Why Consider a Daily Greens Drink?

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Transcript: Why Consider a Daily Greens Drink?

Season 10, Episode 5  | March 4, 2025

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Welcome to this mini episode of Life Time Talks. I’m Jamie Martin. And in this episode, we’re talking about daily greens drinks. There are an increasing number of drinkable supplement options on the market, and drinkable vitamins, minerals, and greens tend to be the most popular. In this episode, we’re going to talk about this type of supplement and how it differs from other forms, what are the benefits of them are, and how you can make sure you’re choosing a really high-quality option.

With me is Sam McKinney. She’s a fan favorite. She is the national program manager for nutrition, metabolism, and weight loss at Life Time. She’s been with Life Time for 13 years in multiple roles, and is currently on the team that leads nutrition programs and supplements for Life Time members, helping them optimize their metabolism and results from the inside out. Hi, Sam.

Hi. Thank you for such a wonderful intro.

How are you doing?

I am doing so great. I’m glad to be here. I’m excited to talk about this topic because it’s a big one.
I mean, we’re hearing a lot about these supplements on the market. So let’s talk a little bit about the growing trend. We know most Americans are not optimally nourishing and are feeling the effects of that. So whether or not they notice it. So can you speak to that and why these types of products are helping people?

Yeah, so a couple of things. Whenever you start to look at just like health and fitness consumers in general, it’s estimated that 54% of people are taking some supplements. So there’s clearly a need there, and there’s clearly problems that people are trying to solve. And so whenever you actually look into some of the details, we are in a pretty I’d say nourished caloric wise society, but we are very undernourished in terms of micronutrients.

And when you start to look at the different complaints that US adults specifically have reported in different studies, over half of people have difficulty focusing and concentrating, a lot of people have digestive issues, an estimated 70 million Americans, most people, over 60%, are reporting frequent stress that’s kind of impacting how they feel in their mental health. So there’s a need there. And I think people are really starting to recognize, like, hey, what I put in my body, or don’t, can really have an impact, a tangible impact on how I feel and function every day.

And so I think people are starting to turn towards what’s something quick and easy that I can do to upgrade my day and to really help enhance my health, and what’s the right way to do it. And oftentimes they’re influenced by whatever marketing is out there and whatever’s popular, whatever their friends are taking. So I think sometimes the intention is there, but as you know, we’re really big on starting with education so people know what to look for and what to expect.

Yeah, we want to look for that quality —

Yes.

—in those products. So in these drinkable forms, it’s often two groups of things that they’re looking at. It’s vitamins, minerals, and then plants. So why is it beneficial to supplement with a well formulated multivitamin that includes those things?

Yes, well a couple of different things. So as you had alluded to earlier, greens, drinks in particular, are extremely popular. I will say that this is probably an area that’s been trending, that we have seen surging as well for a long time. And there’s kind of different categories within that sort of layer into the categories you just mentioned to.

There are certain greens products that have micronutrients and vitamins and minerals, which those are — I often refer to those as the engine parts of your metabolism. You need calories like protein, fat, and carbs to fuel you, but you’re not going to get anywhere without the engine parts. And that’s what the vitamins and minerals do.

Then there’s actual plant nutrients, right? So the actual greens part that people are thinking of. Like, hey, I need variety, I need greens, I need produce. And then there’s usually ancillary ingredients that different companies will put in there to support digestive health or to support probiotic balance or to support mental focus or what have you. And what I found is on the market, different products contain different combinations of those benefits. And so it’s really important to find the one that really is going to be the comprehensive option you need or what you’re trying to fill in.

But specifically to the multivitamin, multimineral piece of things, I would say that that applies to the majority of people that I talk to. And even if you’re eating well, a lot of times, people don’t realize that our food supply is not what it once was. It’s not as nutrient dense as it used to be due to different farming practices, overfarming, soil depletion. But they also don’t realize that there are modern things that we’re exposed to, such as stressors, that deplete us faster than historically. We’re not outside working in the sun all day long and kind of connected with nature, right? At least not for the most part.

Plus, I would just say even people that feel like they eat relatively well, maybe I don’t eat a lot of fast food or I don’t drink a lot of sugary beverages. Most people are not getting that recommended 7, 8, 9 servings of produce per day. It’s estimated that most people aren’t really even hitting two cups per day. It’s like 9 out of 10 Americans don’t hit two cups or more a day. So there’s a need there.

