Ka’Chava vs Rootana

By Matt Smith

Published: April 9, 2025

Rootana and Ka’Chava are often compared due to a number of similarities between the two. Both meal shakes are packed full of plant-based protein, fiber, and both avoid artificial sweeteners such as sucralose. But there are several key differences between the two. Rootana vs Ka’Chava, who wins?

In this article, we will compare the ingredients list, the macronutrient ratios, and the practicalities involved with consuming them regularly.

Rootana

Ka'Chava

400 Calorie Serving

Yes

No (240 calories)

Balanced Meal

27 Vitamins & Minerals >20% RI

Stevia-Free

Sucralose-Free

Monk-Fruit Free

Maltodextrin-Free

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Ka’Chava vs Rootana Ingredients List

The biggest difference between Ka’Chava and Rootana is noticeable when you take a look at the ingredients list. Rootana contains 11 ingredients and a vitamin and mineral blend. Ka’Chava, on the other hand, contains over 85 ingredients.

This massive ingredient list may sound preferable, but it actually causes the two biggest issues with Ka’Chava. It affects the cost per serving as well as the calorie count. It's also accurate to say that many of these ingredients are by definition present in tiny amounts - a practice known as "pixie-dusting" - adding well-known ingredients in negligible amounts to make a product look more impressive than it perhaps is. But more on this later.

Rootana Ingredients

Rootana’s ingredients include oat flour powder, pea protein isolate, coconut sugar, golden milled flaxseed, sunflower seed oil, sunflower lecithin, and some minor ingredients (potassium chloride, magnesium phosphate, guar gum, xanthan gum, and salt.

As with all meal shakes, there are main ingredients and minor ingredients. The main ingredients will make up the vast majority of the formula and are mostly responsible for the protein, fats, carbs, and fiber in each serving. While the minor ingredients contribute more to the stability of the shake.

Oat flour powder and pea protein isolate do most of the heavy lifting in the Rootana shake. Both ingredients are packed full of nutrients and are known to improve multiple health conditions. Oats, for example, can improve gut health, reduce the risk of heart disease, help with weight management, and they are an environmentally friendly food.

Pea protein is the preferred protein source for vegetarians, vegans, and anyone who is looking to improve their protein content without increasing the number of animal products in their diet. Not only is it highly efficient at this, but like oats, pea protein is better for the environment than other protein options.

Rootana uses coconut sugar as a natural alternative to artificial sweeteners. It is also a healthier alternative to regular sugar as it contains more fiber and micronutrients.

Now that we’ve had a look at Rootana’s ingredient list let’s take a look at Ka’chava’s.

Ka’Chava Ingredients

Ka’Chava splits its foods into different blends. You have the plant protein blend, the adaptogen blend, the antioxidant/super-fruit blend, the omega EFA/fiber blend, the super-greens/vegetable blend, the digestive enzyme blend, the probiotics/prebiotics blend, the vitamin blend, and the mineral blend.

You also have some ingredients that are only found in certain flavors. For example, the chocolate Ka’Chava contains cinnamon and cocoa, which are not found in other flavors.

It would take too long to list every single ingredient in the Ka’Chava formula, but as you can probably tell, there is an abundance of them.

Ka’Chava contains five types of plant protein (organic sacha inchi protein, yellow pea protein, organic whole grain brown rice protein, organic amaranth, and organic quinoa). It contains six types of adaptogens. There are nine fruits, four types of fiber, and nineteen vegetables.

Ka’Chava vs Rootana Macros

For this section, we will compare vanilla Ka’Chava vs Cacao flavor Rootana. There is a slight difference in the number of calories in Cacao and Original flavored Rootana (21 calories per serving) and a slight difference in macros.

Rootana contains 400 calories, with 14 grams of fats, 43 grams of carbohydrates, 9.4 grams of fiber, and 20 grams of protein.
Ka’Chava contains 240 calories, with 7 grams of fats, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber, and 25 grams of protein.

While Ka’Chava’s ingredients list is incredibly long and impressive, it directly contributes to the biggest issue that Ka’Chava has, an unbalanced shake. The point of meal shakes is to replace unhealthy meals or meals that take you too long to prepare properly.

The typical lunch will contain between 500 and 700 calories. This is a little on the high side, and many people would look to lower this slightly. That’s why Rootana, and other meal shakes, such as Huel, ensure that their shakes are 400 calories.

