If you haven’t yet explored the wonderful world of supergreens, we’re here to blow your mind. The benefits of a supergreens powder are infinitely more diverse and far-reaching than people expect, and adding these powders to your routine may bolster your health in unexpected ways.
We’ll talk about what supergreens powders are, what benefits you can expect, and how you can use the powder to your advantage.
What Is a Supergreens Powder?
Supergreens are a category of nutrient-rich green foods (both fruits and veggies) that can help provide a wide range of benefits for your body and mind — all thanks to their high nutrient content.
The benefits of greens can extend into nearly every part of the body, including your digestive system, energy levels, immune system, skin health, and more. Superfood powders harness those same benefits and allow you to access them without cooking or taking up a ton of room in your refrigerator.
Superfood powders are basically vegetables in powder form. They’re rich in phytonutrients and are often used as a dietary supplement to help provide essential vitamins.
What Ingredients Should You Look for in a Supergreens Powder?
The ingredients to look for in a supergreens powder will vary depending on your specific goals. The first step to choosing a greens powder is understanding the benefits of the antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that frequently appear on their ingredient lists.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants are substances that can help protect against certain types of cellular damage. Thousands of different substances can function as antioxidants, and each provides a slightly different benefit.
Some of the most well-known antioxidants include vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, selenium, and manganese, which are all great at fighting off free radical damage in the body.
Antioxidants can also come from fruits. These can include:
- Blueberries
- Acai berries
- Raspberries
- Pomegranate seeds
Minerals
Minerals are a specific class of nutrients that can help support the body’s functionality and health. Common minerals used for health and wellness include calcium, chloride, sodium, iron, and zinc (among many others). Each mineral works uniquely to maintain balance in the body.
Vitamins
Vitamins get perhaps the most attention out of all the nutrients we’ll discuss, although that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are more essential than the others. Having a deficiency of these vitamins can lead to serious health concerns. Popular vitamins include vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin D, and B vitamins. Many people choose to get their daily vitamins from a multivitamin.
Probiotics
Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that can help support your microbiome, a complex network of microorganisms that help keep the body functional and balanced. Probiotics are specifically good for helping to support the digestive system.
How Do Greens and Supergreens Differ?
When you think about greens, your mind probably goes first to many of the leafy greens and vegetables you may have pushed around your plate as a child, such as broccoli, spinach, kale, and peas.
While these green vegetables have an incredible nutrient list and are an essential component of any healthy diet, they aren’t everyone’s taste. Supergreens powders contain many of those same vitamins and minerals but in a smaller, more nutrient-dense package. This way, you can get the benefits of whole-food veggies in a delicious and easy-to-make drink.
What Are Some Benefits of a Supergreens Powder?
Now that you have a better understanding of what supergreens powder is and what ingredients you may find in one, let’s talk about the benefits. What exactly do you stand to gain by adding a greens powder to your routine?
1. May Help Support Healthy Blood Pressure
Our blood pressure is at least partially controlled by a pivotal balance of electrolytes, including key vitamins and minerals like sodium and potassium. Each electrolyte performs a different but equally crucial job inside the body, but they also work in tandem to maintain the right amount of blood in circulation.
For example, having too little potassium or too much sodium in your system can cause your blood pressure to rise and put you at risk for other significant health complications.
Luckily, the right supergreens powder can help support a healthy electrolyte balance, which in turn supports the body’s ability to maintain a healthy blood pressure (especially when combined with a heart-healthy diet and exercise plan).
Regardless, you should always monitor your blood pressure with your primary care physician. If you have high blood pressure, it’s important to seek medical advice and follow your doctor’s care plan.
2. May Help Support Digestive Health
Supergreens powders also have the potential to help support your digestive health.
Although we often take our gut health for granted, the digestive system requires a complicated balance of the diverse microbiome that keeps everything “moving” smoothly. Digestive enzymes, microorganisms like bacteria and yeast, and dietary fiber all play roles in optimal digestive health.
