Q & A: What do you think of Kachava? Is this a good protein shake or meal replacement?
A: Kachava is a high calorie vehicle for getting 25 grams of protein. In other words, I can’t recommend it.
The label says 240 calories for 25 grams of protein, but 25 grams of protein is only 100 calories worth of protein. Furthermore, a closer look says the calories are more like 260. (How’s that? If you look at the nutrition label and do some arithmetic you get a different total calorie count. There are 4 calories per gram for both carbs and protein, and 9 calories per gram for fat. This sort of discrepancy is not unique to this company.)
For contrast: All natural Whey smooth has 25 grams of protein for just 120 calories, which is less than half the calories. Much better deal.
What about the Fruits, Veggies and Fiber in Kachava?
The amazon title says “85+ Superfoods & Nutrients, Meal Replacement, Greens Plant-Based Superfood Powder Protein Drink,” and the back panel lists “Antioxidant/Super-Fruit Blend,” and a “Super-Greens/Vegetable Blend.” All of these fancy words certainly imply that this shake is a good source of fruits and vegetables. The devil (or lackthereof) is in the details:
Super-Greens: The Super-Greens/Vegetable blend has 500mg. 500 sounds like a lot until you see the units are in thousandths of a gram, so there is ½ of 1 gram of vegetables and socalled super greens in total. For contrast 1 little old brussel sprout weighs 19 grams. So, all of the veggies in a serving of the shake is 1/38th a single brussel sprout. You would need to consume 2.5 bags (15 servings and 3,600 calories per bag) to get the equivalent of a brussel sprout. So, yeah, there is a trace of veggies, but barely a trace.
Super-fruit: The antioxidant/super-fruit blend is bigger in that is has 6.1g. (I am surprised they didn’t list it as 6,100mg.). For perspective, one raspberry is 5g, so you are getting the equivalent of 1.2 raspberries in total. Again there are traces of fruit, but if adding one raspberry to your diet is going to move the needle on your fruit consumption then probably already have scurvy.
Fiber: The fiber ranges from 4 grams to 7 grams depending on the flavor. 4 grams for 140 calories (240-100 calories for protein) is not a good deal. However, at 7 grams the math works better, and you really could make the case that the fiber (in the flavors with 7g) justify the calories.
For contrast 1 cup of green beans has 4 grams of fiber for just 43 calories, and you’d be eating an entire cup (100 grams+) of actual vegetables.
An alternative to Kachava is the Lean MR meal replacement shake which is also high in fiber (both flavors have 7 grams), and have a high protein content (21 grams) for 180 calories. That’s 8.6 calories per gram of protein in the Lean MR vs 10.4 calories per gram of protein in the Kachava. 20% fewer calories per gram of protein is substantial.
Other Nutrition Questions?
- Looking for other low calorie ways to get protein? Or fiber (please notice that the graphic at the top of the fiber post is a dump truck)?
- Questions about creatine supplementation for women.