Experiences with Tony Robbins' Green Drink?

[Alvin]

I'm just curious; anyone here had any experiences with Tony Robbins' green drinks and/or the akaline/acid diet?

I'm looking to boost my energy and health levels, but I wanted to know more before shelling out a ton for supplements.

[Zulu]

What is Tony Robbin's Green drink?

I agree with the fact that our diet is to acidic; that's why I've cut out the grains.

[Alvin]

Zulu, this is the green drink. It's an akalinizing greens drink; according to the website:

Pure Energy contains a concentrated formula of organic grasses, green vegetables, sprouted grains, and natural fibrous herbs combined with Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) to help alkalize the blood and tissues and nourish the cells for an ideal pH balance.

[Lonewolf]

Hi, yeah I tried a version of the alkalising diet for a couple of weeks and I had a few cups of the green drink.
I felt good, lost a bit of weight around the middle but also a bit of strength in the gym. I am not sure I believe in this idea of acid/alkalinity, but there are good benefits to drinking lots of water and eating green vegetables with every meal which may account for the effects.
Eating lightly and avoiding animal protein and fats also gives you more energy as previously it was deployed to breaking down the above. I found my thinking was lighter and I had a great sense of well being.
The green drink tastes like wet grass and I'm not really convinced that it is any better for you than say, eating a bunch of string beans or broccoli.
For a serious bodybuilder or strength athlete I would say this is a suitable approach for a cutting diet but would not work so well for bulking up. For regular people into general fitness it's a great idea.

[ViceVirtue]

I have gone through a few canisters of Perfect Food - Super Green Formula simply because it's the major brand available at my local health store.

Overall, I would recommend it or any similar "green drink" to anyone looking to improve their diet or compensate for a lack of vegetables. However, I don't buy into the whole alkaline thing Tony hails about. For one, and admittedly this is prejudiced, I'm never going to take diet advice from a motivational guru. If this whole acid/alkaline deal was as abundantly clear as Tony makes it out to be, I'd expect this diet to be more widely accepted and recommended by more health experts.

As far as results go, I never noticed anything significantly different after drinking 1-2 servings a day of this stuff. Your milage may vary, but I'd not expect to be transformed in the way Tony describes. Yet, I said I recommended it, didn't I? Well, cost-factors aside, it's clearly got some great nutritional value and it's filling and it doesn't taste toooo bad. (it's exactly as you'd expect liquid veggies to taste like. It's no Gatoraid, but it's not disgusting). I mixed mine with a scoop of whey protein and a scoop of Metamucil for my breakfast and sometimes snack or dinner. It's a pretty filling combo and probably comes in under 150 calories, which is super low for the nutrients it provides and how filling it is.

Final word: Read the labels, do some research, make a decision and try it out for yourself.

[Amit]

Hi Alvin,

I just saw this thread, I was looking into this too and the one I was looking at was this one by alkavision which does a great bundle deal - :: AlkaVision, Inc. - Research

If you do try the innerlight one let me know how it fairs for you!

[impaul99]

I did the whole Robbin's "Living Health" program. It's not done by Tony Robbins, it's done by Dr. Robert Young. THere are definitely a lot of good things about the information in that course, and it's definitely better then the standard north american diet. However, after taking my Nutrition Studies I still think that Dr. Young is missing certain things.

I would not take everything he says as gospel, like anyone else I would do your own research and compare notes. If it helps, I did follow his diet plan for 3 weeks and lost 16lbs of fat and felt great. However, I gained it back afterwords because I went on a trip to Disneyland and fell off track as it's impossible to eat well while in Disneyland

[rossio]

Hello

If you have ever clicked on any of the links in my sig or visited my energiseforlife.com site you will probably know that I am rather keen on the whole alkaline diet approach to health.

Personally it has done wonders for me in terms of my skin, energy levels and overall health - but I was not particularly unhealthy before to be honest!

Regardless of the science of acid/alkaline balance etc I think that Lonewolf hits the nail on the head by pointing out that the components of the diet (eating lots of green things, drinking lots of water, avoiding lots of crap) are going to give you positive health benefits.