Depending on the product, supergreens powders may help support the gut wall lining, support its ability to absorb nutrients, encourage both the immune system and digestive function, and soothe gastrointestinal symptoms like bloating, bowel irregularity, and constipation.
Plus, many supergreens powders contain prebiotic fibers, which can further support digestive health.
3. May Help Support Proper Immune System Function
Our immune systems are one of our primary lines of defense, both from external factors (like bacteria and viruses) as well as internal ones. Fighting off even the common cold can become much more difficult when the immune system is compromised.
However, we’ve known for ages that the right vitamins and minerals can help support and protect the immune system. Take vitamin C, for instance.
If you feel yourself starting to come down with something, you may unconsciously reach for vitamin C (or even a hot toddy with plenty of lemon). Supergreens powders contain many of those same ingredients, so using them regularly can bolster your immune system’s ability to support both itself and the body.
4. May Help Support Overall Skin Health
In addition to the immune system, the skin provides another line of defense against the outside world. When the skin is strong and healthy, it can more easily stop external factors like germs and contaminants from getting into the skin and wreaking havoc. Luckily, supergreens can help support overall skin health.
But, as crucial as it is for defending the body, the skin also plays a significant role in how we feel about ourselves on an aesthetic level. When the skin is healthy, it also looks its best, which can boost your self-confidence.
Keeping your skin healthy is vitally important — after all, it’s your largest organ, and it’s what people see first when they look at you.
Consuming the antioxidants found in many high-quality supergreens powders (like L’Evate You’s Vitality Daily Greens in Tart Cherry) is a great way to maintain skin health and wellness.
5. May Help Support Natural Detoxification Processes
Plenty of fad detox diet plans have passed through social media in recent years, some backed by scientific research and some not. However, instead of just sipping on cabbage water all day, supergreens powder allows you to help support your body’s natural ability to detoxify itself.
The body is constantly scanning for toxins and flushing them out, and there are many ways it does this. The liver is the primary organ for natural detoxing. The right supergreens blend can help bolster liver function so that it can do its job smoothly and efficiently. With fewer toxins in the system, the body can run smoother and redirect energy to other areas.
6. May Help Support Cognitive Health
Brain fog is a part of life for many of us. If you’re trying to find ways to boost your cognitive health and keep your brain sharp, a supergreens powder may help. This is because supergreens powders are high in vitamins and minerals, which can help support focus and mental clarity.
In addition, diets that are lower in sugar can also lead to a clearer head. While sugar may taste good in the short term, it can also lead to “crashes” and make you feel slow and sluggish when it quickly disappears from your system.
That’s why L’Evate You’s Vitality Daily Greens, even the chocolate flavor, have less than a gram of sugar (and only from natural sweeteners). Plus, our formula features adaptogens like cordyceps, Chaga, and lion’s mane mushrooms, which can help support your memory and cognitive function.
7. May Help Support Overall Heart Health
Your heart is constantly working hard to pump blood throughout your body, providing it with the energy and oxygen that it needs to keep you upright and moving forward. Certain ingredients found in supergreens powders can particularly help support the heart.
These can include:
- USDA organic barley grass powder
- Organic wheatgrass powder
- Organic spirulina powder
- Organic chlorella
- Alfalfa leaf powder
However, always remember that maintaining and supporting your heart health requires a well-rounded approach. Along with your diet, you should also do at least 150 minutes of moderate activity per week (with a few days of strength training added in) and make healthy lifestyle choices.
In addition to fine-tuning your diet to cut out as much processed food as possible, the nutrients you choose to put into your body can have significant health benefits for your heart. That’s why it’s so important to do everything you can to support your heart (and the health of your entire body). The return on your investment is endless.
8. May Help Support Sleep
Sleep is crucial, but many of us don’t do enough to support it (how many hours of sleep did you get last night?). When you don’t get quality sleep, your body doesn’t have the opportunity to rest and rejuvenate. This lack of rest can leave you at a higher risk for immune system dysfunction and cognitive issues — plus, you just don’t feel like yourself when you haven’t slept well.
