Sakara, alternatively called Sakara Life, is a healthfood brand that sells everything from complete meals delivered to your door to protein powders and supplements. The company has beautifully designed products, and describes their offerings as "Nutrition That Delivers Results."
But is Sakara really that much healthier than other meal delivery services? Do Sakara Life meals contain any unhealthy ingredients? Are the brand's supplements effectively-formulated? And how do real users rate and describe the taste and healthiness of Sakara?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Sakara meals to give our take on whether or not they're healthy and worth the price.
We'll also analyze the formulation of Sakara Metabolism Powder to give our take on whether or not it's likely to support gut health, and feature unsponsored customer reviews.
Is Sakara Healthy?
The ingredients in Sakara's burrito bowl are shown below:
Sakara sells a meal plan on a subscription basis with a rotating menu. Customers sign up and receive shipments to their door every week.
All Sakara meals that we reviewed while researching this article are made with entirely whole food ingredients, and we consider them to be healthy and nutritious.
It’s notable that every ingredient in Sakara's burrito is an organic plant material or a spice. There are no preservatives or questionable additive ingredients like flavoring agents, which is uncommon for a meal delivery brand.
Even the salsa mix contains ingredients like nutrient-rich ingredients like plum tomatoes and cilantro and has no unhealthy additives.
The ingredients in Sakara's chia protein waffles are shown below:
Maple syrup and coconut nectar are used as natural sweeteners.
As we discussed in our Daily Harvest reviews article, maple syrup is a much healthier sweetener than cane sugar because it’s rich in minerals like phosphorus, potassium and calcium, and doesn’t cause as much of a blood sugar spike as refined sugar sources.
We’ve reviewed every single ingredient in every item on Sakara’s upcoming menu and can’t identify one single ingredient we consider unhealthy or unsafe.
We recommend Sakara Life from a nutritional perspective, and consider this one of the healthiest meal delivery brands on the market.
Is Sakara Overpriced?
The only downside to Sakara in our opinion is the cost.
This isn’t surprising, given that organic botanical ingredients are relatively expensive, but Sakara is more expensive than most of the other meal delivery services that we've reviewed on Illuminate Health.
At the time of writing this article, the cost of a one-time purchase of 20 full days of Sakara meals is $1,760. This plan provides three meals a day, which equates to a cost of $29.33 per meal.
The price definitely varies by location (we tested multiple ZIP codes) and based on the program selected, so we recommend that consumers interested in Sakara play around with the pricing tool to find a plan that might work for them.
It's notable that Sakara has not increased this maximum cost in over a year since we initially published this article, even with the price of raw materials increasing.
For those with high discretionary income, investing in your health is one of the best investments you can make, but Sakara may be out of reach for the majority of Americans based on its price point.
Metabolism Super Powder Review
Metabolism Super Powder is Sakara's most popular supplement.
The brand claims this product can provide "metabolism support" and can "support gut health."
Raw cacao powder and coconut milk are the first two ingredients, and both are nutritious, whole foods that can benefit metabolism and health.
Dark chocolate is rich in cacao powder, and its consumption has been found to have favorable effects on human metabolism.
A medical review published in the Journal of Proteome Research found that dark chocolate consumption reduced cortisol levels (a stress hormone) and caused favorable changes to the gut microbiome (the balance of live cultures existing in our digestive tract).
Coconut milk has been found to have a favorable effect on cholesterol levels.
A 2013 meta-study found that consumption of coconut milk decreased low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, which is considered “bad” cholesterol, and increased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels, which is considered “good” cholesterol.
L-glutamine is an amino acid and is included in this formulation at a dose of 1,000 milligrams (mg).
This ingredient has significant research backing in regard to its ability to improve gut function and reduce gut inflammation, but the dose in Sakara Metabolism Powder may be below the therapeutic range.
A medical review on the health effects of l-glutamine documented that the “observed safe dose recommended for chronic [glutamine] consumption is presently 14 g/day,” or 14x the amount in this supplement.
Kelp extract has some impressive research backing for its effects on metabolism.
A medical review published in the Nutrients journal analyzed the effects of kelp on metabolic syndrome, and reported that kelp supplementation had anti-obesity, blood sugar lowering and cholesterol lowering effects.
Gymnema sylvestre leaf extract may favorably impact metabolic function as well.
A clinical trial published in the Journal of Medical Food found that this compound improved blood sugar control at a dosage of 600 mg daily, which is similar to the 400 mg dose in Sakara. Gymnema also improved insulin sensitivity.
This botanical compound was also shown in one clinical trial to improve blood vessel health, as we documented in our Vitaae reviews article.
Overall, we consider Sakara Metabolism Powder likely to improve metabolism and support gut health.
We do not recommend using this product to treat any specific health issue, but for occasional use it seems like it can improve metabolism and gut function. It's also entirely free of questionable additive ingredients like artificial flavors or added sugar.
Real People Try Sakara
One popular YouTube review of Sakara comes from a channel called “Avocado on Everything.” The creator signed up for Sakara for a week and shares her experience of the meals:
A TikTok creator named Jillian Gottlieb had a worse experience with Sakara:
@jilliangottlieb PART 1 my review of Sakara 🫣 #foodreview #food #plantbased #review ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys - Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey
Our Clean Meal Delivery Pick
Trifecta Nutrition is our top meal delivery service pick because of its nutritious options.
Their meals are created by chefs, and most importantly, the meals are rich in vitamins and minerals because they're primarily made with vegetables and grass-fed meats.
Unlike many commercial meal plans, Trifecta doesn't use filler carbs for most of the calories.
We're not suggesting that Trifecta is healthier than Sakara, just that it may be a better option for consumers who are budget-conscious since their meals start at around $14 per meal.
Sakara Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of Sakara Life in our opinion:
Pros:
- Nutrient-dense ingredients
- No unhealthy additive ingredients
- Mostly positive customer reviews
- Fantastic branding
- Effective supplement ingredients
Cons:
- Expensive
- Can't get meals on weekends
