Superfood meal powder review: Garden of Life Raw Meal and Boku Superfood

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: Raw Meal, Garden of Life, health news

(NaturalNews) It's time to review two of the industry's most popular superfood products: Raw Meal from Garden of Life (www.GardenofLife.com) and Boku Superfood from the Boku Superfood company (www.BokuSuperfood.com). I'll also mention some other notable and important superfood products at the conclusion of this article.

Boku Superfood was launched in early 2008 and has since grown to be a highly respected and quite popular superfood product. It is not available in retail stores, however: The high cost of its authentic ingredients (see below) leaves no room for typical retail margins, so Boku Superfood is only available online.

The Boku formulation emphasizes premium superfood ingredients and includes a potent blend of nutrient-rich mushrooms, microalgae, greens, fruits and enzymes. Nearly everything in Boku Superfood is certified organic. The formula contains no sugars, no soy, no grains, no dairy, no chemical sweeteners, etc. It's gluten free, Kosher and USDA certified organic (that's the standard that actually means it's really organic).

Because of its formulation, Boku Superfood lends itself extremely well to chocolate superfood drinks. In fact, one of my favorite instant recipes is to fill a Blender Bottle (a shaker bottle) with raw almond milk, add a large scoop of Boku Superfood, some Boku brown rice protein and a scoop of X-Balance (another chocolate-rich superfood) then shake it up for a delicious superfood beverage. (This is a terrific pre-workout beverage, too, by the way.)

Boku Superfood also works very well in avocado smoothie recipes: Blend a fresh, raw avocado with almond milk, Boku Superfood, some chocolate powder and your sweetener of choice (I like to use a fresh pear). Blend it up and enjoy the rich chocolate taste of this delicious superfood recipe!

I've been a faithful consumer of Boku Superfood since its launch, and to this day, I drink probably fix or six Boku Superfood shakes each week. It's no exaggeration to say Boku Superfood is a premium superfood formula offering high-end ingredients in potencies that you normally don't find in most superfood products. (No cheap fillers here...)

Where to get Boku Superfood

You can pick up some Boku Superfood from only two places: The Boku store (www.BokuSuperfood.com) or the NaturalNews Store where we carry the Boku Superfood product for the same price: http://store.naturalnews.com/index.php?main_...

At our store, you can also pick up some other amazing discounts and specials such as our Tocotrienols superfood which blends nicely with Boku Superfood or any other superfood product.

Boku Superfood Ingredients

Here's the ingredients list on Boku Superfood:

BoKU Super Greens (3,000mg)
Organic Young Barley Grass Juice, Organic Spirulina, Organic Nettle Leaf, Organic Kelp, Organic Nopal Cactus, Organic Chlorella [Cracked Cell Wall], Organic Broccoli Juice, Organic Spinach Juice, Organic Kale Juice, Organic Cabbage Juice, Organic Parsley Juice, Organic Klamath Lake Blue-Green Algae.

BoKU Superstar Maca and Mushrooms (3,000mg)
Organic, Fresh-Pressed, Maca Root Juice, Organic Reishi, Organic Cordyceps, Organic Maitake, Organic Chaga, Organic Mesima, Organic Lion's Mane, Organic Turkey Tail, Organic Shitake, Organic Blazei, Organic Poria, Organic Suehirotake, Organic Hiratake, Organic Agarikon, Organic True Tinder Polypore

BoKU Low Glycemic Fruit, Berries and Vanilla (3,000mg)
Organic Goji Berry Juice, Organic Hawthorn Berry

BoKU Additional ingredients:
Organic Cacao [organic raw chocolate], Organic Fine Vanilla Bean, Organic Strawberry Juice, Amylase, Protease [3 different potencies], Bromelain, Cellulase, Lipase, Alpha-galactosidase, Papain, Organic Lucuma Fruit, Organic Sweet Mesquite Pod, Organic Sprouted Flax, L. Sporogenes (true non-dairy probiotics), Himalayan Pink Crystal Salt

See a full explanation of Boku Superfood ingredients here:
http://www.bokusuperfood.com/boku/ingredient...

Raw Meal from Garden of Life

The Raw Meal superfood meal product from Garden of Life is positioned differently from Boku Superfood. Raw Meal is designed to be a whole meal product, and it's based on sprouted grains as its predominant ingredients (see complete list below).

Green foods and fruits take a back seat to the organic raw sprout blend, made with brown rice, amaranth, quinoa, millet, buckwheat and other sprouts. This makes Raw Meal more of a complete vegan meal than merely a superfood supplement. It's also certified USDA Organic, which means it's truly organic.

What makes Raw Meal stand out in the superfood industry is, of course, its "raw" designation. I recently spoke with Jordan Rubin, the founder of Garden of Life, who explained how his company now offers a complete line of raw supplements and meal products. The idea, of course, is that raw foods deliver more nutrients than their cooked counterparts, since heat destroys many fragile nutrients (including the phytochemicals responsible for many of the health supporting benefits offered by raw, living foods).

Because of its nutritional profile, Raw Meal makes a great travel item. Just by adding water or the milk of your choice, you can have an instant raw meal almost anywhere!

Raw Meal at a healthy discount

Raw Meal is available at retail stores such as Whole Foods. You can also get it online from various stores. We've put together the best pricing we're allowed to publicly announce at the NaturalNews Store, where Raw Meal is available at a healthy discount: http://store.naturalnews.com/index.php?main_...

