Eating all your fruits and vegetables is a key part of any diet, but just 12% of U.S. adults get the daily amount they need, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)[1].
While it’s important to focus on fresh produce for nutrients and minerals, greens powders can help boost your intake.
To find the best options, Forbes Health asked a panel of experts to make their top product picks and explain what qualities they like best. Star ratings, between one and five, were determined solely by the editorial team based on factors like cost and user rating.
Here’s what greens powders consist of, how they can supplement your diet and our experts’ top five recommendations.
| Company | Forbes Health Ratings | Price | Recommended by | View More | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Garden of Life Raw Organic Perfect Food Green Superfood |
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$3.22 per ounce | Mia Syn and Taylor Wallace | Buy Now | On Amazon | |
Vibrant Health Green Vibrance |
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$3.32 per ounce | Taylor Wallace | Buy Now | On Amazon | View More |
Nested Naturals Super Greens |
|
$3.29 per ounce | Taylor Wallace | Buy Now | On Amazon | View More |
Ora Organics Greens Powder |
 |
$3.29 per ounce | Mia Syn | Buy Now | On Amazon | View More |
Athletic Greens AG1 |
 |
$2.48 per ounce | Mia Syn | View More |
Our Best Greens Powder Of 2022 ranking is determined by a Forbes Health panel of experts. They provided their product recommendations, along with reasons they stand out.
Nutrition
For the Best Greens Powders of 2022, Forbes Health asked our panel of experts to provide their top picks and rationale. Star rankings range from one to five and are determined by our editorial team based on consumer-facing factors like cost and user satisfaction.
Greens powder is a dietary supplement that typically contains a combination of vegetables, fruits, algaes or grasses that have been processed and distilled into a powdered form. Some may also include probiotics, or live microorganisms that can help digest food, destroy disease-causing cells or act as a sugar substitute to add sweetness to a drink.
Before buying a greens powder, you first want to make sure its ingredients have been tested and are safe to consume, says Ryan Andrews, a registered dietitian at Precision Nutrition in Toronto, Canada.
He recommends investigating the “sourcing of the raw ingredients.” That is, the greens, grasses, fruits and vegetables the powder lists on its ingredients label. “Some farming practices use high amounts of chemical inputs to grow crops and this can lead to problems for both personal and planetary health,” he says. “Ingredients grown organically or regeneratively may be a better choice.”
It often helps to check out the company’s website for more information about how and where it gets its ingredients from. If a company does not have any information, that could be a red flag. It’s also “important to ensure that the company offers third-party quality control testing,” Andrews adds. Third-party testing is when another non-affiliated company evaluates a product.
Alyssa Pike, a registered dietitian at the International Food Information Council in Washington, recommends checking for NSF International, U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) or Informed-Choice testing and certification, as these organizations can verify the validity of the product.
ConsumerLab.com is another resource that can help you find out more about a company and its products, although this site requires a paid membership.
Generally, greens powders can provide another source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. For example, dark green leafy greens, such as kale and spinach, commonly found in greens powders are rich in vitamins A, C, E and K, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
However, some dietitians are iffy on recommending greens powders.
“For a generally healthy person, you could add greens powders to your diet to increase your vegetable intake,” says Pike. “But you’re better off prioritizing whole fruits, vegetables and other nutrient-dense foods.”
Greens powders are meant to be consumed with water or another liquid, and can even be added to smoothies. The typical guidance, including from our top picks above, is to mix one scoop of powder in with 8 ounces of water or smoothie.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not approve dietary supplements before they are sold, so it’s tough to say that greens powders are safe across the board. This is why looking into a company’s sourcing and testing is crucial to finding a safe product.
Andrews warns that dietary supplements are “prone to labeling inaccuracies and contamination with heavy metals, pesticides or harmful bacteria[3].”
Pay attention to a product’s serving size, adds Pike, “to ensure you don’t go overboard” with the vitamins in the powder. “Generally, water-soluble vitamins, like C and B, will be excreted in the urine if we consume more than we need, but fat-soluble vitamins, like A, D, E and K, can build up to toxic levels if we consume too much,” she says.
Both experts recommend speaking with your doctor before adding greens powder to your diet. That’s especially true if you are on medication, as the powder can interact with certain drugs, or if you are prone to kidney stones, which can be exacerbated by the compounds in the powder.
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