Balance of Nature Reviews: Fruits & Veggies in a bottle?

During testing, we appreciated the boost in energy and overall wellness that Balance of Nature provided without worries of added chemicals, preservatives, pesticides, or sugars. One of our testers who had been relying on a daily multivitamin and has worn eyeglasses for decades couldn’t believe that her vision seemed to improve noticeably after several weeks of taking these supplements. However, while our experience was positive, it’s hard to predict how positive yours will be because the company isn’t forthcoming about nutritional details. We think that Balance of Nature should offer details about the specific vitamin and mineral quantities that their supplements provide. Failing to do this is a lack of transparency that makes the products genuinely less user-friendly.

Let's face it: even if you're dedicated to nutrition and health, it can be hard to consume the fruits and vegetables needed for a healthy diet each and every day. In fact, a recent report from the CDC showed that just 1 in 10 Americans consumes the recommended 1.5-2 cups of fruits and 2-3 cups of vegetables per day, and the numbers don’t seem to be getting better anytime soon.

So if cramming down salads every day is out of your budget or lifestyle, what can you do? There are limitless options for nutritional supplements on the market, but are they effective? Can they improve your health, mental clarity, sleep, and immune function?

We investigated Balance of Nature, the manufacturer of Fruits & Veggies and Fiber & Spice, to see how its claims hold up to the test. Read our full review below to find out if Balance of Nature is the right nutritional supplement for you and your family.

Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions involving staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles.

We extensively test each health service or product we review. We try our best to give you, our readers, an unbiased exploration of at-home health options, free of marketing jargon or gimmicks. We evaluate products and services based on their adherence to quality, the latest medical evidence and health standards, and a simple question: would we buy the product or service ourselves if it weren’t part of our job, and would we recommend it to family and friends?

Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this review was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy.

Balance of Nature is a nutritional supplement manufacturer whose primary product, Fruits & Veggies, is made of 100% whole fruits and vegetables that have been freeze-dried to preserve their integrity and phytonutrients. Fruits & Veggies comes in capsule form that can be swallowed with water, dissolved in liquid, sprinkled over salads, or chewed as a tasty treat.

In addition to Fruits & Veggies, Balance of Nature offers Fiber & Spice, a daily fiber supplement powder that is mixed with water and taken twice daily. Fiber & Spice is made of whole fiber sources and a blend of 12 spices to maintain a healthy digestive system.

Dr. Douglas Howard, a medical doctor and chiropractor, founded Balance of Nature in 1997 to address nutrition in standard diets across the globe, from regions facing food insecurity to industrialized countries where fast food has led to widespread obesity and multiple health risks. Dr. Howard’s study of phytochemistry led to his development of Balance of Nature Fruits & Veggies, a natural dietary supplement containing only flash-dried fruits and vegetables manufactured for easy absorption by the body.

Phytochemicals, or phytonutrients, are plant compounds undergoing continuous studies based on their purported impacts on health, including the potential for non-digestible phytochemical fibers from plants to lower the risk for some types of cancers and coronary heart disease.

The phytochemicals derived from freshly harvested produce become degraded by many processing methods, including cooking, as heat leads to thermal decomposition. This is why Balance of Nature's cold-vacuum processing method is important. Without exposure to heat, air, and light, Balance of Nature prevents nutrient-destroying oxidation, producing whole-plant-based supplements with intact phytonutrients.

It is important to note that while researchers have demonstrated in numerous studies the positive benefits of a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and fiber, there is currently no evidence to show the same effects from taking over-the-counter vitamin and mineral supplements. Balance of Nature uses this information to its advantage, as its products contain no synthetic supplements but rather whole foods. Unfortunately, there are no peer-reviewed studies to back up Balance of Nature’s claims.

Balance of Nature Fruits & Veggies is really a duo of products sold together and intended to be taken side by side daily. You can take the capsules with water, mix them in a smoothie, chew them, or sprinkle them over food. A one-month supply of Fruits & Veggies includes 90 capsules of Fruits and 90 capsules of Veggies, with three of each to be taken daily (a total of six).

Fruits

Balance of Nature Fruits capsules boast 16 vine-ripened fruits, have a sweet/tart flavor without added sugar, and can be chewed as a tasty and healthful snack. One daily serving of Fruits (three capsules) contains just 10 calories and 2 g of total carbohydrates. They combine three proprietary blends, including:

Veggies

Balance of Nature’s Veggies includes over a dozen whole vegetables, spices, and mushroom powder, packing a nutritious punch of vitamins and antioxidant-rich foods to supplement your diet. One daily serving (three capsules) contains 5 calories and 1 g of total carbohydrates. Its proprietary blends include:

Fiber & Spice is a powdered fiber blend made of whole psyllium husk, whole apple, flax seed, whole monk fruit, and 12 spices:

These ingredients work together to improve gut health and digestion while reducing bloating. One serving contains 50 calories, 1 g total fat, 9 g total carbohydrates, and 8 g dietary fiber.

For improved bowel regulation and digestive health, mix two heaping scoops of Fiber & Spice in water or diluted apple juice and drink twice daily.

We tested Balance of Nature’s Whole Health System, which the company recommends for optimal results.

