{Product Review} Vega One Nutritional Shakes

Vega One was created by Brendan Brazier, vegan, professional Ironman triathelete and author. He wanted to formulate a plant-based nutritional protein shake that would adhere to his vegan diet.

Vega One Shakes come in a convenient packet and each serving contains 15 g of protein, 6 g of fiber, 50% of your daily intake of vitamins and minerals plus 3 servings of greens. A pack also has less than 150 calories. What Vega One does not contain is dairy, gluten, soy, added sugar, artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners. To read more about the benefits or get more nutritional information, please visit the Vega One website here.

A few weeks ago, a Vega One Starter Kit arrived in my mail. The starter kit contains 5 packets of Vega One shake (2 chocolate flavored, 2 French vanilla and 1 berry) and a brochure with three smoothie recipes.

I have tried Vega One two times so far. I tried the French vanilla flavor as a shake with 1.5 cups of ice water as directed on the back of the packet. It can also be mixed with juice or any other beverage.

The first thing I noticed was that I really had to mix it a lot to get the powder to dissolve into the water. Once it was completely dissolved, you can see that even though the flavor is French vanilla, the shake is a green color. This was a little disconcerting to me, but I guess that's what happens with plant-based, non-artificial- colored shakes.

In terms of taste, I wasn't too huge of a fan of the taste. One of the ingredients of Vega One is stevia extract and I really find the taste of stevia to be unpleasant. With just water and the Vega One powder, I could really tell there was stevia in there.

I can say that I had much better luck with using Vega One in a smoothie though. I just used whatever I had around the house.

Here is Irene's Chocolate Banana Blueberry Smoothie:
- 1 serving Vega One Chocolate
- 1 cup cold soy milk
- 1 banana
- handful of fresh blueberries
Blend until smooth

As you can see from the picture, the blueberry skin didn't quite blend all of the way. I found the smoothie to be quite tasty, and I think the fresh fruits help to mask the stevia taste.

What's my take? Although I am not a vegan and don't have many dietary restrictions, I think it is great that those who are have different options available to them to fit their differing lifestyles. I like how Vega One is packaged in a way that makes it easy for someone who is on the go or on the road to have a protein shake without having to cart around a huge tub of powder. As far as my use of Vega One, I am definitely going to stick to making smoothies!

Disclosure: Vega One provided me with a complimentary Vega One Shake Starter Kit for the purpose of this review. No compensation was received. All opinions are my own. Read my full disclosure here.