Green superfood powder typically contains a variety of vitamins and minerals found in fruits and vegetables, sea vegetables, green tea extract, probiotics, apple fiber, wheatgrass, grape seed extract, plant compounds, ginkgo biloba extract, and rice bran.
These ingredients can complement a healthy diet to increase your energy levels and help your body fight infection.
However, the effectiveness of green powders depends on various factors that can influence absorption. Fundamentally, your body is made to absorb vitamins and minerals quickly – but things like the type of supplement, existing deficiencies, and lifestyle choices can impact this.
Factors That Influence Greens Powder Effectiveness
There are many health benefits of greens powder and other nutritional supplements that can improve your overall health and well-being. How effective they are, however, depends on some key factors.
How nutrient deficient you are
If you're extremely deficient in key vitamins and minerals, then it can take your body much longer to feel some effect from greens powder as it'll take time for it to build up to a regular level.
A nutritionist or dietician will be able to tell you exactly which nutrients you're deficient in.
The type of supplement you're taking
Greens powder supplements come in different shapes and sizes, including tablets, capsules, powders, and gels. The body absorbs liquid from greens powder quicker than capsules or tablets, as these require the body to break down the outer layer before the nutrients can be absorbed.
High-quality green superfood powders allow essential nutrients such as leafy greens, barley grass, oat grass, high antioxidant fruits, and more to enter the body quickly as there is nothing to obstruct absorption.
Water or fat-soluble
Some minerals and vitamins, such as vitamin A, vitamin D, and vitamin K, are considered fat-soluble. This means they require fat in order to be absorbed. This occurs when the ingredients are combined with fat or when the supplement is consumed along with food.
On the other hand, water-soluble green powders can be dissolved in water. Naturally, this type of green powder dissolves more quickly in liquid and is absorbed into the body more rapidly.
Pairing nutrients
Some nutrients, when consumed together, will increase nutrient absorption.
Some classic examples of this include vitamin D and calcium, which is why many people who suffer from low levels of vitamin D are likely to be deficient in calcium too.
Pairing nutrients is an important factor to take into consideration when adding green powder and other supplements into your daily routine.
Your lifestyle and habits
Obvious factors that could impact this include smoking and drinking, which cause malabsorption and can put additional strain on your body – meaning you'll require higher doses of super greens powder to truly benefit from its effects.
Of course, these habits can lead to other adverse health effects like high blood pressure, cardiovascular issues, and cancer.
Another less obvious habit than can affect nutrient absorption is drinking coffee. Most people love a cup of coffee in the morning, but it can hinder the absorption of key nutrients like magnesium, iron, and Vitamin B6.
Try to limit your coffee intake to at least an hour before taking your supplements. Alternatively, you can try the new trend in mushroom coffee as a coffee replacement.
Health concerns
If you suffer from other health problems, it might affect how your body absorbs green powders and other supplements. If you don't have adequate hormones or digestive enzymes to absorb the nutrients, it's time to consult a doctor to understand the source of the problem.
Our bodies rely on numerous nutrients every day to maintain a healthy immune system and fight off chronic diseases.
How to Determine If Your Supplements Are Working?
Understanding whether your green powders supplements are working depends on all the factors mentioned above. It all comes down to you as an individual and the habits and behaviors you engage in.
Age, gender, pre-existing health conditions, digestive enzymes, and overall health can all influence how your body absorbs nutrients.
It's a good idea to look for signs of deficiencies to understand whether you need greens supplements.
Signs of nutrient deficiencies
If you're not sure whether you'll benefit from green powders, consider if you're showing any common signs of nutrient deficiency, such as:
- Exhaustion or depression
- Fatigue
- Unable to concentrate or focus
- Constantly stressed and anxious
- Poor sleep quality
- Weakened immune system
- Your skin looks aged
- Loss of hair
When Should I Consider Changing Supplements?
Typically, you should start to notice a difference within two to three months of taking greens powders regularly. However, this timeframe is dependent on the factors we've discussed above, as every person is different.
If you've been consuming greens powder regularly for more than three months and you haven't noticed a difference, consider talking to a health professional who can do tests to determine your digestive health and check you for any deficiencies.
You may want to check that your greens powder contains sufficiently dosed ingredients too. Often greens supplements contain hide the true ingredient weights in proprietary blends and so may contain too few ingredients to actually be effective.
This is why we would always suggest opting for fully disclosed ingredient labels.
FAQs
What do you mix greens powders with?
You can mix super greens powder with water, or, if you want to make it taste better, try adding it to your favorite juice. You can also add natural sugar substitutes like stevia leaf extract to improve the taste.
Can green supplements replace vegetables?
Vegetables offer numerous health benefits that a supplement can't replace. However, when taken in addition to a regular vegetable intake and well-balanced diet, super greens powder can provide increased vitamins, minerals, and nutrients to keep your body healthy.
Related: Can greens powder replace vegetables?
Can you take greens powder twice a day?
If you're wondering when to take greens powder, it's typically recommended to take it once per day. Although taking two doses per day likely won't have any negative consequences, be sure to check the label of the super greens powder you've purchased.
Should you drink greens powder on an empty stomach?
Most greens powders brands recommend taking your super greens powder in the morning on an empty stomach as it will absorb better into your immune system. But any time of the day is fine.
The Bottom Line
The time it takes to notice a difference when taking super greens powder depends on you as an individual, your lifestyle and habits, and various other factors concerning your health.
Generally, you should start to notice a difference after a few months, but this isn't guaranteed.
If you want to make sure you're using super greens powder to achieve the maximum benefits, be sure to choose one that is adequately dosed with a range of greens, vitamins and minerals.
LifeHacker Guy Greens Recommendation
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