Our Honest Review of Primal Greens
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Are Primal Greens Legit?
Primal Greens by Primal Harvest contains 50+ ingredients and is comparable to AG1, at a much lower price point. It tastes great and is easily digestible, too. However, the dose of some ingredients is unclear.
I
n my quest for better gut health and a more balanced diet, I’ve tried more greens powders than I’d like to admit. But the cost of sifting through popular greens powders to find one made with quality ingredients (and a taste that won’t make you gag) adds up quickly—especially if you opt for the greens powder of all greens powders, AG1.
I sampled Primal Greens by Primal Harvest—which some are calling an AG1 dupe— for a couple weeks to see if you can get a quality greens powder for less than half the cost of the leading competitor.
Our Experience
Hone Health is a team of health-obsessed journalists, editors, fitness junkies, medical reviewers, and product testers. To ensure we deliver you research-backed information on Primal Greens, we’ve reviewed several research studies and well-respected medical pages that explore the legitimacy of its ingredients.
What Are Primal Greens?
Primal Greens is an all natural greens powder that contains superfoods, antioxidants, pre- and probiotics, digestive enzymes, and mushrooms to support energy and to make it easier to get enough servings of vegetables daily.
While our cave dwelling forefathers weren’t meticulously measuring a scoop of greens powder to meet their nutritional needs, Primal Harvest (the maker of Primal Greens) marries science and nature to nourish us in a way our hunter-gatherer ancestors would be happy to co-sign.
Primal Greens ingredients
Primal Greens packs a boatload of ingredients (over 50 to be exact) in eight grams (g). However, Primal Harvest doesn’t disclose how much of each ingredient is present. Here’s what you can find in each serving of Primal Greens.
Superfoods and mushrooms: Primal Greens contain 4.9 g of superfoods, antioxidants, and reishi and maitake mushrooms, which may improve immune function, prevent oxidative stress, and boost energy (1).
Probiotics: This powder contains 3.5 billion CFUs of gut-healthy bacteria strains like B. longum, L. acidophilus, and L. rhamnosus. Research shows that these probiotics may provide relief for people with digestive discomfort from conditions like IBS (2).
Herbs and adaptogens: You’ll find 2.2g of trendy herbs like ashwagandha and Korean ginseng amongst the ingredients of Primal Greens.
Digestive enzymes: Trouble digesting vegetables? Primal Greens contain 674 milligrams (mg) of digestive enzymes to stave off bloat and nausea.
Flavor: Primal Greens is sweetened with stevia, a plant-based, zero calorie sugar alternative.
Plus, each serving of Primal Greens has:
- 34 calories
- 5.8g carbohydrates
- 1.4g protein
- 122 percent of your daily value of vitamin C
- 67% of your DV of vitamin E
- A megadose (1042% DV) of vitamin B12
- Essential minerals like zinc and copper
What’s Good About Primal Greens
Good value
Primal Greens has comparable ingredients—including digestive enzymes, probiotics, and adaptogens—to AG1, with a more affordable price point.
A month’s worth of Primal Greens costs $50 without a subscription, which is around $1.67 per serving. If you opt for a monthly delivery, it’ll bring down the price to $40, which works out to be $1.33 a serving. (For context: AG1 costs $109 for a month’s supply without a subscription. That’s $3.63 a serving.)
Easy to digest
My sensitive stomach is my biggest obstacle in eating enough vegetables everyday. When I opt for fresh or cooked leafy greens, I feel nauseous and bloat almost instantly—save for when I pop a digestive enzyme before my meal.
Primal Greens contains digestive enzymes, prebiotics, and probiotics in its formula.
To give Primal Greens a fair test, I reluctantly put my trusty bottle of digestive enzymes back in the medicine cabinet. I kept waiting for the dreaded bloat to hit me after drinking a serving of Primal Greens, but it never did. I also found that I bloated less when I ate fresh produce while I included Primal Greens in my daily routine.
Pleasant flavor
To stevia, or not to stevia? That’s always the debate when it comes to the taste of greens powders. Personally, I’m in the pro-stevia camp.
Primal Greens is sweetened with stevia—a plant-based, zero calorie, sugar alternative—which helps cut the earthy flavor that makes many greens powders hard to get down. The stevia flavor in Primal Greens is not overwhelming, and there is still a pretty distinct earthy taste. (But more bearable, like a bitter tea, and less like drinking dirt.)
I tried this greens powder mixed in cold water, hot water, and in a fruit and yogurt smoothie. When blended in a smoothie, the taste was almost undetectable.
What’s Not Good About Primal Greens
Hard to mix
Whether it be protein, fiber, or greens, powdered supplements are notoriously hard to blend. However, I found Primal Greens to be particularly stubborn—even when I used an electric whisk or beat the mixture so hard I could skip arm day.
A couple times when I thought I had mixed the powder into the water thoroughly, I’d take a gulp and feel like I dry scooped greens powder. Not a pleasant surprise.
Primal Greens mixes slightly better in hot water and smoothies, but still expect some small pockets of powder. If mixing your greens supplement into a no-hassle glass of cold or lukewarm water is your jam, I’d skip.
Gimmicky ingredient marketing
Like many greens powder brands, Primal Greens throws around buzz words like “superfoods” to describe some of its ingredients. But you should know that “superfood” is just a marketing term and has no guidelines or legal requirements.
Generally, “superfood” refers to a nutritionally dense fruit or vegetable.
For example, I noticed that Primal Greens classifies pretty basic vegetables—like carrots, spinach, and beets—as superfoods on its packaging. And while no one is arguing if these foods are great for you, research isn’t the one prescribing the superfood label.
Unclear nutrient load
Powders like AG1 catch some flak for touting tons of ingredients without disclosing just how much of each is in one serving. I searched far and wide for a detailed ingredients list for Primal Greens, but unfortunately, Primal Harvest is also stingy with how much nutritional information is available.
On the back of the Primal Greens bag there are vague measurements like:
- 4.9g per serving of a “Superfood, Antioxidant, and Mushroom” blend, which includes 34 total ingredients. (If you split ‘em all evenly, that would only be 144 mg per ingredient per serving.)
- 2.2g of “Nutrient Dense Natural Herbs and Extracts,” including ashwagandha root, cinnamon bark, chlorophyllin, and more. For context, a daily effective dose of ashwagandha alone can range from 250 mg to 5 g (3). If you’re looking to be on the high end of that range, this greens powder won’t get you there.
Without more details, it’s unclear whether you’re getting an effective dose of the flashy ingredient that made you click “add to cart.” I could see this being disappointing for someone who picked this up to consolidate their supplement stack.
The Bottom Line
If you’re looking for a greens powder that’s comparable to AG1 without the hefty price tag, Primal Greens is worth a try. However, you’ll want to pass on this powder if blendability or knowing the exact nutrient load of each ingredient is a priority for you.
