Garden of Life has been a popular brand in the supplement market since it was founded in 2000. Although I have reviewed the brand’s Raw Organic Perfect Food before, I think it’s also essential to review the Raw Greens & Protein formula, as it’s one of the most brand’s best sellers and seems to be becoming more popular over time.
The Raw Greens & Protein formula is marketed as the ultimate formula to provide protein and super greens to consumers in just one scoop. The formula contains 20 grams of organic protein, as well as a wide range of super greens ingredients, digestive enzymes, and probiotics.
Garden of Life claims that the formula will provide a variety of health benefits, from aiding muscle repair to increasing digestion.
I’m really keen to take a closer look at this formula and see if it actually provides health benefits from the protein and the super greens ingredients equally.
If you’re also interested in taking a closer look you’re at this protein and greens supplement, check out my full Garden of Life Raw Greens & Protein review below.
Garden of Life RAW Protein & Greens First Impressions
The first impression that I get from the Garden of Life website is that to be honest, everything looks a little outdated. The branding and web design look tired, which is a shame because as a popular brand on the supplement market, I’d expected something a little more eye-catching.
Nonetheless, I do like the fact that the Garden of Life website contains a lifestyle blog, a recipe page, shows members of the team, and shares company information honestly.
Looking at the Raw Greens & Protein formula closely, the product definitely looks impressive at first glance. There’s a lot of information about the raw, organic ingredients that make up the protein in the formula and the types of super greens ingredients within it too!
So far, so good! Fingers crossed that the ingredients list and other aspects of the formula impress me just as much.
Other Greens powders I have reviewed you may be interested in:
Background on Garden of Life
Garden of Life, founded in 2000 by Jordan Rubin, is a popular household name when it comes to supplements! The brand’s success derives from the fact that all of the ingredients within their products are raw and organic, with every product having a variety of certifications.
Garden of Life has a B-Corp status certification, meaning the company has the highest standards of environmental and social behaviors possible in a business.
So, people that are interested in social and environmental responsibility make up a large percentage of the Garden of Life customers.
However, in 2017, Garden of Life announced that it was to become part of Nestle, which put a sour taste in people’s mouths. Although Garden of Life has sworn that it won’t compromise on its beliefs and practices, being part of such a huge corporation that doesn’t have the best social and environmental responsibility is bound to turn some people off.
RAW Protein & Greens Benefits
Garden of Life is surprisingly modest about the health benefits that derive from consuming the Raw Greens & Protein formula. The brand states the health benefits in relation to the types of ingredients within the formula.
For example, the brand states that the organic protein will support the health of the muscles and increase the rate of muscle repair. It also states that the digestive enzymes and probiotics will support healthy bacteria of the gut and improve digestion, and the super greens ingredients will increase energy levels.
RAW Protein & Greens Ingredients
The Raw Protein & Greens formula contains around 30 potent and impressive ingredients depending on the flavor of the formula you choose to purchase. Unfortunately, the ingredients are split up into proprietary blends.
This is a massive problem anyway, but even more so because the amount of each proprietary blend isn’t even shown. Therefore, no one but the brand itself knows if the ingredients added in this formula are actually sufficiently dosed!
However, I’ll be looking more into this further down in this review.
- Organic RAW Protein & Greens Blend: Organic Pea Protein, Organic Spinach (leaf), Organic Sprouted Brown Rice Protein, Organic Chia Protein, Organic Alfalfa Grass Juice, Organic Broccolli (stalk and flower), Organic Navy Bean (sprout), Organic Lentil Bean (sprout), Organic Garbanzo Bean (sprout), Organic Carrot (root), Organic Beet (root), Organic Kale (leaf)
- Organic Flavor Blend: Organic RAW Cacao, Organic Chocolate Flavour, Organic Soluble Tapioca Fiber, Organic Stevia Extract (leaf), Sea Salt
- RAW Probiotic & Enzyme Blend Lipase, Protease, Aspergillopepsin, beta-Glucanase, Cellulase, Bromelain, Phytase, Lactase, Papain, Peptidase, Pectinase, Xylanase, Hemicellulase, [Lactobacillus Plantarum, Lactobacillus Bulgaricus], 1.5 Billion CFU
The specific ingredients within the organic flavor blend depend on which flavor of formula you choose. For this example, I have looked at the Chocolate Cacao flavored formula.
The formula is raw, USDA organic, Non-GMO Project verified, NSF Certified gluten-free, Informed-Choice Certified, vegan, and kosher.
Here is the supplement facts label:
How does RAW Protein & Greens Taste?
As mentioned briefly above, there are different flavors of the Raw Greens & Protein formula.
You can choose from Chocolate Cacao, Vanilla, or Lightly Sweet.
Both the Chocolate Cacao and Vanilla flavors are tasty and taste more like smoothies or shakes than supplements. The Lightly Sweet formula is also palatable, but obviously not as sweet or powerful as the flavoring of the other two formulas.
Side Effects
Although Garden of Life doesn’t warn of any side effects or warn specific groups of people away from consuming the formula, there is a warning on the label that the formula does contain 14mg of caffeine, from naturally occurring ingredients.
This is nearly the same amount of caffeine as you would find in a cup of green tea (20mg). Therefore, I would recommend not giving this formula to children or those that suffer from adverse effects when they consume caffeine.
