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Balance of Nature Review

Balance of Nature Review – Fruit and Veggie Capsules

The other day I came across Balance of Nature Fruits and Veggies on the same day I was watching a movie with my eldest kid. The movie involved a futuristic version of society, in which the characters no longer needed to eat.

Instead, they got all the nutrition they needed from pills. “But won’t they be hungry?” she wisely pitched in. I can only imagine, I told her, that they also take a pill to make them feel full.

It can’t just be me who feels that this is exactly where, as a society, we are heading? Supplement makers are and have been for a while, selling to customers the idea of something as easy as a pill that will cut out all of the ‘hassle’ of eating whole foods and deriving nature’s bountiful health benefits.

This is why I think it’s really important, before parting with your hard-earned dollars, to do some research into what it really is that you receive in return. So here is my Balance of Nature review in full.

Balance of Nature Verdict

The average rating of this product is calculated based on the evaluation of the following factors:

Coupons: None available

Rating:

2.5

  • Ingredients / Dosages:1.0
  • Ingredient Safety:4.0
  • Value for the Price:2.0
  • Brand Transparency:1.0

I tried over 77 brands: check out my round-up of the best powdered greens!).

Balance of Nature Fruits and Veggies

What is Balance of Nature?

It’s not just standard vitamin pills anymore. In searching for this new wave of fruit and veggies superfood powders I’ve stumbled across a product called Balance of Nature, which comprises two forms of capsules of fruits and veggies powders.

The claim – which is by no means a new one – is that they are doing what all the others do only somehow better. The makers say that they don’t use heat to dehydrate their fruits and veggies, therefore retaining more of the ‘goodness’ and nutrition of the product. This is very intriguing and I’d like to know more.

Claiming to be ‘serious nutrition’ I’d like to know how Balance of Nature can deliver on the promises they make, so here’s my full Balance of Nature review.

Background on Balance of Nature

In 1996, Dr. Douglas Howard developed a form of dehydration called ‘flash drying’ which, it is claimed, retains 99% of the nutrients within fresh produce when reduced to a powdered form.

It is proposed that the whole process – which is done in low levels of heat, light, and air – purposefully limits the amount of oxidation from the produce and therefore all the goodness goes directly to you when you consume the powder.

Dr. Douglas Howard

Balance of Nature capsules come in fruit and veggie varieties, and the idea is that you take three a day, one alongside each meal, as a supplement to enable you to derive fruit and vegetable nutrition but without the hassle of preparing whole foods to eat.

But what about the fiber, I ask myself…

Their fiber products (Fiber & Spice) neatly package precisely the fiber you are missing out on by taking powdered fruits and vegetables.

The ‘whole health system’ (taking the fruit, veggie, and fiber all together) says it will simplify your life. Everything that your doctor or nutritionist says you should be getting more of, in terms of whole foods, you can buy from Balance of Nature and take in capsule (and powder) form. How neat!

How modern!

But how is this any different from the other green superfoods competition?

Not only do they set out to help you to eat more healthily, but Balance of Nature also offers a Health Coaching service that keeps you accountable for your health and fitness lifestyle choices, another aspect of the company which gives “added value” to the products.

Balance of Nature Ingredients

The fruit capsules contain a blend of the following ingredients:

Aloe Vera, Apple, Banana, Blueberry, Cherry, Cranberry, Grape, Grapefruit, Lemon, Mango, Orange, Papaya, Pineapple, Raspberry, Strawberry, Tomato.

The veggies capsules contain a blend of the following ingredients:

Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower, Cayenne Pepper, Celery Stalk, Garlic, Kale, Onion, Shiitake Mushroom, Soy Bean, Spinach, Wheat Grass, Yam, Zucchini.

Fruits and Vegetables

Now, rather than go into great detail about the health benefits of each individual fruit and vegetable, I’m going to talk about how the makers of this product have pitched the benefits to customers, and what my take is on this.

Firstly, they don’t give any amounts for their nutritional information. That means that how much of each ingredient is included in their blend is actually hidden from the customer.

This is disappointing. I’d like to know if I’m getting a full portion of cranberries in this blend, to say nothing of the amount of kale in the veggie blend.

Balance of Nature Fruits and Veggies Supplement Facts

It’s also a shame that so much of the information about this product is hidden inside their FAQ page of the website. There is very little up-front which tries to inform the customer about their preparation methods and the added value they claim to be giving customers.

What Balance of Nature says is that ‘how’ they have prepared the ingredients in the blend is as important as what actually goes into it. But my main concern is that this whole product line is actually missing the added benefits of eating whole foods.

As opposed to encouraging people to explore a diverse range of fresh foods in their diet, and thereby benefiting from the phytonutrients from each individual fruit or vegetable directly by eating them, we are being convinced to pay someone for their efforts in preparing these foods for us.

It seems slightly absurd. Especially when fruits and vegetables are so delicious!

How Does Balance of Nature Taste?

Because the formulation is enclosed in a capsule there is unlikely to be any discernible taste.

Side Effects

I would say that apart from the lack of fiber in the fruit and vegetable capsules there is unlikely to be a side effect to taking these capsules.

The only side effect I can foresee is if it actively prevents you from eating as much fresh fruit and vegetables as you ordinarily would, in which case you should increase your fiber intake.

Does Balance of Nature Actually Work?

The suggested serving size is 3 of each capsule; three fruits, and three veggies, so that means you are supposed to take six capsules per day. Now I am personally not keen on this. I don’t like (or even want to be) taking capsules at the best of times, so six per day is a stretch for me.

Each serving is a tiny 2.4grams.

What is included is a proprietary blend, so in not declaring exactly how much of each ingredient is included in the blend, the makers are also not able to really tell us what it can do.