When I first started out I was just beginning my marathon training and I did lose a fair bit of weight. But I think that was the combination of not quite getting all of the alkaline diet right (didnt include good fats for example) and also running 70-80k's a week.

But since then the weight has gone on and then some - so I think that if you get it right then you don't have to worry about losing muscle too much.

Anyway - more directly in relation to the question - I definitely experienced benefits from using green drinks. I don't generally stick to one for too much time, as I prefer to rotate them and mix them together (so that I don't get sick of the taste). The five brands I trust are:

Tony Robbins Ultra Greens
SuperGreens
Udo's Choice Beyond Greens
Alkalive Green
perfectlyhealthy MegaGreens

Out of those I am never without TR's Ultra Greens and prob use that the most - simply on taste.

If you are going to use another - I do feel that you get what you pay for. The biggest things to look out for are:

- how the grasses are prepared, freeze drying is not the best - try to find one that the grasses have been dehydrated
- the mix of ingredients - try to go for a wide range of grasses
- avoid those with filler ingredients such as GNC's Maximum Greens which contains sugars, chemicals and fermented products

Phew - I think that is it!

Have a great weekend everyone
Ross

[YingYang]

Hello everyone.

I really felt the benfit of all the Green Drinks that I tried and believe in the alkalising science, makes sense.

Just thought I'd add my favourite Green Drink, it is the Kyo Green Energy one. I buy mine from the Alkalizeme.com site, the only supplier of this product that I have in the UK.

I also find that pH Drops are important. Hope this helps someone

[MasterD]

That your blood must maintain a proper pH; that's for sure.

However; it is still very disputable about what is alkalizing and what is acidifying. For me, fruit works wonders; after I cut it out for about a year because of Robert Young's advice. It gives me a lot of energy. I think there is a lot more wrong with his advice (his science behind it is brilliant, but his solutions are not worth very much in my opinion).

If you are living on SAD; well yeah; then a green drink may do some benefit, because at least you take in some vitamins and minerals.

[JenZ]

I've tried practically every green powder & the one I still with is Vitamineral Green. Just seem to get the most benefits from it & nothing bad or "questionable" in it. It doesn't taste good, but if you find there are some good smoothie combinations that make it work like just mixing with orange juice. Some make it into a soup. This is where the vitamix comes in handy.

[cbadics]

I recently purchased a canister of SuperGreens. I have a couple questions for you.

I have no intention of switching to the alkaline diet. I'm not saying I don't believe it's beneficial; I just don't want to try it right now. Will green drinks like SuperGreen still deliver postive results?

For a person who doesn't eat as many green foods as he should, will supplementing with SuperGreens help with that?

Thanks everybody,
Charles

[Natureboy]

Hey Charles,

I bought Supergreens last year. I wasn't particularly picky about what I ate, but did ditch add a few more fruit and veg to my diet.

After a few days I must confess I was feeling a lot more energy and 'cleaner'. Now whether this was attributed to the Supergreens or the fact I was taking a lot more purified water into my system, I can't say. I was needing less sleep each night, and woke with more energy.

I fell out of the routine of taking the Greens after a few weeks, but plan to get back into it some time soon.

It's important to note, that it's not designed to become a substitute to your current veg intake, but it can help supplement it.

[Kenny Lindsay]

Hi,

I have used Tony Robbins' Green Drink and several other brands for a while.

I find you get used to the taste so it's not an impediment to drinking it.

I would say I get far fewer colds than I used to, however, would also say that
I've never experienced any extraordinary change like Tony Robbins said.

Best Wishes,

Kenny

[JoeMama]

Folks,
Some quick & basic background to help put my response into perspective. I am a 31 yr old guy in SoCal. In the fall of 2008 I was working way too much, as I have my entire career (computers) and took horrible care of my health; every meal on the go, communting 2-4 hours a day, etc. I also have 4 young kids (currently 8yrs old, 6yrs old & 3 year twins) which kept me busy and was also an easy excuse to avoid bettering my health and used my stress to justify my heavy drinking. I happened to pick up my 1st Tony Robbins Audio Book in January, about 2 months before my wife & I began our seperation/divorce; obviously, I found Tony's work at a time when I was really just about ready to open up my veins.

