Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Texas Superfood review: Simple superfood drink

Texas Superfood is a fruit and vegetable based powder greens supplement that is designed to boost your energy levels and help with weight loss.

(Green drinks in general are life-savers if you find it difficult to eat the recommended 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables daily that you’re supposed to)

It comes in both a powder and capsules, so you’ve got options when it comes to how to consume it.  Shake enthusiasts can easily mix a scoop of Texas Superfood into their morning blends, while those who dislike the taste of “green drink” powders can take gelatin capsules.

Our research team tested over 20 drinks, and Texas Superfood was a solid option, but not in our top 3.

Click here to see our #1 greens drink

Ingredients

Broadly speaking, Texas Superfood contains four categories of ingredients: fruits, vegetables, enzymes, and grasses & algae.

The fruits include the kinds of things you might normally consume as part of a healthy diet, like apples, watermelon, oranges, lemons, and grapes, but also several less-common “superfood” fruits like hawthorn berry, bilberry, and pomegranate.

The vegetable blend is more conventional, consisting of fairly common veggies like spinach extractgarlic, broccoli, carrot, onion, and zucchini.

In the case of both the fruits and the vegetables, the ingredients are powderized and stripped of their sugars and fibers, so several servings’ worth of fruit and vegetables can be reduced to a small serving size.

The grasses and algae are mostly “greens” like spirulina and cereal grasses which are included for their particular health benefits.

The enzyme blend includes a number of compounds that help you better digest lactose, fiber, and other components you may be getting in your diet that could cause gastrointestinal trouble.  The small absolute volume of Texas Superfood shouldn’t contribute to this, but the enzyme ingredients may help boost absorption of the phytonutrients in the plant ingredients.

Benefits

The core ingredients in Texas Superfood are the fruit and vegetable blend.  There are a number of studies which support the health benefits of fruit and vegetable concentrates for people who don’t or can’t consume the requisite amount of fruit and vegetables in their usual diet.  One of these is a 2003 article published din the Journal of Nutrition.  In it, researchers from the University of Technology in Australia evaluated the effects of a mixed fruit and vegetable supplement on several blood markers for general health and wellness (1).

In the study, 32 men participated in two six-week trials of the supplement.  In one trial, the men took capsules of a fruit and vegetable concentrate with several of the same ingredients as Texas Superfood.  In the other, the subjects took a placebo.  The order in which each subject underwent the two trials was randomized in order to prevent any crossover effects.

At the study’s conclusion, the researchers found that the fruit and vegetable concentrate increased levels of antioxidants in the blood, as well as decreased levels of an undesirable compound called homocysteine–elevated levels of this compound are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.  The researchers also directly tested the antioxidant potential of the subjects’ blood in a standardized chemical assay.  Again, high levels of oxidative compounds in the blood are associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

While this study found no difference in the effects of the supplement on smokers versus non-smokers, other research indicates that this may not be the case.  A 2001 study by researchers at the University of Maastricht in The Netherlands found that a similar fruit and vegetable concoction, consumed over a three week period, had no effect on the antioxidant status of smokers (2).  This study also used a crossover design like the previous one, with a placebo functioning as the control.  

As the authors hypothesized, the antioxidant intake of the subjects may have been too low to have an effect, even with the supplement.  Smoking is known to cause a large rise in the presence of oxidative species in the body, which is the cause of many of the negative health effects of smoking.  This might mean that smokers should substantially increase their dosage of superfood supplements if they do not wish to cease smoking.

The cereal grasses that are included in Texas Superfood might be able to improve your antioxidant status as well, in addition to fighting inflammation associated with conditions like arthritis.  

According to a review article by three researchers at the International Institute of Herbal Health in India, there is emerging evidence that grasses like wheat grass, barley grass, and oat grass might be able to fight oxidative species and decrease the presence of inflammatory cells in your body (3).  The evidence is not particularly strong, so this should not be taken as a ringing endorsement, but it’s still good news if you’ve got a chronic inflammatory condition like joint arthritis.  

How to use

The best method of use for Texas Superfood depends on the version you choose.  

With capsules, it’s pretty easy to distribute your doses throughout the day (which is the recommended method).  With powder, you’ll have to integrate it into your daily routine more fluidly if you want to take several small doses instead.

Since it does not contain active bacterial cultures, Texas Superfood can sit for longer when mixed into liquids, but since it’s free of preservatives, it shouldn’t sit in your gym bag all day either.  Ideally, you’d still mix it up immediately before use.

Recap

Texas Superfood is a solid choice if you are in the market for a green drink or capsule supplement.  The availability of the capsules is a boon for people who dislike the taste of other green drinks.  

People looking for probiotic bacterial cultures or more exotic herbal extracts may want to look elsewhere, though–Texas Superfood is fairly conservative in its ingredient blend, which may be a good or bad thing for you depending on your attitude towards supplements.

Click here to see our #1 greens drink

https://bodynutrition.org/texas-superfood/

https://bodynutritionorg.wordpress.com/2018/02/20/texas-superfood-review-simple-superfood-drink/

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