Garden of Life Meal Replacement Shakes, Raw Organic, Vanilla Protein Powder with Plant Based Pea Protein, Sprouts, Greens, Probiotics, Dairy Free 28 ServingsUSDA Organic

A few years ago, I tried ordering Shakeology, and actually loved the convenience of a healthy powder blend that I could use to whip up a healthy smoothie. The only problem? The price. It costs more than $130 for a 30 serving bag of the stuff! Also, I recently discovered that I have a sensitivity to dairy, so any products with whey protein are out. So, I stopped ordering it, and there weren't any comparable products on the market at that time for me to order.I recently wanted to find an alternative to Shakeology and found a couple of products that have the same idea in mind but at about a quarter of the price. I stuck with vegan products because I can't have whey protein. Also, I needed a product that was gluten free because of my gluten sensitivity. The two products are the Garden of Life RAW Organic meal replacement shake (in Slightly Sweet because I don't like stevia), and the Nutiva Organic Plant Protein Superfood 30 Shake (Vanilla). Here is my comprehensive review of the two.Price:Buying a jar of both of these powders will run you at about $40. The only difference is that the Nutiva shake has 18 servings per jar and GoL has 30 servings per jar. GoL also tends to be a little bit cheaper, depending on which flavor you get.Winner: GoL - 30 servings for less than $40 is a BARGAIN compared to Shakeology!Nutrient Macros:A scoop of either of these blends is going to be about 125 calories. The only difference is that the GoL has a little more fiber, and Nutiva has a little more healthy fat. Both brands have 20g of vegan protein, are still fairly high in fiber, and are low sugar.Winner: Tie.Ingredients:Here's where I am really impressed with the Garden of Life version. There are just dozens of health foods crammed into this powder that it is really reminiscent of Shakeology. Every ingredient comes from a pronounceable food, with the exception being the addition of digestive enzymes and probiotics (1.5 billion CFUs or colony forming units per scoop). I am a bit of a health nut, and seeing all of these healthy ingredients just makes me jazzed! In nearly every category here, GoL beats Nutiva. With two exceptions: flax seed meal and proteins from grains. I have to be really careful about what I eat because I have a mild form of crohn's disease that flares when I eat something I'm sensitive to. Something in the GoL powder causes me to react, and though I think it is the flax seed meal, it could also be the protein from rice, which can also cause celiac sufferers to flare. That being said, I am a rare case, and I am truly impressed with GoL here.Nutiva is also a great shake, with lots of grain free protein, digestive enzymes, and probiotics as well, though the ingredient list is about half as diverse as GoL.Winner: GoL by a landslide.Taste:Here is the kicker. I want to make this abundantly clear: these are HEALTH drinks, not a vanilla milkshake. Anything you make with these products is not going to taste like a milkshake. There are tons of reviews for both products about how bad it tastes. To be honest with you, I enjoy the taste of healthy things. And if you blend it up with some fruit for natural sweetness, they become downright delicious!Here's another thing: yes, I have been eating healthy for a long time, and I have a high tolerance for bitterness and grittiness when it comes to these powders. But as you put more healthy foods in your body, it begins to heal, and your brain will actually start to crave things that you used to hate. A perfect example for me is avocados. I couldn't stand avocados, but I ate them in whatever way I could stomach them because I knew they were good for you. In about a month, I got to the point where I craved them regularly! Sometimes you have to just push through the initial dislike before reaching nirvana. I think it is worth it!Okay, now that we have that aside, I'll compare the tastes one by one. I went with the Slightly Sweet flavor of RAW Meal, and I genuinely loved it! But I also blended it with other things! A typical smoothie for me consisted of unsweetened almond milk, RAW meal, some pumpkin seeds, some greens, and about a cup and a half of dark berries. This usually resulted in the perfect amount of sweetness for me, which is about the sweetness of 70% dark chocolate (slightly sweet but also bitter). Yum! The best part about blending it with other ingredients is that it also covers up the slight grittiness of the powder. Vegan proteins are never going to be as smooth as whey. The only downside to the RAW Meal powders is that you only have two options for sweetness: sweetened with stevia, and sweetened with sugar. There isn't a sweetener free option.The Nutiva shake powder smells better than the RAW meal powder - almost like a healthy cake batter. But Nutiva is sweetener free (except for a small amount of monk fruit extract, which you do NOT taste). This means that you can add in natural sugars, like from fruit, and have your smoothie sweetened that way. I actually like this option, because I prefer to sweeten my smoothies with bananas, which would make the RAW meal smoothie too sweet. Nutiva is also a little bit gritty, about the same level as RAW Meal. However, I did always notice that I enjoyed the RAW Meal smoothies more than the Nutiva ones.Winner: GoL - though if you want a sweetener free option, Nutiva still tastes pretty good!Drinkability:This category is similar to the 'Taste' category, but here is where I want to mention that both are a little gritty. Also, some other reviews mentioned that the powders congealed when left too long. I never had this problem, but I have a high power blender and always drank my smoothies fresh.Winner: Tie - with slight edge toward GoL.Final Thoughts:I really really wanted RAW Meal to be my new go to drink. It tastes better, has more flavors, is more cost effective, and has an incredible ingredient profile despite still being organic. However, I personally can't drink it. The flax meal in it causes my crohn's disease to flare up. I also know people who can't eat rice, and they would also react to RAW Meal (though Nutiva does have a little bit of 'rice extract' in it, the people I know don't react to the rice extract in Nutiva).Both are great alternatives to add a little extra dose of healthy to your morning shake, and, even though I can't drink the one I really like, I am grateful that Nutiva created a product that someone with my disease can drink!

