A close look at Shakeology ingredients in Chocolate Shakeology

Chocolate Shakeology is meant to replace one meal a day in order to help you lose weight, feel energized and improve digestion.

Full disclosure, this is an old review that I originally posted years ago on a site that is now defunct; back then it was nearly impossible to get the ingredient list of Shakeology without buying some of it – talk about shady. I didn't want all this information to go to waste despite it being outdated, and a quick look at the ingredient list on Amazon shows that the ingredient list has been chopped, but most of the interesting ingredients – the ones we aren't likely to recognize – are the same. And I am not really seeing anything new on the list that looks like it needs a close look.

Take this with a grain of 'it's really, really old', but the facts of these ingredients don't change; they can still help you decide if the newer Shakeology recipes are right for you.

Nutrition:

Serving size: 1.7 ounces of powder

Calories: 150

Calories from fat: 10

Total fat: 1 g

Cholesterol: 15 mg

Sodium: 100 mg

Total carbohydrate: 17 g

Dietary fiber: 3 g

Sugars: 9 g

Protein: 18 g

Shakeology touts 70+ healthy ingredients, but what are the Shakeology ingredients exactly?

Ingredients: Chlorella, spirulina, Hydrilla, Blue green algae, spinach powder, barley grass, kamut grass, oat grass, wheat grass, acerola powder, camu-camu powder, pomegranate powder, bilberry powder, blueberry powder, goji berry powder, acai powder, maitake powder, citrus bioflavonoid, rose hips powder, maca powder, astragalus powder, ashwagandha powder, cordyceps, reishi powder, schisandra powder, suma powder, ginko powder, banana powder, carrot powder, orange powder, pineapple powder, raspberry powder, strawberry powder, yacon powder, bifidobacterium longum, lactobacillus acidophilus, lactobacillus acidophilus DDS-1, lactobacillus bulgaricus, lactobacillus casei, streptococcus thermophilus, sacha inchi, flax seed, chia seed, apple fiber powder, MSM, pea fiber, quinoa, amylase, papain, cellulase, lactase, lipase, protease, bromelain, amaranth, grape seed extract, green tea extract, natural sweetener blend, cocoa powder, xanthan gum, chocolate powder, guar gum and cinnamon powder

I am not going to cover all the ingredients as this is not a weight loss supplement. It's a protein shake. Most of the ingredients are real food items commonly used around the world; whether added for taste or to round out calorie/vitamin/nutrient needs. Anything I don't cover is likely a pretty normal fruit or vegetable. I will try to cover the Shakeology ingredients that seem most relevant to a protein powder.

Cocoa powder and chocolate powder are the only ingredients unique to the chocolate Shakeology ingredients when compared to the greenberry Shakeology.

Chlorella is an algae that was studied extensively before WWII. When dried it contains 50% protein and contains fats and vitamins. It was once viewed as an alternative protein source for world hunger. Better crop efficiency caused chlorella to be abandoned; however, the studies still hold up. It is high in protein, it does contain vitamins.

As far as a protein supplement goes, this is a good one.

Spirulina contains about 60% protein when dried and contains all essential amino acids. Studies have shown it safe for human consumption when replacing up to 60% of daily protein intake.

Like chlorella, it's a suitable protein for a protein powder.

Hydrilla is an aquatic weed and invasive plant species in North America. And beyond that I had a really hard time finding any scientific studies that told me what this would when consumed. It was just a bunch of supplement stores shilling it as a superfood with wild claims. Scientific studies seem limited to hydrilla's impact on the environment. It's really easy to harvest and sell something that states are paying big bucks to have managed and cleared out.

Blue-green algae is actually a name given to a number of algaes, including spirulina, so I'll assume this is referring to aphanizomenon flos-aquae, which is the other common dietary supplement blue-green algae. While blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) can have decent amounts of vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, proteins and other bioactive components, it varies greatly from habitat to habitat and even in the way it is processed and stored. Some studies suggest it may also have a positive effect on the immune system.

Overall, it's safe for consumption and I'll give them benefit of the doubt that they're harvesting from at least decent locations and in a manner that preserves some of the vitamin, mineral, etc. content.

Maitake powder is from a mushroom which has a hypoglycemic effect on lab mice, but no human studies have verified this use.

It's safe for human consumption; I wouldn't have even covered it since mushrooms are pretty standard food, but I thought its positive animal tests were worth mentioning.

Cordyceps is a genus that covers a huge amount of fungi; the one most people probably know of is the zombie fungus, cordyceps unilateralis. Would have been nice to get more than just a genus to go with, but there's limited, or no, study to back up medical benefits for humans for any herbal strain of cordyceps. Studies have been done on cordyceps sinensis and cordyceps militaris, but taxonomic name confusion has made studies a bit difficult to parse. While there are some positive-looking studies in animals, more controlled tests need to be done.

Hey, maybe we can turn “The Last of Us” into a real thing! Kidding, kidding; it seems to be safe for consumption so even if those studies aren't extensive enough yet, it's fine to take it. I just wouldn't put any bets on it if it were in a pill by itself.

Alright, this article is getting pretty long and we're about to delve into the wonderfully boring world of digestive bacteria and enzymes. Because chocolate Shakeology is almost identical to greenberry Shakeology, instead of repeating the same ingredients across two articles, I'll direct you to the greenberry Shakeology ingredient close look at if you want to see details on bifidobacterium longum, lactobacillus acidophilus, lctobacillus bulgaricus, lactobacillus casei, streptococcus thermophilus, MSM, amlayse, papain, cellulase, lactase, lipase or protease.

If you want to just jump straight to knowing what it tastes like, check the chocolate Shakeology taste test.