But how can a simple green superfood powder make a difference in the amount and quality of sleep you get? While it’s not a magic pill, the right mix can give your body crucial vitamins, like magnesium, that can support the production of sleep-supporting melatonin.
If you’re not familiar with melatonin, it’s a hormone that is naturally produced by the brain in response to darkness and is an essential component of the body’s internal sleep-wake cycle.
While supergreens powder benefits may be able to extend into sleep support, it doesn’t work all on its own. If you’ve been having trouble with either falling or staying asleep, you may want to check with your primary care doctor to rule out chronic diseases like sleep apnea. It can also help to create a bedtime route where you go to bed at the same time every night.
9. May Help Support Energy Levels
We’ve all wished that we could have more energy. Unfortunately, as we age, our energy levels naturally begin to decline. That doesn’t mean you need to sit back and take it, though. Supergreens powder may help to bolster your energy level, leaving you feeling healthier and ready to tackle whatever comes your way.
Ingredients like our proprietary M-Charge complex can help to support mitochondrial production. The mitochondria are like the battery packs of the cells, so supporting these organelles can help bolster your energy at its source.
Getting good sleep and maintaining a healthy, well-balanced diet is also crucial for keeping your energy up, even as you age. Exercise can also help. Although it might make you feel tired in the short term, your energy levels may rise in the long term.
10. May Help Support Muscle and Joint Health
If you’ve ever gotten out of bed and felt immediately stiff and sore, you know just how crucial your muscle and joint health is. Unfortunately, as we age, our body starts to break down — especially if we’re not proactive about supporting it.
Muscles, in particular, crave protein. Making a smoothie with supergreens powders and protein powder is an excellent way to combine their benefits, giving your muscles the protein and nutrients they need to function optimally.
A stretching routine (like yoga) can also help keep your muscles and joints strong and flexible — plus, it can help make getting out of bed just a little easier.
11. May Help Support Overall Healthy Aging
Aging is something that happens to all of us eventually. That doesn’t mean you have to just sit back and watch it happen, though. There are plenty of ways to take control of the aging process and, while you can’t stop it, find ways to support your health through it.
The aging process impacts us in two ways — cognitively and physically.
Although we’ve talked about ways that supergreens may support your cognitive and physical health, combining them with lifestyle changes makes a well-rounded approach that can keep you feeling young. Even simple things like doing a crossword puzzle or the daily Wordle can keep your brain sharp for years to come.
Can You Drink a Supergreens Powder Every Day?
Obviously, supergreens powders are packed with healthy vitamins and minerals, but can you have too much of a good thing? The good news is that, as long as you follow the directions and consult with your healthcare professional or a registered dietitian, most people can safely use supergreens powder on a daily basis.
How Much Supergreens Powder Can You Take in a Day?
There’s no magic number when it comes to how much supergreens powder you can use in a day. Instead, you’ll need to base your intake on the type of powder you’re using, the components in that powder, and your specific goals. If you’re not sure what you need to reach your goals, check with a nutritionist or healthcare provider to discuss them in more detail.
For our original Vitality Daily Greens formula, we recommend adding a scoop of power to a 10 to 12-ounce glass of water. You can also use this incredible source of vitamins in a smoothie or mix it with juice (although we recommend choosing one without added sugar).
The Bottom Line
Supergreens powders are essentially nutritious greens in powder form, and their benefits range from supporting sleep to encouraging energy at its source. When combined with a healthy diet, plenty of exercise, and a focus on self-care and mindfulness, a supergreens powder can help holistically support your overall health and wellness.
L’Evate You believes that everyone deserves to feel their best regardless of age, health, or circumstances. Enjoy your life — you’ve earned it!
Sources:
Sodium, Potassium and Health | CDC
How much physical activity do adults need? | CDC
Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke