Vitamineral Earth is one of the most unique but least understood products from Healthforce.

It’s lumped together as an outgrowth of Vitamineral Green, but the truth is the product is more different than one would assume and has a list of ingredients and health benefits that make it unlike any other supplement out there, including Vitamineral Green and other superfood powders.

In fact, the more I studied the different products the more I came to appreciate  that the two have little to do with one another.  The most important of which are:

• By my count they only have 2-4 ingredients in common
• Vitamineral Earth has additional food based nutrients added to it (NOT synthetic)
• Vitamineral Earth is cooked in a broth of miso soup and different herbs
• Vitamineral Earth has seeds while Vitamineral Green does not
• Vitamineral Earth has no grasses, which is very unusual for a greens powder (but not necessarily bad)
• Vitamineral Earth has no digestive enzymes while Vitamineral Green does.

In addition to making it very different from Vitamineral Green I think the latter characteristics make it very different from any superfood supplement, period.

It’s worth talking about that in more detail.

Most Unique Features and Ingredients

In my opinion the most unique benefits of Vitamineral Earth are as follows:

• Large Number of Rare Ingredients – Even as far as these types of products go Vitamineral Earth stands out.  Its ingredient list contains slippery elm bark, sheep sorrel, milk thistle seeds (not milk thistle), white oat bark, and marshmallow root, among others.

The fact that it has no grasses almost makes me slow to classify it as a greens powder.   Suiting its name, it’s really a mixture that combines different seeds of the earth.  I might even go so far as to call it the most unique product in the superfood powder segment.  That doesn’t make it the absolutely best choice for everybody, but given its high quality of ingredients it’s definitely a compelling choice for someone who prefers a robust superfood mixture.  (As opposed to a balanced or simple mixture).

Taste, Texture, and Mixability

Vitamineral Earth is distinctly aromatic.  If you didn’t digest it you could almost use it as an air freshener.  It has strong scents of cinnamon and paprika. The taste itself is very smooth and lacking in distinguishing characteristics.  It has no stevia, and is very neutral.

For this reason it’s very well suited as an addition to other drinks, particularly ones with flavors like vanilla, chai, or cinnamon, which helps accent its unique combination of herbs.

By itself I found that it had little to no flavor.  No bitterness, “greens” after taste,    sweetness, or anything else.  Its texture is very soft and smooth, and has a noticeably lighter color than Vitamineral Green.  Here’s a picture of the two compared side by side when mixed in water:

The only drawback I’d say about its flavor characteristics is that it doesn’t mix as well as Vitamineral Green.   The particle size is larger and usually collected at the bottom when I mixed it with water or almond milk.  I would guess this is because the mixture makes heavy use of different roots, which don’t always dissolve well in liquids.

For example, I regularly mix eleuthero root into my tea in the morning and I noticed its texture and mixability was very similar to Vitamineral Earth.

Uses and Recipes

If you don’t mind a neutral tasting drink then you can definitely mix Vitamineral Earth with water or almond milk.  The aromatic smell also makes it a good fit for mixing with hot water and drinking as tea.

However, by far my favorite use for this superfood powder was in a vegan “green” mint milkshake.  As seen here:

Maybe it looks a little gross, but it tasted delicious! (What can I say, I haven’t mastered food photography yet).

The ingredients are as follows:

1C Coconut milk ice cream (you can usually get it in the store)

1/2 c vanilla almond milk

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

2 tbsp Vitamineral Earth

I made this this morning and it was delicious!  Refreshing and creamy and I felt more energetic after I took it, but didn’t experience a headache or crash afterwards like I would with a normal milkshake.

Like I said, due to its mild hints of cinnamon, paprika and ginger, mild taste, and pleasant aroma I’d strongly recommend using it in drinks that are like this.

Price, Value, and Where To Buy

Vitamineral Earth is only sold in one size, which is a 500 gram glass jar.  It’s list price on its website is $59.99.  This might seem a little on the steep side to some consumers, but on a per ounce basis it’s actually quite affordable.  Many (most) superfood powders sell their bottles in 8, 9, or 10 ounce bottles and are actually more expensive than Vitamineral Earth if you price them by weight.

The price and dimensions of Vitamineral Earth are the same as Vitamineral Green with the exception that Healthforce states that 1000g of Vitamineral Earth is good for 50 servings, while Vitamineral Green is good for 30.  Each jar contains the same amount of superfoods, it’s just the serving size that’s different.

In my opinion it’s easily worth the price.  You’ve got a full recommendation from me.

Here are some different outlets where you can purchase it: 

Healthforce Website:  $59.95

Amazon:  $55.02

PureFormulas (best price):  $53.95

Comparison With Vitamineral Green

As I mentioned before, Vitamineral Earth/Green are very different products!  They’re similar in quality and price, but their ingredients are diverse enough that they should be considered separate products, and not bastard twins.

Here’s a handy table that breaks down all the relevant details about both products.  Let it guide you in deciding which one is best for you.

Notes About the Table:

The number of ingredients I included might differ from your own interpretation.  To make things perfectly clear, here’s the criteria I use:

• If an ingredient is not listed on the main label, but simply as an “other” ingredient then I don’t count it
• I count the different probiotics and digestive enzymes separately
• I do not count any isolated nutrients.  In this case I didn’t count the chromium, molybdenum, etc in Vitamineral Earth because in my opinion it’s not technically a food (even though it does come from it)

Building on this, I considered the following ingredients Vitamineral Earth and Vitamineral Green had in common: The 6 probiotics, shilajit, and the Yacon and Ginger.  However, Vitamineral Green has ginger and yacon leaf. whereas Vitamineral Earth has yacon and ginger root . There are some differences between the two but I felt it was close enough to consider them the same since they come from the same plant.

***I wrote the prices on 09/21/2012***

It’s possible they may not be accurate at a later date.   If you notice a discrepancy please let me know!