I am not a Vegan or even a vegetarian, can not claim to be a health-food junkie by any stretch of the imagination, and am not always into "green food". I live in Seattle, so it is unhip and unwise to admit to liking any food that a foodie or health-conscious person would not approve of, lest my contemporaries judge me too harshly for my unethical, unhealthy, or uneducated eating. I am not a gourmand, and have yet to appreciate the reasons why a small bottle of truffle oil should cost more than a large bottle of olive oil (unless it is due to a world-wide truffle blight which I am not aware of) or why the cheeseburger I had yesterday in Ballard cost me $13.

To save myself some time in meal preparation and to give myself a filling meal for the fraction of the cost, I opted to buy myself some Vega, a nutritional supplement that that is reported to be a meal unto itself. Instead of a late afternoon snack of cheese and crackers, I thought I could instead enjoy a Vanilla Chai drink filled with all the nutrients I would need for a single day. Not so fast. The drink didn't taste too bad, but was really thick and took a long time to mix up, with the powdered sentiment filling the bottom of the glass despite my semi-frantic whisking attempts.

I drank it quickly and used my spoon to eat up the last of the "delicious" drink.  My friend has used it as a meal substitute on occasion for some time now, so I was really disappointed to find myself hungry again after 20 minutes and slightly sick to my stomach after 25 minutes.

According to the bottle, which I purchased in bulk on the recommendation of a friend, Vega basically has all of the minerals and vitamins a person needs for a day (although from what I understand the USDA recommended list of vitamins and minerals is considerably low-balled), plant based protein, omega fatty acids, and chorella.

I have yet to see if the drink's benefits outweigh the downsides.   Vega's "Complete Whole Food Health Optimizer" was  first developed by a Vegan for vegans, is reportedly excellent to digest for those with stomach conditions, and is gluten-free. I decided to take it not only to get rid of my afternoon snacking habit, but to give myself some added nutrition for dealing with stress and to increase my energy levels. Of course, after only two servings down the hatch, it is too early to report on either of those health benefits, but I'll keep you posted.  While it is difficult to get so many nutrients in one drink, Vega is not inexpensive. No one ever said it was cheap to be healthy.