Garden of Life Meal Replacement Shakes, Vegan Protein Powder, Raw Organic Protein Powder, Lightly Sweet Protein Powder with Plant Based Pea Protein, Sprouts, Greens, Probiotics, Dairy Free 14 Servings

Okay, let’s start with the obvious— you need a blender or electric whisk for this meal replacement shake; it’s not a good fit for a shaker bottle as it will leave you sad and cross because it won’t mix well and be gritty.Next, you really do need the right “work flow” for this: first pour about half of liquid in (I use a total of 1 cup of Trader Joe’s Unflavored Almond Milk in a 16oz glass with a handheld whisk because I don’t want to clean a blender), then add the scoop or 1/2 scoop of the powder, then BLEND or WHISK like a little maniac, then the second 1/2 powder, whisk, then add the second half of the liquid, and give it one more quick whisk. THEN: down the hatch!Don’t think about it, don’t sip it, just stare into the far distance and get it down in a few good drinks.If you don’t like the taste: meh. Who cares? Follow with a quick espresso, tea, or if none of that is handy, just brush your teeth and start enjoying your day.Because here’s what’s crazy about this meal replacement drink: you can set a timer and in about 4 minutes you will be absolutely NOT hungry, you will have only one glass and a electric whisk to rinse, and you won’t need to think about food for 4 hours. It’s amazing! Go crush those projects or go out sailing, biking, swimming, whatever you like. You’ll feel light, lively, and good.Better yet: in about 3-4 days you might, like me, start to feel *much* better!!I had noticeably more energy, better sleep, just better all around. I may have been a little deficient in something but, boy, although I didn’t love the taste, I decided not to have opinions about taste but just pretend I was an astronaut, drinking my space food. It worked out to be worth that little sacrifice to feel so good (and not have to make a complicated meal) and out the door so fast.If you want to go the other direction and clean a blender, knock yourself out: add fruits, veggies, etc. as other reviewers suggest. I just needed something fast and easy and healthy.I do want to support all the people who just hated this product. This was not true at all for me but I am one those people who has that genetic “thing” where I have to spit out Stevia and run to the nearest sink to rinse my mouth— and then it ruins the taste of everything for awhile. So: I feel your pain! Maybe for you it’s the texture of this product, maybe it’s some ingredient you can’t tolerate, who knows!? Keep looking and find something else.The rest of you: give it a try. Don’t expect a milkshake— it’s more of a protein-veggie mix deal, conceptually. Are you the kind of person that might consider drinking a spinach or kale smoothie? If so, this might work well for you.Because for me: easy, fast, tolerable enough if you pretend to be an astronaut — and then feeling SO great, SO fast afterwards was SO worth it!again: first 1/2 the liquid, then add the powder, then whisk into a thick slurry, then add the rest of the liquid, whisk to make a frothy drink, and drink it straight down, as you chat with the Mission Control team back in Houston. Done!

I've been a fan of this protein powder. I love that it's Non-GMO and certified organic. Plus, it's gluten-free which is perfect for my diet. The flavor is tasty and it mixes easily, no lumps at all. What's even better is that it's low calorie, so it's great for my weight management. The probiotics and sprouted grains make digestion a breeze. It's a complete plant-based protein, suitable for my busy lifestyle or leisurely time off when I need a meal with clean ingredients. Highly recommend!

