Welcome to this Rootana review! I am super excited to review the most promising meal replacement shakes that launched in 2022.

Rootana is a brand-new meal replacement shake that focuses on real-food ingredients, and avoids the use of all artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and colorings. It’s ideal for those looking for natural meal replacement shakes, but do not want to pay premium for quality.

In this Rootana review, I will be taking an in-depth look at what the product offers, how it tastes, what the macronutrient ratio is like, and ultimately whether Rootana is the right meal replacement shake for you.

Spoiler: if you are looking for a healthy meal without sweeteners- ideal for casual or daily use- Rootana will be a great choice.

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Flavours: Dark Chocolate, Vanilla, and Original (unflavoured).

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Interestingly, I’ve known about Rootana for a year now. The founders asked me for advice and I tried to point to what I believed the users wanted from a meal replacement.

Despite this, I have not actively taken part in the formula or the beta-testing of the product. Therefore, it was my first chance to try out Rootana’s meal replacement.

On paper, it looks great: no artificial sweeteners, high in protein, good ingredients, and reasonably priced. However, it was all going to be down to taste.

Thankfully, this was also a nice surprise! I’m not going to say they nailed it, but it is really good. Not perfect, but super delicious, nonetheless. Plus, it’s very filling, as you would expect from a high-fiber high-protein blend.

Anyways, more about that in the Rootana taste review section.

What I like

1. Well-priced. At £2.14 or $3.45 per 400kcal serving, Rootana enters the market with a very competitive offer. Superb price for the quality.

2. High-quality ingredients. Rootana doesn’t just use oat flour, they use the best oats they can get their hands on. They don’t just use flaxseed; they use golden milled flaxseed. That extra attention to detail makes a huge difference.

3. High in fibre.

4. No artificial sweeteners and no stevia. Rootana’s biggest selling point is that unlike almost all meal replacement shakes it is completely free from artificial sweeteners. Using coconut sugars instead of sucralose, or stevia.

5. Completely plant-based.

6. Great taste. Dark Chocolate is one of the best-tasting chocolate meal replacement shakes you can buy.

7. Clean website. I love the info displayed on the site and the layout. The nutrition section is great to get more info about the product.

8. Metal scoop is great. You need to pay £5 for the metal scoop, but it will last you forever and it reduces waste.

What I dislike

1. No subscription option, yet. For regular consumers, subscriptions enable them to have some discounts and also not to have to worry about reordering.

2. Ordering more than 3 bags might be confusing at first.

3. Not gluten-free. It’s not a big issue, but it would’ve been nice.

Improvements

1. Could include probiotics.

2. Bulk discounts or subscriptions for regular customers.

Rootana is best described as a well-balanced meal replacement shake. Unlike some of the most popular competitors like Huel Black, it doesn’t go for the extremely high protein approach. Instead, it offers something closer to what most health guidelines suggest. Plus, this is sufficient protein to help with weight maintenance, muscle growth, and recovery. 

It also has a decent amount of healthy fats, and contains 44 grams of low GI carbohydrates, which really helps with satiety and energy levels. All of this within a 400-calorie shake. 

Rootana is well stocked when it comes to micronutrients, containing 24 vitamins and minerals, at 20% of your daily recommended intake per serving. 

Perhaps the biggest difference is that Rootana is completely free from artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and colourings. Thus, making it one of the most natural meal replacement shakes on the market. It is also a soy and lactose-free shake.

Rootana Nutrition Overview

Kcal/meal	400
Macros (C/P/F)	46/21/33
Vegan	Yes
Keto	No
Features	High Fiber
Non-GMO	Yes
Organic	No
Includes Probiotics	No
Artificial Sweeteners	No
Synthetic Additives	Yes
Contains All Micronutrients	Yes
Controversial Ingredients

Carbohydrates

Based on 400kcal serving:

• Total Carbs: 44g, 18% of DV.
• Net Carbs: 38.5g, (Total Carbs – Dietary Fiber – Non-digestible Carbs).
• Sugars: 13g, 13% of DV.
• Fiber: 7.1g, 24% of DV.

