The dietary supplement market is a booming industry, with the global market worth over $152 billion. Within this, the diet industry accounts for an estimated $299 billion dedicated to weight loss solutions. With so many products promising quick and easy results, it's crucial to approach these claims with a critical eye. Bloom Nutrition, with its "Greens & Superfoods" powder, has gained significant popularity, particularly among women, thanks to social media marketing and influencer endorsements. Co-founder Mari Llewellyn attributes her 90-pound weight loss to embracing health and wellness, leading her to "self-love" and her "best self." However, the specifics of her weight loss journey, including dietary changes and exercise, are not detailed. This article aims to provide an objective review of Bloom Nutrition Greens & Superfoods, examining its ingredients, purported benefits, potential drawbacks, and ultimately, whether it lives up to the hype.
The Allure of "Super Greens" and the Importance of a Holistic Lifestyle
Throughout the 21st century, trends like "super greens," protein powders, and collagen have come and gone, often marketed as magical cures. It's essential to understand that these ingredients are not standalone solutions but rather complement positive lifestyle pillars such as consistent whole-food, plant-based eating, exercise, restorative sleep, and healthy stress management. Bloom Nutrition's Greens & Superfoods powder is marketed as a "daily scoop of gut health goodness," targeting individuals seeking to support their overall health.
Bloom Nutrition: A Closer Look
Bloom Nutrition burst onto the supplement scene in 2019, quickly gaining traction with its trendy appeal. The brand's flagship product, Bloom Nutrition Greens & Superfoods, comes in a variety of appealing flavors like iced coffee, blueberry cheesecake, cinnamon bun, and cookies and cream, packaged in eye-catching colors like pink, purple, and mint. These flavors, however, are achieved using artificial additives.
Questionable Ingredients and Misleading Claims
While Bloom Nutrition claims "no artificial coloring," the fine print reveals ingredients like artificial flavors, guar gum, xanthum gum, and acesulfame potassium. Research suggests these additives may increase intestinal permeability, potentially leading to a "leaky" or inflamed gut.
Furthermore, the product's labeling boasts "Dairy-Free," "Gluten-Free," and "Plant-based" attributes, which may seem positive at first glance. However, a closer inspection of the ingredients reveals nothing extraordinarily potent or efficacious.
Read also: Detailed Comparison: Kiala and Bloom Greens Powders
Fiber Content: Whole Foods vs. Powders
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends a daily fiber intake of at least 25 grams for women up to age 50 and 38 grams for men up to age 50. One serving of Bloom Nutrition Greens & Superfoods powder contains only 1.6 grams of fiber. In comparison, 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed provide 5.6 grams of fiber, and an apple with the skin offers 4.5 grams. This highlights the fact that real, whole foods are often more nutrient-dense than ground powders.
Questionable Health Claims
Bloom Nutrition's claims of "supports gut health, relieves bloat, promotes energy" are not always substantiated. Some users have reported worsening bloating, and the amount of pre- and probiotics may not be significant, as it's measured in milligrams rather than billions. While probiotics can be beneficial, they are not a substitute for conventional therapies. Gut health is a complex system deeply connected to the nervous system, stress levels, physical activity, sleep, toxins, alcohol, and diet.
The Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC)
The true scientific way to determine a "superfood" is to use a 1991 rating tool called the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC), which was created by scientists from the National Institute on Aging and the USDA. The highest ORAC score is seen in spices such as cloves, sage and mustard seed. The highest ORAC-rated fruits are goji berries, black raspberries and Indian gooseberry.
Analyzing Bloom Greens & Superfoods Ingredients
Bloom breaks up its ingredients into blends. We'll get into the nitty gritty by taking a dive into each superfood category.
Fiber Blend
With chicory root fructo-oligosaccharides, flaxseed, and apple fruit powder, the added fiber is both soluble and insoluble. And at 1.6 grams, this blend makes up the biggest proportion of each scoop. Interestingly, even with a dedicated dietary fiber blend, there are only 2 grams of fiber per scoop. One drawback here is that chicory root and apple may cause a flare-up for some people with digestive issues.
Read also: Bloom Greens for Weight Loss?
Green Superfood Blend
This blend includes different nutritional grasses, such as organic barley grass powder, organic wheatgrass powder, and organic alfalfa leaf powder; as well as the blue-green algae organic spirulina powder and organic chlorella powder. Spirulina and chlorella are antioxidant-packed powerhouse ingredients that we rarely get enough of. Spirulina is quite rich in protein and contains several micronutrients, including many of the B vitamins along with copper and iron. Chlorella is also nutrient-rich and may even bind to heavy metals to help remove them from the body. However, note that our body can only get full benefits from chlorella if the indigestible cell walls have been broken. Bloom Nutrition does not indicate if their chlorella is cracked or broken cell wall, which are the optimal forms.
Pre- and Probiotic Blend
This superfoods powder contains blue agave Inulin as its prebiotic, along with three strains of probiotics. The Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus probiotics included are generally well-researched for their ability to impact our gut and immune health. Unfortunately, Bloom does not tell us how many CFUs are in their superfoods powder. So while these beneficial bacteria may aid digestive health, we simply don’t know if there’s enough to make an impact.
Fruit and Vegetable Blend
From carrots and beetroot to blueberries, kale leaf powder, and broccoli, the fruit and vegetable blend in Bloom Greens provides a variety of produce. I appreciate how this greens powder includes vegetables that are orange and red, as these provide an array of nutrients and antioxidants important to our health. For example, beets are rich in a plant compound that helps to increase blood flow and oxygen uptake. This blend also contains ginger root extract, which has been shown to play a role in digestive health.
