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In case you missed it, drinking extremely off-putting green water—AKA greens powders—is very in right now. Greens powders, which look worse than they taste, are what they sound like—water-soluble powder that brings a truckload of the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables to a glass of water. And the current king of the market, rightly or not, is AG1, or Athletic Greens.
AG1, which launched in 2010, is essentially a powdered super vitamin you dump into water and shake up before consuming. Unlike a standard multivitamin, though, the stuff in AG1 is derived primarily from whole foods, and the benefits are further reaching than a multivitamin. At the same time, the cost is—how can I put this?—extremely high relative to multivitamins and greens powders elsewhere on the market. This has led to people asking if AG1 is really worth it, and an increase in brands advertising themselves as AG1 substitutes. Here’s everything you need to find a quality AG1 alternative that fits your budget and health goals.
Editor’s note: It’s always wise to seek information on any particular supplement with your primary care physician before buying. Though the vast majority are perfectly safe to take recreationally, everyone is different and some may affect other prescription medications.Your doctor is best positioned to give you personal guidance on the subject.
My Experience
Hone Health is a team of nutrition-obsessed journalists, editors, fitness junkies, and product reviewers. I’ve been needling, prying apart, and reviewing products for seven years now, and I’ve spent days researching AG1, Athletic Greens alternatives, and greens powders, including having already reviewed AG1. I’ve also tried a number of other greens powders (many of which appear in this guide), and can vouch for taste, texture, and overall value.
Editor’s note: It’s always wise to seek information on any particular supplement with your primary care physician before buying. Though the vast majority are perfectly safe to take recreationally, everyone is different and some may affect other prescription medications.Your doctor is best positioned to give you personal guidance on the subject.
MORE SUPPLEMENTS
The Best AG1 (Athletic Greens) Alternatives
Live it Up Supergreens
Closest AG1 Alternative
Live it Up’s (formerly Enso Superfoods) AG1 alternative is pretty close to AG1 itself, from an ingredient makeup and branding point of view. Common greens powder ingredients like spirulina, alfalfa, broccoli, and barley grass make up a big portion of the Live it Up product, as well as less common items like peppermint leaf extract, ginger root, parsley root powder, and burdock root.
On the subject of peppermint leaf, you may be surprised to find this greens powder is peppermint-flavored. It doesn’t say so on the packaging or in the marketing material, but it is inarguably a peppermint-forward drink, which is a welcome change from most other greens powders I’ve tried, which fall somewhere between dirt-flavored and the taste of Alka Seltzer. This is a big plus for me. It blends very well, too, so you get less grittiness than you might with other greens powders, including AG1.
There are also probiotics and digestive enzymes present—there are fewer probiotics than AG1 has, but more digestive enzymes—which I see as a side benefit of taking greens powders, rather than their core function. Not because those things aren’t important, but because they’re simply not the reason to seek out greens powders.
One big downside: the cost per bag is much higher when not buying through a subscription. Buying a single bag costs $60, while a subscription gets you the same thing for $40. Most brands offer small discounts for refilling orders, but a near 50 percent price difference is brutal.
- Notable: Minty taste, much cheaper purchased via subscription
- Cost per serving: $2
- Servings: 30
Garden of Life Perfect Food Green Superfood
Best affordable AG1 alternative
Garden of Life is, generally speaking, among the most affordable (and available) supplement brands. This is probably because it’s owned by the absolutely massive Nestle, where as many greens powder supplement makers are much smaller operations.
This Garden of Life Mix is a four-part blend—green juice blend, fruit-vegetable blend, sprout blend, and probiotic-enzyme blend—of dozens of ingredients, ranging from organic kamut grass juice to lactobacillus plantarum. All greens and fruits in the mix are organic (per the name), which is common for the more premium option in the greens powder category, but less so for a product that costs $1.06 per serving.
The greens payload is larger than some brands, like Bloom, but definitely doesn’t reach the heights of AG1 (there’s a reason it’s significantly less expensive). From a drinkability perspective, it’s decidedly average. The flavor is fine—there’s a small amount of pineapple flavoring added—and the solubility is slightly below average, with the powder regularly clumping a bit. Ultimately, if you want to boost your greens intake on the cheap or simply see how this kind of product works with your body, Garden of Life is a good place to start. If you like it, graduating to a more premium product like Enso or AG1 may be worth it; if not, you’re only out $30 or so.