This means that the shakes are low enough in calories so that you can maintain a healthy weight but not so low that you are underfed. Ka’Chava contains just 240 calories per serving. This is less than half of a typical lunch.

You can increase the calories by mixing in milk (or vegan alternatives), and you can add other foods such as peanut butter, fruit, vegetables, and seeds. But this not only increases the cost per serving (more on that later), but it also increases the difficulty of preparation.

There’s nothing wrong with that. Making complex and delicious smoothies is a great option, but you shouldn’t have to do this just to get enough calories!

The macro ratio is not ideal either. Ka’Chava contains a lot of protein, not many fats, not many carbohydrates, and a little fiber. This isn’t that big of a deal, provided you are mixing Ka’Chava with other ingredients. But it does mean that doubling your serving size is not really an option.

Rootana, on the other hand, has been made to replace a meal properly. It has a scientifically proven ratio of carbs to fats and protein, and it contains the ideal number of calories for a healthy breakfast or lunch.

The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institutes of Medicine recommend a distribution of 45-65% carbs, 20-35% fats, and 10-35% protein [1].

Ka’Chava is 41% protein, which is great for a high-protein snack, but not so much for a healthy and balanced meal. Ka’Chava specifically states on its packaging that its shakes should be used as part of a healthy and balanced diet, rather than stating they can be used exclusively.

Now, we’ve talked before about how following a meal shake only diet is not necessarily in your best interests. But at least with Huel and Rootana, you could follow it safely. Whereas Ka’Chava does not give you this option due to the very low calorie count, and the unbalanced macronutrient ratio.

What About Taste? Price? Variety?

Price is an interesting one. In the Huel vs Rootana article, we specifically avoided mention of price, taste, and variety due to the subjectiveness of each topic. What constitutes an expensive meal for one will not for the other. As products such as Soylent have shown, the lowest price does not necessarily mean that the shake is better. It can often mean that it uses cheaper ingredients.

However, the price of Ka’Chava is so high that it is worth noting. A single bag of Ka’Chava contains 15 240-cal servings and, at the time of writing, costs $69.95. That’s around $4.66 per serving. Not a terrible price by any means, but when you consider the cost per 100 calories, it makes Ka’Chava very expensive.

As 240 calories is not a big enough serving size to replace a typical lunch, you might consider doubling your serving size. Thus, a 480-calorie meal (that would contain 50 grams of protein, 14 grams of fats, and 48 grams of carbohydrates) would cost $9.33.

To be fair to Ka’Chava, we’ve picked the most expensive option. You can save money with subscriptions, and they sometimes provide lower-priced deals. But however you slice it, Ka’Chava is significantly more expensive than its competitors.

This would be fine if it provided a better nutritional experience, but it doesn’t. Regarding taste, Ka’Chava is one of the nicest-tasting shakes on the market, and it does provide a lot of variety. It is by no means a bad shake. It is just not a good meal replacement shake.

References

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16004827/

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The Nutrition You Need. And Nothing You Don't.

Complete Nutrition: Perfect Balance of Macros, Vitamins & Minerals

No Sweeteners: No Stevia, No Sucralose, No Aspartame, No Acesulfame K, No Monk Fruit

No Half Measures: 400 Calories Per Serving

Tastes Like Real Food: Because It Is Real Food

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The Nutrition You Need. And Nothing You Don't.

Rootana is a 400 calorie complete meal, with 27 vitamins and minerals. And no unwanted extra ingredients.

Complete Nutrition: Perfect Balance of Macros, Vitamins & Minerals

Rootana is a perfectly balanced combination of complex carbohydrates for slow energy release, the right amount of protein for a balanced meal and all 27 vitamins and minerals.

No Half Measures: 400 Calories Per Serving

Many meal shakes are simply too low in calories and too high in protein to be a complete meal, meaning they're little more than a protein shake. Rootana fuels you effectively and has the perfect macro split for a balanced meal.

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No Sweeteners: No Stevia, No Sucralose, No Aspartame, No Acesulfame K, No Monk Fruit

We don't include any sweeteners as they don't provide any nutritional benefit and may have short or long-term unwanted effects. Rootana is naturally flavored with a small amount of coconut sugar.

Tastes Like Real Food: Because It Is Real Food

With no sweeteners like acesulfame k, aspartame, stevia or sucralose (Splenda), Rootana tastes like real food. That means no artificial after taste and none of that bloated feeling that many sweeteners cause.