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

I was a tad hesitant to buy this because of negative reviews about flavor and texture, but my mind knew better and I gave it a chance.I'm so glad I did!I needed something to supplement my nutrition at the end of my pregnancy. This stuff is perfect! Packed full of nutrients and healthy ingredients, and enjoyable to consume to boot.I chose the vanilla w/stevia because it's always a more versatile flavor when it comes to shakes. And the Stevie flavor isn't bad at all.Yes, this tastes a tad healthy. It's fine.I also add hemp powder to mine which gives it a lot of grit, but I'm drinking it because I'm not so good about eating during this pregnancy and need something for the moments where I can't be bothered to eat.It helps if you know how to make a shake taste good. So I'd like to share a few ways I've tried making this that I've loved:1/2 frozen banana, frozen strawberries, hemp powder, almond butter, and either almond milk or oat milk.1/2 frozen banana, few chunks frozen avocado, big scoop of peanut butter, almond milk.1/2 frozen banana, 1/4C frozen tart & sweet cherries, almond butter, almond milk.1/2 frozen banana, 1/4c frozen pineapple, almond butter & almond milk.1/2 frozen banana, 1/4c frozen blueberries, almond butter & almond milk.All were blended in my ninja cup blender with 1 scoop of product and 1/2 scoop of hemp powder.Each variation has been delicious and my husband and 8yo have loved it, too.I love that it's vegan and gluten free and that it's so versatile with so many nutrients. It's seriously really hard to find a shake that's actually packed full of decent nutritional stuff. Like others have mentioned, I used to do shakeology and have been pining for a shake that costs much less with the same nutritional benefits.This is the one.I may only stick to the Vanilla considering I can always add cocoa powder if I want it to be chocolately. I find having a chocolate base is limiting as the only things I'll likely enjoy in it are banana and peanut butter. I prefer being able to change up the flavors and utilize different produce to add even more nutritional value, and I recommend everyone else look at it this way too.It's not as delicious on its own. It's delectable with frozen banana and other flavors, blends up thick like ice cream and goes down great with a big metal straw. 👌Buy it.

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!