Not all meal replacement shakes are worth your money. No, far from it. Despite the fact that the diet industry is one you think would be filled with knowledgeable people with the authority and experience to develop and sell diet products, the truth is very different. In reality, many diet products are developed by cynical business types looking to cash in on what they see as a trend to be exploited. Other products are based on hasty or poor research, and while their intentions are pure, the products aren’t very worthwhile – or are even dangerous.

When we came across Garden of Life Meal Replacement, we knew immediately that this was not like the others. Instead, it turned out to be one of the better nutritional shakes available on the market. When we looked at its ingredients, the way it’s made, and the company behind it, we learned that this is the real deal, and something the diet community should take a real close look at.

This product is made by Garden of Life, a natural health product company that’s been around for years. Their business is focused on nutritious products derived from whole foods, and promises that all their products are clean and free of synthetic additives and preservatives. Not only that, their products are vegan, organic, kosher, non-GMO, and certified Green. It’s possibly the most eco-conscious company we’ve come across.

To learn more about what’s in Garden of Life Meal Replacement and why we rate it so highly, read on.

Garden of Life Meal Replacement Ingredients

Nutrition and health are all about what you put into your body. You put bad things in, don’t expect good things to come out. That’s why it’s important that diet products, and especially meal replacement shakes, are made with high-quality ingredients. That’s what we found when we looked into what’s in Garden of Life’s Meal Replacement shake mix.

What impressed us most was that the shake mix is derived entirely from veggies, fruits, and plants – you don’t get much more natural than that. In essence, taking this product is no different than eating basic foods you find on a farm, and the result is cleaner and more natural results than using laboratory-derived artificial products.

Here’s some of what you’ll find:

• Raw Protein Blend. This is where the power of the product comes from. Meal replacement shakes depend on protein as the focal point, since protein is such a central part of nutrition as well as keeping you full. The protein blend in this product is made from a mix of pea protein, sprouted brown rice protein, amaranth, buckwheat, millet, quinoa, and chia seed, in addition to numerous others. By harnessing the protein content in different grains, plants, and legumes, the product is offering you the best in non-animal protein sources.
• Dietary Fiber. The fiber in this product comes from tapioca, chia seed, and flax meal, and can help promote satiety and curb hunger pangs.
• Fruit and Vegetable Blend. This is where the product gets all its vitamin and mineral content. By packing in spinach, beets, strawberries, tomatoes, broccoli, and more, Garden of Life offers natural sources of nutrition that the body can handle more readily and easily.
• Probiotics. To promote digestion and encourage good gut health, each serving of this meal replacement shake comes with 1.5 billion CFCs of probiotic bacteria strains, including L. Bulgaricus, the strain found in many yogurts.
• Enzymes. This product contains lipase, bromelain, and lactase, among other enzymes, to help promote better digestion.

Garden of Life Meal Replacement Organic Meal Powder contains about 130 calories per serving, with 6 grams of sugar.

How Does Garden of Life Meal Replacement Work?

Garden of Life Meal Replacement is meant to be used as a replacement for meals several times a week. Users are supposed to mix the powder into water, stir until blended, and drink. By drinking a shake that contains lots of nutrients and fiber and comes with fewer calories than a standard meal, it’s supposed to help people achieve an overall caloric deficit. By eating a reduced calorie regimen over the course of several weeks, your body burns more fat stores to compensate, and you lose weight.

This method, called CICO (“Calories In, Calories Out”) is the only commonly-accepted, scientifically-proven way to lose weight. And if you do it with a shake like Garden of Life’s, you’re still getting the nutrition you need.

How Safe Is Garden of Life Meal Replacement, And How Does It Taste?

It’s important that you check any diet product for signs that it could be unsafe. How? Many diet products contain unsafe ingredients like yohimbe and bitter orange, and others secretly contain pharmaceutical drugs.

Our preference for safe, natural products is another reason why we loveGarden of Life’s Meal Replacement powder – it’s possibly one of the safest products you could use. That’s because 100% of the product comes from natural sources, almost all of it from fruits and vegetables. Now, if you have allergies to some of the ingredients in this product, then obviously you shouldavoid it. For everyone else, it’s about as healthy as eating a salad.

Pros and Cons of Garden of Life Meal Replacement

Here we’ll outline some of the positives and negatives of the product. While we personally love it, there are some elements of it that some would consider a downside, so we’ll include them here:

PRO: All natural formula, high-quality ingredients, organic, decent price, eco-conscious company, high vitamin and mineral content.

CON: Only three flavors, a little higher in sugar than some other diet shakes.

Bottom Line: Is Garden of Life Meal Replacement Worth a Try?

Clean, whole-food diet shakes aren’t easy to come by, and it’s even harder to come by ones that contain no animal products. Garden of Life managed to do that with their Meal Replacement powder. While it would be nice to have more than three flavors, most people will probably be fine with the options, and with so many high-quality nutrients derived completely from natural food sources, this is one of the better meal-replacing shake mixes we’ve ever come across.

If you’re vegan, vegetarian, or just want something natural for lunch, go ahead and give Garden of Life Meal Replacement a try.