Nature’s Way Garden Veggies Review: Pros and Cons, Ingredients, Consumer Feedback and 3 Vegetable Vitamin Alternatives
Nature’s Way is a large USA-based company that specialize in low-cost nutritional products. Garden Veggies is the name of their freeze-dried powder capsules for people who don’t get enough vegetables in their daily diet.
In this honest review of Garden Veggies by Nature’s Way, I’ll cover ingredients, pros and cons, directions, dosage and potential benefits and side effects.
Also ahead, customer feedback, where to get them, if these vegetable vitamins are worth it, 3 alternatives and my verdict and rating for this popular veggie blend.
Ingredients
Each 900 mg serving of Nature’s Way vegetable blend contains the freeze-dried powder of:
- Broccoli, Spinach, Carrot, Beet, Pea, Tomato, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Asparagus, Brussels Sprouts, Cucumber and Pumpkin.
In proprietary formulas like this ingredients are shown by amount added. So the first vegetables in the list are the most by weight and the ones worth focusing on here.
Broccoli, spinach, carrot and beet powder are likely to be the main sources of nutrition in Garden Veggies. Don’t expect there to be much asparagus, brussels sprout, cucumber or pumpkin in this product as they are the last listed.
Supplement Facts has the only other ingredients as the plant-derived capsule and silica. This shows fillers are kept to a minimum which is a positive.
Pros and Cons of Nature’s Way Vegetable Supplement
Pros
- Nature’s Way veggies blend is one of the cheapest freeze-dried vegetable powder products on the market. Particularly here at iHerb (where it’s usually less than Amazon with an automatic reduction).
- Broccoli, spinach, carrot and beet are all nutrient-rich additions with many potential benefits when consumed regularly. The freeze-drying process preserves and concentrates their nutritional elements into an easily digestible form.
- Broccoli is a great source of vitamins and minerals, as well as anti-inflammatory and protective isothiocyanates like sulforaphane. Spinach is full of chlorophyll, B vitamins, vitamin K, magnesium, potassium, iron and calcium.
- Carrot is high in antioxidants and an excellent way to get pro-vitamin A carotenoids for healthy skin and eyes. While beet is a potent kidney and liver detoxifier.
- Nature’s Way state on their website and ingredient label that these supplements do not contain salt, gluten, soy, wheat, dairy, artificial colors or flavors, yeast-derived ingredients or preservatives.
Cons
- The 450 mg veggie caps are small, which is good for swallowing but doesn’t provide a great deal of powder per serve. The recommended dosage of 2 vcaps a day (900 mg) may not be enough to provide noticeable benefits. Doubling your daily dose would help but increases the cost.
- While the main ingredients are nutritious, there are competing products like Texas Superfood (reviewed here) with far more potent additions. The price point is higher but you may well get more value with premium superfood options versus this cheap vegetables supplement.
- Some of the alternatives listed below look superior in an objective analysis, often for a similar amount per month. JuiceFestiv in particular, with double the product and an organic ingredients list, looks more beneficial and better value.
Directions and Dosage
Nature’s Way recommends taking 2 caps of their veggie vitamins at mealtimes with a glass of water per day.
Keep in mind that the nutrients in powdered vegetable products like this are best absorbed when taken with food that contains healthy fats.
Side Effects
There are no side effects listed on the Nature’s Way product page. Peas and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts can cause bloating and gas, though this is much less likely in freeze-dried powder form.
Reading customer reviews I could find only 1 report of this side effect so it is unlikely to be an issue for most people. A couple of consumers reported veggie burbs as a negative effect, though this problem is mitigated by taking this product with food as directed and not on an empty stomach.
Consumer Reviews for Nature’s Way Garden Veggies
Customer feedback for this product is overwhelmingly positive with a 4.7 stars for 320+ ratings on iHerb. And a 4.5 out of 5 star on Amazon with over 3600 consumer ratings. Clearly these are popular supplements.
Common themes in reviews by customers include:
- More energy, with comments such as: “a lot more energy throughout the day”, “started feeling more available energy” and “My energy has been so much better”.
- Better skin: “ seems to have improved my skin”, “my skin even looks clearer” and “Noticed a big difference in my energy levels and skin after I began taking these”.
- And a convenient way to improve intake with consumer feedback like: “great if you are unable to get your daily dose of vegetables”, “extra serving of vegetables in my diet very easily and conveniently” and “Great to be able to get a variety of veggies in supplement form”.
Where to Get Them
You can find these inexpensive veggie capsules here on iHerb. There’s free delivery within the United States and iHerb are the international delivery experts for nutritional products.