This combination pack, including both Fruits & Veggies and Fiber & Spice to be taken in conjunction, lets you use both products at a total cost that’s less than the sum of their normal separate prices. Balance of Nature shaves about $10 off of the normal pricing if you order this bundle. Just note that, even for subscribers, it amounts to a significant monthly investment of over $100.

While you can purchase Balance of Nature products individually through the company website or Amazon, the Subscribe & Save option available through the Balance of Nature website saves you 33% for each monthly supply with an additional one-time-only member fee of $24.95. The subscription also earns you free priority shipping, health coaching, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. We find this 30-day trial period to be very valuable for a couple of reasons:

• You may discover that the supplement doesn’t provide a noticeable benefit for you, and since the nutritional details of this supplement aren’t crystal-clear, there isn’t any way to predict how you’ll benefit.
• We found that positive effects (when they occur) are noticeable within the first month of use.

There are no consequences for canceling your membership, and even with the member fee, the cost at checkout is less expensive than making one-off purchases. Here’s a handy breakdown of prices and the perks of subscribing.

HSA, FSA, and health insurance

Balance of Nature is a nutritional supplement and does not qualify for HSA, FSA, or health insurance.

Privacy considerations

When you place an order from Balance of Nature's website, the company maintains your personal order information for its records and uses cookies and other technologies for targeted advertising. You can opt-out of targeted advertising by using the links on the site's Privacy Policy page.

For our review of Balance of Nature, we tried the Whole Health System, taking three capsules each of Fruits & Veggies daily along with two scoops of Fiber & Spice twice a day. After just several weeks of daily use, we felt more refreshed, energized, and had improvements in sleep, digestion, and inflammation. One of our testers swears that Balance of Nature has improved her vision to the point that she barely needs her eyeglasses anymore except when reading (she uses bifocals). While we didn't expect a miracle drug, the enhancements we experienced didn't require much sacrifice in time and energy by taking the supplements.

But one of the major downsides of Balance of Nature is the lack of transparency when it comes to the nutritional breakdown of its supplements. As a result, it’s fairly impossible to predict what your experience will be. Thankfully, the company offsets some of this risk by offering a 30-day trial for its subscribers. However, from a safety standpoint, it’s important that people remain aware of how much of a good thing they’re consuming; a couple of our testers were uncomfortable maintaining their daily multivitamin routine for fear of over-supplementing.

Because they are non-synthetic, whole-food products, Fruits & Veggies and Fiber & Spice are considered safe for adults, children, and pregnant or nursing women. These supplements should not generally interfere with medications, with the exception of grapefruit contained in the Fruits blend, as grapefruit may interact with certain drugs. Balance of Nature's Veggies complex includes soy, which is an allergen for some individuals.

Note: While Balance of Nature claims that a third-party tests all of its products to ensure they are free of heavy metals, pesticides, and other contaminants, the FDA issued a public warning letter in August of 2019 stating that the company had made unwarranted medical claims and that its products did not meet the standards of Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP). Therefore, we recommend some degree of caution when taking Balance of Nature products until further reviews by the FDA are publicized.

As with all dietary and nutritional supplements, we recommend consulting with your physician prior to use, particularly if you have food allergies or special dietary needs. This is doubly important in the case of Balance of Nature because the company doesn’t provide a nutritional breakdown of vitamins and minerals per serving.

You can buy Balance of Nature products as a one-time purchase to try them out, but you really have nothing to lose with signing up for the Subscribe & Save option, as there are no consequences for cancellation. To make a one-off purchase or sign up for a subscription plan, visit the Balance of Nature website and follow the prompts after clicking “Order Now.”

When we began our regimen, we took Fruits in the mornings and Veggies in the afternoons. This is purely a matter of preference, and as long as you’re taking three capsules of each product daily, you’re following the plan. Over time, we varied our consumption based on how we wanted to consume the product. For instance, if having a lunch salad or soup, it made sense to sprinkle on Veggies powder. For a mid-afternoon snack, a Fruits capsule was a welcome treat.

You can take the Fiber & Spice blend anytime daily as well, although it made sense to us to space out doses in the morning and afternoon with a glass of diluted apple juice.

At Innerbody Research, we customize our evaluation criteria depending on the type and nature of the health-related service or product. But in general for health products and services, we have five broad areas that we explore in our evaluations, including:

Quality: How well does the company deliver its core service(s) to the customer? For testing services, does the company adhere to the latest and most advanced testing technologies and achieve a very high degree of accuracy? For non-testing telemedical or teletherapy services, is the quality of the service high enough that we would recommend it to loved ones without hesitation? If not, why not? For health products, does the product or device meet a high level of safety? Is it manufactured with high quality standards? Has it – or have its ingredients – been subjected to effective studies that confirm effectiveness?

User-friendly: How intuitive and convenient is the service or product? Does the device, program, app, or website achieve a good degree of user-friendliness for its customers?

Value: Are you getting your money’s worth? Are there any hidden costs or charges? Does the company offer discounts?

Privacy: If health data is stored, will your data be stored securely? Are payments secure? Does a company market your information?

Customer support: Particularly in situations where ‘one size fits all’ doesn’t make sense, how well does the company help to make the service or product ideal for you or address your individual needs?