The main source of carbohydrates in Rootana is oat flour powder. Described as the world’s healthiest functional carbohydrate, oat flour powder is an excellent source of beta-glucan soluble fibre. Oats have been shown to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and certain cancers, lower your cholesterol, reduce inflammation, and help with weight loss. 

This is partly due to their low GI score, partly due to the beta-glucan they provide, and partly due to their ability to improve digestion and gut health. All of these can help with healthy weight management, and improved overall health. 

Rootana also gets some carbohydrates from its Golden milled flaxseed and the coconut sugars that it uses as a natural sweetener.

Added Sugars? Not a Problem

When looking at the nutrition label, some of you might notice that each Rootana serving has 13g of sugar. Most of which come from natural coconut sugar.

While this is often a red flag, in this world filled with extremely processed sugars, 13g of sugars is not that much. In fact, Rootana has chosen to have natural sugars instead of artificial sweeteners, as they believe this is a healthier alternative.

For many, this choice will be a welcome one, as they struggle with the artificial flavour of synthetic sweeteners, and the problems they might cause in their digestion.

Protein

Per 400kcal serving:

• Total Protein: 21g, 40% of DV.
• Source: Pea protein isolate, golden milled flaxseed, oat flour powder.

There are three main sources of protein in Rootana. Pea protein isolate is by far the biggest source, followed by oat flour powder, and then golden milled flaxseed. Pea protein is an excellent plant-based protein source as it has a complete amino acid profile.

It is also an excellent source of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) which play an essential role in muscle protein synthesis.

Fats

Per 400kcal serving:

• Total Fats: 14.3g, 14% of RI.
• Saturated Fats: 5.9g, 30% of DV.
• Omega-3s, ?g.
• Omega-6s: ?g.

The fats in Rootana come from a number of sources. The main sources are sunflower seed oil and sunflower lecithin, but you also get omega-3 fatty acids from the golden milled flaxseed, and the oats and pea protein also provide a small amount of fat.

Personally, I would love them to declare the omega-3 fatty acid content, as these are very important essential oils for your body. Plus, they are often lacking in our diets.

Micronutrients & Other Nutrients

Regarding micronutrient content, Rootana contains 24 vitamins and minerals, each of them providing 20% of your recommended daily intake, except for chloride which is 68% and sodium which is only 12%.

Unlike some other brands, Rootana shakes do not contain any probiotics; which have been a popular addition as of late.

Allergens

There is no soy or lactose in Rootana, and it doesn’t use artificial sweeteners, however, it contains oats which are an allergen for some. Even if oats don’t contain any gluten, they are produced in a factory that handles gluten. Thus, Rootana is not gluten-free.

Best flavour	Dark Chocolate
Taste	Sweet, oaty, and none of that sucralose aftertaste that you can get with other shakes. The cacao flavour is excellent, but vanilla wins due to the lovely subtle taste and how well it complements the oats
Texture	When mixed with 500 ml of water it is quite thin, but using 400 ml of water gives it a thick milkshake-like consistency.
Satiety	Excellent, the high fibre and protein content really help in this regard
Easy to Clean	With 500 ml of water the shake will be clean in seconds. Thicker shakes may require an extra scrub when it comes to washing up.
Afterthoughts	A great, naturally flavoured shake that is easy to mix and simple to clean. It’s thickness changes depending on how much water you add, and it goes great with dairy alternatives such as soya or almond milk.

Pro Tip: Adding ice-cold almond milk to your shake can provide a much thicker shake if that’s what you prefer.

This is one of the newest brands that have entered the complete food market. It’s been in the making for a couple of years, but Rootana just launched in 2022.

In this space competition is fierce, but Rootana aims to attract customers with a simple yet, fairly natural formula. They don’t use any artificial sweeteners or colourings, and they want to be a healthy and simple alternative for breakfast and lunch.

As with many other meal replacements, Rootana is also an environmentally friendly meal with a very low carbon footprint (see below).

Pricing & Shipping

As previously mentioned, Rootana is only available in the UK and the US.

In both countries, they are fairly affordable, particularly for the quality they offer and what the market prices are.

Pricing

Currently, you can easily purchase:

• Single bag (14 servings) –> £2.14/serving, £29.99 in total. $3.57, $49 in total.

