Unlike several plant-based protein based companies, Greens Plus started back in 1989 before vegan and plant-based living became mainstream. The company originated with Sam Graci’s inspiration to help his sister-in-law, Lani Deauville. In 1958, Lani became a quadriplegic at age 17 and at that time, life expectancy was minimal at best. Like many quadriplegics, she suffered from recurring illnesses including a broken hip and severe infections. In 1984 Sam, her brother-in-law began formulating a green drink to increase her nutrient intake in an attempt to strengthen her immune system and keep her healthy and vibrant. Sam, an adolescent psychologist had already seen the benefits of nutritional supplementation in his young clients and knew it could help his sister-in-law, Lani. Over the next five years, Lani provided feedback to improve the taste while Sam was focused on adding whole foods and nutrients to strengthen her immune system. After much experimenting, the duo had the formula down and Lani went from spending half the year in a hospital bed to never returning to one! Encouraged by her results, Lani began distributing Greens Plus to family and friends an eventually into health food stores, grocers and health care professionals across the world.

Today, Greens Plus remains a family owned and operated company dedicated to helping people live healthier, happier lives with their organic, non-GMO energy bars, protein bars, protein powders, and superfood powders. Not all of their products are vegan. The Greens Plus protein powders are whey based and the +plusbars protein bars have whey as well. The energy and chia+PlusBars are vegan, gluten-free, and soy-free. The vegan +PlusBars are available in six flavors including +PlusBar Energy Natural, +PlusBar Energy Chocolate, +PlusBar Blueberry Almond Chia Crisp, +PlusBar Chia Chocolate, +PlusBar Chocolate Peanut Butter Chia Crisp, and +PlusBar Chia Natural.

Today, I wanted to review the original superfood bar, the Greens Plus +PlusBar Energy Natural Flavor. Keep reading for the review or head over to Amazon to check them out yourself.

This is what Greens Plus +PlusBar Energy Natural Flavor plant-based nutrition bar looks like!

Taste Experience – 9.5 out of 10

The green undertone of a basically brown bar does not look all that appealing but I also appreciate that it’s not a chemical storm of neon and fake color additives. It smells pleasantly sweet with earthy tinges. Not surprisingly, the earthy tone smell smells more like grass and green vegetables than dirt.

I was nervous the green superfood blend would overpower the overall taste of the Greens Plus +PlusBar, but I was delighted when it tasted softly sweet without any protein powder chalk bombs or weeds to try and wash down. But maybe that was just a fluke I thought…so I went back for bites two, three, and four with the same type of taste. If you like the taste of real food but also you want a little sweetener to enjoy the protein powders and greens, this is the bar for you.

The bar has a thorough consistency and although I see specks of quinoa and brown rice crisps, I cannot taste or feel any texture. Sometimes I need texture variances to get through a bar, but this one tastes great the way it is that I hardly noticed the smooth texture. The bar is fairly heavy (2oz) given its size which means that keeps me full longer. I especially love that they do not leave a funny aftertaste or weird mouthfeel.

It’s no wonder the company has been around since 1989; they make freaking amazing bars! You should try them out for yourself here on Amazon and see what I mean.

Taking a Bite of Greens Plus +PlusBar Energy Natural Flavor Vegan Protein Nutrition Bar

Nutrition – 9.5 out of 10

Greens Plus +PlusBar Energy Natural plant-based protein bar tastes great and turns out it really is great for you! Each bar has 230 calories with only 80 calories coming from fat. The fat is likely coming from the organic almonds. Each bar has 9 grams of total fat and only 1 gram of saturated fat. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, nuts and seeds are incredibly helpful in preventing heart disease, maintaining your overall satisfaction with a particular food, and controlling hunger at/in between meals. Plus, the almonds provide a good source of calcium, iron, magnesium, and Vitamin E.

Salt is not added to the Greens Plus +PlusBar Energy Natural vegan protein bar, but there is 95mg of sodium from natural sources. There is a considerable amount of potassium (340mg or 10% of your daily value) most likely from the dates (dates are the first ingredient by weight). Sodium and potassium are responsible for helping your body maintain electrolyte balance and hydration throughout the day. By having a bit of both of them in the bar, it helps create homeostasis and help regulate the blood pressure.

Although the +PlusBar doesn’t contain added salt, Greens Plus adds chicory root fiber to the bar to provide 7 grams of fiber. Fiber is helpful for regulating digestion, cholesterol levels, weight, and preventing some forms of cancer. However, I tend to be a proponent of food first…meaning that even though fiber is added into a food, that doesn’t mean it’s all of a sudden a perfect food. In fact, oftentimes, companies with very altered food products will add fiber to make the product appear healthier. +PlusBar has SO much nutrition on its own that I don’t think this is why chicory root fiber was added. Keep in mind that if you are already following a high fiber diet, the chicory root may cause slight GI upset. However, if you don’t consume over about 20 grams of fiber a day, most people can tolerate it just fine.

Greens Plus +PlusBar Energy Natural vegan bar contains 10 grams of protein from multiple sources including almonds, pea protein, and quinoa. This delivers an adequate amount to help sustain energy, boost performance in athletes, and meet your vegan protein needs for the day.

The most distinctive feature of Greens Plus +PlusBar Energy Natural plant-based protein bar is the company’s superfood proprietary blend that is added into all of their bars and the base for most of their powders. This proprietary blend helps add significant nutrition value. Not only do the grasses and roots provide a significant amount of vitamins and minerals (see image), but the way the company harvests the whole foods retains a lot of the nutrition.  Greens Plus uses Infrared Activation that uses long wavelengths of energy to preserve the heat-sensitive phytonutrients and enhance the shelf life of the products. This means that when you’re eating a Greens Plus +PlusBar Energy Natural nutrition bar, you’re receiving the freshest, highest amount of nutrition available from those ingredients. Don’t waste anytime ya’ll, check the highly nutritious bars out on Amazon.

Greens Plus +PlusBar Energy Natural Flavor Nutrition Label

The Non-Vegan Review – 7 out of 10

No other bar delivers the nutrition of a PlusBar. That’s no joke. These PlusBars are a powerhouse of protein and nutrition. It’s like they took an entire Whole Foods store and threw it into one bar. Pretty amazing. 10 grams of protein, 7 grams of fiber, 50% of your Vitamin A, 40% of your Vitamin B6, 20% of your Vitamin B12, and the list goes on. There’s like not even enough room on the wrapper to list all of the incredible ingredients in these bars. I’d give the bar a 10 out of 10, but the texture isn’t my favorite. It has a nice date and mild almond flavor, but the texture is kinda spongy. That’s to be expected from a bar with so many greens in it. I also think they could have skipped adding Stevia to the bar, because I think the dates already add enough sweetness to the bar. Overall, these are great bars for a meal replacement or a quick pop of plant protein and nutrition before a workout. Get these bars on Amazon by clicking here. Non-vegan husband out.

Parting Thoughts

Greens Plus +PlusBar Energy Natural vegan protein bar is insanely nutritious and equally delicious! The superfood proprietary blends adds the cherry on top of an already amazing product with organic, non-GMO, plant-based ingredients. The bar provides unparalleled nutrition and taste to help you live a healthier, happier life as Greens Plus aims to do. This company has been around since 1989 for a reason. Support this genuinely amazing plant-based company and buy Greens Plus +PlusBar Energy Natural on Amazon today and help a fellow vegan out.

Greens Plus +PlusBar Energy Review – Natural Flavor

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