Meal replacements are among the most popular supplements available. Much like a protein shake, their nutrients are condensed into powder form, making them a great way to hit your nutrition goals quickly and easily, even when on the go.
This will provide incredible nutrition and satisfy hunger, without the need to eat a full meal, and can make them very beneficial for vegans, who struggle to hit their nutrient requirements from their restricted diet.
Garden of Life claims to be the best organic meal shake for vegans, but this isn’t really true. Thanks to its low-calorie count and the absence of healthy fats and fibre, it struggles to compete with other vegan meal replacements such as Rootana.
Garden Of Life Raw Organic Meal Replacement Shake Overview
The Garden Of Life meal shake is an organic meal replacement that is soy, dairy, GMO, and gluten free, and contains no artificial flavors, colours, or sweeteners. Certified organic, vegan, and kosher, it even comes in plant based packaging where possible.
It contains raw organic protein powders, live probiotics, dietary fibres, a healthy fat content, and comes in a range of four flavours, making it usable for people of all tastes.
Available in two sizes, one container can provide either 14 or 28 servings. Costing £29.99 for a small tub or £55.49 for a large, it works out at either £2.14 or £1.98 per serving. This is like many rival products, but the small servings can make it more costly overall.
Garden Of Life Raw Organic Meal Replacement Shake Ingredients
The Garden Of Life Meal Replacement shake is made from only organic ingredients. It features 44 superfoods, 21 whole food vitamins and minerals, 1.5 billion CFU live probiotics and enzymes, plus various whole foods, like multiple garden fruits, vegetables, and greens.
Its raw organic protein blend utilises organic plant protein sources, including pea protein, brown rice protein, and various other plant based proteins. Unfortunately, this still only amounts to 20 grams of protein, which is much less than is desirable.
It’s organic fiber blend comes from a similarly diverse range of sources, yet again delivers just 2 grams of fiber per serving, which is nowhere near enough.
Garden Of Life Raw Organic Meal Replacement Shake Reported Benefits
The Garden Of Life shake may be non GMO, gluten free, plant based, and certified organic, but all that means nothing if it doesn’t do you any good.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the top benefits the Garden Of Life shake claims to offer and how true they are, to see if it’s truly worth buying.
Supports The Growth & Maintenance Of Muscles
The 20 grams of raw organic plant protein in the Garden Of Life meal shake helps it act like traditional protein powders. This can be useful for people involved in weight training to build and preserve muscle.
It can also lead to improvements in metabolic rate, body composition, and body fat percentage.
With very little carbs or calories included though, protein is all you can hope to get in this regard and even that isn’t particularly high. For notable gains in lean muscle, you’ll need to use at least one additional product as well.
Boosts Energy
The vitamins and minerals in the Garden Of Life meal replacement are included to keep you healthy and mentally strong and alert, while limiting tiredness and fatigue.
The low doses of vitamins included and the extremely low calorie content it offers realistically mean you won’t to experience any notable increases to your energy levels though.
Helps To Keep You Feeling Full
The inclusion of fibre and healthy fats is intended to keep your appetite under control, preventing snacking, and make sticking to your diet much easier.
Unfortunately, with just 2 grams of fibre, 2 grams of fat, and 160 calories, it’s unlikely to have any noticeable effect in this regard.
Garden Of Life Raw Organic Meal Replacement Shake Risks & Side Effects
Most people will use the Garden Of Life shake without any issue, but it’s possible the blend or its ingredients may cause side effects in some people.
This includes bloating, darkened stools, diarrhoea, gas, indigestion, nausea, sickness, stomach cramps, and allergic reactions.
How To Consume Garden Of Life Meal Replacement Shakes
Garden Of Life suggest mixing one scoop of their organic shake powder with 230 ml of cold water or unsweetened almond milk and it can be used at any time.
With the Garden Of Life organic meal shake only containing 130 calories per serving, it can be used regularly, as it more closely resembles a snack than a complete organic meal.
What Are Current Garden Of Life Meal Replacement Shake Users Saying?
Positive Garden Of Life meal replacement reviews focus on its non GMO project verified, certified USDA organic, sugar and gluten free, plant based ingredients, plus its ability to double up as a low calorie protein powder.
The list of negative reviews was slightly longer, with many people mentioning the low number of calories per serving. They felt this made it ineffective to replace entire meals, and provided very little energy or appetite suppression.
Being too sweet, having a strange taste and texture, being expensive, and causing stomach problems were among the other issues mentioned.
Where Is Garden Of Life Meal Replacement Shake Available?
Garden Of Life products are best bought from the official website. This ensures you receive the official product, will be covered by their 14 day returns policy, and gives you the chance to take advantage of the deals they frequently run.
Garden Of Life’s protein powders and products can be purchased from other retailers like Amazon too. When going this route, make sure to check the return policy and validity of the website you use before ordering.
Garden Of Life Organic Shake Alternative
Garden Of Life produce an organic meal shake that can double as a low calorie protein powder, but there are many reasons why mean it won’t be right for most people.
We’ll now look at one of the best alternative raw shake options currently available, to show you what can be gained from using a product of this kind if you choose the right one.
Rootana Real Food Shake
Much like the Garden Of Life shake, the Rootana Real Food Shake is an entirely plant based supplement, making it perfectly suited to those living a vegan lifestyle. It is also non GMO, a product free from artificial flavors, colours, and sweeteners, and contains no soy or dairy.
With a broad range of vitamins and minerals, it also offers many of the same benefits as its rival, such as being able to boost energy, help muscles grow, reduce fat, and keep you healthy, but the quantities used allow it to deliver on these promises much more effectively.
The Rootana Real Food Shake even contains the same amount of protein per serving, while including a significantly higher amount of calories, carbs, and fat. This makes it much more suitable for replacing full meals, rather than just curbing hunger in between them.
Working out at just £1.79 per meal, the Rootana Real Food Shake is also much more cost effective than even the cheapest option for purchasing the Garden Of Life shake.
Rootana Real Food Shake also comes in a two flavours, giving users a little flexibility when it comes to personal taste.
Garden Of Life Raw Organic Meal Replacement Shake Pros & Cons
Before we conclude our review of the Garden Of Life meal shake, I want to quickly highlight some of its pros and cons. This will ensure they are fresh in your mind when it comes to deciding whether or not this is the right product for you.
Pros
- Can double as a low calorie protein powder
- Helps manage weight loss and gain
- Contains no artificial ingredients, dairy, gluten, GMOs, soy, added sugars, or saturated fats
- Suitable for those who are lactose intolerant
- Comes in plant based packaging where possible
Cons
- Contains very few calories per serving so offers little energy
- Included quantity of fats and fibre mean it has little effect on appetite suppression
- Most of the ingredients are included in quantities that are far less than ideal
- Works out more expensive than many of its rivals in the long run
- The organic protein powders used don’t contain all the essential amino acids
- Some users report it having a slightly strange taste and texture
Final Thoughts On Garden Of Life Raw Organic Meal Replacement Shake
While sold to replace meals, the Garden Of Life shake more closely resembles a gluten free organic protein powder, and has very little carbs and calories. This can make it a useful snack option, but its price and content mean it isn’t the best choice for replacing entire meals.
For those who are looking for a true alternative to traditional meals though, Rootana is our top pick and easily the better choice. It does everything Garden Of Life claims to do much more effectively, while also being cheaper.
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