While browsing through Dr. Jonny Bowden’s online store one day (I like looking through his personal comments on vitamins and supplements,) I noticed one called Barlean’s Greens, which is a powdered mixture of vegetables and other “greens.”

After a quick check of the ingredients, I figured it would be something cool to try as sort of a “liquid whole food” supplement. Since I trust Barlean’s and Dr. Jonny Bowden’s recommendations over some MLM company, I’d choose this product over products like ProVitamin Complete and TruGreens.

Looking at the label, this product contains a wide variety of green foods, so it contains enzymes, plant-based vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, herbal tonics, and flax lignans. So apparently it’s like taking a plate of vegetables, dehydrating them, and blending them into a powder for your convenience.

Barlean’s Greens Health and Nutrition

While the thought of a big green vegetable smoothie may not be the most appetizing, I think you’ll agree the ingredients list looks promising.

INGREDIENTS: A proprietary blend* of Organic Barley leaf, Oat leaf and Wheat leaf combined with Barley juice, Wheat juice and Oat juice powders, Spirulina, Organic Flaxmeal, RiceX Bran, Chlorella, Sea Vegetables, Spinach, Parsley, Astragalus, Schizandra, Acerola Cherry, Rosemary powder, Green Tea extract, Curcumin extract, Stevia, Full spectrum digestive enzymes. *(Concentrated 1500%)

Then you just browse through the actual nutrient content to see what you’re getting. I’m pretty impressed with all the vitamins, minerals, and other compounds in this one drink, especially the sea greens and sea vegetables, which are definitely missing from my regular diet.

And isn’t that exactly what you want from a supplement? Something that’s missing from your current diet?

The fact of the matter is, I don’t get every single possible vegetable each day. I don’t think anyone does. I could sure use a little extra spinach, parsley, spirulina, and assorted sea vegetables, and this is an easy way to get them.

Also, it uses Stevia as a sweetener, which is one of my favorite powdered sweeteners. (It’s miles better than aspartame and sucralose.)

Mixing Barlean’s Greens

Mixing these Greens is easy enough. Put a scoop of Greens in 8-12oz water and mix vigorously with a spoon. It’s not as easy to mix as the effervescing drinks (such as Ola Loa,) but it doesn’t clump up like some powders (i.e. whey protein) that require a special shaker cup or a blender.

The only real problem is that it doesn’t take long before residue builds at the bottom of the glass. If you ship this stuff slowly, you’ll end up with most of the Greens sitting at the bottom of the glass. So swirl it around and take a big gulp to finish it off, hoping the volume of water will bring all the greens with it. (But sometimes even when I do that, I put another ounce of water in the cup to rinse the last bit of greens into my mouth so I don’t waste any.)

Barlean’s Greens Taste Test

Although “greens” might not seem appetizing, this stuff actually tastes good. I’ve been enjoying it ever since the first glass.

Each time you open the container, it smells like you’re out on the farm, baling hay. (Similar to the scent of a freshly mowed lawn.) That may seem kind of odd if you’re not used to it, but I think it’s refreshing. It reminds me of the outdoors each time I drink it.

It does taste like “greens” though; kind of like wheat grass juice. Not in a bad way, though. There’s nothing weird about it.

Each sip finishes kind of like a sweet tea. That’s the really good part. Must be the stevia giving it that good aftertaste.

Normally I mix this stuff in water, and I like it like that. I tried doing it with green tea once, but it tasted kind of weird. The flavors just didn’t mix well. (Luckily for me, I love the taste of these greens plain.)

However, if it’s too green for you, you could probably put it in a smoothie and barely even taste it. That’s what you’d do if you were using a diet system like Precision Nutrition.

Barlean’s Greens Pricing

The price is about $30 per bottle, which comes to $1 per serving. (The retail price is actually around $38, but I found it on sale for $27.)

I’m not sure how to compare this to anything, though. It’s not a substitute for real vegetables in your diet, nor is it a multivitamin. It’s just something extra to add into your diet if you can afford it.

You should be getting health food like this in your diet already, so it’s not the most important supplement in my opinion, but I like to be 100% sure I’m loading up on good amino acids, enzymes, and other nutrients found in these “greens.”

Problems with Barlean’s Greens

I haven’t found any problems with Barlean’s Greens.

The only inconvenience is that this needs refrigerated, even though it’s a powder. I’m always running low on shelf space in the fridge, meaning I can only take about one refrigeration-required supplement at a time, so I do like stuff that can sit in the cupboard.

I guess it’s actually a good thing though, because stuff that doesn’t need refrigerated is usually artificial or highly processed!