And I think that’s not — I’m not saying that to say people aren’t doing well. I think that we live in a society that makes it really hard for healthy eating to be convenient. And so some of these things aim to help support your metabolism and help fill in the gaps, but not necessarily replace a healthy diet either.
Right. And I know we’ve talked on this podcast before about really the goal is get as much as you can from the whole foods in your diet. But there’s still likely for many of us, because of the reasons you just mentioned, like the soil depletion, nutrient depletion in the foods that are grown there —

Yeah.

— we’re still having gaps, even when we are mostly eating the way that foods were intended to be eaten.
Yes, so we’re kind of in a scenario where the reality is we now live in a world where supplementation is often necessary to be optimal. And it’s designed to take you further. Sometimes people get stuck in this dichotomous thinking of food or supplements. And I’m like both.

Both and, right?

Yeah.

It’s not the either or.

Exactly, and that’s where something like I’ll teach nourish or a well formulated green supplement multivitamin can really — it’s an easy step people can take that gives them a pretty notable upgrade.
Right. Why do you think more people are leaning towards the drinkable forms, I mean, of these supplements. Because we often think about Oh, supplements come in the pill or capsule form.

Yes.

Like, is it just as good to be getting it through the drinkable form as the capsules or?

It depends. It’s my favorite —

Favorite response.

— my favorite phrase ever on this podcast. But it’s true, it depends. But I would say it depends on the quality of the supplementation and the forms of nutrients in there, right? So I will say that at this point in time, whenever you start to look at someone’s nutrient needs, it’s not just vitamins and minerals, but it could be magnesium and omega 3s and vitamin D and probiotics, all these things. The reality is sometimes people, especially if they’re newer to supplementation, they get overwhelmed and they get what we call pill fatigue. So a well-formulated multivitamin like LTH’s daily multivitamins, you can’t fit in the number of capsules that you need in less than six. You just can’t do it.

Right.

And so sometimes people are like, Wow, it’s just six capsules just for my multivitamin, then I got to add in other things? So I think when people have an option that’s drinkable that they can add to what they’re already doing, perhaps into a smoothie, a mix into yogurt, something like that, it just gives a little bit of variety. And I think a lot of people are kind of craving morning and evening rituals now. And so sometimes having something drinkable is more of a ritual than maybe taking things out of your pill sorter.

Yeah. I think we talked with Anika about this in a recent episode as well, is like it can feel overwhelming when you’re looking at, like, this pile of pills in front of you and like supplements that you’re supposed to take or how am I going to get that all down? Because it’s not just usually one thing, it’s the multivitamin and maybe the vitamin D, magnesium, whatever else. But it’s like that’s multiple things, and it can be overwhelming for people. So I love that this is giving us more options for getting the nutrients that we are perhaps lacking in.

Yeah, and we are lacking in. It’s kind of shown — like, even the RDA, for example, that’s what sometimes people use as a barometer. I think people forget that the RDA is the minimum amount of nutrients needed to prevent overt signs of deficiency. So I always say this is real bottom rung of the ladder standards of like, OK, what’s the minimum amount I need to not get rickets, like OK, like right, or scurvy or something like that. So when you’re talking about getting enough in to really optimally thrive, support recovery, support exercise, support your stress levels, it ends up being a lot higher, and so that’s where the supplementation can really come in.

Awesome. So let’s talk about the variety of drinks on the market, green drinks on the market. We know that there are many options. If you go to really any store now, you can see that. But quality really does matter. They’re not all created equal. I know LTH just recently came out with our own version. It’s the LDH Nourish. Tell us about this product and walk us through what it contains and why it’s different from other green drinks that are out there.

Yeah, so as it was being formulated, the goal was really to get something as comprehensive as possible. So like, what can we pack into a scoop that’s going to have a meaningful impact for the person that’s using it. And of course, how do we make sure it’s actually enjoyable too? Those are the first couple of things.

So everything at LTH, I know we have a lot of content on this, we are — the rigorous levels of quality, it just goes above and beyond anything else out there. You have to be really careful specifically with products like this out there, because as you’re sourcing all of these raw ingredients, you need to make sure that you’re verifying what they are, making sure that they’re not contaminated. And there’s a whole process to doing that in the manufacturing.

So to have our level of rigor with the number of ingredients in there, that is like hurdle number one. But as you look out there on the market, we obviously wanted something that was a drinkable multivitamin, multimineral complex and only the most bioavailable absorbable forms, where your body doesn’t have to do much to these nutrients, it can just put them to use.