Needless to say, through the techniques & distinctions I had learned, I've been able to turn my cesspool of a mental state into a much more tolerable place. I changed some of my worst beliefs/practices, rediscovered my life in a way I didn't think possible-i.e. my relationship with my kids was already great but now it's on another planet, better (I totally earned that World's Best Dad shirt that my kids made for me). So, I figured that it if I could bring that much light into my life, when I thought it was so pitch dark, it was time to turn my attentions to my health.

In addition to the things going-on that I described above in my daily life, I also had been diagnosed with ulcers since the age of 28 (I chalked it up to "life in the big city") and what my doctor's described as "fatally high" blood pressure (140/120) at 225-230 pounds. Also, I'm at risk for esphogul cancer, which my little sister had died from at the age of 26 a few years ago, after only being diagnosed with it for 6 months before it took her (and she was perfectly healthy, fit, no drugs/alcohol & exercised).

I drank wheatgrass from the shake shops, like Jamba Juice, when I could before this, but decided to commit to an heavily alkaline diet around November & bought Tony's greens. My biggest challenge was drinking water in any quantity, much less the amount that is needed for this lifestyle. After I got passed that & made a habit of it, I just added the green drink powder at the reccommended amount to the water (AND THIS IS CRITICAL FOR SUCCESS, I found out).

After about a month and a half, and zero exercise, very little had changed weight-wise, but I realized that I could actually start working out & running a little without vomiting (which was a big deal, since working out was almost impossible before, being so acidic - even tying my shoes percolated my ulcers so much that I'd have a mouth literally full of stomach acid before I finished both shoes everyday). So, I started jogging a very little about 2-3 times a week, followed by some weight lifting. I was shocked when this got easier & easier & after a couple months, I was running about 2 miles 3-4 times a week, followed by 45 minutes of heavy weight lifting... just because it was so easy to do.

Long story short - in 3 months, I have LOST 45 POUNDS without feeling like I even tried to, I've COMPLETELY gotten rid of my ulcers (don't take my prescription & haven't since January), and my blood pressure is back where it belongs like a normal human. Alkalizing has given me my life and more back.

*Lastly, I have also tried the pHIon product (about $35/can) as well, after my InnerBalance (about $70/can) ran out (sorry, Tony) since I'd been laid off & tried to cut corners price-wise. But, please, anyone considering any other green drink should seriously re-consider it. The other product simply DOES NOT COMPARE! There's obviously some major differences in the formulation or something else substantial - Tony's green drink is exactly like all his other peak-performance products, it simply gets the best results! And next time I feel cheap, I'm just going to have to save up for it or cut corners somewhere else, because the other stuff out there doesn't taste as low-key, doesn't feel cleansing or natural, & DOES NOT WORK NEARLY AS WELL!

There, 'nuff said.
Joe

[JoeMama]

Coincidentally, from Tony Robbins' Twitter (@tonyrobbins), latest tweet-

Many of you have asked about Alkalizing for weightloss &Energy. Sage & I made a video on this recently check it out Alkalize!

[sk8joyful]

Originally Posted by Alvin

I'm looking to boost my energy and health levels

And what were your Blood/Saliva test results?

As per our sports-doc: "if you don't measure, you're stuck working in the blind"

Personally, it's vital for us to have current data,
so we know how best to proceed with whatever... for our success

[impaul99]

I don't like the taste of the green drinks, so when I take my greens I just use the Innerlight Green Pills formulated by Dr. Young, who is the guy who taught Tony about the Alkalarian diet.

[funchy]

Originally Posted by sk8joyful

And what were your Blood/Saliva test results?

Your blood already has mechanisms in it to maintain a stead pH of about 7.35-7.45. It's hard to force it out of homeostasis. Respiration, kidney function, and buffers in the blood keep it within normal limits.