My final verdict is…

As with most supplements like this, I didn’t notice a heck of a lot of difference by taking Barlean’s Greens. But it’s a healthy mix of greens, I like the idea of whole food supplements, and it tastes good, so it gets my recommendation.

However, it should only be used to add an extra bit of nutrition into your diet. You should still be consuming a variety of fruits and vegetables as the basis of your diet. If your diet sucks, I’d improve your diet and spend the $30 per month for quality food before spending it on a “greens” supplement.

Official website: www.Barleans.com

Buy online: www.VitaminShoppe.com or www.VitaCost.com

When I’m looking at supplements, I try to find the purest ones, because vitamins and supplements are actually the most artificial, processed foods in my diet. So I’d normally look at pure fish oils, but when I saw the Barlean’s Omega Swirl on sale, I couldn’t resist.

(Retail price is $26.35 or a 16oz bottle, which is 47 servings. I think I paid about $18.)

What this is, is like a fish oil smoothie. It has a good dose of fish oil, but with some additives to make it actually taste good. (If you’ve ever taken straight fish oil liquid, you know that “good taste” and “fish oil” don’t usually go together.)

I just had to try it out of curiosity…

Barlean’s Omega Swirl Health and Nutrition

Omega Swirl is a combination of cod liver oil and other stuff mixed in to give it a “smoothie” texture and the “lemon zest” flavor.

Per serving values are as follows:

Omega-3: 985mg (365mg EPA and 365mg DHA, 255mg other)
Omega-6: 320mg
Omega-9: 970mg

That’s a pretty good amount of Omega-3 per serving, considering most regular pills and liquids are about 200-600mg Omega-3 per serving.

Unfortunately, you’re also consuming some Omega-6 fatty acids (which are usually considering pro-inflammatory, so you don’t want to go overboard with them.) But that’s really not that bad because you’re still getting a net of 665mg Omega-3.

I’m neutral on the Omega-9 because I have no problem with them, but probably don’t need more than I already get.

Note: You probably have plenty of Omega-6 in your diet already. It’s found in healthy foods like nuts and seeds, as well as virtually all processed foods and fast food. Omega-9 is also found in nuts, and is plentiful in olive oil, which you should be getting every day. In contrast, Omega-3 is harder to come by, typically found only in cold-water fish and the foods in their diet. Hence the importance of supplementing just Omega-3.

Other ingredients include Vitamin A and Vitamin C. One thing to mention is that this is sweetened with xylitol, a low-calorie sugar substitute. Xylitol is a naturally occurring sugar alcohol, so it’s not risky like artificial sweeteners; some studies even show dental health benefits from xylitol.

This adds up to 45 calories per serving, which is more than you’d get with pills, but it’s a small price to pay for the Omega-3 health benefits.

Since I mentioned faster recovery times in my other fish oil reviews, I should mention it here: I’ve been taking fish oil for a while and I didn’t notice better recovery when using this specific product. Likewise, I didn’t notice a huge drop in recovery ability.

So if you don’t regularly take fish oil, you might feel better in an overall healthy sense, as well as notice that you recover from exercise quicker than usual. But you never know.

Barlean’s Omega Swirl Taste Test

If cheaper brands of fish oil have scared you off, you’ll really have to trust me here – this stuff tastes great!! The lemon-flavored fish oil actually tastes like lemon meringue pie.

It does leave a light aftertaste, but it’s a lemon aftertaste, rather than a fishy aftertaste. And there is no weird oily residue left in your mouth and throat.

The texture is thick, like an oily smoothie. It doesn’t just dump out onto the your teaspoon; you squeeze it out, so you don’t have to worry about spilling it.

Again, it’s WAY WAY better tasting than other fish oils that are plain. I normally take the pills, but I did try the liquid before, and I was not pleased! Even the Carlson Very Finest Fish Oil, which is supposed to be the best-tasting fish oil, tastes putrid compared to Barlean’s Omega Swirl.

My final verdict is…

While Recoup|90 is the most pure form of Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil (it’s pharmaceutical grade) and what I’d recommend for elite athletes, and any brand of softgel pills are typically healthier than a flavored, sweetened liquid, this Barlean’s Omega Swirl seems pretty good.

It should provide enough Omega-3 for recreational athletes (or elite athletes, if you double the serving size,) so if you don’t swallow pills and can’t stand the taste of plain fish oil, Omega Swirl is a tasty way to take fish oil.

Official website: www.Barleans.com

Buy online: www.VitaminShoppe.com | www.VitaCost.com