Ka’Chava is a meal replacement powder that contains an incredible 85 ingredients, many of which the brand describes as "superfoods." Ka'Chava claims that their smoothies have "all the good stuff" for your gut, brain, muscles, hair, heart and health.
But is Ka'Chava really healthier than a standard protein shake? Does it have any questionable additives? Did we like it when we tried it ourselves? And what are influencers online saying about Ka'Chava in unsponsored reviews?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Ka’Chava to give our take on whether or not the brand is healthy.
Because Ka'Chava contains so many ingredients, our review will be broken down into ingredient sections: protein, fiber, fruits and vegetables, adaptogens, gut health ingredients, and finally vitamins and minerals. At the end of each section, we'll state whether or not we approve of that blend.
We'll also share our experience trying this product and feature other real customer reviews, as well as a cost comparison to document which retailer currently sells Ka'Chava for the best price.
Ingredient Analysis — Protein
We're using the Chocolate flavor of Ka'Chava as the basis for our Supplement Facts analysis.
This blend provides 25 grams (g) of protein per serving.
A clinical trial published in the American Journal of Physiology reports that 20 g of protein is the minimum to support muscle growth post-workout, so Ka’Chava’s health claim of “supporting muscle growth” is backed by good science.
The formulation is vegan, so pea protein is used as the core protein source, which is a good choice because pea protein (unlike some vegan protein sources) is a complete protein with all nine essential amino acids.
Beyond Meat uses pea protein as their base protein for the same reason.
We approve of this blend.
Ingredient Analysis — Fiber
Many Americans don't consume enough fiber, and fiber intake is not only important for general health maintenance, but also is associated with weight loss in overweight and obese individuals based on medical research.
This is because it's low-calorie plant matter that fills up the stomach, and can reduce cravings.
Ka’Chava provides 9 g of fiber per serving, which is a decent amount for a meal.
All of the fiber comes from whole food sources like oat and acacia gum.
We approve of this blend.
Ingredient Analysis — Fruits & Vegetables
Ka'Chava's fruit and vegetable blends contain a large number of ingredients.
Organic coconut flower nectar is the highest-dosed ingredient (because it's listed first), and is a sweetener derived from the flowers of the coconut tree.
We consider this to be a healthier alternative to added sugar as it's unrefined and provides nutrients, but we'd prefer if the highest dosed ingredient were a more nutritious ingredient like organic raspberry.
Because Ka'Chava lists these ingredients in a proprietary ("prop") blend, it's difficult to assess the healthiness of these blends.
These two blends provide 6.6 g of fruits and vegetables combined, but prop blends only list the total and not the individual dose of each ingredient.
So if 80% of the combined blends is just coconut nectar, they wouldn't provide much phytonutrients. But if the ingredients are equally dosed, we'd consider them nutritious.
Since all of the ingredients in these blends are whole food ingredients, we consider them to be healthy.
We approve of this blend.
Ingredient Analysis — Adaptogens
Maca root in its raw form isn't an ingredient we'd recommend.
Like a potato, maca is indigestible when it's uncooked, and is often used in a gelatinized or extract form both by traditional cultures and in clinical trials to avoid digestive discomfort and improve absorption.
Here's an example of a clinical trial on maca for sexual function, where the researchers chose to use gelatinized rather than raw maca.
We consider some of the ingredients in this blend to be underdosed, given that the average ingredient dosage is only 170 milligrams (mg).
To give a sense of how low that dose is, let's analyze one of the ingredients: ginger root.
A medical review published in the Herbal Medicine journal reports the effective dosing range of ginger to be 250 mg to 4,800 mg per day. This is a range of 1.5x to 23x the dose in Ka'Chava.
All of the ingredients in this blend are whole foods, but we consider some to be underdosed, and have concerns about the use of raw maca.
We disapprove of this blend.
Ingredient Analysis — Gut Health
Ka'Chava contains two different blends for gut health: a probiotic/prebiotic blend and a digestive enzyme blend.
Probiotics are almost always listed by colony forming units (CFU) on Supplement Facts labels, because this is the medical dosage standard, but Ka'Chava lists in milligrams instead, which leaves consumers without the necessary information to determine if the probiotics are effectively dosed.
Ka'Chava lists the probiotic species, but not the specific probiotic strain, which makes it challenging to assess the potential benefits of these ingredients.
We have not come across any research studies suggesting that people without digestive health conditions require supplemental digestive enzymes, and we don't understand why they are included in a meal replacement product.
We disapprove of this blend.
Ingredient Analysis — Vitamins and Minerals
Ka'Chava contains a large number of added vitamins and minerals, which we consider unfortunate and unnecessary, because the product should already be nutritious without these additives.
Many supplement companies add vitamins and minerals to make their Supplement Facts labels look more impressive, because the average consumer cannot differentiate vitamins from food and added, synthetic vitamins (tip: if the specific vitamin form is listed like "as chromium amino acid chelate" that means it's added and not naturally-occurring).
In early 2022, a different wellness shake brand had to recall several products from the market due to all of the added vitamins causing toxicity in some consumers.
This illustrates why we generally recommend avoiding supplements containing large numbers of added vitamins and minerals.
We disapprove of this blend.
We Tried Ka'Chava Ourselves
As one of the authors of this article (Calloway), I tried Ka'Chava myself.