This is my bottom line on all blends. They are not being transparent about the powerful ingredients they have included, and therefore I can’t be sure whether I’m really getting enough of each individual ingredient, apart from going on what the manufacturers have told me.

We are told that when we take Balance of Nature capsules we derive all the nutrition from 10 servings of a salad containing 31 ingredients. The equivalent – we are told – of eating a large fruit salad and a large vegetable salad. We are further told why this ‘nutritional equivalence’ is not a trick.

Green capsules on table

We are informed, in quite frankly a bizarre tangent from actual nutritional science, that this is a matter of “Total Surface Area” and that the nutrition of each food is enhanced by the process of powdering it.

I assume this to be more than a little misleading.

What you miss out on by taking only a supplement in place of fruit and vegetables includes more than just micronutrition (vitamins and minerals). Dietitians are often asked whether vegetable powders are as good as eating the real thing.

What you miss out on by taking only a supplement in place of fruit and vegetables includes more than just micronutrition (vitamins and minerals)

There is limited research into these products and therefore most ‘scientific’ findings are conveniently made by the manufacturers themselves. I don’t find this at all convincing.

I’ll say it again because it bears repeating, these proprietary blends just don’t cut it for me in terms of transparency and really knowing what’s inside the capsule.

Balance of Nature Reviews

The four customer reviews I found on Amazon range from one to five stars:

great products5 star

waste of time and money1 star

Money Back Guarantee / Returns Policy

You get a 30-day money-back guarantee as a Preferred Customer (see below for an explanation of the buying options).

Where to Buy Balance of Nature

You can buy Balance of Nature online on their website or on Amazon.

Is It Worth the Price?

At three capsules per day, 30 capsules are only going to last you ten days. This represents pretty poor value for money. But don’t forget, what you are buying is not just the product, you are also paying for a personal health coach to keep you on track with your goals. So, in pitching this as an added value, the makers of this simple powder-in-capsule-form have sold you something so much more valuable than just the health benefits of what is inside the pills.

You can buy as a Preferred Customer or as a Retail Customer. The price quoted online is currently $69.95 as a Preferred Customer. This gets you 90 capsules of each fruit and veggie type – a 30-day supply.

For $2.33 per day, this isn’t cheap as an alternative to eating fresh fruit and veggies, but as I said above it depends on what you are replacing the whole foods in your diet.

Pills like this shouldn’t be a meal replacement as they don’t represent the full nutritional scope of a varied diet. This is why if I am looking to supplement my diet with greens I prefer consuming powders over capsules – you simply get much more of the dosages of the ingredients you need.

Balance of Nature Verdict

I’m still wary of the concept of completely replacing whole foods with powders or capsules, although I definitely believe in the power of supplements to fulfill a nutritional need where the basics are not being met.

I don’t agree that you need to pay someone to dehydrate all your fruits and veggies, but I do think that supplementation can add powerful nutrients that may be missing from an otherwise healthy diet.

For me, these pills would only be a short stop-gap if my nutrition was under par and I was struggling to get any fresh fruits or veggies in my diet, but I’ll keep looking for a premium product that provides more bang for my buck.

Adam Author

About the LifeHacker Guy

Hi, I'm Adam the founder of the LifeHacker Guy.

I have a First Class Honours degree in Sports Science from Brighton University, specialising in exercise physiology and nutrition. In my youth I was a competitive Triathlete and long-distance runner placing top 10 in most triathlon races I completed.

Since suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I moved into web development, after a couple of years I then moved onto developing a number of online businesses. I've recently taken a sabbatical and I'm now looking to make big changes in my life, hopefully this may resonate with you - join me in my journey!

139 comments

  1. Wow. Their ads are all over TV and radio. Personally I don’t believe their personal testimonials. They all sound very fake. And since they just list the ‘ingredients’ alphabetically, my guess is the product is 99% soy flour with a few other veggies and fruits to give the mix color. But it is a great way to dispose of disposable income!

  2. I’m an “Old” retired engineer and have worked in food processing. I personably LOVE Fruits & vegetables. I eat a variety of at least 4+ fruits for break-“fast” and also that many Veggies during the rest of the day meals.
    I would be hard to be convinced that that tiny capsule will do anything for proper nutrition. Forget the Pill & enjoy the food & taste of a terrific variety of fruits & veggies. Don’t tell me you’re too busy or it’s inconvenient. All of those F & Vs are extremely SMALL & PORTABLE and taste a heck of a lot better as well as better for you and non-fattening !

  3. an average apple has 16 g of sugar. ignoring other solids in apples, like fiber for example, you would have to take 7 balance of nature capsules to equal the nutrients in an apple.

  4. Where do these fruits and vegetables come from? What country. I would love to see a news reporter check up on these. I’m guessing they are nothing but stems and leaves ground up with some food coloring

  5. This summer the state of California took the firm to court. The firm was fined over $1Million. You can easily search for the criteria. The bottom line: this firm is bogus. they spend more on advertising than the product apparently. Their products are overpriced and their business practices have caused them to have very bad ratings from the Better Business Bureau. All this firm is doing is tapping into the American mythology that “I can take a pill to fix (fill in the blank)”

    Save your money.

    Don’t fall for the scam

  6. I’ve been seeing the ads for this on TV for some time now and was curious about it. Even not knowing its many drawbacks, I’d already decided not to waste my money on it, as those capsules are simply much too large for me to swallow due to a narrowed esophagus. And a serving is 3 capsules of each? Forget that. After just one day’s dosage, I wouldn’t be able to swallow anything else for a week! Which led me to realize that this is probably how people lose weight with this: the capsules don’t allow for any REAL food to pass through!

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