They get to work for you right away.

Correct, yes. So instead of using synthetic forms of certain nutrients, instead of using, for example, folic acid instead of folate, or there are some really popular greens supplements out there on the market that don’t contain chelated zinc, or maybe they don’t contain preformed vitamin A, they only contain beta carotene, for example, we’re really looking at how can we make sure this gives you metabolic benefit.
Secondly, we wanted to make sure it supported digestive health, because the guts in this country are a mess for a lot of different reasons, usually stress related.

Yes.

Although we wanted to make sure that there were things in there to help you digest food and help support the bacterial balance in your body. Then we’re like, OK, what’s another problem that needs to be solved? Is there anything we can do to better balance stress and help support focus? And so that’s where we start looking into adaptogens, like ashwagandha is a very popular one.

Now ashwagandha, you have to be extremely careful with your sourcing. So we went with only the best. It’s a branded sensorial ashwagandha. It’s really high potency. We wanted to look at how do we support focus, how do we support exercise recovery? There’s a peak O2 mushroom blend in there too. So mushrooms are trending, but for good reason. So things like cordyceps and lion’s mane and reishi. Like, there’s some very interesting and cool stuff that those can do in your body in terms of your body’s stress adaptation and exercise recovery. So there’s a blend of that in there.

And so we really wanted to hit all of the check marks in a way where we also have transparency with labeling. If you look at some of the most popular products out there, they hide behind proprietary blends, which can be really problematic, because then you don’t really know what you’re taking.

What you’re really doing.

It’s like a secret family recipe, but when it comes to supplements, how much of the active ingredients does this recipe have? Is it worth my money? Is it worth it metabolically? So we wanted to make sure that we not only checked all of those boxes, but that we had something that people knew exactly what they were getting with every scoop.

Right. Talk a little bit about the produce aspect of it. Like, what is that? LTH in this case.

So for LTH, the daily multi plus greens, this product, the Nourish, it has a blend of greens and fruit in there as well. There’s another product that we carry that’s just life greens right. And that’s not meant to be the most comprehensive product out there. That one is meant to be more of your produce smoothie booster, right? Add flavor, add 40, 50 different fruits and vegetables. This particular product, the LTH Nourish in addition to all of the nutrients in there, the greens and fruit blend in there, they’re really targeted kind of more superfood type approaches.

Right.

So there’s 11 different greens in there and fruits as well. And they’re all the high antioxidant ones that most of us aren’t getting a lot of. So think in the greens, there’s spirulina, which we also have in life greens, but there is kelp and maca and all of these different power foods that people are not going to typically sprinkle into their lunch. Let’s make sure this is a comprehensive, diverse blend, so people can get a whole variety of those plant nutrients in there.

Yes.

Yes.

So even if I am getting a handful of my produce needs met in the day, this is going to fill those gaps for me.

Yeah, but people ask, can I do this along with the life greens? And I say, Yes, you can. Like you can do — think of life greens as your plant diversity smoothie booster.

Right.

Think of LTH Nourish as this is like I’ve got power greens and fruits in there, but it’s a drinkable full multivitamin, stress support, focus stress adaptation, kind of a comprehensive blend, right?

Brings a lot of those pieces together.

Correct.

So you already kind of said this, but how does LTH Nourish work with our other products? Like, that’s a multivitamin is within there. We also have our LTH women’s and men’s vitamins as well. How do those work together?

Yeah, so it depends. So it depends on frequency of use. So typically, if someone is very regimented and they’re going to take the LTH daily multivitamins every single day, and they know that they’re going to take LTH nourish every single day, then you could probably scale it back a little bit on the number of capsules with the LTH daily. But that’s if you’re doing it every single day and you’re not skipping.
For the average person, we know it’s like, hey, if you have a daily supplement routine, and I’m talking average. I know some of you out there are extremely compliant. That’s great. People are usually going to take their stuff like maybe four days a week, right? So if you actually look at the reality, it’s OK to blend them all. You obviously don’t want to overdo it. So again, if I’m speaking to you and your regimented, you’re like, I never skip a day. I’m on my multis. I’m never going to skip a day of nourishment. OK, let’s scale back to maybe one or two caps of the multis instead of the three for the dosage.
Something like life greens, think of life greens as like I said, a smoothie booster that’s plant nutrients. You can absolutely combine those. That’s completely OK. And then there’s really no other changes necessarily to make to your supplement plan if you implement the LTH Nourish. Probably the most game changing supplement we have in terms of what’s one thing I can do that is really a comprehensive way to upgrade my health today.