As I always say, if you’re pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18 years old, have a medical condition or you’re taking medicine, you should check with your doctor before consuming any new supplements.
Does RAW Protein & Greens Work?
As every ingredient in this formula exists within proprietary blends that don’t even have a total amount shown, it’s impossible to say if this formula will work or not.
Thankfully the brand has at least put nutrients information on the label and shows the number and amounts of different amino acids per serving. However, it still doesn’t help us work out the efficacy of this formula.
However, we do know that there’s 20g of protein within a serving of this formula. The recommended amount of protein per day is 0.8g per 1kg of body weight, meaning that the average man with a sedentary lifestyle should have 56g of protein per day. So, the amount of protein in this formula certainly does help to reach this daily recommended amount.
As we know that there’s 20g of protein in a serving of this formula, and with a serving size of 31g, it means that the brand has allowed 11g for the other ingredients (around 29 ingredients). This means that it’s unlikely that each ingredient is sufficiently dosed.
RAW Protein & Greens Reviews
Looking at the Raw Protein & Greens formula on Amazon, it’s evident how popular this brand and this formula is – it has over 2,000 customer reviews.
Overall, the formula scores 4.5 stars out of 5 stars, with 72% of the reviews being 5-stars.
Let’s take a look at a selection of these reviews below.
Worth every penny. Great quality product, and given the saturation of veggies and seeds it is made with, it tastes pretty darn good. If you are like me and don't enjoy the taste of Stevia, opt for the Lightly Sweet. However, after a bottle of chocolate and vanilla, all three are great and I've adapted to the Stevia flavor. I'm a big, active guy (6'6″). I'm amazed how sustained my energy is with this in my morning smoothie. Most days this is all I need until lunch, which blows my mind given the calories in one serving. I personally mix it up with some hemp seeds, chia seeds, and frozen cherries, and or bananas. Well done GOL!5-star reviewer
I love that this powder has greens added in the product. Unfortunately, it does not blend very well and is quite gritty even after super blending. The flavor isn’t bad, but I wouldn’t say it’s tasty either. Just kinda meh.
3-star reviewer
I loved pretty much everything about it – the ingredients, nutritional content, taste – however after about a week of having consumed it I developed severe fatigue and strange aches throughout my body. Upon further research, one of the ingredients has been linked to eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS) which includes the symptoms I mentioned. This may not affect everyone but for those with more sensitive symptoms, be careful.
1-star reviewer
Money-Back Guarantee / Returns Policy
Although it’s not obvious on the website, Garden of Life does have a 30-day refund policy – if you return the item you purchased within 30 days, you can receive a full refund.
However, it’s unclear if this means that you can try the product first, or if you have to send back a full, unopened container.
Where to buy RAW Protein & Greens?
You can buy Raw Greens & Protein online from the Garden of Life website, from Amazon, and other third-party independent online supplement retailers.
If you’re in the US, you can also find Garden of Life products in stores such as Vitamin Shoppe and Whole Foods. You can find your nearest retailer by searching on the Garden of Life Store Locator.
Is It Worth The Price?
You can either purchase the Garden of Life Raw Protein & Greens formula in a full 20 servings tub, or in 10 separate single-serve packets.
One 20 serving tub of Raw Protein & Greens formula costs $38.39, with a cost per serving of $1.92.
A package of 10 single serving cost packets costs $24.79, with a cost per serving of $2.48. So, obviously, it works out cheaper if you buy more formula!
Although protein powders are typically more expensive than super greens formulas, I do think that this is too expensive for a formula that doesn’t have a fully disclosed ingredients label.
The Bottom Line
Initially, I had a really good impression of the Garden of Life Raw Protein & Greens formula, and I think that I expected big things from a brand that’s so well-known and well-respected.
However, I simply can’t get past the fact that the formula doesn’t have a fully disclosed ingredients label. Honestly, I think it’s a real disappointment that the brand isn’t transparent with the amount of each ingredient within the formula because it obviously goes to a lot of effort to use raw, organic ingredients and have formulas certified.
If you’re looking for a top-up of protein more than you’re looking for a super greens formula, you might be interested in purchasing this formula.
I would suggest that you’re better of getting a high-quality super greens formula with a fully disclosed ingredients label and mixing it with a high-quality protein powder.
LifeHacker Guy Greens Recommendation
Some Call This An "Extreme" Step...
Most super greens supplements are disappointing.
I learned this the hard way. After creating this blog in 2018, I spent months buying and testing all the most popular brands.
I wasn’t happy with the results so I did something you might call "extreme"....
In 2019 I created my own brand that ticks every single box of what I look for in a super greens product:
- No hidden ingredient amounts - we have full disclosure labelling, so you know EXACTLY whats inside
- Ingredient amounts that make a difference - we include the minimum effective amounts supported by research, and most of the time, MORE
- Ingredients that help immunity, boost mental clarity and shake off brain fog - making for a much more productive and happy lifestyle
No more worrying about ineffective ingredients or too low dosages. I finally have a product I KNOW does the job it’s made to do.
I use it every day and, after years of battling Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), I now have my energy (and my life!) back.
The good news? I made my brand available to the public so you can see and feel the difference for yourself.