Greens Powers
Greens Powders – Are They a Scam?
This might be a little controversial, but I want to preface this by saying that I have personally used a greens powder for a short period, which I’ll discuss later in this blog.
You’ve probably seen greens powders being heavily promoted by your favourite content creators, often hyped as a game-changer for health. With all this buzz, I decided to try them myself while also deep-diving into the world of greens powders to determine whether they are actually effective or just another fitness scam—like test boosters.
Commonly Claimed Benefits of Greens Powders:
Gut Health
Immune System Boost
Reduced Blood Pressure
Chronic Disease Prevention
Cognitive Health
Healthy Skin, Hair, and Nails
Mental Clarity / Focus
Greens powders are often marketed as a complete and comprehensive daily nutrition supplement—a simple way to get all the vitamins and minerals you need in one drink. Some brands even claim they are a “superfood,” with top influencers backing these products. But do they really live up to the hype?
The Other Side of the Argument
One major issue with greens powders is that they often use proprietary blends, meaning the ingredient list is available, but the exact amounts of each component are not disclosed. While this can help companies protect their formulas from competitors, it also prevents consumers from knowing whether the ingredients are included at effective dosages.
Because the order of ingredients in a proprietary blend is listed from highest to lowest quantity, we can make some educated guesses about the formulation. Looking at the dosages, we start to see potential problems with the claims made about greens powders.
Gut Health: The fibre content in greens powders appears to be low, which means they lack prebiotics in sufficient amounts. This leaves probiotics as the main source of gut health benefits, but research suggests that probiotics in supplement form often have minimal impact.
Digestive Enzymes: Many greens powders contain digestive enzymes, but these enzymes often don’t survive the digestive process, rendering them ineffective.
Iron Deficiency: Iron is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies worldwide. If greens powders were truly a “comprehensive daily nutrition supplement,” you would expect them to include iron—but many do not.
Adaptogens & Nootropics: These compounds have become a hot topic in fitness and wellness. However, the adaptogens found in greens powders are often significantly underdosed, making them ineffective.
The Verdict
After looking at the science and my own experience, it’s clear that greens powders are heavily marketed but provide little to no real benefit—at least not enough to justify their often-outrageous price tags. Any perceived benefits could easily be attributed to the placebo effect. Instead of spending money on these overhyped powders, you’d be better off taking a multivitamin at a fraction of the cost.
I even saw an ad claiming that greens powders could replace fruits and vegetables—which is completely false and should never have been allowed online! If you want a solid daily supplement stack to support general health, you’re better off sticking to the basics:
Multivitamin
Omega-3 (Fish Oil or Algae-Based)
Creatine Monohydrate
A balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables
Final Thoughts
Please don’t waste your money on unnecessary products. Instead, invest in whole foods and evidence-based supplements. Below, I’ll link to some videos from experts who have thoroughly debunked the claims surrounding greens powders in case you want to dive deeper into the topic.
Video 3
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