We've also put together a combination of Raw Meal + Boku Superfood for one low price (again, the lowest they would let us advertise). Check it out on our specials page: http://store.naturalnews.com/index.php?main_...

I really like Raw Meal. It's a balanced taste that works just fine with water or your favorite milk (almond milk, rice milk, etc.). It's not very sweet, so I prefer to sweeten it up a bit. My favorite recipe blends Raw Meal with vanilla almond milk and either stevia or organic palm sugar.

Garden of Life Raw Meal Ingredients

Organic Raw Sprout Blend (Organic Sprouted Brown Rice, Organic Sprouted Brown Rice Sweetener (from Organic Sprouted Brown Rice)), Organic Amaranth Sprout, Organic Quinoa Sprout, Organic Millet Sprout, Organic Buckwheat Sprout, Organic Garbanzo Bean Sprout, Organic Kidney Bean Sprout, Organic Lentil Sprout, Organic Adzuki Bean Sprout, Organic Flax Seed Sprout, Organic Sunflower Seed Sprout, Organic Pumpkin Seed Sprout, Organic Chai Seed Sprout, Organic Sesame Seed Sprout), Organic RAW Flax and Coconut Blend (Organic Flax flour, Organic Coconut flour), RAW Green Food and Fruit Blend (Organic Oat Grass juice, Spirulina, High Protein Chlorella, Organic Alfalfa Grass Juice, Organic Barley Grass Juice, Organic Wheat Grass Juice, Organic Strawberry, Organic Cherry, Organic Blackberry, Organic Blueberry, Organic Raspberry), RAW Enzyme and Probiotic Blend (Bacillus coagulans, Proteases, Amylase, Lactase, Glucoamylase, alpha-Galactosidase, Lipase, Pectinase, Peptidase, Bromelain, Phytase, Hemicellulase, beta-Glucanase, Papain, Cellulase, Xylanase, Diastase, Invertase), Organic RAW Vanilla Extract, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Lactobacillus bulgaricus.

Learn more about Raw Meal from the Garden of Life page: http://www.gardenoflife.com/ProductsforLife/...

Description from Garden of Life

The following text is from the Garden of Life website: (I basically concur with this description. It's very accurate and contains no misleading text.)

Containing 26 superfoods from RAW organic seeds, sprouts and greens, RAW Meal provides 33 grams of protein, 14 grams of fiber and a healthy 4 grams of fat making it an excellent choice for "weight conscious" individuals. RAW Meal also offers 20 Vitamin Code vitamins and minerals providing at least 100% of the Daily Value of 16 key nutrients.

Just as important is what's NOT included in RAW Meal. It is gluten-free, dairy-free and lactose-free. It has no soy allergens, no fillers, no isolates, no synthetic nutrients, no artificial sweeteners and no preservatives.

What are the Key Benefits of RAW Meal?

A convenient meal-on-the-go, RAW Meal is suitable for almost anyone including those on vegetarian or vegan diets, those on low carbohydrate diets or those with gastrointestinal sensitivities to milk, whey, soy or other protein sources. RAW Meal offers the following:

• Provides the nutrition of a well-balanced, healthy meal

• Naturally filling, satisfies hunger, provides energy

• Excellent source of RAW organic, plant-based protein (33g) – including all essential amino acids

• Excellent source of 20 Vitamin Code vitamins and minerals – RAW Food-Created Nutrients and RAW Food-Chelated Minerals that enable targeted delivery and natural recognition by your body

• Excellent source of soluble and insoluble fiber (14g)

• Provides live probiotics and enzymes for healthy digestion

• Made exclusively from RAW natural, plant-based, whole foods – uncooked, untreated, unadulterated

• Contains 14 RAW organic sprouts, 4 RAW organic cereal grass juices, 5 RAW organic fruits, spirulina and chlorella

• No Trans Fats

RAW Meal naturally satisfies hunger and increases energy, making it great for those looking to manage their diet and looking for a convenient alternative to the pre-packaged or fast-food meals that dominate our on-the-go lifestyles.

Other superfood products

No superfood article would be complete if it didn't mention some of the other amazing superfood products on the market today.

One of my favorites remains Living Fuel which you can only get from the www.LivingFuel.com website. I really like the Super Berry flavor and use it regularly. It's great for traveling, too!

I also really love X-Balance, a chocolate superfood powder that tastes so great, even kids love it! I frequently blend this with other superfoods to make them taste better. We've got this on special at the NaturalNews Store: http://store.naturalnews.com/index.php?main_...

I'm also a huge fan of Rejuvenate! Berries and Herbs, which I often blend into my fruit-based smoothies. It goes great with frozen organic strawberries, bananas and blueberries. We carry it at the store, too: http://store.naturalnews.com/index.php?main_...

There are some other great superfood products on the market, too, like Delicious Greens. Dr. Gary Null offers some high-end superfood formulas of his own, and Whole Foods now carries quite a selection of other superfood products. So you have a lot to choose from. My personal favorites, which I use every single day, currently include Boku Superfood, Rejuvenate, Living Fuel and X-Balance.

I encourage you to try several different high-end superfood products and see how you feel after staying on them for a few weeks. If you enjoy the taste and it helps you feel healthy and vibrant then stick with it! High-end superfood products consistently deliver high-end nutrition that you just won't find anywhere else.