In this review I’ll be comparing Red Tonik vs Opti-Reds 50 to see which of these reds powders has the best ingredients list, pros, cons, and pricing.
Feel free to read my Red Tonik Review here, or my review of Opti-Reds 50 here.
If you want to know how these two measure up, however, keep reading.
What To Look For In A Reds Powder
Reds powders get their name from their characteristic red color.
They often feature a combination of beets and red fruits or veggies.
They may also be rich in adaptogens.
Reds superfoods powders are designed to improve athletic performance and circulation.
What Is Red Tonik?
Red Tonik is one of the newer reds powders on the market today.
It only has 13 ingredients — not many, compared to many alternatives — but each of these is present in clinically-backed quantities.
Pros
- 100% transparent ingredients
- Keto, paleo, vegan, and vegetarian-friendly
- Industry-leading 1-year money-back guarantee
- Independently lab-tested
- cGMP-friendly
Cons
- Somewhat pricey
- Doesn’t yet have high-volume customer reviews
Use code: RT11 for 11% Off
Full disclosure:
I personally designed Red Tonik after being let down by industry practices one too many times.
More specifically, I noticed that almost all reds powders on the market today place their active ingredients into proprietary blends.
That means consumers just can’t know exactly how much of ingredient XYZ they’re getting.
Not good!
Opti-Reds 50: What Is It?
Opti-Reds 50 is a reds powder made by one of the industry’s most established brands, 1st Phorm.
As makers of dozens of health and wellness-oriented supplements, 1st Phorm has poured a lot of time and attention into 1st Phorm.
Opti-Reds 50 contains — you guessed it — 50 hand-picked ingredients designed to combat inflammation, oxidation, and low energy.
1st Phorm recommends that you combine Opt-Reds 50 with their complementary greens powder, Opti-Greens 50 (feel free to read my review of the latter one here).
Both Opti-Greens and Opti-Greens have rebranded recently.
They’re not available in a much more upscale pouch.
Pros
- Huge volume of positive customer reviews
- From a trusted brand
- Diverse ingredients
Cons
- Mediocre returns policy
- Lack of ingredient transparency
- Somewhat expensive
I’ve also compared Bulletproof Greens with Opti-Greens 50 if you’re interested.
Red Tonik vs Opti-Reds 50: Ingredients Overview
Red Tonik Ingredients List
As we alluded to above, Red Tonik only has 13 active ingredients.
Each of them, however, is present in a clinically-backed quantity.
- Beetroot (1.5 grams)
- Cordyceps Mycelium Extract (1 gram)
- Tumeric Root Extract (500mg)
- Ginger Root Extract (100mg)
- Grape Seed Extract (200mg)
- Trans-Reservatrol (150mg)
- Tart Cherry Fruit Powder (500mg)
- Cranberry Fruit Extract (500mg)
- Pomegranate Fruit Powder (250mg)
- Goji Fruit Powder (250mg)
- Blueberry Fruit Powder (150mg)
- Raspberry Fruit Powder (100mg)
- Strawberry Fruit Powder (100mg)
Here is the full ingredient label (with no proprietary blends in sight!):
Check out how Red Tonik compares to other red superfood supplements:
Opti-Reds 50 Ingredients List
Opti-Reds takes a drastically different approach to active ingredients.
Their reds powder manages to pack in a whopping 50 active ingredients.
Unfortunately, these 50 ingredients are present within — you guessed it — proprietary blends.
You’ll find three blends here: a Cardio Health Blend, an Antioxidant Complex, and a Digestive Aid Blend.
1st Phorm’s reds powder is so diverse that customers must take 2 scoops daily, not the 1-scoop industry standard.
Cardio Health Blends (6,166mg)
Beet, sweet potato, Cabbage
PhytoPhorm Antioxidant Blend (1,058mg)
Coffea Arabica Extract, Green Tea Extract, Broccoli Sprout, Onion Extract, Apple Extract, Quercetin, Acerola Extract, Tomato, Broccoli, Acai, Basil, Cinnamon, Garlic, Oregano, Turmeric, Carrot, Elderberry, Mangosteen, Camu Camu, Blackberry, Blackcurrant Extract, Blueberry Extract, Raspberry, Spinach, Chokeberry, Kale, Sweet Cherry, Bilberry Extract, Brussels Sprout.Banana, Cranberry, Grape Seed Extract, Apricot, Kiwi, Mango, Orange, Pineapple, Strawberry, Tart Cherry, Goji, Pomegranate
Digestive Aid Blend (940mg)
AncienTrim™ (Amaranth, Buckwheat, Millet, Quinoa, Chia), Apple Fiber
As you can see, a lot is going on here.
Opt-Reds’ Digestive Aid Blend even features a proprietary blend within a proprietary blend!
While it’s clear that this product contains an almost endless variety of nutrients, many of these nutrients are likely only present in small quantities.
After all, each serving of Opti-Reds 50 contains only 28 calories!
Here is the full ingredient label:
Red Tonik vs Opti-Reds 50 : Top Benefits
Red Tonik Top Benefits
Red Tonik’s blend of therapeutically-dosed ingredients means it may be able to:
- Improve overall cardiovascular health
- Boost your body’s nitric oxide levels
- Lower your body’s ‘bad’ cholesterol levels
- Improve overall antioxidant status
- Improve your daily energy levels
- Lower chronic inflammation
- Improve innate immunity
How can you be certain Red Tonik does all this?