There will be fluctuations in blood pH due to respiration. In other words, very poor respiration or hyperventilating WILL change your blood pH. Therefore, if we can change blood pH just by breathing differently, relying on blood pH to check your diet doesn't make sense.
How pH may change

Saliva pH varies with anticipation of food and with acid-producing bacteria growing in the mouth. Saliva pH is not a very good measure of checking the quality of your diet.


While I don't dispute some foods tend to produce more acids when metabolized, I can't find any conclusive proof we can change our overall body pH by doing something like cutting back on grain. If someone can give me the science behind this Alkalzying Diet theory, I'd be interested to see it, but I've been unable to find any solid evidence myself.

[ginkgo]

There is no need to believe in the acid/alkaline theory. Vitamins and minerals are not foods and do not exist in nature themselves. Too much of some of them can kill you. All of the Greens Drinks contain whole foods or superfoods that are great for health.

The webpage above (underlined) tells the benefits of greens drinks in general (and their ingredients) and how nutritionists use them instead of vitamin/mineral supplements. The U.S. government advice on vitamins and minerals is to get them in foods. The greens drinks are foods! Steve Pavlina may juice some broccoli but it is still a food.

Some say that spirulina (blue-green algae) is the most nutritious food. It has more calcium than milk, more beta-carotene than carrots, more vitamin E than wheat germ, more iron than spinach. Also fish get their omega-3s from eating algae, so this has more omega-3 than fish.

But the chlorella (green algae) grows faster, doubling its size every 2 days. A guy tested all the land plant foods and found that barley grass was the most nutritious. Some feel that wheat grass is better. But instead of going to war to fight over which one is the best superfood they decided to put all of them into the greens drinks.

The creator of the Perfect Greens was dying of Crohn's disease and many different doctors of all sorts could not help him. He cured himself and became an N.D. His specialty is good bacteria in soil and his greens drink has 10 different good bacteria strains (pro-biotics) in it so for intestinal problems, his would be the best. The above site has an example of a woman losing lots of weight with a greens drink.

They are green since they have lots of plant blood (chlorophyll) in them. Chlorophyll is exactly like blood in its molecular structure except for one having iron in the center atom and one having copper as its center atom. This is chemistry, not a new age belief like alkaline/acid that is still controversial. Chlorophyll or plant blood is very cleansing and detoxifying for the body.

They contain lots of vitamins and minerals but are not vitamins and minerals which are not foods. They are chemicals made in a laboratory. You can juice, slice and dice a food and it is still food. If a vitamin is not made with chemicals then it is taken from a food with a chemical reaction (I used to be a chemist). Eat food, not chemicals (including drugs) which may have caused the death of Michael Jackson, Bruce Lee and Elvis Presley. A cow can grow to be 1,000 pounds just from eating green grass.

[Antarananda]

Originally Posted by ginkgo

They are green since they have lots of plant blood (chlorophyll) in them. Chlorophyll is exactly like blood in its molecular structure except for one having iron in the center atom and one having copper as its center atom. This is chemistry, not a new age belief like alkaline/acid that is still controversial. Chlorophyll or plant blood is very cleansing and detoxifying for the body.

C'mon, calling chlorophyll "plant blood"? BTW, chlorophyll contains magnesium, not copper, and resembles heme (not blood) only insofar as it has a porphyrin ring at its center and is produced by similar pathway. You neglect to mention, however, that hemoglobin is a much larger molecular weight, metalloprotein complex. Chlorophyll contains no protein, and implying it resembles "blood" is gross oversimplification.

[MasterD]

This marketing hype is FAR too simplistic. If you don't get a bunch of other factors right, you are more likely to screw up your health than improve it.

[Antarananda]

Exactly. I don't understand how people are so gullible as to think that because Tony Robbins mastered NLP and became a great motivational coach, it automatically means he must know what he's talking about when it comes to a completely unrelated field, health and nutrition.

Does Google or Microsoft hire an auto mechanic as a software engineer because the mechanic says he intensively researches programming and code online?