Unfortunately, there are no bulk discounts at the time.

While it’s nice that you can buy a single bag without compromising on price; it is definitely surprising not to see bulk discounts for bigger buys. Even more when you consider that they don’t offer a subscription discount, yet.

This is perhaps something the company will offer in the future.

Is Rootana Worth the Price?

If you have been reading the review, you will probably know the answer to this question. The answer is yes. At £2.14/serving it does very well against most direct competitors.

However, let’s have a small price comparison with some of the best meal shakes in the UK:

price per serving (400kcal)	Rootana	Huel Black	Dare Motivation
Expensive	£2.14	£1.86	£3.90
Cheapest	£2.14	£1.45	£3.0

In the US, it’s slightly more expensive, but still much cheaper than direct competitors like Shakeology, Ka’chava or LyfeFuel Daily Essentials.

Shipping

Within the UK, Rootana should be delivered within 1 to 3 days. You will qualify for free shipping in orders of 2 bags or more. You cannot buy Rootana on retail stores like Asda, Tesco, or Sainsbury’s, but buying online is more convenient.

In the US, shipping takes 3-5 days.

Regarding the competition Rootana faces, it must be said it’s quite tough.

However, most shakes include some sort of artificial sweeteners or stevia; in order to reduce sugar content. Thus, it’s really hard to find naturally sweetened meal replacement shakes in the UK and in the US. Even most artificial sweetener-free shakes include stevia.

Head to Head

Category	Rootana	Huel Black	C360
serving price	£1.78	£1.55	£1.53
servings per	14	17	10
kcal/serving	400	400	400
Packaging	Bag	Bag	Bag
Flavors	3	9	6
Protein (g)	20	40	29
Sugar (g)	13	4	1
Fiber (g)	7	7	9
Fats (g)	10	17	10
Carbs (g)	44	24	46
Vegan	Y	Y	Y
Organic	N	N	N
Micronutrients	27	27	27
Artificial Sweeteners	N	N	Y
Synthetic Additives	Y	Y	Y
GMO	N	N	N
Protein Source	Pea/Rice	Pea/Rice	Pea/Soy/Rice
Availability	UK	Worldwide	EU, UK, US

Rootana vs Huel Black

One of the main competitors for Rootana will be Huel Black. Huel has multiple meal replacements (bars, powders, RTDs…), and Black is their artificial sweetener-free formula.

Nevertheless, as mentioned above, it contains stevia which has a distinctive taste and puts many people off. This is where Rootana can give you a true artificial sweetener-free shake.

On the other hand, Huel Black will have a lot more protein, with almost 40g per serving. For most people, this can be too much protein, and opting for Rootana might be a healthier alternative.

When it comes to taste, I think Rootana’s shakes are simply tastier (particularly Vanilla and Chocolate). However, Huel Black has a sublime Salted Caramel, and also offers more flavours in general (8).

Complete 360 vs Rootana

On the contrary, Complete 360 Meal offers vegan and whey-based shakes that contain sucralose (artificial sweeteners). However, they do offer some of the best-tasting shakes in the UK, like their Double Chocolate Milk, and also very competitive pricing.

It’s also packed with more protein than Rootana (30g vs 21g per serving), and includes probiotics and ashwagandha. That said, Rootana will be more suitable for those looking for a more natural shake.

Rootana’s Vanilla shake also tastes cleaner and does not have the aftertaste many shakes with artificial sweeteners do. It’s also better for prolonged use since the flavours are not as aggressive.

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Verdict – Rootana Review

Rootana is a great meal replacement shake for anyone who prefers a more natural product. It is high in protein and fibre, and big in taste. This is a great shake for people who are looking to improve their health or possibly lose weight. It is also a great source of plant-based protein for vegans or vegetarians. 

Furthermore, it is also priced quite competitively, albeit I would love to see some bulk discounts for regular customers.

In general, I think Rootana is a great alternative to Huel Black, particularly since Huel Black has too much protein for most people.

However, there’s also room for improvement as Rootana is not gluten-free certified and could also include some probiotics. That said, it still offers great nutritional value.

If you are sick and tired of products that contain sucralose or stevia, then Rootana is the meal replacement shake for you!