Athletic Greens was first launched in 2010 and has since grown exponentially into one of the leading companies for green superfood powders.
If you’re into fitness and what you put into your body, then there’s a chance that you might already know the brand’s name.
Many health and wellbeing influencers have worked with Athletic Greens in the past, posting pictures of the company’s products to their thousands of followers.
One common marketing point that Athletic Greens have adopted is that they are an ‘all-in-one nutritional insurance’.
Athletic Greens is a product that states its ability to support your body’s energy, immunity, liver function, brain function, hormone function, gut health, and the body’s detoxifying process. That’s a lot of pressure to put on one product!
There are hundreds of green powders available, but Athletic Greens is probably the name on everybody’s lips and most widely known. Due to its positive reputation, the company has been able to charge premium prices for a bag of this green powder.
But is this the best green powder out there, or have we all fallen victim to the clever marketing strategies and influencer sponsorships? Let’s find out.
Athletic Greens Ingredients
As with anything that you’re putting into your body, you should be looking at the ingredients list first.
You should know exactly what you’re putting into your body when it comes to protein and superfood powders, as you never know what the manufacturer could be bulking it out with to save on manufacturing costs.
Athletic Greens has 75 ingredients within it, which is more than most (if not all) other green powders on the market. Now, a list of 75 ingredients might end up being a blur to you if you tried to read them all at once, so we’ve made it a little easier for you.
Below are at 75 ingredients of Athletic Greens, broken up into four categories to make it easier for us to explain their benefits.
Alkaline And Nutrient-dense Raw Superfoods
Organic spirulina, lecithin, organic apple powder, inulin, organic wheatgrass juice powder (leaf), organic alfalfa powder (leaf), organic chlorella powder, organic barley leaf powder, carica papaya powder (fruit), pineapple concentrate.
Bilberry fruit extract, beet root powder, rosehip powder, carrot root powder, spinach leaf powder, cocoa bean polyphenol extract, grape seed extract, green tea leaf extract, licorice root powder, goji extract, ginger rhizome powder, slippery elm bark powder, kelp powder.
Nutrient-dense Natural Herbs, Antioxidants, And Extracts
Alkaline pea protein isolate, citrus bioflavonoids extract, globe artichoke extract, citric acid, rhodiola rosea extract, eleutherococcus senticosus root extract, gotu kola extract.
Rosemary extract, milk thistle seed extract, alpha-lipoic acid, ashwagandha root extract, dandelion root extract, hawthorn root extract, beta glucans, policosanol, coenzyme Q-10, stevia.
Digestive Enzymes And Super Mushrooms
Astragalus root extract, bromelain, burdock root powder, reishi mushroom powder, shiitake mushroom powder.
Dairy-free Probiotics
Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Bifidobacterium Bifidum.
There are no sensitive ingredients within Athletic Greens that some people would need to steer clear of. For example, there is no gluten, dairy, corn, eggs, peanuts, lactose, sucrose, dextrose, herbicides, pesticides, GMOs, preservatives, artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners, or animal by-products.
People on almost any diet could consume Athletic Greens without breaking any rules. This makes it a great green powder for almost anyone to try.
Athletic Greens Daily Nutrition Values
As well as looking into the ingredients list, you should also consider the nutrients that you’re getting from your consumables.
For every serving of Athletic Greens, which is one heaped tablespoon, you’ll be consuming the following nutrients:
- 40 calories
- 4 grams of protein
- 4.8 grams of carbohydrates, 1.9 grams of which is fiber
We also enjoy looking at the micronutrients of consumables. These are typically forgotten about, but with such amazing health benefits, we want to make sure that we are getting our correct daily values.
For example, Athletic Greens contains all the zinc that you need for the day in just one serving. It also contains 20% of your daily need of manganese and chromium, and 35% of your needed selenium. When it comes to mineral micronutrients, this is where Athletic Greens falls short.