The whole alkalizing movement smacks of pseudoscience. Take a look at the operational pH of all your enzyme systems in your body. Many of them are in the acidic, rather than alkaline range. If you do want to look at the body homeostatic system in a non-conventional way, I suggest you see how Ayurveda has classified food types and the subtle effects they have on the body. It's more sophisticated, accurate and comprehensive.

[liamona]

Originally Posted by Antarananda

The whole alkalizing movement smacks of pseudoscience.

What's interesting is that this "theory" has been around for a long time, even during nutrition researcher Weston Price's time. He gave an interesting talk about it to the New York Dental Centennial Meeting in 1934:

Acid-Base Balance of Diets Which Produce Immunity to Dental Caries Among the South Sea Islanders and Other Primitive Races

"It is not my belief that this is related to potential acidity or potential alkalinity of the food but to the mineral and activator content of the nutrition during the developmental periods, namely, prenatal, postnatal and childhood growth. It is important that the very foods that are potentially acid have as an important part of the source of that acidity the phosphoric acid content, and an effort to eliminate acidity often means seriously reducing the available phosphorus, an indispensable soft and hard tissue component.

It is my belief that much harm has been done through the misconception that acidity and alkalinity were something apart from minerals and other elements. Many food faddists have undertaken to list foods on the basis of their acidity and alkalinity without the apparent understanding of the disturbances that are produced by, for example, condemning a food because it contains phosphoric acid, not appreciating that phosphorus can only be acid until it is neutralized by combining with a base.

An illustration of this is the following case: A girl was brought for assistance and study who still had her childhood face at sixteen years of age. There had been marked delay in physical development and function other than this growth factor. I was advised that the nutrition of this child had been very largely guided by the literature of the Defensive Diet League which, as one of its principal premises, has urged the keeping down of the acid-producing foods. This girl was so conscious of her underdevelopment that she disliked to go to social events with those of her age. When brought to me for assistance and correction of her facial deformity I did not deem it wise or feasible to undertake to change the position of the facial bones by use of orthodontic appliances. I depended entirely on a reinforced nutrition. We supplied mineral and activator carrying foods, with the hope that the growth factors might be in part latent and still be capable of stimulation. There was a very marked improvement in the facial development. In one year she largely developed her adult face. She is very conscious of this improvement and, instead of being reticent and reserved, she has become the leader in her group.

It is very unfortunate that medical and dental science has not looked to the primitive people earlier for standards of not only physical perfection but also of nutrition.

Indeed, while I am dictating this text I have been interrupted by a nurse who has come to inquire whether the teachings so strongly heralded by certain groups should be followed, namely, that proteins and carbohydrates should never be eaten together.

I have seldom found anywhere in the world such a high percentage of physical excellence with high immunity to our modern degenerative diseases as among these people of the South Sea Islands. Their diet practically every day consisted of eating the proteins from the animal life of the sea with the carbohydrates of their land vegetables, many of which were very rich in starch. This was equally true of the Gallics in the Outer Hebrides, living almost entirely on oats and sea foods."

[funchy]

Originally Posted by ginkgo

chlorophyll is exactly like blood in its molecular structure except for one having iron in the center atom and one having copper as its center atom. This is chemistry, not a new age belief like alkaline/acid that is still controversial. Chlorophyll or plant blood is very cleansing and detoxifying for the body.

Sorry but I have to disagree with you on this.

Blood is a mixture of water, plasma, additional proteins, dissolved gasses, and formed elements (including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets). Red blood cells contain many hemoglobin protein molecules, which allowed the RBC to carry the oxygen. The center of a hemoglobin is a globin protein with four heme groups, and it's the heme (a compound based on iron) which actually allows the oxygen to bond.



Chlorophyll has nothing to do with plant blood. It is NOT circulated. It is found inside the cells of leaves and stalks, inside pigment protein complexes within structures known as chloroplasts. It allows the plant to use the energy in photos to create chemical bonds (photosynthesis). It looks and acts nothing like a hemoglobin protein.

