Anyone entering into the health and wellness world will inundated with all of the different supplements that are being recommended. You see them in commercials, hear about them in podcasts and watch influencers mix up their morning greens powders in their “Here’s what I eat in a day” Videos.

It comes as no surprise that I get asked this questions a LOT “Should I incorporate a greens powder?”

What is the purpose of a greens powder? The purpose is to fill gaps in your nutrition and provide you with the vitamins and minerals where your diet is falling short.

Here are the major problems with green powders.

1.) Most of them are “Proprietary blends” Which means that they don’t have to share how much of each ingredient is in their powders. It’s another word for “Secret Recipe”. Many greens powders will tout that they have “70 different superfoods” in their powder (Or something along those lines), and you just have to take one tiny scoop per day and you will get the benefits of all of these 70 superfoods even though you may no be getting enough of it in each little scoop to actually get that benefit.

Let me explain it this way. Say you need 1000 mg of Vitamin X in order to better your vision. Your scoop is approximately 5.3 grams and there are 69 other ingredients in your greens powder. Do you really think you’re going to get your entire gram of vitamin X in one little scoop? Enough to get the benefits from it? Probably not. But you don’t really know because you don’t know how much of each ingredient is even in the package.

2.) We don’t really know the bio availability (Ability to be absorbed in the body) of greens powders. There are a lot of claims about them, but there isn’t actually a whole lot of research to back them up and a lot of the research that claims they’re incredibly bioavailable are done by the companies that are attempting to sell them to you.

3.) They weren’t intended to replace eating fruits and veggies as a whole, but many people think that if they use a greens powder then they don’t have to eat their rainbow and their leafy greens. This just isn’t the case, you can’t out supplement a poor diet. Supplements are supposed to be just that SUPPLEMENTS otherwise they would be called Replacements. If the greens powder is the first thing you’re reaching for instead of improving your diet, it is going to do absolutely nothing for you.

So in conclusion, I would recommend reaching more for leafy greens, fruits and veggies instead of reaching for a greens powder mixed into water. Supplements should be the last 10% to really put your wellness regimen over the top, not the first thing someone should be reaching for as an alternative to diet change. If you really insist on needing a greens powder, look for one that is third party tested.