Shakeology Comparison Series: #1 Vega One

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Something I constantly hear in regards to Shakeology is the cost factor! Believe me, as a former self-supported grad school student, I understand tight budgets. As a coach, my first mission is to make the world a healthier place. So if budget is truly a deciding factor, I’d rather you consume something healthier than ramen noodles (which I may or may not have lived two weeks of my life on back in the day!).

I’m going to be reviewing a few Shakeology alternatives over the next couple of days. While I firmly believe there is no equivalent for Shakeology, I’m going to give these shakes a try and let you know how my thoughts.

Before I get into my reviews, here are my standards:

1. No artificial sweeteners, including aspartame and sucralose. I’m not quite sure WHY some shakes still have these, but that’s another point for another day.
2. No soy protein. Soy protein has been getting a lot of heat from the science world, so I’m just preferring to avoid it.
3. Must be a meal replacement shake. The macros have to compare. Meal replacement shakes are different from protein powders. With a protein powder, you’re only fueling your body with protein. Protein shakes are great for lifters after a heavy workout, but they aren’t designed to provide much more nutrition than protein.

Preparation:

I usually get all wild and crazy for my shakes (I love to try new flavor combinations using extracts – see my recipe guide here). For the sake of this trial, I will buy chocolate flavored powders, and prepare them with unsweetened almond milk and 1/2 frozen banana.

Alternative #1: Vega One

This one I was the most excited to try, as from what I found, the ingredients/macros/etc were the closest related to Shakeology.

Breaking it down, here is the nutrition label for Vega One:

For comparison, here is the label for Vegan Chocolate Shakeology:

My thoughts of the Vega One (compared to Shakeology):

1. Taste – The taste was definitely grainier. Texture doesn’t typically bother me, but there were some taste differences:
   1. Vega One was not as sweet as Shakeology
   2. Vega One had a more vegetable taste than Shakeology
   3. The aftertaste with the Vega One lasted awhile!!!
2. Cost – Surprisingly, there is not a huge difference in cost:
   1. Vega One is sold on Amazon.com for $54.99 for a 19 serving tub. That breaks down to $2.89 per serving
   2. Shakeology (if you buy with the monthly discount) comes in a 30 serving bag. That breaks down to $3.88 per serving (if you’re active duty military, your cost drops to $3.33).
   3. Both of these include shipping (Vega One is free with Amazon Prime).

Overall thoughts and update: I ended up purchasing a tub of the Vanilla Chai Vega One. I’m a HUGE fan of chai, and the flavor was good. However, it never had a smooth texture (it was always icy, despite using a banana and almond milk). In the end, I was never able to finish the tub.

Stay tuned for my next installment!