Antioxidant Beauty Blend
While all plants contain valuable antioxidants, berries are especially rich in these phytonutrients. The Antioxidant Beauty Blend contains a wide range of these petite fruits, including cranberry fruit powder, strawberry fruit powder, tart cherry juice, elderberry, goji berry, grape seed extract, and acai. Antioxidants are plant compounds that help protect our cells from damage that may eventually lead to poor health and illness. The antioxidant blend also contains matcha green tea leaf, which may add some caffeine to this dietary supplement.
Digestive Enzyme Blend
Digestive enzymes help our body break down foods. Some people may experience digestive upset and bloating discomfort if their body isn’t producing enough of these enzymes to help support gut health. Bloom Greens & Superfoods’ digestive enzyme blend comprises six compounds, including amylase, cellulase, and lipase. This blend is also where they’ve included maltodextrin.
Read also: Bloom Greens: Separating fact from fiction.
Adaptogenic Blend
Bloom’s final blend contains six adaptogens: Ashwagandha root powder, Rhodiola root powder, American ginseng, Astragalus root powder, Licorice root extract, and Eleuthero. Adaptogens have been used in traditional Chinese medicine as a way to help bolster the body’s stress response. For example, both American ginseng and ashwagandha may help us better deal with anxiety. Overall this is a good combination of adaptogenic plants, though at 100mg for the entire blend, it may not contain an effective dose.
Bloom's Health Claims
While very few studies have been done on greens powders, research on the positive impacts of vegetables is strong. Each greens powder will have a different array of superfoods that help provide purported effects.
Digestion and Gut Health
With a combination of added fiber, probiotics, prebiotics, and digestive enzymes, this superfoods powder may help with digestion and gut health. A key factor in our digestive health is having a balanced, thriving gut microbiome. Probiotics play a key role here, helping keep our digestion robust.
Bloating
The uncomfortable feeling of bloating may be caused by several factors, including being unable to digest certain foods, food intolerances, and even stress and anxiety. To help, this superfoods powder has six digestive enzymes to help break down and absorb the foods we eat. Assuming there is an effective dose of adaptogens, these plants may also help ease bloating by impacting our ability to regulate stress. And finally, ginger root has been shown to impact bloating for some people as well. On the other hand, some of the fibers, such as apple fruit powder and chicory root, may potentially cause bloating for some people.
Immunity
Our immune system relies on specific vitamins and minerals to help it perform optimally. While there are plenty of vegetables and fruits in this superfoods powder that would increase its micronutrient content, the only two listed on the supplement fact panel are iron and sodium. Bloom Nutrition greens doesn't even list vitamin C, which is a staple when it comes to immunity.
For these reasons, we can’t know for sure if this dietary supplement would provide us with ample nutrients to help impact our immune function. Probiotics may also affect our immune response, however without knowing how many CFUs are present, we again can’t be certain of its effectiveness.
Energy
Your ability to fight off fatigue is reliant upon our body’s ability to convert food to energy. Just as with the immune system, the process of energy production involves many vitamins and minerals. A good greens powder would help bridge these nutrient gaps. Without a more comprehensive supplement facts panel, we simply are at a loss for how Bloom Greens may impact our energy levels. However, it does contain goji berry, astragalus, and rhodiola, all of which may stave off fatigue.
Potential Drawbacks of Bloom Nutrition
Several aspects of Bloom Nutrition's Greens & Superfoods raise concerns:
- Lack of Transparency: The supplement facts panel lacks detailed information about the quantity of many key ingredients, including probiotics (CFUs) and specific vitamins and minerals.
- Maltodextrin: The inclusion of maltodextrin as the first ingredient in the digestive enzyme blend is questionable, as it is not a digestive enzyme and has been linked to bloating in some individuals.
- Limited Green Superfoods: The powder contains a limited amount of green superfoods, with only 1.367 grams of greens per serving.
- Artificial Sweeteners: The use of sucralose, a synthetic sweetener, in Bloom's pre-workout blend can negatively impact glucose and insulin levels, as well as gut flora, while being a potential migraine trigger.
- Third-Party Testing: Bloom is not third-party tested or screened for toxins such as cadmium or lead, which negatively impact the gut, brain and immune system.
Customer Reviews: A Mixed Bag
Customer reviews regarding Bloom Greens & Superfoods are mixed. While many praise the taste and its ability to reduce bloating, others report negative experiences such as worsened bloating, a strong artificial sweetener aftertaste, and a lack of noticeable energy boost.
Bloom Price and Discounts
Compared to some other greens supplements like Athletic Greens AG1, Bloom Greens & Superfoods is affordably priced. One 30-day supply costs $34.99, while a monthly subscription prices out at $31.49. This comes out to about $1.05 per one scoop. If you are purchasing a 60-day supply, the out-of-pocket cost will be $64.99, with a $58.49 price tag for a monthly subscription. Unlike Live it Up Super Greens, Bloom Nutrition does not have a money-back guarantee, but you can return their greens and superfoods powder within 15 days as long as it has been unopened.
Alternatives to Bloom Nutrition
If Bloom Greens & Superfoods doesn't seem like the right fit, several alternatives are available. Live it Up Super Greens, for example, offers a more comprehensive blend of over 20 nutrient-dense greens and superfoods, with a focus on micronutrient content and potential health benefits.