5%).
What 9 grams of powder can and cannot do
Green drinks are usually sold on an equivalence: this scoop is worth so many servings of vegetables. We do not make that claim for Greenergy and it is worth explaining why, because the arithmetic is not subtle.
Five servings of vegetables carry roughly 12 to 15 grams of fibre. A serving of Greenergy carries 2 grams, and the whole scoop weighs 9. There is no processing step that lets 9 grams of dried plant material stand in for several hundred grams of fresh ones. The water is gone, which is fine, but so is most of the bulk that makes vegetables filling and most of the fibre that makes them useful to your gut.
The same goes for treating it as a multivitamin. Vitamin E is the only nutrient on the panel above 100% of its Daily Value. Vitamin C is at 17%, calcium at 2%, iron at 5%. If you are relying on a green powder for your micronutrients, this one will not carry that load and neither will any other at this serving size.
One more, because it comes up constantly: the spirulina in here is not a usable source of vitamin B12. Spirulina contains a B12 analogue that binds the same receptors without doing the job. If you are vegan and thinking about B12, take B12.
So what is it actually good for
Two things, honestly.
The first is variety of plant material on days when you did not eat well. Twelve organic plants, a handful of polyphenol sources and some fermentable fibre, in a drink you can make in twenty seconds. That is not the same as eating vegetables and it is better than the alternative most people default to, which is nothing.
The second is the digestive blend. Inulin and apple fibre are prebiotic; there are 6 probiotic strains; papain and bromelain are proteolytic enzymes. If you drink it alongside a protein shake, that combination is the part of the formula doing the most identifiable work.
What the label does not tell you
Each of the three blends is declared as a total, not ingredient by ingredient. So you know there are 6,562 mg of greens and herbs, and you know what is in that group, but you do not know how much spirulina you are getting versus how much lemon.
That is worth naming rather than glossing. The energy blend is the clearest case: 335 mg total, split across maca, ashwagandha, turmeric, green tea and yerba mate. Ashwagandha in the trials people cite is dosed at 300 to 600 mg of a standardised extract on its own. Five ingredients sharing 335 mg cannot each be at a studied dose, and we should not imply otherwise. Treat that blend as a flavour and phytonutrient contribution, not as an adaptogen protocol.
How to use it
One scoop in one to two cups of cold water. It mixes without a blender. It works well in a shake with protein powder, which is how most people who stay on it end up drinking it, and it is fine in a smoothie. Keep the lid on tight and use it within a few months of opening.
If you are pregnant, nursing or taking medication, check with your doctor first. Astragalus, turmeric and green tea all have interaction profiles worth a conversation.
The short version
Greenergy is a certified-organic green powder with a real digestive blend, no artificial sweetener and no stevia, at 25 calories a serving. It is a good way to get a spread of plant material into a day that did not have one. It is not a substitute for vegetables, it is not a multivitamin, and its adaptogen blend is a garnish rather than a dose. If those are the terms you want it on, it does that job well.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