Right.

Like what’s the simplest, easiest thing I can do that’s powerful, and that’s what this was designed to be.
If somebody is just getting started on a supplement regimen, is this one that you would go to first?

Yes.

Just to start getting people in the habit?

People crave the like what’s the biggest bang for my buck? Or like, what’s the minimum amount needed I can take for the most benefit, right? And this would fall into that category.

Got it.

But now if you’re very new to supplementation, and let’s say maybe your digestive health has never seen that additional support or anything like that, then you want to make sure that you give your body time to adjust too. I wouldn’t do it like first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. I would maybe have it mixed in with your breakfast.

Right.

Because sometimes with the probiotics and the enzymes, you want to make sure that your digestive system can adjust. And that’s a normal adjustment to have as well.

It takes some time to switch to that. And that was actually my next question, is there an optimal way for people to include LTH nourish in a daily routine?

Yeah, I would say first half of the day is ideal because we don’t mess around with our nutrient forms, like I said. So if you’re getting activated B vitamins in there, you don’t want to take that right before bed. That’s going to give you some energy and stimulation. And the customers that are using it already absolutely love it. And they’re like, it’s crazy. I can feel a difference when I miss it. So you don’t necessarily want to have that at night.

And then like I mentioned, it can be helpful because of the potent amount of micronutrients in there, you want to play around with — if you tend to have a sensitive stomach, similar to a multivitamin, you wouldn’t take on an empty stomach, you might want to have it with breakfast.

Now I do know some people that can just slam it back first thing in the morning with water. That’s fine. But when you have a really potent nutrient blend, like some of the ones that are out there that people can just always do on an empty stomach, I’m like, OK, what’s really in there, right? Because typically with a little bit of food or the first meal of the day, you don’t have to get too maniacal or structured with it can be helpful. But just mix it in 12 to 14 ounces of water. It mixes really well into smoothies too.

Great.

I will say the standout benefit — Well, no, there’s a lot of stand out benefits. But the one surprising thing about this one, considering there’s so much awesome stuff in there, is it tastes really good.

I literally just wrote down, how does it taste?

Yes.

What are the flavor options, and how does it blend with other things?

We have done so many blind taste tests across the greens market and everyone is like, what is this? This is so good. It’s a really light, refreshing taste. And it’s got hints of like lemon and mint, but it’s not overpowering. So think refreshing, like you’re drinking it and you’re like, this tastes like I’m doing something good for my health that I enjoy, you know? And so I would encourage anybody to give it a try. You’d be surprised, especially considering some of the nutrients in there you would historically think would taste like dirt or wouldn’t taste good. They actually — it’s enjoyable to do.

Nice. I love that.

Last question, anyone that should not take them? Or I mean, we should always be kind of working with our health provider, but is anyone who should take caution at all?

Yeah, no, good question. I would say, with some of the targeted ingredients in there, like the sensible ashwagandha, the Peak O2 mushroom complex, there are certain populations where that’s just not ethical to study. So it’s like we don’t have safety data on children or pregnancy and breastfeeding, for example. So I would just say, hey, work with your doctor directly. If that’s you outside of those populations. Of course, work with your health practitioner. Make sure that your supplement regimen is legit and that they’re OK with it. But I’d say general population outside of Pediatrics, pregnancy and breastfeeding would be fine.

Great. Did we miss anything? Anything we need to make sure we cover before we sign off on this episode?

No. No, the only thing that I would say is if you are taking any type of nutritional supplementation, and we say this on every episode, I feel like, but it’s something concentrated, it’s something you take daily, and it’s something that you’re taking to advance your health, make sure you know what you’re taking. Make sure the company’s manufacturing practices, and make sure their sourcing. If they’re not transparent, that is a red flag, and that’s something that we really stand behind at LTH. So we’re excited for you to give it a try. We’re always open to feedback as well.

Awesome. Well, you can find LTH products, including Nourish, at the LTH shop, which is LTH.Shop as a website. And that’s where there’s so many great products there, including that information with the transparency information about how things are sourced and where they’re coming from.

Absolutely.

Great. And then if people want to hear more from Sam, you’ve been here on so many past episodes, so they can go to the website and look at that, they can see your articles on Experience Life, and they can follow you on Instagram @coachsam.rd.

Yep. Thank you so much for having me today.

Thanks as always. We love having you.

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