Shake It Like a Polaroid Picture!

Ever since I read an article about "Shakeology" last year, I have wanted to try it out.  The premise is that it is a nutritious shake powder made from whole foods, so that all the vitamins, minerals, omega 3's, and antioxidants are from natural sources.  Unfortunately, the hefty price tag of $119 for a bag of 30 servings was way too steep for me to buy an entire bag to try out the taste.

With my veggie quest, I have been looking to find a nutritious shake to start my day right, and that I cover most of my nutrition requirements.  My friend recently told me that he heard about Shakeology, and found a "BeachBody Coach" who was selling a sample pack for $25.  I jumped at the chance to see what all the fuss is about :)

I received two packets of Greenberry, and two of Chocolate.  I started with the Chocolate, and brought my Vitamix out of storage to make a breakfast smoothie.  I mixed one packet of Shakeology Chocolate with a cup of unsweetened almond milk and a handful of ice.  The shake was delicious!!!  It didn't taste like the usual fake, chalky chocolate meal replacement shakes, but tasted like a creamy malt chocolate milk shake.  It also kept me full until past 12:30pm, whereas with my normal breakfast of egg+fruit I'm usually hungry by 11:00am.

The next morning, I wanted to use my "Magic Bullet" to make a Greenberry shake so that there would be less cleanup.  Here I made the noobie mistake of putting the powder in first, and then the milk and ice.  No matter how I mixed, there was still some powder residue left at the bottom of the cup...lesson learned!  The GreenBerry shake was very good - tasted like a banana/berry/green tea smoothie.  There was also a nice hint of cinammon, and again the shake kept me full till 12:30pm.

Notice there are no bubbles in the Shakeology shake...I loved the creamy and thick consistency

I found that with both flavours I was very happy with the taste, and I had increased energy throughout the day (though that could be a placebo effect :)).  I usually chug two cups of black coffee a day, and I didn't have the caffeine cravings on the days I consumed Shakeology.  The downsides to Shakeology are its price and the fact that you have to buy it online via either the BeachBody website or through a "BeachBody Coach".  The only way to get a discount off the price is to become a "Beachbody Coach" - you pay $40.00 to get started then pay a fee of $16.00 a month.  I think most people become a "Beachbody Coach" to sell BeachBody products to friends/family to make money on the side.  However, as a coach you get 25% discount on all "Team Beachbody" merchandise.  This smells a little too strongly of Mary Kay and Amway to me, so I went searching for an alternative to Shakeology...

Aother friend gave me his old Veg News magazines, and I saw an ad for Vega One Nutritional Shake.  Its premise seems similar to Shakeology, except it is fully vegan.  Given that you can buy sample packs at Whole Foods, I was excited to find a Shakeology replacement that I can buy either in store, or online via Amazon.  I bought three sample packs - Chocolate, Vanila Chai, and Berry.

This blog isn't titled "NerdyYogi" for nothing, so time to break out the nerdy science experiements!  I compared the Shakeology Chocolate and Vega One Chocolate nutritional info, and it turns out they were very similar.  Shakeology had higher concentrations of vitamins, but Vega One had higher concentrations of minerals.

In terms of proprietary blends, there were of course differences.  Shakeology also used a natural sweetener blend of non-GMO fructose and stevia, whereas Vega One uses stevia leaf extract.

And now for the most important part - the taste!  I tasted all three, and my preferred flavor was Berry.  Unfortunately, with all three, there is a very strong stevia after taste.  In the past I have tried to use stevia as a sugar replacement in baking, and every time the strong stevia after taste caused me to compost all my creations.  The Vega One shakes were also not creamy when I whipped them up with almond milk and ice, and kept me full till about 11:15am (versus 12:30pm).  I found that I didn't receive the energy boost with the Vega One shakes so I did drink more coffee on the Vega One days, but to be honest I also got a lot less sleep on those days, which probably negated any "shake effect".

Vega One Chocolate

Vega One Berry

(Notice all the bubbles - the Vega One Shakes do not whip up creamy)

In terms of a price difference between the two, Vega One retails for 69.99 for 20 servings, for a cost of $3.50 a serving.  However, you can buy Vega One on amazon.com ~20% off, knocking down the per serving cost to be $2.75.  Shakeology retails for 119.99 for 30 servings, for a cost of $4.00 a serving.

So, is Shakeology worth the extra $1.25 per serving?  In trying to stay ah-hem, cost-concious, I kept drinking the Vega One shakes hoping that as time goes on I will get over the stevia after taste.  Unfortunately the taste for me did not improve over time.

So in summary, Shakeology was the winner for me (I bought a bag of the new Vegan Chocolate through the BeachBody website).  Don't worry, I didn't sign up to be a coach and I will not be pointing you to my coach website where you can buy the shakes from me :)  That is what I found super annoying in my research about Shakeology - most of the web sites out there are just from Team Beachbody coaches, hoping that you will buy the shakes from their links.  For laughs you should try searching for "Shakeology scam", the results are littered with "Is Shakeology a Scam", and when you click the answer is "No, of course not!  Look at all the good stuff you get.  Now buy from meeeee!!!"

Happy Shakin'!