Ghost Greens is a powdered greens supplement sold by the popular Ghost Lifestyle brand (makers of Ghost Protein which we recently reviewed). The brand describes this supplement as having “maximum purity” and using “nutrient dense ingredients.”
But is this greens powder really better than cheaper options? Does it contain any questionable additive ingredients? Is the “Gut Health” blend well-formulated? And how do real users rate and describe the taste and effects of Ghost Greens?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more as we review the ingredients in Ghost Greens based on medical studies to give our take on whether or not it’s likely to improve health, whether it contains questionable additives and if it’s superior to other green powder brands.
We’ll also share real, unsponsored user reviews of the product and highlight a lawsuit regarding false advertising of Ghost Greens.
Ingredient Review - Worth the Money?
The ingredient list above is from the Original flavor.
Ghost Greens does provide a decent fruit and vegetable dose of 6,640 milligrams (mg). It contains a large number of ingredients including kale powder and blueberry juice powder.
For consumers that eat an unhealthy diet and don’t get enough fruits and vegetables from their diet, we do believe that this supplement is likely to improve health overall.
A medical review published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine analyzed data from a number of clinical trials on powdered fruit and vegetable supplementation. The researchers concluded that fruit and vegetable supplements can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, given that the Western diet is highly processed and low in produce.
As we referenced in our review of Balance and Nature vitamins (another popular fruit and vegetable supplement), we haven’t come across any evidence that this type of supplement is necessary or beneficial for individuals that eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables.
Ghost Greens contains a “Gut Health” blend comprised of prebiotics, probiotics and digestive enzymes.
Inulin is the prebiotic ingredient in this blend, and while this ingredient is clinically proven to optimize gut health, it may be underdosed in Ghost Greens at 2,000 mg.
A 2020 medical review on inulin supplementation for gut health analyzed clinical trial data, and the doses used in all of the trials ranged between 5,000 mg and 20,000 mg daily.
This blend also contains 10 billion colony-forming units of probiotics which is an effective dose. One of the probiotics included in the blend, B. subtilis DE111, was found to improve cholesterol levels and cardiovascular function in healthy adults in a clinical trial published in the Beneficial Microbes journal.
The Gut Health blend also contains a number of digestive enzymes like amylase. We have not come across any clinical research suggesting that digestive enzymes are beneficial for healthy adults, though they are well-studied for gastrointestinal diseases – not what this product is indicated for. We don’t understand why so many supplement companies include digestive enzymes in their formulations without explanation.
The only ingredient in this entire formulation we consider to be questionable from a health perspective is natural flavor, which is an inactive ingredient.
A meta-study published in the Toxicological Research journal documented some toxicity concerns regarding flavoring agents, and we recommend that consumers avoid food products or supplements containing natural flavor.
Overall we consider Ghost Greens to be well-formulated and likely to improve the health of consumers who fail to consume enough fruits and vegetables from their diet. We don’t recommend the supplement due to the inclusion of natural flavor (and legal issues we’ll discuss later), but we consider it to be better-formulated than the average green powder product.
For consumers set on purchasing this product, we recommend the Original flavor over other flavors as the flavored versions contain other questionable flavoring agents.
Real, Unsponsored Ghost Greens User Reviews
A YouTube user named “LSJ TV” published a Ghost Greens review including a taste test:
A TikTok user named Brett Westover published a review of the product’s new Apple Cider flavor:
@brettwestover Ghost Greens Powder Apple Cider Taste Test #fitness #supplements #health ♬ original sound - Brett Westover
Why Was Ghost Lifestyle Sued over Ghost Greens?
In early 2022, a consumer in California brought a lawsuit against Ghost Greens for false advertising, according to Classaction.org.
The lawsuit alleges that Ghost Greens contains an undisclosed flavoring agent called malic acid which is typically manufactured in petrochemical plants “through a series of chemical reactions, some of which involve highly toxic chemical precursors and byproducts.”
It’s unclear what the current status of this lawsuit is; whether it’s been settled or is still ongoing.
This is a red flag about the brand in our opinion but until the lawsuit is settled, there is no proof that the claims are true.
This type of issue is why we recommend that consumers avoid flavored supplements generally.
Where to Buy Ghost Greens for the Best Price
Ghost Greens is sold at a variety of online retailers. Below are the prices at the time of updating this article.
Brand website: $44.99 (plus shipping, link)
GNC: $44.99 (plus shipping, link)
Vitamin Shoppe: $44.99 (free shipping, link)
Amazon: $44.99 (free shipping – link to official Amazon listing)
These prices are for the Lime flavor as it was the only flavor sold at all four of Ghost’s retailers.
Our Clean Green Powder Picks
Complement Daily Greens is our top green powder pick.
This greens powder is extremely nutrient-dense without any added vitamins, providing 50% of the iron Daily Value (DV), 46% of the chromium DV and 35% of the vitamin A DV in one serving.
This powder uses organic stevia leaf extract and organic natural flavors to add flavoring, which meets our formulation standard given that organic natural flavors provide a higher standard of ingredient safety in our opinion than natural flavors or artificial flavors according to USDA flavoring guidelines.
Interested consumers can check out Complement Daily Greens at this link, where the product costs only $49 for a one-time purchase.
Green tea is a nutritionally-rich green powder that's shown in a 2006 medical review to have a number of health benefits, including:
"anti-hypertensive effect, body weight control, antibacterial and antivirasic activity, solar ultraviolet protection, bone mineral density increase, anti-fibrotic properties, and neuroprotective power."
Pique Japanese Sencha Green Tea is our top brand pick, because it only has one ingredient (organic green tea), is packaged in a convenient stick pack so it can be mixed into water and doesn't need to be prepared, and only costs $16.
Interested consumers can check out Pique Japanese Sencha Green Tea at this link to the product page on the official brand's website.
Ghost Greens Real Customer Reviews
Ghost Greens is sold on Amazon, which is a more objective resource for customer reviews than a brand’s website in our opinion. The Lime flavor has been reviewed over 150 times, with an average review rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars.
The top positive review from a verified purchaser comes from a user named “erica archer” who claims the product has a good consistency and taste:
“wow these greens are so good! it mixes extremely well and doesn’t have a nasty grass flavor. the flavor is very subtle but it also has a little sweetness to it. i’ve mixed with a frother and a blender bottle and both have been great. 10/10 recommend”
The top negative review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named “Raven S.” who claims that the product caused side effects:
“I love ghost but I got major diarrhea.”
