Whether you’re trying to revamp your diet, get in better shape by increasing your physical activity, support better digestion, or even add some nutrients to your diet, it can be challenging to know where to begin. Some of the best ways to improve your health involve consuming fruits and vegetables; improving your digestion, reaching or maintaining a healthy weight, and increasing your physical activity – but can a dietary supplement like Thrive vs It works really do all of that?
We’ll investigate just how nutritional supplements like Thrive Boost from the Thrive brand and It Works! Greens are designed, how they can support your nutritional and lifestyle health goals, and which one is the better product.
Topic Contents
Main Differences Between Thrive Boost vs It Works! Greens
The main differences between Thrive Boost vs It Works! Greens are:
- Thrive Boost comes in powder and there are 30 packages in a box, whereas It Works! Greens come in powder and there are no defined amount of drinks you can make with it.
- Thrive Boost costs anywhere from $40, whereas It Works! Greens costs around $60 per package.
- Thrive Boost results can be visible after 8 weeks, whereas with It Works! Greens the results can be visible after 2 weeks of regular consumption.
What is Thrive Boost and It Works! Greens?
If you’re like many people looking to improve or just give a little boost to your overall health and energy levels, you may have heard of products like Thrive Boost and It Works! Greens and either has no idea what they are, or are even a little skeptical of them.
Basically, both products are a powdered mix of superfood greens, vitamins like vitamin C, minerals, and some form of probiotics and or enzymes.
The idea is that you can simply mix the blend into the beverage of your choice and get a powerful punch of nutrition, even on the go. We’ll look a little more into the actual ingredient list, claims and reality, but in a nutshell, they’re both instance drink mixes meant to enhance your overall health and well being.
Aren’t There Many Superfood Drink Mixes?
Yes, in fact. The market for superfood beverages appears to only be growing. In the category of specialty beverages, it’s one of the leading sellers. Superfood drinks are often listed alongside other drinks with what is termed ‘functional’ ingredients; that is, ingredient list that is specifically meant to support or improve your health.
In the past few years, superfood products as a whole have increased an incredible two hundred and two percent worldwide, leading to an inundation of everything from superfood drink mixes like Thrive Boost and It Works! Greens to nutritional bars and even baked good supplemental with superfoods.
In fact, chances are, no matter your level of interest, that you’ve at very least come across some kind of superfood product.
What is a Superfood?
A superfood is one of those terms that is nebulous in nature and can easily get misconstrued. You may even think a superfood is a special category in of itself when in fact it is foods you might normally be eating anyway.Superfoods include an array of fruits and vegetables, as well as select dairy and fish products that are known to be rich in antioxidants, healthy fats, vitamins, and or phytochemicals.
In fact, superfoods do not have a strict definition but is the general idea of consuming nutrient-rich food that have been known to support overall health, weight maintenance, digestion, and energy levels. Most superfoods have been linked to lower risks of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, and type two diabetes.
In short, there is no strict classification of superfoods, nor is there a single superfood to single-handedly help you obtain your health goals. Rather, it’s a variety of nutritious foods that give you that overall health benefit. Hence that’s why these blends tend to contain not a single, but many ‘super foods’.
What Does the Research Say About Superfoods?
When it comes to the research behind superfoods, it’s neither entirely conclusive nor completely dismissive. In fact, it depended on each superfood how much claims matched to the hype, but the leading dietician involved with the study, undertaken by Pennsylvania State University, noted that all of the foods included were regardless overall beneficial are part of your healthy diet.
Here are the results, based upon each ‘superfood’ tested:
- Goji Berries only have notable projected benefits at very high levels of concentrate
- Cocoa has a correlation with improved cardiovascular health
- Oily fish reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease
- Green tea, which had been correlated body weight loss and reduced cancer risks, still lacks specific evidence
- Cruciferous vegetables have been linked to reduced cancer rates
- Garlic continues to be correlated with a slew of benefits, including lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and overall improved cardiovascular health
- Beetroot and celery are linked to lower blood pressure and blood sugar
- Wheatgrass and pomegranate have no firm correlation with projected health benefits
Of course, that isn’t to say one study should be taken alone as the complete profile of superfoods. Rather, looking at many studies in general, we see similar trends. Some other sources, including Medical News Today, have taken together research and correlated these superfoods with the reduction of free radicals in the body, as well as lower risks of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
What conclusions, then, can we draw about whether or not superfoods are really worth the hype? Essentially while there is no one superfood, a combination of these foods regularly can certainly protect against certain health conditions, and support overall well-being. While no one superfood can resolve or completely prevent a health issue, a steady diet of them can reduce your risk for an array of conditions, most notably heart disease and secondary diabetes.
