The $100 Vegetable
Open Instagram or listen to any podcast, and you will hear an ad for a "Greens Powder." They promise to replace all your vegetables, fix your gut, and boost your energy with one scoop of "75 vitamins, minerals, and whole-food sourced ingredients."
While the marketing is brilliant, the formulation is often a masterclass in deception.
The Legal Loophole: Proprietary Blends
The FDA requires supplement companies to list ingredients in order of weight (highest to lowest). However, there is a loophole: the Proprietary Blend. Companies can group dozens of ingredients under a fancy name like "Alkalizing Superfood Complex" and list the total weight of the blend (e.g., 7,000mg).
The Problem: You have no idea how much of each ingredient is inside.
- The Filler: The first ingredient in the blend (often Apple Powder, Rice Bran, or Wheatgrass) could make up 6,990mg.
- The Fairy Dust: The expensive, trendy ingredients (Ashwagandha, Reishi, Probiotics) could be present in microscopic amounts (1mg)—just enough to put them on the label, but nowhere near enough to have a biological effect.
Example: An effective dose of Ashwagandha for stress is 600mg. If a greens powder hides it in a blend, you might be getting 5mg. You are paying for a placebo.
The Missing Matrix: Fiber
The primary reason vegetables are healthy isn't just the vitamins; it's the Fiber Matrix.
- Blood Sugar: Fiber slows down the absorption of sugars.
- Satiety: Chewing plants makes you full. Drinking them does not.
- Gut Health: Fiber feeds your microbiome.
Most greens powders have very little fiber (often <2g per scoop). You are essentially drinking a gritty, grassy multivitamin.
Oxidation: The Freshness Problem
Vitamins (especially Vitamin C and antioxidants) are sensitive to light, heat, and oxygen. When you buy a tub of powder, every time you open the lid, you expose the contents to oxygen. Over 30 days, the potency of those "whole food ingredients" degrades significantly compared to a fresh vegetable protected by its skin.
The WellFact Protocol
- Real Food First: Spend that $100 on high-quality produce (frozen berries and spinach are cheap and nutrient-dense).
- Transparency: If you must buy a powder, choose a brand that lists the exact milligram amount of every ingredient. If they hide behind a "blend," they are hiding the truth.
- The Alternative: A high-quality multivitamin + a dedicated fiber supplement (like Psyllium Husk) will do 90% of the work for 10% of the cost.