I've been taken nutritional supplements for 20 years. This includes meal replacement powders, protein powders, creatine, andro, L-Glutamine, Ultimate Orange, Animal Protein Packs and you get my drift. I have one problem with nutritional supplements now, I refuse to use anything with an artificial sweetener in it. I don't really keep up with new supplements. I have been using ON's Oats and Whey protein and Any Whey protein for the last several years. I was looking for a new multivitamin when I saw this Garden of Life brand. My wife wanted to try their "Perfect Food". I read all the reviews on this Raw Meal one and really wanted to try it, if for no other reason, to see if it's really that bad of a taste. I've always felt like I could drink any supplement. I was chewing up chunks of ON's chocolate protein when I was 17, so I felt like I could take on any supplement. I first tried my wife's Perfect Food, which I thought tasted like vegetable broth, when mixed in water. It wasn't bad at all. My wife also liked the Perfect Food. She does have a history of hating protein powders though.So, I took the leap of faith, hey, I'm almost 40 and have two kids 11 and 9, who are highly active. I needed an energy boost. I should note, I ordered the Unflavored flavor of Raw Meal. I know Stevia is supposed to be safe, but so was ephedra, sucralose, aspartame and ace-k. I really wanted the vanilla one, but it has Stevia in it, as does the other 3 flavored flavors. The unflavored doesn't have Stevia.The product arrived before I got home from work. My wife opened it to smell, called me and said, "Oh no, this smells terrible". My anticipation to try it was building. She then sent a text of our daughter smelling it and making a bleh face. Then the kicker, a picture of our son, he's 9 and a bit emotional, seriously crying after he smelled it. I still wanted it. When I got home, my wife says, "I really don't think you should drink it. We ordered the small one, it's not a big loss to throw it out." Ah phooey!Step by step:I poured 10 oz of water in a blender bottle, added one scoop of the Raw Meal, shook in an upward rotational motion.The look:I didn't see any graininess. Keep in mind, I have been mixing protein powder for a long time and have figured out the rotational shake motion with any product that is hard to mix. It didn't look especially good though. I love all vegetables, so the green color didn't bother me a bit.The smell:I'm being honest and I know we all have subjective opinions, but I didn't think it smelled bad. It reminded me a little of banana oatmeal smell. And I love banana oatmeal.My wife and kids all covered their eyes because they knew it was going down the hatch.The taste: I've never drank a protein powder to enjoy the taste. It's two to three gulps, rinse out the bottle, be done with it. The banana oatmeal taste was there, maybe a little spinach thrown in. I know there's no banana in it, but I guess it's the mixture of fruits it has in it. I didn't gag. I didn't even make a yucky face.Did it taste good? No, I wouldn't say that. The banana oatmeal taste was soon gone and more of a dried spinach mixed in water taste came in.Did it taste bad? I wouldn't say that either. It tasted different than anything I'm used to. Now my wife said she was trying it, "A half scoop". She started mixing it in the blender bottle, hers came out completely different than mine. Hers looked thick and even gooey, kind of reminded me of green lava. She took one drink, covered her mouth and handed me the bottle. She couldn't get past the texture.Do understand though, mine wasn't the same texture as hers. Two reasons as far as I can tell. I put water in my bottle before putting the powder in. She put the powder in then the water. I also used more water than the directions call for. I used closer to 12 oz for one scoop. She used 4 oz for a half scoop. I took her lava-looking shake, added more water to it, shook with the rotational upward motion and it was now watered down. There was some graininess in the bottom of the bottle, which is why I point out, adding the water/fluid before the powder. She still refused to even try another drink. Our son's eyes welled up with tears when I looked at him and held the bottle out. I turned hers up and chugged it down.I agree with others who have said if taste really matters to you, you may have a problem with this product. I'm in it for the results. I did feel increased energy, better digestion and woke up the next day, wanting to go play basketball. Okay, the basketball one is a bit much, I was going to play it anyway. I do think this product works though. My wife noticed enough difference in me that she did reconsider trying it again, but as soon as I got the container out, she shook her head no and left the room.I know some reviewers say the only people who will like this are vegans, organic vegetable eaters, and so on, but take it from me, as much as I love a good salad, I also love a good steak cut up in the salad. I do eat a lot of vegetables, but I don't think that improved the taste of this product for me. I once tried vegetarianism for about 6 months, but went back to eating meats, usually adding them to my vegetables.I wish I could try the other flavors since I would like to see how they taste, but I just can't force myself to try Stevia. My best advice, if you're debating whether to try it, is to try the unflavored. I would imagine you could add a little fruit and get more flavor from it, but if you can chug it, do it and don't think about the taste. Keep adding water if it's too lava-like, don't let it set, as soon as its mixed, drink it.Lastly, I admit I was worried about the reviews that talk about pains, curling up in fetal positions, because I have been there. Mine was because of artificial sweeteners. I had a long-running discussion here on Amazon about my experience and how I thought I was dying. That's why my advice is to try the unflavored. I did take one star off because the flavored ones contain Stevia. I know it's not artificial, but I don't understand why a product like this one would even fool with adding any sweetener. I still would recommend this to most of my friends, but not to their wives or kids. It's really not that bad to me. I'll keep buying the unflavored.