If you’re like me, I thought the most important supplement was protein. Or maybe pre-workout. I was a total gym bro who focused solely on macronutrients: being proteins, fats and carbs.
Meanwhile, my face was breaking out constantly, I was losing clumps of hair in the shower, I would randomly get bloated for no reason, my mood swings were either euphoric or homicidal, and I thought I was just experiencing normal life symptoms.
Wrong. Thank goodness.
I tried a couple different greens supplements in the past (I won’t name brand names), and didn’t see much difference, so I always stopped taking them.
Finally, after watching other 1stPhorm Legionnaires raving about Opti-Greens for months on their stories (I was a hard sell- this stuff isn’t the cheapest product on the market, and I wasn’t convinced it would help) I ordered some.
It was game over from that point- I took them daily for two weeks when I started realizing that my hands weren’t aching anymore and my face had cleared up.
About a month later I was down a few pounds without really trying- something I attribute both to reduced inflammation in my body, and a massive reduction in cravings for carbs and sugar.
I’ve taken Opti-Greens ever since, and the long term effects have proven themselves in my overall mood around my cycle, as well as a huge boost in my immunity and resistance to sickness.
And yes, this was long before I signed with 1stPhorm to represent their products- although today I am so glad that I get to share these with you.
There is so much misinformation floating around in the supplement industry today about what’s important. So, before you invest in anything, you should absolutely get the education behind the product and understand why it’s worth your trust.
Why a Supplement
As I’ve said in other posts, the ideal situation would be that we get all of the nutrients that our bodies need from whole foods. This is why, unlike other supplement companies and “fitness professionals” that are after your money, I do not recommend buying a bunch of protein bars, powders or shakes unless you absolutely are struggling to hit your protein goals.
The same goes for carbohydrates and fats; the foods commonly available to us generally provide everything we need to perform optimally, at a fraction of the cost of supplementation. The only other time I will recommend a supplement over a whole food is with post-workout nutrition.
Let’s take a step back really quick: what is a supplement? A supplement is a curated product that serves to improve the results of an already healthy diet and exercise regiment. Again, a supplement should not replace whole foods.
Why Your Salad Is Not Enough
However, in the case of micro-nutrients, it is almost impossible to get enough variety of whole foods, in great enough quantity, frequently enough to prevent deficiencies. Even if you are an above average salad eater, you probably rotate through the same 10-12 fruits and veggies on a consistent basis.
If any of these fruits/veggies have been exposed to heat, pesticides or long holding times, the vitamin, mineral and antioxidants that they once potentially held are long gone. Factor in seasonal availability and rural locations, and you’re maybe getting 25% of the benefits that you thought you were.
I am absolutely not insinuating that you cease eating vegetables; they are an excellent source of some nutrients, as well as fiber and low calorie mass. However, you should look beyond them to make sure that you are giving your body exactly what it needs.
As athletes and active people, your stored nutrients will become depleted even more quickly, and your body will require even more servings of fruits and vegetables. Unless you’re eating raw vegetables, and different ones, with every meal (5-6 times per day), you are not hitting your minimum micronutrient values for optimal performance.
Signs of Nutrition Deficiencies
Just because you’ve been successful in putting on muscle mass, or losing weight or improving your run times and lifts does not mean that you are healthy. In the long run, when we cut calories to meet our fitness goals, we are especially prone to cutting out vital nutrients even further.
What this can look like:
- Excessive fatigue
- Acne and breakouts
- Mood swings
- Slowed recovery
- Suppressed metabolism & fat storage
- Persistent food cravings
- Difficulty focusing
- Periods of lightheadedness/dizziness
- Becoming prone to colds and sicknesses
- Difficulty getting up and going in the morning
- Brittle hair and nails
- Puffiness in the face and hands
- Dark circles under the eyes
- Persistent bloating
- Acid Reflux
Any of these sound familiar? No, they aren’t normal. Yes, you can and should stop dealing with them.
The long term effects of deficiencies, and ingesting the processed food that tends to replace them in Western culture, manifest themselves down the line in the form of food intolerance, developed allergies and chronic disease.
What you put in your body might not impact you negatively right now, but treating your body the best that you possibly can now is an investment into the longevity and quality of your future life.
Who Should Take Greens
- People in rural areas
- People on a diet
- People who suck at eating raw, organic veggies
- Athletes
- Pre and post natal women
- Anyone who gets colds
- Anyone who struggles with digestion or bloating
- Anyone with acne
- Literally anyone
- And their mother
Benefits of a Greens Supplement
Taking a greens supplement is like taking a salad on steroids. In it you get the benefits of a broad spectrum range of multi-colored vegetables and fruit extracts, probiotics and digestive enzymes.
