News

Jun 16, 2023

Here’s What Happened When I Drank Ka’Chava Every Day For A Month

One writer looks to get out of her nutritional funk with the help of a shaker

One writer looks to get out of her nutritional funk with the help of a shaker bottle.

I have been in a nutritional freefall for years, but in the last few months, its speed and intensity accelerated. Like many moms during the pandemic, I cooked every meal, everyday for my family for nearly two years. Then our daily menus got upended when my son was diagnosed with an inflammatory bowel disease. Gone were the raw fruits and vegetables that I leaned upon to feed not just him, but myself as well. My meal planning and grocery shopping haven't recovered since. The cooking burnout is very real.

A few months ago, I thought I might be coming to the end of my discouraging streak of failing to see a fruit or vegetable that wasn't a banana or avocado (my son's favorite IBD-approved produce) for weeks on end. Instead I found that I didn't have much of an appetite and the amount of food I ate during the day was decreasing. The reasons for these changes were plentiful: I changed my marathon workout sessions to shorter and gentler ones; I entered menopause; I was so busy at work that I would forget to eat; and finally, the idea of cooking made me not want to eat. Quick food was my go-to: sourdough toast, Greek yogurt, chips—even candy. After having my third bowl of crackers for dinner in as many days, I knew I had to do something.

That's why, when the opportunity to try a nutritional shake called Ka’Chava Superblend for about a month presented itself, I volunteered. My body wasn't functioning properly. I was tired all the time, I was having GI issues, I wasn't recovering from workouts, and I was irritable. This was all because my diet was off, and my solution wasn't going to be to recommit to grocery shopping and cooking. But a quick and easy blend made with adaptogens, fiber, probiotics, protein, and vitamins and minerals, only once a day? I could do that.

So I did for 28 days.

Ka’Chava sent me five bags of their Superblend, one of each flavor—chai, chocolate, coconut açaí, matcha, and vanilla. Looking at the ingredients and nutrition facts, I was happy that I could pronounce everything that was listed and knew exactly what I would be consuming. While I am not a fan of added sugars, monk fruit extract is a natural source that I can deal with. The 25 grams of protein in each serving of Ka’Chava come from a plant-based blend of rice and pea proteins, which for me is a good thing since whey and casein proteins (even isolates) don't agree with me.

When it came to vitamins and minerals, I was looking for something to supplement my diet with nutrition, not complete it. So I was happy to see that the levels in each serving didn't reach heights multiple times over the recommended daily allowances. And even in the fiber department, Ka’Chava contains four to nine grams per serving depending on the flavor, so I could choose my own adventure on different days as I needed.

As for the nutritional bells and whistles, Ka’Chava includes adaptogens in its Superblend. These tend to be herbs or mushrooms that can help the body adapt to the various stresses your body encounters, whether they are physical, physiological, or mental. Ka’Chava has a mix of adaptogenic mushrooms that preliminary research has found to help with relaxation and support immune function, as well as ginger and maca root.

Ka’Chava also includes the prebiotic inulin and probiotics from the Lactobacillus genus to help support a healthy gut microbiome. The specific strains found in Ka’Chava, L. rhamnosus and L. acidophilus, have been widely studied and research has linked them to better GI health as well as other health benefits. Essential fatty acids are also included in the Superblend. It was clear that just one serving a day had enough nutritional value to help my body find its groove again.

On the first day, I mixed up the vanilla blend. I used the shaker bottle that came with the bags and measured the recommended 12 to 14 ounces of water. I was surprised at how frothy and creamy the drink was, considering that all I did was shake the ingredients in the bottle. I sipped it throughout a work call and felt full after finishing. This was at 11 o’clock in the morning and was my first meal of the day (which is about normal for me). I wasn't hungry again until about six o’clock that evening.

The following days the experience was the same with an added benefit—I stopped craving sugar in the afternoon. My family has a serious sweet tooth and so it isn't abnormal for us to have candy around. Before I started this experiment, I would often seek it out in the late afternoons. Around day 6, I realized my cravings for sugar were gone.

The second week started with a sore throat, thanks to a seasonal cold. As the days progressed, I developed a cough and my appetite completely vanished—leaving me to sustain myself on sourdough toast, tea, and my daily Ka’Chava blend. Despite my limited diet and the fact that my throat was killing me, I realized that I wasn't feeling fatigued. I recovered quickly and my energy remained high—something that had never happened when I’d gotten sick in years prior.

Despite being sick, I maintained my morning routine—wake up, do yoga, take my son to school, walk two to three miles home. I’d then make a Ka’Chava blend. Since this was my third week, I decided to start trying the other flavors. My first deviation from vanilla was the coconut açaí flavor, which was a bit too fruity for my tastes, so I moved on to the chai and matcha flavors to see if they could take the place of my morning coffee. Both proved to be good alternatives. Ultimately, I gravitated to the chocolate flavor because it has the most fiber, with nine grams of the stuff. Getting enough fiber in my diet has always been important to me, and the fact that a serving of the chocolate Ka’Chava delivers approximately a third of the recommended 25 to 30 grams each day made it a real winner for me.

Midwinter break from school meant I had my mornings to myself. I spent them doing one of my favorite things: more intense workouts. Pushing myself to the limit made for the perfect setup to test Ka’Chava as a post-workout recovery strategy.

For decades, I’ve worked out on an empty stomach. I tend to get nauseous if I eat beforehand. But this makes what I consume after more important—and honestly, I often don't eat anything because I don't feel hungry. Each serving of Ka’Chava contains 25 grams of protein, so I hoped I could sip it afterward to get the recovery benefits that carbs and protein can deliver post-workout.

The first day of the week, I went for a five-mile power walk, pushing my pace and attacking the inclines. I came home, did some yoga, and drank my Ka’Chava. The next day, I cycled for 45 minutes during an interval class and followed that up with 20 minutes of strength training and 10 minutes of yoga. Normally, after these morning workouts I would be stiff and tired by the afternoon, but I didn't feel that way after incorporating Ka’Chava into my routine. The next two days, I followed my normal routine: yoga with a two-to-three-mile leisurely walk. On Friday, I returned to my power-walking ways before spending my weekend in the gym, taking indoor cycling classes followed by time in the weight room. Each time, I drank a Ka’Chava Superblend afterward.

I write this hours after my workout on day 28. For me, drinking a Ka’Chava post-workout allowed me to get past the nauseous feeling that I’d tend to have after tough or long training sessions. It helped me recover from these workouts pain-free, which means a lot to me. Before trying Ka’Chava, I’d often pull back from longer, harder workouts because they would destroy me.

My trial period is over, but I will keep drinking a Ka’Chava Superblend every day. I still don't have the motivation to cook, but this low lift is enough to keep my body fatigue-free and functioning properly.

Carey Rossi is the Senior News Editor for Prevention and Prevention.com. You can follow her @CareyRossi.

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