Benefits of a Nutritional Dietary Supplement like Thrive Boost or It Works! Green?
Eating fruits and vegetables packed with nutrients and phytonutrients is, rest assured, one of the best things you can do for your health. While USDA recommendations suggest you eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day, research points to even more health benefits when come as high as ten or more servings.
The problem? It’s likely you’re not getting near that much. Nine out of ten Americans don’t get even the minimum recommended daily intake, even from the form of alternative options like fruit and vegetable juices. And even if you do, it’s possible you’re missing out on variety. The key to the full benefit of superfoods is a high concentration, a blend, and a regular intake. That can be hard to achieve even for someone aware of their daily intake.
Thrive Boost and It Works! Green are far more convenient and a more reliable source of consistent intake of so-called superfoods. They are not meant to replace fruits and vegetables in your diet, but to act as a multivitamin by providing extra nutrients you may be missing or deficient in. And in some cases, people may also use these mixes to support body weight loss or digestive health.
What About Probiotics and Enzymes?
Enzymes and probiotics both occur naturally in foods but you may benefit from supplements if you do not consume those foods.
However, if you don’t suffer from digestive problems or disorders, you also do not necessarily need a supplement. While it is not harmful, it may not be a top priority for most healthy individuals. Natural sources of probiotics include yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso soup, and other fermented foods. If you’re interested in cleansing, though, you may look into other products.
How to Decide Between Thrive Boost and It Works! Greens?
On the surface, both supplements provide a blend of superfood concentrates and a way to supplement your healthy diet. But which one is more worth your money?
In order to help you make a decision, we’ll be taking a look at a few simple criteria that you should consider for any superfood supplement:
- Price and varieties
- Active ingredients
- Extra ingredients
- Easy to use
- Stated benefits
- Consumer Ratings
- Overall value
When determining overall value, we’ll look at the factors listed above to determine how much each product lives up to its own hype, and what it provides to the consumer overall.
1. Price
At first glance, it’s hard to determine just how much Thrive Boost products cost, because before browsing the store online, you’ll be asked to sign up for a customer account. In order to do that, though, you’ll first have to visit and post on their Facebook page, and then invited to finally create a login. The lack of transparency and hassle doesn’t speak well upfront.
It Works! Greens costs sixty-five dollars for thirty single packs, but a special promotion lets you buy it for forty dollars. You can also buy a larger container, for fifty-five dollars retail or thirty-three dollars with the special promotion.
Winner: It Works! Greens. There is not much competition here–not telling customers a price upright is not the best thing in terms of transparency, and the current promotions make at least trying the drink supplements a bit more affordable.
2. Varieties
Thrive Boost comes in convenient single-drink pouches, designed to mix it in a thrive shake with other ingredients while you’re on the go. It appears to come in a single berry flavor.It Works! Greens as we mentioned, comes in single drink pouches as well as a larger container. Flavors include berry and chocolate, and there are always chew supplements if you prefer.
Winner: It Works! Greens. Once again, there isn’t much competition. While Thrive Boost has a single berry flavor, It Works! Greens has also a chocolate flavor, as well as different ways to buy and enjoy.
3. Active Ingredients
By active ingredients, in this case, we mean the superfood blend itself. Of all the criteria, this is perhaps the most important; what exactly are you getting in your drink mixes?
Thrive Boost drink mixes include vegetables, fruits, herbs, enzymes, and probiotic blends.
- Vegetable: Blend includes Spirulina, Alfalfa leaf powder, Wheatgrass powder, Barley grass powder, Beetroot powder and juice, Nova Scotia Dulce leaf powder, and Ginger root powder.
- Fruit: Includes Acerola fruit extract, Apple fiber, Citrus bioflavonoids complex, Raspberry fruit powder and, Bilberry fruit extract.
- Herbal: includes Green Tea leaf powder, Licorice root extract, Flaxseed powder, Echinacea Purpurea aerial parts powder, Eleuthero plant extract, Milk Thistle extract, Suma root powder, Astragalus root extract, Ginkgo plant extract, Ashwagandha root, and Grape seed extract.
- Probiotics: include L. casei ssp. Rhamnosus, B. breve, B. longum, S. thermophilus, L. acidophilus, L. casie, and L. bulgaricus.
- Enzymes: Amylase, cellulase, protease, lipase, lactase, maltase.
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It Works! Greens is a bit different. Instead of many blends, there are two major superfood blends- greens and a proprietary blend.
- Greens blend includes blue-green algae, parsley leaf, barley grass, spinach leaf, alfalfa extract, green tea leaf, watercress, rosemary leaf, plantain leaf, dandelion leaf, and green tea extract.