Because the ingredients responsible for each benefit are fully disclosed.
Opti-Reds 50 Top Benefits
Like other reds powders, Opti-Reds 50 purports to reduce inflammation, ward off damaging free radicals, and boost your body’s nitric oxide production.
N02, in turn, can relax blood vessels enough to normalize blood pressure and support overall circulatory health. (Source)
But there’s a serious barrier to bringing this theory to practice:
I don’t know how much beetroot is in Opti-Reds!
1,000mg?
5,900mg?
10mg?
While these are drastic examples, I can’t rule out any of them.
Opti-Reds’ Digestive Aid Blend suffers from the same type of problem.
This patented blend is powered by AncienTrim™ (yes, a blend within a blend) and serves to add some fiber to Opti-Reds, but with a combined dosage of less than a gram, it’s not clear if such a small amount of fiber is actually doing anything.
Red Tonik vs Opti-Reds 50 : How Do They Taste?
Red Tonik Taste
I really like the cranberry-infused taste of Red Tonik — I designed it, after all.
Yet not even Red Tonik’s taste can satisfy everybody.
Most customers like it, but those who don’t have had some success masking its taste with orange juice or a smoothie blend.
Opti-Reds 50 Taste
Most customers describe Opti-Reds’ taste as ‘okay.’
It has a berry taste that doesn’t seem to be too sweet.
Red Tonik vs Opti-Reds 50: Where to Buy
You can buy Red Tonik on their website here.
Opti-Reds is available on the 1st Phorm official website either as a standalone product or as part of various combo packs, including a “Daily stack”, “Level up stack” and “Ultimate fat loss stack”.
Red Tonik vs Opti-Reds 50: Are They Reasonably Priced?
Red Tonik Pricing and Refund Policy
I’ll be the first to admit that Red Tonik’s price falls on the pricey side.
Discounts are available if you decide to buy in bulk, however:
- $77 per month or $2.56/serving
- $197 per 3 months or $2.18/serving (plus free shipping)
- $337 per 6 months or $1.85/serving (plus free shipping)
While Red Tonik is somewhat pricey, it also has an industry-leading returns policy.
Anyone who’s not fully satisfied with Red Tonik has a full year to return it for a full refund (minus the price of shipping).
Opti-Reds 50 Pricing and Refund Policy
Opti-Reds is also slightly on the pricey side, coming in at $64.99 per packet.
Their subscription option, however, allows you to save $10 per packet:
- $64.99 per month or $2.17/serving
- $54.99 per month or $1.83/serving with a subscription
Opti-Reds’ value may be even more tenuous than these figures imply when you consider all the unknowns surrounding its ingredient dosing.
Personally I wouldn’t spend ~$2 a day on a product where I don’t even know what I’m getting.
What Customers Say About Red Tonik and Opti-Reds 50
Red Tonik Top Reviews
Red Tonik is a brand new product, which doesn’t have as many reviews as other reds powders.
Existing reviews are pretty favorable, though.
Andy from the US says:
This is a game changer for my health & fitness.
Meanwhile, Paul from the UK enjoys Red Tonik’s taste and benefits:
Love the colour, the taste. Awesome way to get your beets and berries in one glass!
Opti-Reds 50 Top Reviews
1st Phorm’s website features an incredible 2,600+ customer reviews.
The average review comes in at 4.9 stars out of 5.
Here are the highlights:
Verified buyer Cheryl K loves the flavor and the benefits:
I mix one scoop of this with one scoop of Opti Greens with Naked Whey protein powder; 2 scoops of each are too much at once, so doing this twice per day has worked out well and in the process have lost weight! The flavor from the OptiReds/Greens is good and helping me to take in more protein! I also feel so much better and am more ‘regular!’
But another reviewer really, really doesn’t like the flavor:
Reds = yuck. It doesn't taste like Natural Berry at all (I really hate when a company says berries and it tastes nothing like berries because I love berry-flavored stuff).
I'm going to keep drinking it cause I want to see the effects (same with the greens) but be forewarned…tastes nothing like berries and is horrible (same with the greens)! Very disappointed!
Red Tonik vs Opti-Reds 50: My Verdict
Opti-Reds 50 may be a more established product than Red Tonik, but I find it lacking in several areas.
Opti-Reds really falls short when it comes to ingredient transparency.
It’s one of the few superfood powders I know of that feature proprietary blends within proprietary blends!
I’ll be sticking with Red Tonik and its 100% transparency until Opti-Reds decides to up their game…
LifeHacker Guy Reds Recommendation
I designed Red Tonik after trying over 80 superfood supplements and noticing just how common proprietary blends and other shady marketing were.
Most super reds supplements are disappointing.
In 2022 I created my own super reds brand that ticks every single box of what I look for in a super reds supplement:
- No hidden ingredient amounts - we have full disclosure labelling, so you know EXACTLY whats inside
- Ingredient amounts that make a difference - we include the minimum effective amounts supported by research, and most of the time, MORE
- Ingredients that help cardiovascular health, boost antioxidant intake and help recovery - making for a much more productive and happy lifestyle
No more worrying about ineffective ingredients or too low dosages. I finally have a product I KNOW does the job it’s made to do.
I use it every day and, after years of battling Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), I now have my energy (and my life!) back.
The good news? I made my brand available to the public so you can see and feel the difference for yourself.