A close look at Shakeology ingredients in Greenberry Shakeology

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

As with the chocolate Shakeology ingredient article, I want to make it clear that this is an old article I wrote based on an old Shakeology formula. I did glance over the new ingredients and while they seemed clipped down, they did have most of these ingredients still listed though in abbreviated form sometimes.

While this is not completely accurate to greenberry Shakeology anymore, the facts surrounding these ingredients do not change; let this help you decide if you want to try the new Shakeology formulas or not.

Nutrition:

Serving size: 1.4 ounces of powder

Calories: 140

Calories from fat: 3

Total fat: <0.5g

Cholesterol: 10 mg

Sodium: 95 mg

Total carbohydrate: 19 g

Dietary fiber: 3 g

Sugars: 11 g

Protein: 16 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, bifodobacterium 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, xanthan gum, guar gum and cinnamon powder

There are no unique ingredients to the greenberry Shakeology ingredients when compared to the chocolate Shakeology ingredients.

I will only be handling the ingredients that are not obvious fruits or vegetables that people somewhere in the world recognize as normal food items.

Because all the ingredients are shared, if you want to know specific details about chlorella, spirulina, hydrilla, blue-green algae, maitake powder, cordyceps then you should check out the chocolate Shakeology ingredient close look at. I split the ingredients between these two articles to keep them from being unbearably long.

Bifidobacterium longum is a bacteria naturally found in the human digestive system. It is believed to prevent the growth of pathogenic organisms in the gut. It has shown in a study that it can reduce the severity of symptoms related to the common cold.

Gut floras are good; not really much else to say about that.

Lactobacillus acidophilus is a species of bacteria. It is sometimes included in yogurts and according to the Mayo Clinic, there is good (not strong, but good) evidence that yogurts enriched with lactobacillus acidophilus help with some vaginal infections.

Not harmful, probably torn up in the digestive system, may have some minor effects if you've got a yeast infection; not much else to see here. I think it may be a thickener? I'm not actually sure.

Lactobacillus bulgaricus is also used in making yogurts.

Like lactobacillus acidophilus, I think it may be a thickener for Shakeology.

Lactobacillus casei is a natural mouth and digestive tract bacteria. Studies showed that there was minimal positive benefit of drinking milk with lactobacillus casei in it because it limited the growth of helicobacter pylori – a microbial possibly associated with ulcers and other stomach issues.

It's a naturally occurring bacteria. Any positive benefits are minimal, but it seems to have no negative effects.

Streptococcus thermophilus is found in milk products and used in the production of yogurt. It can make it easier for peple who are lactose intolerant to break down dairy products.

This may just be another thickener for the Shakeology shake.

MSM, I believe is referring to methylsulfonylmethane and is present in small amounts in many foods and drinks. OptiMSM was labeled as generally recognized as safe (for consumption) by the FDA in 2008 and has been common in food replacement drinks, fruit smoothies, energy bars and other health food and drink sink. While there are some scientists who swear MSM is all that we're missing in life based on some wide-coverage, but not double-blind studies, more unbiased studies need to be done to see if it has any actual health benefits. Prospects look good for some, but seem unlikely for others.

Amylase is an enzyme present in the saliva of humans and other mammals. It breaks starches down into sugars. It may be present in order to break the starchy powdered foods down to give Shakeology a more sweet and palatable taste.

Papain is a meat tenderizer usually but is also used to break down cells. It may be present here to help break down the powder once water is added. That's just my best guess.

Cellulase is an enzyme used in the drying out of many powdered products, including coffee and laundry detergents. Nothing to really look at here; it has no benefits other than making the powder a powder.

Lactase is an enzyme produced in the small intestine of humans. It's added to milk to make lactose-free milk. My best guess is that it's added to aid in the digestion of Shakeology since it's advised to mix it with milk.

Lipase is an enzyme naturally found in human organs. It catalyzes the digestion of fat lipids.

Protease is an enzyme that helps digest proteins.

Curious what this stuff tasted like? Check out my greenberry Shakeology taste test.