- Proprietary blend includes (depending slightly on flavor) ingredients such as pea and apple fiber, vegetable blend, turmeric, blackberry extract, and cranberry. The vegetable blend includes superfoods such as carrots, blueberries, orange juice, tomato juice, cruciferous vegetables, and lemon juice.
Winner: Thrive Boost for digestive benefits; It Works! Greens overall
This category was a bit harder to call. Probiotic and enzyme blends can aid and improve digestion, so if you have digestive issues, Thrive Boost may be helpful.
Overall, however, It Works! Greens provides a greater variety of superfoods. Mostly leaf powders and berries with some greens are incorporated in the Thrive Boost blend, but the addition of cruciferous and colorful produce in It Works! gives it an edge in terms of nutritional variety.
4. Other Ingredients
There isn’t much to worry about here. Both products do not contain artificial colors or sweeteners or other preservatives. Juice provides some sweetness for It Works! While Thrive Boost uses a touch of Stevia.
5. Easy to Use
Both are simple to use and come in portable single packages.
6. Stated Benefits
Thrive Boost markets itself as a pH balancing mix for a nutritionally dense drink, rich in superfoods and phytonutrients. It goes so far as to claim to help with a variety of health goals, including body weight management, increased energy levels, strengthened immune system, cleansing, and ph level support.
Can it do all of that? Well, looking at research and what we know, partially. Consuming superfoods can help increase energy levels and support a stronger immune system.
It is possible it can help with weight management, but that normally is also associated with natural fibers; it is unclear if a drink blend like this has the same impact of satiety. As far as ph levels? Nutrient-dense foods and proper sleep are the best way to balance them. So yes, it can aid them–but it does not exclusively do so.
It Works! Greens also claims to restore Ph levels, provide nutrients and antioxidants for overall health, and detoxify your body. Evidence around detoxifying the body may be specious, but It Works! for the most part, markets itself in terms of its nutrients rather than specific promises.
Winner: It Works! Greens. Yes, Thrive Boost does promise more–but the more promises, the more skeptical we are. That’s because, while these blends may be correlated with , or support some of these health goals, they cannot achieve them on their own. Still, in terms of health benefits, they are not entirely on a different footing. And strangely the major upside of Thrive Boost over its competition; that is, the probiotic blend, also happens to be the least marketed.
7. Customer Ratings
Even if what it says on the package sounds reassuring, you still want to see how pleased consumers actually are with the product. The problem? Since you can only buy Thrive Boost on their company site, via invitation, there isn’t much in the way of customer reviews.
It Works!, on the other hand, is also listed on Amazon. The berry thirty counts received a three out of five-star rating among one hundred and thirty-three customer reviews. While that is not the best rating possible, it is also far from terrible, meaning that a majority of customers were at least somewhat pleased with the supplement.
Winner: It Works! Greens. With next to no actual customer reviews to look at for Thrive Boost, we simply cannot draw conclusions about the overall consensus, if anything. It Works! on the other hand, did seem to at least modestly please most consumers.
8. Overall Value
When it comes down to overall value, normally you should take a number of factors into consideration, including perceived benefits, variety, cost, and ingredients. In this case, we have to recommend you try [It Works! Greens over Thrive Boost.
While Thrive Boost does come with a larger system of products, we like to see more variety and transparency with the weight loss supplement itself. While the probiotic blend is admirable, you can get naturally occurring enzymes from foods you eat. If you’re not vegan, there are ample probiotics in a number of dairy products as well; even if you are vegan, you can look into a variety of fermented foods.
It Works! Greens also offers more variety in their fruit and vegetable blend which makes for a greater diversity of nutrients.
FAQs
Question: Is Thrive Boost still available for sale in 2022?
Answer: Yes, the Thrive Boost weight loss supplements are available on the manufacturer’s site, however, the shipment is only to limited locations.
Question: Are there serious side effects from Thrive Boost supplements?
Answer: The main side effects that are registered so far include mild stomach pain, dizziness, and heart palpitations when consumers have taken it on an empty stomach, so it’s always recommended that you have a meal before taking it, instead of using it as a meal replacement.
Question: Is It Works! Greens ingredients all safe?
Answer: FDA usually doesn’t approve working out supplements like It Works! Greens so taking the product should be at your own hand, giving the fact that the company has not issued a complete list with ingredients the products are made of.
Question: Are green superfoods safe for kids and teenagers as well?
Answer: Superfoods are safe for kids and teenagers as long as they are consumed in their original state, other than that, it might not be safe to give young kids and teenagers superfoods that are in form of capsules or powders. You should always consult a medical person before doing this.
Bottom Line
If you’re debating between Thrive Boost vs It Works! Greens pick It Works!. Overall, unless you need a supplement with digestive support, it’s a better value.
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Last updated: December 16, 2019
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