From the comments in the Green Superfood Powder Buying Guide: 

Hi Jonathan. I’m pretty new to your site. I really enjoyed your review of Vitamineral Greens.
I was wondering if have or could review another green product called All Day Energy Greens by Institute for Vibrant Living. I would be most appreciative.

All Day Energy Greens is made by a company called the Institute for Vibrant Living and from what I can tell is one of its most popular products.

What are its most unique qualities? Does it really give you all day energy? 

Let’s find out!

Disclaimer: I do not work for the company in this article and my opinions are solely my own!  Any advantages or disadvantages I mention should not be taken as gospel and are merely my own opinion.  I make a similar product, but write to provide consumer clarity, not demonize, proselytize, or mislead. 

What’s Best, What’s Not

Overall I liked All Day Energy Greens quite a bit.  It’s a solid product and I can see why many people have been using it for a long time.

Overall here’s how I’d surmise it’s strengths and weaknesses:

Strengths:

• Great taste!  It’s mildly fruity, mixes well and has a touch of sweetness.  I would guess the hints of fruit come from the raspberry leaf and carrot juice found in the product, the latter of which is one of the most prominent ingredients in the mixture.
• Good mix of nutrients.  It has grasses, algaes, enzymes, medicinal and energetic herbs.  The only major “superfood group” it’s missing out on is probiotics.

Disadvantages:

• No probiotics.  For a mixture that has everything else,  this omission is a little puzzling.  Given the rest of its ingredients this seems like a superfood powder that strives to be  an all-in-one mix, and probiotics are an important piece of the puzzle.

• I didn’t notice a particularly large boost in energy compared to other greens powders that I take.  I still felt more energetic, but I’m not sure I’d describe the increase in energy from All Day Energy Greens as a comparative advantage.

• Contains lecithin and a variety of fibers.   This is not bad all by itself, but will turn off certain purists who are familiar with greens powders and prefer foods that are more “green”.  For further reading on this topic I’d suggest reading my article about the use of lecithin in greens powders and the use of fiber in supplements in general.

Best Ingredients

All Day Energy Greens has a nice variety of ingredients and there’s a lot to like about its list.  For someone looking to sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to the vast array of ingredients in greens powders I’d strongly recommend reading my treatment of the subject in the superfood powder buying guide.

With that said, here are the ingredients that I think are most unique and beneficial to All Day Energy Greens.

• Damiana leaf - A south american shrub that aids sexual performance, relaxation, and is often smoked like hemp.  It’s a very unique ingredient that’s quite expensive and rarely found in superfood powders.
• Royal Jelly - An ultra-nutritious excretion from honey bees.
• Green Tea Concentrate - ECGC is an extremely helpful micronutrient, and its abundance in green tea is one of the reasons it’s such a powerful promoter of cellular health.
• Yucca Root - An anti-inflammatory that was long used for tea and headache remedies by Indians in the southwest United States.  Admittedly the benefits of Yucca are mostly speculative at this point.  Its inclusion in this list is due mostly to its novelty and not its proven health benefits.
• Adaptogenic complex - Siberian and brazilian ginseng, ginkgo biloba, and echinacea.  I’m a fan of adaptogens.

All Day Energy

Given the name of the product, any review of ADEG begs the question:

Does it really give you energy for the whole day? 

In this regard I was a little let down by All Day Energy Greens.  I did feel like it helped me with my energy levels during the day, but of the 20 or so greens powders I’ve tried over the years I’m not sure it stands out compared to other products.  (FWIW Vitamineral Green consistently gives me the best energy boost).

Looking at its ingredient list, I’d group the following ingredients in ADEG as “energetic”:

• Ginger
• Eleuthero root
• Suma root
• Grape seed extract
• Green tea extract

These are all great ingredients, but they’re pretty far down on the list, meaning they’re there in lesser quantities than others like wheatgrass, lecithin, or some different fibers.  There’s nothing wrong with this, and not all that unusual.  The above ingredients are metabolically potent and most greens powders have them in smaller quantities.

But for a product that advertises itself as providing energy for the whole day I think it’d be reasonable to have them in larger quantities and/or contain more ingredients that are energetically potent, such as Camu Camu or moringa, or something along those lines.

Let me be clear - I did get a nice energy boost when I tried All Day Energy Greens.  I also don’t know the exact quantity of the different ingredients in the mixture, I’m just speculating!  But based on my own observation I think the product could be improved by giving it a little “wow!” factor on the energy front.

Health Benefits

Greens powders are useful for their widespread benefits.  They can help practically anyone.  This definitely applies to All Day Energy  greens as well.  As a general rule, here are the different health benefits and uses you can derive from All Day Energy Greens:

• A little extra energy during the day
• Perhaps an appetite suppressant depending on what other nutrients you get in your diet
• Can aid in detoxifying the colon and blood due to the condensed green foods found in the mixture.

For a more complete list of how you can and can’t use greens powders read my article on commonly asked greens powder questions.

Uses and Recipes

One of ADEG’s biggest benefits is its versatility.  I really do like its taste and found it easy to mix with other drinks.  In my opinion it tasted fine in water and juice, and I also found it as a nice additive to tea.

The above  photo is from a drink I made called “Green” chia fresca.  Here’s how to make it:

Ingredients:

• 6 cups water
• 1/4 c chia seeds
• juice of 2 lemons
• juice of 10 cranberries
• 1 tsp green tea powder
• 1 tsp stevia
• 1 scoop All Day Energy Greens

Mix all that together in a pitcher and let sit for 2 hours.  It’s delicious and extremely healthy. For a complete list of how to use greens powders in foods read my article on the 19 different uses of Incredible Greens.

Where To Buy

From what I can tell All Day Energy Greens is sold in two places: on its website and on Amazon.

Here are the current prices at each place as of 12/17/2012:

IVL homepage: $39.99.

Amazon: $24.49.

Go amazon.

Overall

As a reference tool here’s a table that summarizes the different aspects of All Day Energy Greens:

Name	Mixture Type	# of Ingredients	Lecithin?	Stevia?	Enzymes and Probiotics?	Fiber?	Taste	Organic	Raw	Vegan	Price on Website	Price on Amazon	$/oz	Vitamins Added?
All Day Energy Greens	Balanced	37	Yes	Yes	Enzymes, no probiotics	Yes	Sweet and mildly fruity	no	N/A	N/A	$39.99	mzn.to/UNjtzQ" rel="nofollow">24.49	3.52	No

Like I said, I like this product, and it’s especially good for someone who prefers a lighter, fruity taste to their greens powders but still want a nice bouquet of nutrients.  It’d be good for just about anyone, but just right for that particular customer.   The name is a tad misleading, but that doesn’t diminish the overall benefits the product has to offer.