Because of the way that vitamins and minerals work together to benefit your mind and body, the results manifest themselves in many ways. Some you will experience nearly immediately, and others will continue to show up the more consistent and diligent you are with using Opti Greens.
Many benefits you won’t even know are occurring in your body, but will pay off dividends down the road, such as bone and muscle maintenance, organ support and mental aptitude.
5 Blends in Opti-Greens 50
Let’s break it down by the top complaints I hear, and how Opti-Greens 50 can help with each one of them.
Bloating– Opti-Greens 50 has a plant enzyme blend (as opposed to an animal enzyme blend, making this product 100% vegan) that breaks down the food that you eat into usable pieces. That means that the meals and snacks you consume become more effective, because the nutrients are made bioavailable for your body to absorb.
This process speeds digestion, decreasing bloating from the gas caused by slowly rotting food; also reducing heartburn/acid reflux, indigestion, cramping, burning and other digestive pain. This enzyme blend is not a component of other “greens” blends.
Protein Intake– while Opti-Greens 50 does not have protein in it, if you’re coming from a starvation diet and are now increasing your protein/total food intake, you may be constantly feeling “full” or “stuffed” and uncomfortable- taking Opti-Greens 50 will make sure that extra food isn’t just sitting in your stomach. This is especially applicable to bariatric patients.
Constipation/Diarrhea– After that plant enzyme blend breaks down the food that you eat, Opti-Greens 500’s living probiotics (emphasis on “living”- NOT a component of the greens you’ll get at Walmart or Costco or Amazon) actually shuttles those nutrients into your blood stream to be used for energy, muscle building, recovery and metabolic function.
Probiotics are a vital component of bowel regularity- meaning that you should be using the bathroom at least once a day, but not more than a few times. The probiotics and the plant enzyme blend work together to make for happy tummy’s.
Belly fat– here we come to what most people think of when I say “greens”. Basically, dehydrated fruits and vegetables in powder form. But what is the difference between Opti-Greens 50 and “greens” supplements that are nothing more than soup mix?
The Greens Superfood blend of over 50 different living, organic fruits and vegetables does not replace eating Whole Foods, but it fills the gaps that each of us have in our nutrition, as we tend to pick the same 8-10 types every time we make a salad or have fruit with breakfast.
The body won’t shed excess fat, the “stubborn” fat that tends to accumulate in our midsection or thighs, when it knows that it is nutrient deficient.
Consistently giving your body the tools to do its job fuels your metabolic rate, balances your ph levels, and powerfully fights off sickness, disease and the mental health pitfalls of anxiety, stress and depression.
It is important to note here that most “greens” supplements will list the nice ingredients on the label, but they are not living nutrients, they are not clinically dosed, and they are bumped up with tons of fibrous fillers that might flatten your belly for a moment but only because you’ll be running to the bathroom. Clinically dosed means that the maximum amount of each nutrient is included- such as in Opti-Greens 50.
Cravings and energy crashes- The glycemic balance blend is a key component that works against volatile blood sugar levels. This term refers to the spikes and crashes that are often tied to carbohydrate intakes, and affects people differently based on genetics and body composition. If you tend to get really tired in the afternoon, or hit a “slump”, or experience intense cravings, Opti-Greens 50 deals with the root of the problem.
Finally- the last of the five blends in Opti-Greens 50 that sets this product apart from any other “greens” supplement available, and why I intensely recommend it.
When your body burns energy, specifically stored energy (fat), it produces waste. When the plant enzyme blend and probiotics break down food in the body and extract the nutrients, that leaves behind waste.
The Phyto-nutrient complex is a powerfully detoxifying compound that grabs and flushes this waste out- allowing your body to continue to have a fat burning and muscle building process.
What a Greens Supplement is Not
Taking greens does not mean juicing ten pounds of veggies and drinking it. Juicing creates a ton of waste and loads up your body with unnecessary amounts of sugar in the process.
The combination of sugar and fiber leads to the dreaded flushing effect, where you spend excess quality time in the bathroom after trying to get some vitamins in. This is also an effect of low quality greens supplements, because they are loaded up with fiber as cheap fillers.
They might advertise “anti-bloating”, but it’s actually only because you’re going to go to the bathroom like a rocket launch for the foreseeable future.
Opti-Greens 50 is powdered supplement that mixes easily with water or juice and can be shaken up and taken in less than a minute. Other key concerns I like to address off the bat, Opti Greens are:
- 100% Organic
- USA Sourced
- Non-GMO
- Vegan Friendly
- Low Temperature Processed
- Zero Synthetic Ingredients
- Suitable for those with Gluten Sensitivities
- 11 Servings of Vegetables
Clear Skin? Check.
Let’s go through some of the benefits of taking greens that you will see and experience within the first 1-12 weeks.