On the other hand, the amount of vitamins in Athletic Greens is impressive. You’ll be getting 700% of your daily vitamin C need, as well as 100% of most of your B vitamins. Also, 80% of the vitamin A total and more than 300% of vitamin E.
Considering that most people forget about all of the vitamins and minerals they need to consume each day, having them all in one green powder can be a great benefit.
Athletic Greens Health Benefits
Speaking of benefits, how can Athletic Greens enhance the health and wellbeing of your body and mind? Unfortunately, there hasn’t been enough research conducted on green powders to make a confident statement on their health benefits.
However, a few studies have indicated that green powders can reduce blood pressure. That is pretty much where research stops favoring the health benefits of green powders.
With that being said, we can draw our own conclusions from Athletic Greens ingredients and micronutrients lists.
With this green powder containing so many vitamins, it is likely that this supplement will aid your energy throughout the day, help maintain immunity and gut health, as well as many of the other powers that Athletic Greens claim to have.
There are three main categories that the ingredients in Athletic Greens can be broken down into: Antioxidants, digestive health, and adaptogens.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants offer a wide range of benefits for the mind and body, and green superfoods tend to house a lot of them. Antioxidants can help to prevent or slow down damage to cells in the body, and therefore have some power to slow down aging.
Sadly, Athletic Greens has not stated exactly how many antioxidants are in a serving, so we can’t say for sure how good the quantity is. However, looking at the ingredients, we can assume that it is a decent amount that you otherwise wouldn’t be getting in your diet.
Digestive Health
Athletic Greens contains probiotic bacteria which has been shown to offer the consumer better immunity and even lower anxiety levels. Some of the ingredients, such as burdock root, are considered food for the probiotic bacteria, which is also linked to better digestive health.
The formula also includes ingredients such as bromelain which can improve the absorption of nutrients.
Adaptogens
Finally, this type of ingredient helps the body respond to stress, helping your body to recover quickly from a tough day at the gym or office. This can help you feel better in less time as well as helping your endurance in the long run.
Athletic Greens Taste
A common disadvantage of green powders tends to be that they taste horrible. However, most users will agree that Athletic Greens tastes surprisingly nice.
Even if you wouldn’t go as far as to say that the taste is nice, we can bet that it’s not the worst green powder you’ve ever tried. You should be able to drink it without holding your nose.
The nicer taste from this product comes from the papaya, pineapple, and vanilla ingredients. The ginger within the formula also adds a nice spicy and sweet element which makes this feel like a real drink instead of a supplement that you have to force down.
Athletic Greens Price
You can either purchase Athletic Greens as a one-off or you can opt to enter their subscription model, which offers a discount for monthly shipments.
For the one-off purchases, you’re looking at a price of between $90 and $100. This equates to over $3 a day.
However, if you were to opt for the monthly subscription, you’d be paying between $70 and $80 for a bag. This equates to around $2.50 a day. So, you’ll be saving quite a bit of money if you opt for the monthly subscription plan.
However, even the monthly subscription price is rather high for a green powder. For example, another leading green powder might cost around $30 to $35 for a month’s serving. This is over double the price of a bag of Athletic Greens.
With that being said, most of the other green powders on the market don’t feature as many beneficial ingredients and nutrients that Athletic Greens do. They’ll also typically only feature around a third as many probiotics as Athletic Greens do.
Plus, if you’re taking Athletic Greens as a supplement, you won’t need to pay out for other certain other supplements such as vitamins C, B, K2, zinc, antioxidants, and probiotics.
Overall
So, what’s the final verdict? We think that Athletic Greens is a great supplement with plenty of health benefits and a decent taste – if you can stand the high price tag.
If you’re looking for something cheaper, there are certainly other alternatives out there for you to try.
However, you won’t find the same health benefits or number of excellent ingredients to aid your body in cheaper alternatives.
If you have the means, we definitely recommend Athletic Greens as a must-have green powder supplement.