Opinion On Dr Kim’s Greens Powder
Question: From Tricia
“I would like to know if you have evaluated Dr Ben Kim’s Greens powder”.
Thank you
Response from Brett:
Hi again Tricia
I’ve looked through Dr Ben Kim’s website and I’m sorry to say it’s just another example of a ‘doctor’ taking advantage of consumers lack of knowledge about supplement quality and nutrition.
In my site I have stressed to my readers many times that doctors have no formal training whatsoever in how to formulate professional grade supplements nor how nutrients interact at the molecular level in the body. This is a specialized science.
Any Doctors who have done additional training (and that is very little of them), clearly highlight those qualifications on their websites and it is impossible to miss it - you would instantly know about it.
Dr Kim states on his site that he is a “chiropractor and acupuncturist”. I see no other specialized qualifications other than his experience gained through treating his patients- which still doesn’t make him a credible authority on supplements. Some of the info below and much throughout nutritional supplement truths website shows that people like Dr Kim are not presenting the ABSOLUTE TRUTH.
I’m not saying that you have to have specialized degrees in pharmacology, organic chemistry. Microbiology and the like (I certainly don’t) IF you have access to, and are going to, present the truth and scientifically established facts to your readers and customers. However this is just not the case with the majority of doctors, and
other professions who can use the prefix ‘Dr’.
To give you some background, I just spent under 5 mins looking at the multivitamin whole food formula which Dr Kim promotes (I will get to Greens powder which you asked about in a moment) as an exceptional product. That’s all the time I needed to be able to tell you the following.
His statement about the superiority of this supplement is misleading to say the least.
It is a very ordinary multivitamin and at $48 a bottle it is REALLY expensive for what it is. I believe it offers very poor value for money.
To set a comparative benchmark for supplement value for money you might like to compare Greens to the supplement I use - Total Balance, (which is reviewed in-depth on nutritional supplement truths (use this link)
http://www.nutritional-supplement-truths.com/Total-Balance.html
and then you will see that Dr Kim’s supplement is missing key, highly efficious (and expensive) ingredients like:
- L-Glutathione
- Resveratrol
- Tocotrienols
- L-Carnosine (in fact no amino acids at all)
- Bilberry
- Turmeric (high potency)
- Zeaxanthin
- Gender support nutrients
and so on.
When it comes to the few expensive ingredients that are there (like cranberry) they are extracts (meaning much weaker efficacy).
Plus the herbal extracts used are not standardized!!! That’s a big no - no (well there’s no info on them being standardized, only extract ratios for each herb used, so its obvious they are not standardized otherwise that would definitely be mentioned as it’s important).
This multivitamin contains 250 mg of vitamin C which is way too much. This is one of the cheapest ingredients which manufacturers use to fill up a tablet (cheaply)- yet Dr Kim boldly goes on to say how this supplement contains none of the usual fillers (pectin etc) which is technically correct.
Instead it is just filled with too much vitamin C (which he doesn’t mention of course). Manufacturers always try to justify these over the top amounts under the “optimal amounts” scenario and that you need more than the RDA recommendations (which health-conscious supplement users do not!).
Now, I know you didn’t ask about this product in particular (and I’m still coming to ‘Greens Powder’) but just wanted to show you how these ‘doctors’ are essentially just marketers in disguise and they are fooling people via their qualifications into buying average products at HIGHLY INFLATED PRICES.
Dr. Kim talks about the normal retail price of this multivitamin as being (over $70) which is CRIMINAL if that is the case, and then goes on to tell you that he only takes a small profit cut so he can offer it to you at $48 a bottle. This is clever marketing - ‘Make the consumer think you are doing him/her a favor - win their trust – establish a relationship with your readers!
So I hope I’ve at least partially set the stage for you with what’s going on here.
Certainly the manufacturing standards for the products he sells are reasonably good.
He talks about how each ingredient is tested for impurities etc but I notice that he does NOT MENTION that there is any independent testing (a must for professional companies) or that each raw ingredient is tested for compliance with its Certificate of Analysis (an absolute must!).
Tricia, you can learn more about these very important issues by going to this page on nutritional supplement truths.com:
http://www.nutritional-supplement-truths.com/super-supplements-2.html
Now, to Greens Powder.
It is described as a “wild-crafted whole food supplement”, not containing any synthetic vitamins.
Firstly, these issues about whole food supplements and synthetic vitamins are largely misunderstood by supplement users.
So, you may like to read my earlier posts about ‘Natural Vitamin Supplements’, ‘Synthetic Vitamins’ and Whole food supplements so as to put these topics in a more correct perspective. (check the ‘Articles’ Archive)
Tricia, the story with Greens Powder is the same as with Dr. Kim’s multivitamin above.
$47 a bottle for this “whole food” supplement is very expensive!
Dr Kim talks about the wonderful results he achieved with his patients conditions after using this formula and I have no doubt in believing those results.
BUT…..
That’s because the body is capable of self-healing most conditions when it receives a daily broad spectrum supply of the right nutrients - especially the potent phytonutrients and antioxidants found in whole foods (fruits and vegetables in this case) and in conjunction with other healthy dietary and lifestyle choices. Like minimal amounts of protein from animal sources, minimal amounts of alcohol, no smoking and so on.
But why pay close to $50 dollars a bottle for these nutrients when you can just eat healthy meals and snacks containing reasonable amounts of raw vegetables and fruits everyday and ultimately take in far more of these disease busting nutrients than what you will get from a bottle of greens powder over 53 days.
The extent of nutritional value which you actually get from whole food supplements is exactly what I discuss in my Whole Food Supplements post which I referred to above.
Tricia, look at content on the greens powder info page:
“Ounce for ounce, it is one of the least expensive green food products available throughout North America – amazing when you consider its exceptional quality and the fact that it has no fillers”.
This is just marketing as you will understand when you read my whole food answer. They are telling you what you want to hear.
So while the formula of Greens is, technically speaking good, in reality it is offering you very little (unless you have an appallingly bad diet to begin with) while costing you a lot.
The answer is to get your antioxidants and phytonutrients from real foods!
Dr Kim says of Greens powder:
“Again, I firmly believe that nothing can substitute for a minimally processed, whole food diet.”
Yes - that’s true
“…. But if you are looking for just one natural health food product that can significantly enhance your health now and as you age, I highly recommend that you try our greens.”
Well, Greens cannot even be compared with Total Balance. They’re not even in the same category.
Total Balance addresses every organ and system in your body and contains important ingredients (like several medicinal herbal extracts) which we cannot take in from our diets - even good diets.
It has an absolute ton more than what Greens offers. The comparisons on nutritional-supplement-truths.com will reveal this to you.
Hope this answer helps you with your decision making Tricia
Stay Well
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Tags: antioxidants, disease, Food, fruits, green food, health, herbal extracts, multivitamin, natural health, natural vitamin supplements, nutrients, nutrition, nutritional supplement truths, phytonutrients, supplement, synthetic vitamins, total balance, vegetables, Vitamin, whole food supplement