My main issue is how thick it is and how poorly it blends, as evidenced by the image above.
I tried mixing it into a standard shaker bottle to take with me during exercise, and it totally congealed and took multiple dishwasher runs to fully clear.
I purchased the Chai flavor and the taste is fine but too artificial for me.
If you're used to eating a healthy diet with whole foods, I'm guessing you'll feel similar. It has that sugar substitute flavor (due to the lo han fruit extract and the natural flavoring additives) which are relatively healthy sweeteners.
I'm just not a fan of them.
The convenience is a benefit. There were a few times during the week when I was too lazy or busy to cook animal protein, and used Ka'Chava instead. 25 g of protein in two scoops is great.
Overall, I consider this to be a decent product but I wouldn't re-buy it due to the taste and consistency. I prefer simpler, cheaper, single-ingredient protein powders that blend well.
I'd rate Ka'Chava 5/10.
Real People Try Ka'Chava
One of the most popular YouTube reviews of Ka'Chava comes from a channel called "Fitness & Finance." It has over 100,000 views.
The creator shares his experience after four months of using Ka'Chava, and answers everything from whether or not it tastes good, to whether he actually felt full after drinking a Ka'Chava shake:
A YouTube creator named "Healing Universe" explains if Ka'Chava shakes helped her lose weight:
Does Ka'Chava Cause Side Effects?
Ka'Chava doesn't appear to have been studied in any clinical trials, which makes it challenging to say for certain whether or not the product causes side effects.
However, we can make an educated guess based on its ingredients.
We do not believe that Ka'Chava is likely to cause side effects in the average, healthy consumer nor did it cause side effects when we tested it.
It's primarily made from whole foods and non-toxic ingredients.
The only ingredient of concern in our opinion is raw maca. As we detailed in the Ingredient Analysis section, this can cause digestive discomfort, but the dose is likely so low in Ka'Chava that it shouldn't have any effects.
There is currently no mention of side effects on Ka'Chava's website.
Customers Rate Ka'Chava
Amazon is a better source for honest customer reviews than a brand's website in our opinion.
At the time of updating this article, Ka'Chava has been reviewed over 9,000 times on Amazon, and has an average review rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars.
A top positive review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named "mike caraccia" who gave the product a 5/5 rating:
"Do not understand all the one stars for the taste. They should add 40 grams of sugar and it will have the taste they are looking for. It does not taste great , but trust me its not as bad as some people are saying here. Throw some strawberries, a banana , blueberries or grapes in with the vanilla and the whole taste issue is gone. Simple..."
A top negative review from a verified purchaser comes from a user named "E. Rivera" who gave the product a 1/5 rating:
"I am a pretty easy to satisfy when it comes to food and beverages... definitely not too demanding on flavors. But I must say that the chocolate flavored version of this product is pretty bad tasting. I carry a very low sugar diet and I do not spice up or season too heavy any of my meals, so I am not expecting "healthy" alternatives to taste particularly good or sweet. But this is ridiculous...the flavor is *extremely* bad, the price should be subject to a steep downward correction."
Ka'Chava currently has a 1.53 out of 5 star review on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website.
What concerns us more than the rating (because it's a small sample size and many consumers use that website to submit complaints) is that the brand fails to respond to most customer complaints.
This suggests that customers who fail to receive the product they paid for or have other order or billing-related issues may not be able to easily get their issue resolved with Ka'Chava.
Where To Get the Best Price
Amazon and the brand's website appear to be the only official distributors of Ka'Chava.
Here's a cost breakdown for a one-time purchase at the time of updating this article:
Amazon: $79.99 (free shipping, link to official Amazon listing)
Brand website: $69.95 (plus shipping, link)
Even factoring in shipping fees, this product is a few dollars cheaper at the brand's website.
Our Clean Meal Replacement Picks
MBG Whey Protein Isolate+ is our top overall meal replacement pick.
This protein powder is derived entirely from grass-fed animals, and whey protein is clinically shown to increase satiation and fullness in overweight and obese individuals.
Complement Organic Protein is our top vegan meal replacement pick.
The only ingredients in this protein powder are a blend of nutritious plant proteins: organic yellow pea protein, organic pumpkin seed protein, organic almond protein, organic sunflower seed protein and organic chia seed protein.
Both of the products recommended in this section are entirely free of ingredients we consider to be unhealthy.
Ka’Chava vs. Huel
Huel is another popular meal replacement product, and many consumers are curious about which brand is a better option.
In our opinion, Ka’Chava has a superior formulation to Huel, but we don't currently recommend either brand.
As we documented in our is Huel healthy article, Huel contains an artificial sweetener called sucralose which we recommend avoiding, and has far fewer whole food ingredients.
Those differences lead us to believe Ka’Chava is superior from a health perspective.
We consider Huel to be more "processed" generally, although it's significantly cheaper per serving ($2.46) than Ka'Chava ($4.46), so it may be a better option for consumers on a budget.
Ka'Chava Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of Ka'Chava in our opinion:
Pros:
- Many different whole food ingredients
- Complete protein source
- Convenient
- Contains probiotics
- May support weight loss
Cons:
- Very expensive per-serving
- Thick consistency
- Somewhat unnatural flavor
- Contains raw maca
- Contains flavoring agents
- Contains added vitamins and minerals