It Works for me perfectly. It taste good & sort of like a vanilla/banana shake. First let me to all the people that keep saying that it mixes up to thick, well I found out why, it is because the scoop is actually really a double scoop because if you look insides of the scoop it has a fill to line inside of the scoop, so you are only suppose to fill only tip the line in the middle of the scoop & yes I agree with what your probably thinking because I thought the same thing & that is, why did they give a big scoop that is double what you should mix & the answer is I do not know, but I think they are trying to get you to make that mistake & use it up sooner then what it would last if you were mixing it up correctly or something. Who really know whats these companies do stuff for, but I thought at the time of grabbing this scoop that why didn't they just give us the right size scoop in the big bottle/canister? Don't really know, but all I know the first time I mixed this up I filled the scoop only tip the middle fill line that you can only see inside the scoop, so when I mixed the powder up it tuned out perfectly & I even mixed it with a banana & almond milk & spring water with no sugar because for me it does not need any because it is actually sweet enough. It is a really good probiotic & fiber supplement, not to mention all of the organic healthy plant based nutrition in it. It feels the stomach using the Psyllium Husk & Chia seeds & flax seeds in it & it just works perfectly for me. The pros part I am copy & pasting from this companies websitePros:(My Words): It taste similar to a vanilla/banana shake & it includes all of the healthy nutrition that your body needs especially vitamins, so you don't have to take a multivitamin because it has everything in it already. Love itPros: (Now "Garden of Life's" Words):RAW Meal goes beyond organic by providing live probiotics and enzymes, Vitamin Code RAW Food-Created vitamins and minerals, as well as nutrient Code Factors such as beta-glucans, SOD, glutathione and CoQ10, enabling natural recognition by your body.Containing 26 superfoods from RAW organic seeds, sprouts and greens, RAW Meal provides 34 grams of protein, 9-16 grams of fiber (depending on flavor) and a healthy 2.5 grams of fat making it an excellent choice for "weight conscious" individuals. RAW Meal also offers 20 Vitamin Code vitamins and minerals providing at least 100% of the Daily Value of 16 key nutrients.Just as important is what's NOT included in RAW Meal. It is gluten-free, dairy-free and lactose-free. It has no fillers, no synthetic nutrients, no artificial flavors or sweeteners and no preservatives.What are the Key Benefits of RAW Meal?A convenient meal-on-the-go, RAW Meal is suitable for almost anyone including those on vegetarian or vegan diets, those on low carbohydrate diets or those with gastrointestinal sensitivities to milk, whey or other protein sources. RAW Meal offers the following:* Provides the nutrition of a well-balanced, healthy meal* Naturally filling, satisfies hunger, provides energy* Excellent source of RAW organic, plant-based protein (34g) - including all essential amino acids* Excellent source of 20 Vitamin Code vitamins and minerals - RAW Food-Created Nutrients and RAW Food-Chelated Minerals that enable targeted delivery and natural recognition by your body* Excellent source of soluble and insoluble fiber (9-16g) depending on flavor* Provides live probiotics and enzymes for healthy digestion* Made exclusively from RAW natural, plant-based, whole foods - uncooked, untreated, unadulterated* Contains 13 RAW organic sprouts, 4 RAW organic cereal grass juices, 5 RAW organic fruits, spirulina and chlorella* No Trans FatsRAW Meal naturally satisfies hunger and increases energy, making it great for those looking to manage their diet and looking for a convenient alternative to the pre-packaged or fast-food meals that dominate our on-the-go lifestyles.CONS: The huge double the size scoop which is very confusing for the purchaser & user of this product.I'm not taking any stars off from the five stars because I think it is a very good product & plus I was one of the ones that was not tricked by the size of the scoop because I looked at other peoples reviews first because when I pulled it out I knew/noticed this scoop looked just way to big especially for the amount of water, almond milk or liquid of your choice, so I immediately started looking for a fill line & plus I knew what to look for because I order & use a lot of plant based herbs, so a lot of them have fill line scoops, but usually the right size unlike this one. But all in all it's an excellent product & I surely recommend this product & I will most definitely be purchasing this product again & probably for a life time because it has everything in it that I was paying way more for by purchasing many of the plant based herb in this product by themselves, so this with everything was way cheaper for me because just my probiotic was 31 dollars by it self, so when I came across "Garden of Life Raw Meal" I was just totally stoked. Plus I like the fact that it is Organic Raw & Plant Based because I changed my diet to a mostly raw organic veggies & fruits by juicing them, making smoothies & eating fruits & veggies, making salads, No processed food's of any kind. I eat steamed veggies & soups, but only vegetable soups made by my own hands for health reasons & this program works out good for me personally. But anyway if you have not purchased this wonderful product, then do so now.