They are also available on Amazon here at a bit higher cost. You can find Garden Veggies at Walmart and the Nature’s Way website as well, though at a significantly higher price point. Currently you cannot get these vitamins at Costco, CVS, Sam’s Club, GNC, Wholefoods or Walgreens.
Are Veggie Replacement Vitamins Worth It or a Scam?
Eating a good variety of mixed vegetables each day is a healthier option than taking supplements. But many people don’t like the taste of them or are too busy with the hectic pace of life these days.
As cheap veggie vitamins, made primarily with freeze-dried broccoli, spinach, carrot and beet powder, this Nature’s Way product is a legitimate option at a low monthly cost.
I don’t consider them to be a scam or fraud, but potential benefits and positive effects are unlikely to be that noticeable for people not already deficient in nutrients.
While few vegetable supplements are cheaper, there are better value products available when you take into account overall nutritional content and potential benefits, even if the retail cost is higher.
Let’s have a look at 3 Nature’s Way competitors worth considering.
3 Best Veggie Supplement Alternatives in 2023
1. NaturesPlus Mixed Vegetables Tablets
A clear comparison can be made between Nature’s Way Garden Veggies versus NaturesPlus Mixed Vegetables product. Both the cost and the ingredient list are similar here.
Mixed Vegetables by NaturesPlus has only 4 ingredients, broccoli, spinach, carrot and cabbage compared to 12 additions in the Nature’s Way vitamins. Though as we’ve seen, it’s the first few listed in these formulas that are the ones worth focusing on.
The NaturesPlus tablets have a full 1000 mg of broccoli per serve, arguably the most valuable ingredient in Garden Veggies. The product also provides 1300 mg per 3 tab serving versus 900 mg for Nature’s Way offering.
Most important of all, NaturesPlus Mixed Veggies blend has 180 tablets per container, compared with 60 caps for Garden Veggies. At a 3 tablet daily dose, that means there’s a 2 month supply for NaturesPlus versus 1 month supply for Nature’s Way at a similar price point.
If monthly cost is an important factor, then NaturesPlus Mixed Vegetables tablets is clearly the winner in this comparison. You can check for yourself the difference here on iHerb .
2. JuiceFestiv Comparison
Supplement giant Natrol make popular organic fruit and vegetable vitamins called JuiceFestiv (review here). It does cost a little more but, like the previous product, there’s 60 servings versus the 30 in Nature’s Way Garden Veggies.
Just comparing JuiceFestiv Daily Veggie ingredients, there’s both a wider range and more potent additions, with detoxifying parsley, beet, garlic, spinach, celery seed and barley grass as standouts.
JuiceFestiv also contains beta-carotene, vitamin C and E, B vitamins, probiotics, digestive enzymes and a highly bioavailable form of selenium, a mineral many Americans are deficient in.
As vegetable replacement vitamins, JuiceFestiv has a strong claim as the better product. On a monthly cost basis it’s even cheaper to take too. Check the current price here on iHerb.
3. Nature’s Way Garden Veggies Vs Balance of Nature
Balance of Nature is a popular premium whole food supplement advertised on tv. It’s expensive though and Nature’s Way is much cheaper.
It’s also potentially better if you were to take a larger dose of both it and the Nature’s Way Orchard Fruits companion product versus Balance of Nature’s Fruits and Veggies.
You could take 3 times as many Nature’s Way fruit and vegetable vitamins and still save a significant amount when compared to Balance of Nature’s high monthly cost.
There’s 2 far better value competitors to Balance of Nature in this review though. If you can afford a premium superfood supplement like one of these 2, the level of nutrition offered is much higher compared to both Nature’s Way and Balance of Nature.
Final Verdict and Rating
Nature’s Way Garden Veggies is clearly a budget freeze-dried vegetable supplement. Currently very good value here on iHerb with the automatic discount, it’s inexpensive and has a good ingredients list, including broccoli, spinach, carrot and beet as top additions.
There are potentially better alternatives though, like NaturesPlus Mixed Vegetables tablets available for comparison here and Natrol’s JuiceFestiv Daily Fruit and Veggie. Both are also cheaper on a monthly cost basis.
If you are prepared to spend a bit more then both Superfood MD and Simply Nature’s Promise are alternative fruit and veggie capsules with a broader range of ingredients.
3 star rating out of 5 for Nature’s Way Veggie Blend. Pros include its low price, freeze-drying extraction process and nutrient-rich ingredient list. Cons are small serving size and potentially better competitors available in 2023.
I hope this review of Nature’s Way Garden Veggies has been helpful in providing an objective comparison of cheap vegetable supplements to increase your nutritional intake. There’s more superfood supplements here if you are still searching for the right one for you.