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Do you remember the classic food pyramid of the 1990’s with ClipArt-esque graphics? I remember looking at it in elementary school and wondering how, exactly, I was going to fit all of those food groups into my diet every single day.
Fast forward twenty years and I still don’t think I’ve figured it out. Tack on adulting, a busy career, and a social life, and there’s little time left to be cognizant of nutrition, let alone count servings of each crucial food group.
Thankfully, I was recently introduced to Ka’Chava, a brand that’s looking to provide all of the nutrients your body needs on a daily basis in a single, easy-to-make shake for on-the-go people like me.
Shaking It Up
Ka’Chava is on a mission to upend the way we get our nutrition. Founder Simon Malone was living an unsustainably fast-paced life, where he would grab anything within reach to eat between meetings, social engagements, and other commitments. Sound familiar? Simon created Ka’Chava to ensure those who live life in the fast lane can fill their bodies with the nutrients they need to keep going.
The Whole Body Meal was created in the jungle’s depths while Simon was playing around with superfoods. He wondered if it would be possible to combine all of the world’s greatest superfoods and make it into a form that anyone could enjoy at any time.
Unlike other shake or meal replacements, Ka’Chava is made with whole food ingredients that are good for you. Its ingredient list includes a plant protein blend (made from organic sacha inchi protein, yellow pea protein, organic whole grain brown rice protein, organic amaranth, and organic quinoa), an adaptogen blend (organic maca root, organic shiitake mushroom, organic maitake mushroom, organic reishi mushroom, organic ginger, organic cordyceps mushroom), and a lot of superfoods (including antioxidant-rich acai berries, blueberries, and camu camu berries, other super-fruits, and supergreens).
Each flavor is gluten-free, vegan, soy-free, and contains no preservatives. One serving includes 240 calories, 24 grams of carbohydrates, and 25 grams of protein. The brand prides itself on benefits like higher energy, boosted immunity, weight maintenance, and heart health.
Superfood, Superfast
I was pleasantly surprised with how easy ordering Ka’Chava was. The brand’s main offering is the Superfood Whole Body Meal, which includes 15 scoops for meal replacement shakes. It comes in five flavors: Vanilla, Chocolate, Coconut Acai, Chai, and Matcha. Each flavor piqued my interest, but ultimately, Coconut Acai is where I landed. Each bag, regardless of flavor, is $69.95 for a one-time purchase, or $59.95 when you subscribe. I originally opted for the one-time purchase, because I wanted to see what I thought before going all in. Once I selected my flavor and frequency, I was met with express checkout, which made things super easy to finish up with a checkout of under 2 minutes.
Admittedly, I was initially pretty turned off by the cost of Ka’Chava. I don’t usually buy nutrition supplements, and $70 seemed like a lot for a small bag. However, after doing some quick math I better understand: a Ka’Chava meal replacement shake costs $3.99 or $4.66 per meal, depending on your order frequency. Compared to what I’d be eating instead (a salad from a fast-casual joint or a home-cooked healthy meal), the price is easier to stomach.
The bag arrived pretty quickly, within a few days of ordering, despite my selection of standard shipping. The bag in which the mix lies is cute, yet simple in its design. The only fancy thing about the design is the little pull tab that makes the resealing of the bag very easy. As someone who has the tendency to just tear into things I’m excited about, this was a nice feature to keep it fresh.
The Taste Test
Although Ka’Chava isn’t a protein powder, it’s the closest thing I can compare it to. My husband has tried to coerce me into drinking protein shakes for years and I have pretty staunchly resisted. There’s no good reason why – I just don’t really care for the texture and flavor of most powders.
Ka’Chava does not have the same chalky, unnatural taste as the protein powders I’ve tried do. For the record, my first attempt was mixing the powder with cold water by using a spoon, which I would not recommend doing. This resulted in a pretty poorly mixed drink with excess powder floating around. When I put it in a shaker bottle, it was a different story. Everything blended well and the gross, dry lumps were gone in an instant. The taste is decent for what it is (the acai flavor does taste like acai), but obviously it’s no Shake Shack milkshake.
I don’t love drinking all of my calories, so I got curious to try Ka’Chava in different ways. The website has dozens of recipes from people in the Ka’Chava “tribe.” I tried a variation of a summer smoothie bowl, which was fantastic. It only required a few quick ingredients like milk, frozen fruit, and frozen bananas, which I already had at home. The smoothie bowl tasted just as good as the one I got from the farmer’s market a few weeks ago – and cost about $10 less to make. I also noticed I was significantly less hungry after eating this than I was with my normal smoothie bowl. This is certainly a direct result of the ingredients being real superfoods, instead of just nutrition-less fillers.
Big Benefits for Your Body
Ka’Chava prides itself on the benefits it has for your body. Although its statements have not been validated by the FDA (it’s a supplement and therefore doesn't need to be), there are several known health perks associated with the superfoods in the mix. One of the most notable health benefits is boosted immunity. Ka’Chava’s meal replacement powder includes over seven minerals that are known to help boost immunity, such as zinc, vitamin C, vitamin D, probiotics, and more.
Some of the other named benefits include boosted energy, weight management, muscle toning, and heart health thanks to additional superfoods that contain magnesium, vitamin D, iron, phosphorus, protein, and electrolytes.
Despite the total adoption of dozens of time-saving devices, life can still be so unfathomably busy – and it doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. Ka’Chava is giving me my cake and allowing me to eat it, too. With it, I can stay busy, doing everything I want to do, while taking care of my body, too. Ka’Chava allows me to capitalize on the earth’s superfoods through a readily available format – this is the future of nutrition – and my body is grateful.
5 More Reasons to Love Ka’Chava:
1. Ka’Chava works directly with Rainforest Trust to protect rainforests and the species that live within them. The brand has protected over 100,000 acres to date!
2. The brand just introduced a new Ka’Chava bar, which gives you the same quick-hitting nutrients in bar format.
3. These meals travel well, so you can always have a quick, healthy meal ready for your on-the-go lifestyle.
4. The brand boasts 35,000 five star customer reviews.
5. Ka’Chava has a relatively long shelf life, coming in at 9 months unopened and 5 weeks when opened.