- Notable: Extremely affordable, no sea vegetables (for those who are allergic)
- Cost per serving: $1.06
- Servings: 30
Bloom Greens & Superfoods
Best-tasting AG1 alternative
Bloom greens powders are lighter on greens and nutrients than other AG1 alternatives, but it does taste great and comes in at $1.20 per serving, or almost one-third the cost of AG1. This makes it better suited to people looking for some simple, low-level diet fortification rather than really pushing the health dial.
One thing Bloom does well is flavor. There are six flavors available, which is approximately five more than most brands offer, and the mango option I chose was just right—not overly sweet, but still there. The only negative flavor note I tasted was that very specific stevia extract sweetness—my brain just knows that’s not sugar, and it leaves a slight aftertaste which I didn’t love.
- Notable: Flavor options, lower volume of actual greens
- Cost per serving: $1.20
- Servings: 30
Naked Nutrition Naked Greens
Best all-natural option
Naked Nutrition’s greens powder is, well, naked. The brand as a whole was built around ingredient transparency, which translates to a product that is plain, simple, and has all the stuff a person could want in a greens powder. The base is a blend of items that, at one point or another, have been the subject of health obsession—think broccoli, alfalfa, kale, spinach, spirulina, and wheatgrass. There are no artificial sweeteners or additives, and it’s keto-friendly, vegan, soy-free, non-dairy, and made without gluten.
Interestingly, it’s also got a pair of adaptogens thrown into the mix—ashwagandha, an evergreen shrub that makes your brain and body more resilient to stress, and panax ginseng, an herbal remedy connected to improved brain function, immune system strength, and some blood sugar issues.
When trying it, I found the flavor and grittiness of the drink to be slightly annoying, but, seeing as none of the AG1 alternatives or greens powders generally taste good (spoiler), that’s not a dealbreaker for me.
At just over $1 per serving, it’s effectively 70 percent cheaper than AG1, and with a far more understandable ingredient list. Admittedly, AG1 has a lot more stuff in it, but if you’re trying to supplement a regular diet that’s low on vegetables, a dollar per serving is hard to beat.
- Notable: Ashwagandha and panax ginseng adaptogens
- Cost per serving: $1.09
- Servings: 35
Amazing Grass Green Superfood
Best AG1 alternative for gut health
If gut health is your primary concern, Amazing Grass’s greens powder is worth seeking out. The greens powder boasts a whopping 426mg helping of prebiotic, probiotic, and digestive enzyme per scoop, and manages to keep its cost per serving to $1.30—dropping by 20 percent if you’re willing to subscribe.
Apart from that, Amazing Grass’s product is a fairly typical greens powder. It’s plant-based, non-GMO, gluten-free, and there’s no added sugar. There are alternative flavors—chocolate and berry—and it’s rich in fiber from its high flax seed and apple pectin load. Reviews indicate a mixed opinion on taste and grittiness, which, all things considered, is fairly normal for greens powders—some customers simply won’t enjoy the naturally grassy flavor and sandy texture present in most.
- Notable: Significantly more focus on pre/probiotics and digestive enzymes
- Cost per serving: $1.30
- Servings: 30
What are Greens Powders? Are Greens Powders Worth It?
Greens powders are nutrient-rich dietary supplements containing a blend of greens and other superfoods, minerals, and occasionally pre/probiotics and added digestive enzymes. They’re rich in vitamins, micronutrients, and antioxidants, too. So why isn’t everyone taking a greens powder supplement?
For one, they can be expensive. Athletic Greens will run you more than $3 a serving, and even though most greens powders aren’t that pricey, Athletic Greens is the most prominent brand. They’re also not always pleasant to drink—the powder is mixed in a glass of water, or into a shake, and the flavor is heavy on the grass while the texture leaves something to be desired (think very fine sand in your water).
But the reason they’ve become popular of late is fairly clear: it’s good to get a ton of vegetables and fruits in your body.
“Greens powder supplements could benefit adults with a scarcity of greens in their daily diet. This includes individuals who wish to supplement a healthy diet or those with limited access to fresh produce due to various factors,” Kelsey Costa, RDN, says.
Costa notes that while research aimed specifically at greens powders is scarce, related studies—like this 2009 study (2) on a fruit and vegetable powder’s positive effect on blood pressure outcomes, or this 2013 study (3) showing a similar product’s efficacy as an anti-inflammatory agent—do show promise.
Costa also says greens powders do not replace whole-food plants and fruits in your diet, which should be obvious but bears repeating.
“While greens powders can supplement a diet deficient in leafy green vegetables, they do not replace the nutritional complexity and benefits acquired from eating whole greens. This is because they lack essential dietary fibers and beneficial compounds in whole fruits and vegetables, which can aid in digestion, blood sugar regulation, and overall health.”