The center as far as I know is Magnesium, not copper. Perhaps you were thinking of artificial green coloring made using chlorophyll and copper to make a dye for food and pills.



If plants had a "blood" it would be the gravity & surface-tension circulation up and down the xylem and phloem: water carrying nutrients, energy molecules, dissolved gasses, and other dissolved molecules. There are no cells in plant "blood", therefore there should not be any chlorophyll.

The only connection I can find between the two is that both are considered porphyrins, a category of organic molecule. Other well known porphyrins are bile and vitamin b12. I am not an organic chemist, so that about all I know about porphryins.

[funchy]

Originally Posted by liamona

Indeed, while I am dictating this text I have been interrupted by a nurse who has come to inquire whether the teachings so strongly heralded by certain groups should be followed, namely, that proteins and carbohydrates should never be eaten together.[/B]

What a strange idea! Foods often called "protein" foods ALSO contain fat and carbs. Meat, something we were told is a "protein", really has all three. Foods we consider "carbs" such as grains, have protein. It would be impossible to eat one without the other, unless you're eating artificially refined pure sucrose or something like that.

What bothers me with the protein vs carb vs fat mindset is the tendency to ignore the bigger picture. We need electrolytes, vitamins, minerals, and water. "Protein" by itself is not a food; it's just a measure of how many amino acids are in a food.

[liamona]

Originally Posted by funchy

What a strange idea!

Yep, but that's part of the philosophy of the "alkaline diet." Apparently the kooky philosophy of "nutrition" groups like the "Defensive Diet League of America" lives on!

I like how Price shows an example of someone who was raised and harmed by such a diet. That poor girl.

[hartsa]

Originally Posted by rossio

Hello

Tony Robbins Ultra Greens
SuperGreens
Udo's Choice Beyond Greens
Alkalive Green
perfectlyhealthy MegaGreens

Out of those I am never without TR's Ultra Greens and prob use that the most - simply on taste.

If you are going to use another - I do feel that you get what you pay for. The biggest things to look out for are:

- how the grasses are prepared, freeze drying is not the best - try to find one that the grasses have been dehydrated
- the mix of ingredients - try to go for a wide range of grasses
- avoid those with filler ingredients such as GNC's Maximum Greens which contains sugars, chemicals and fermented products

Phew - I think that is it!

Have a great weekend everyone
Ross

So do you think TR's is the best quality, taste, or is it just his popularity as to why his formular is nearly double everyone else's?

[GreenGirl]

[QUOTE=funchy;370553]Your blood already has mechanisms in it to maintain a stead pH of about 7.35-7.45. It's hard to force it out of homeostasis. Respiration, kidney function, and buffers in the blood keep it within normal limits.

Yes!....MECHANISMS.....BUFFERS.....do you know what a buffer requires??? minerals and salts. If you do not provide your body with the minerals and salts you lose buffering capacity. Your body will leach calcium from bones in order to buffer your blood. You MUST provide your body with the compounds required for the mechanisms to work!!!

Scientific evidence will follow what has been simple and common sense for the entire history of time: Eat 70%+ greens and water-based foods, minimize DEAD food. What do you think people were eating before the agricultural and industrial revolution?!?!?! MOSTLY GREENS LESS MEAT LESS DEAD FOOD

The scientific evidence will come (as a scientist I am working on this) but seriously follow common sense for now! All that science will do is bring us back to the common sense that's been followed for millions of years. I see this happen every single day.

[liamona]

[QUOTE=GreenGirl;557623]

Originally Posted by funchy

Scientific evidence will follow what has been simple and common sense for the entire history of time: Eat 70%+ greens and water-based foods, minimize DEAD food. What do you think people were eating before the agricultural and industrial revolution?!?!?! MOSTLY GREENS LESS MEAT LESS DEAD FOOD.

It's easy to make a meal with meat alkaline—simply serve it with a bone broth or a sauce made with bone broth. That has a ton of calcium and other minerals.

It's too bad people are losing this knowledge—any good pre-1970 or so cookbook has a ton of recipes revolving around bone broth.