Take “greens” on an Empty Stomach

Over the years, I’m sure I didn’t void all the benefits of daily greens by taking them “with food.”  But that’s what I was doing.

I’m a multivitamin-guy and I come from a multivitamin-family. My Mom swore by multivitamins and before it was cool and before the Internet, she was very into the multivitamin thing. Back in Grand Rapids, MI, in the ’90s, before every specialty market had supplement and apothecary sections, my Mom “did the research.” The world had Centrum, and maybe GNC had some stuff for Men, but multivitamins were an emerging scam …er … trend. Nowadays, you can spend hours reading about every multivitamin and manufacturer and learn their background and how the inventor grew up on a farm and has my best interest in mind and all ingredients are sourced by fairies and trolls and grown in an area of the Brazilian rainforest that has the least amount of air pollution anywhere in the world.

And how the inventor studied chemistry and medicine at Harvard, walked through jungles and climbed mountains and found a mushroom species in a cave untouched by humans or cancer-causing UV rays for 9,000 years and how that mushroom powder makes their multivitamin the best that ever was or will be. Until they reformulate and try to sell me their new-and-improved version a couple years from now. What? Did you find another cave with some strain of moss that keeps people in the neighboring village Cancer-free and where they average a life-expectancy of 112 years …and still smoke cigarettes!?!?!?!

My mom went to one of the world’s first “vitamin shops” and she was happy with the multivitamin she found. The only source of expertise was the store owner and back then, the store owner was driven by passion for health and was railing against “big pharma” or “big vitamin.”  Nobody wants a multivitamin from Nestle or Proctor & Gamble. Amiright?

I’ll admit, I’m a guy who would buy snake oil if salesman came to town and promised it would prevent me from going bald, give me endless energy while also allowing me quality sleep, making me smarter and calm me down.

Plus, taking a daily multivitamin works for me. I notice when I skip a few days.

I’ll get to my point on “greens” in a minute.

Multivitamins are to be taken “with food”, like most pill-shaped medications, so when I discovered greens powders, I assumed the same. I’ve been taking greens powders – specifically Green Vibrance – for a decade and have been doing it all wrong. Greens powders, unlike multivitamins, should be taken immediately upon waking on an empty stomach. This maximizes absorption.

Again, I may be falling for snake oil, but after 2 weeks of this, it’s so obviously different I’m mad at my past self for not figuring this out. Taking greens on an empty stomach, before coffee or anything, gives me energy all morning (like the label says). It doesn’t upset my stomach at all (micro nutrients and good gut bacterias and such). It somehow curbs my cravings and I can make it to lunch without sneaking a Tootsie Roll from the candy jar at work.

My brand is Green Vibrance because it has everything, but I’m starting to experiment – mostly because Green Vibrance tastes like grass. My wife and daughter subscribed to Skinny Greens, and didn’t like them, so I’m working through two tubs of that. I know in my heart, all greens powders are probably mostly the same, but it doesn’t mean I won’t give up the Mom-esque quest to always find the better and best.

Skinny Greens tastes good and anything that tastes good can’t be as beneficial as something that tastes bad. Right?

I still take a multivitamin …at lunch …with my high-protein Kodiak oatmeal. After much, much research, I settled on Garden of Life’s Raw Probiotics Men Cooler 50 & Wiser and like that they’re a gel casing full of, basically, powder and claim more thorough absorption.

We can get a little better every day. And even tho, deep down, I suspect multivitamins and greens may just be sawdust and food coloring and cost less than a penny to produce and sell to me for $40+, I’m still keeping them as part of my health routine.

And I’ll keep researching, reading, and learning every day.