- Clear and brighter skin
- Regular bowel movements without the runs
- Reduced bloating
- Reduced inflammation and puffiness in face and hands
- Relief from joint pain
- Reduced craving for sugar and excess carbohydrates
- Stronger nails
- Healthier hair (I experienced a massive reduction in the amount of hair that ended up in my shower drain)
- Improved mental clarity
- Resistance to cold and flu symptoms
But Wait, There’s More
You might not realize that this is happening in your body, but Opti-Greens 50 is also working to do the following:
- Counteracting bodily acid loads
- Balancing your pH levels
- Preserving bone and muscle tissue
- Allowing your body to fully digest the nutrients from your food
- Detoxifying your body at a cellular level
- Removes harmful free radicals
- Blocks damage from carcinogens
- Balancing your blood sugar
Opti-Green’s 50 FAQ’s:
If you are still reading, I’m going to assume that you are interested in knowing how to integrate Opti Greens into your daily routine, and probably have a few other questions. I’m going to try to cover those here.
How to Use Opti-Greens
Personally, I take them first thing in the morning with my breakfast and vitamins, so that I can experience the benefits of them all day. However, you can take them at any time that is convenient for you.
I recommend taking them ice cold, as this greatly improves the flavor. You can also take them with juice (if you have the sugar calories available in your daily macro-nutrients), or with a sugar free beverage.
You can also add them to a smoothie! I prefer to combine ice, frozen banana, a handful of berries, 2 scoops of Opti Greens 50, Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (or any milk of your choice).
Sometimes I will add a scoop of Strawberry Milkshake or Vanilla Ice Cream Level 1 Protein powder if I’m looking for a more meal replacement option.
What Do Opti-Greens Taste Like?
I can say this with authority, as I have tried at least a half dozen greens supplements over the years: Opti Greens 50 does not taste like the leftovers from a landscaping project.
In fact, they taste pleasantly like unsweetened berry green tea. Again, I recommend shaking them up with ice, or with refrigerated water for best flavor.
Are Opti-Greens Gluten Free?
They are not. However, because of the quality of the ingredients and the manner in which they are processed, they have been proven to not give negative side effects to those who are typically sensitive to gluten products.
The reason for this being that often times products containing gluten are low quality, high temperature processed grains that have been exposed to pesticides and other synthetic materials, and your body immediately reacts to try to flush them out.
This is similar to the way that Level 1 and Phormula 1 protein powders are processed, such that they have no effect on otherwise dairy sensitive users.
Opti-Greens actually reduces the effects of eating too much gluten and other inflammatory products. I will often take a serving of greens after having pasta or pizza, or consuming processed foods while traveling.
What Makes Opti Greens 50 Different from Other Greens Products?
The biggest separator between Opti Greens 50 and other greens products is the clinical dosing of the 50 different ingredients. Other products will boast a myriad of ingredients, but if you look at the label, each is in very small amounts- hardly enough even to be effective.
Opti Greens 50 contains the full, clinically recommended dosage of each ingredient, making it maximally effective to your body. This also means that you get the maximum value for your dollar.
Quality, Quality, QUALITY
Which leads me into my next point: because of the high quality processing that Opti Greens goes through in its preparation, the vital nutrients are entirely bioavailable for your body to use. In addition, they increase the absorption rate of nutrients from the other whole foods that we consume.
In cheap greens products, the ingredients are not only often times of lower quality, but are processed with high temperatures and in such a way that does not maintain the integrity of the vitamins and minerals that should be in the product.
Additionally, Opti Greens contains no fillers, colors or “natural flavors” that turn something that should be healthy into a chemical sh*t storm. Speaking of sh*t storms, they also won’t glue you to the pot like other cheap, fiber-byproduct filled green drinks.
Seriously, Just Smell Them
Finally, if you just look at the difference in color and texture between Opti Greens 50 and other brands, Opti Greens are bright and vibrant naturally, smell fresh, and aren’t awkwardly chalky or clumpy.
In conclusion, yes. Opti-Greens 50 is a premium greens product. However, when you break down the quality and benefits, you are spending far less for much more.
My recommendation is to use them consistently for 30 days, and watch for the benefits I described above as showing up pretty immediately. If you realize a difference, stay consistent for 90 days and decide if this is something that should become a permanent addition to your life.
Personally, I simply found room for them in my grocery budget. If I’m going to spend all this money on “clean eating” and a gym membership and other supplements, why would I not make sure that my body is actually getting the foundational basics of what it needs to survive and thrive?
Go Forth and Be Healthy
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me here. If you have not already, head over to my website and grab my 100% free nutrition guidance.
If you are looking to start an overall healthy lifestyle, you can also find more information on my downloadable training programs, and online one on one coaching.
As always, if this article was helpful for you, or you know someone who could benefit from it, do your girl a solid and hit the one click share buttons above. I really, really appreciate it.
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