The Protein Works Super Greens is a superfood formula, containing mainly greens ingredients, but also including grasses, fruit, adaptogenic herbs, and algae.
The formula is marketed as a detox shake that will also boost the immune system, by providing a wide range of essential micronutrients needed for the best state of overall health and wellbeing.
The formula is lactose-free, dairy-free, and therefore suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
I’m really keen to take a closer look at this greens formula produced by Protein Works, because as the name so obviously suggests, this brand primarily produces a protein, so it’s going to be interesting to see how this superfood supplement fares.
Are you also keen to take a closer look at this formula, or maybe you want to see an honest review of it before you buy it? Either way, check out my full The Protein Works Super Greens review below.
I tried over 40 brands: check out my round-up of the best super greens on the market!)
What is The Protein Works Super Greens?
The Protein Works website, on initial glance, looks impressive! The landing page is packed with vibrant visuals and a real assortment of products, promos, and information. It definitely makes a powerful first impression.
Looking at the product page for the Super Greens formula, I’m not as impressed as I was with the initial enthusiasm of the brand’s landing page.
The small font, the lack of information about the product’s benefits, and the fact that there aren’t any photos of the ingredients label on the product images aren’t blowing me away!
In fact, I get the feeling straight away that the brand maybe isn’t as transparent as it should be.
Other Greens powders I have reviewed you may be interested in:
Background on The Protein Works
The Protein Works was founded by Mark Coxhead in 2012 and is currently based in the UK. The brand has grown exponentially since then, becoming the official nutrition supplier to Everton Football Club in the UK and distributing supplements to over 30 countries worldwide.
The brand won New Business of the Year at the 2014 National Business Awards in the UK.
As the name suggests, the brand mainly produces a protein, and it produces a protein in lots and lots of different forms, from baking products and snacks to capsules and shakes.
Although, the brand has clearly expanded its product selection, as it now sells super greens formula and herbal extract capsules.
The Protein Works Super Greens Benefits
The Protein Works doesn’t actually provide a lot of information about the benefits that the formula will provide the customer with overall. The brand states that the formula will provide a nutrient boost, packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes, and adaptogens that will boost the immune system.
However, the brand does go into detail about some of the more specific benefits of the formula, in relation to specific ingredients within the formula. Unfortunately, though, the problem is that the brand only provides information about four of the ingredients within the formula (it contains 13 main ingredients).
In detail, the brand talks about the benefits of spirulina, alfalfa, moringa, and kelp, stating that spirulina will support muscle repair, alfalfa will reduce inflammation, moringa will push toxins from the body, and kelp will provide iodine.
This is a disappointing selection of benefits, to be honest, and if the ingredients were sufficiently dosed, there would be a much wider range of benefits that the brand is missing completely.
The Protein Works Super Greens Ingredients
The Protein Works Super Greens formula contains 13 main ingredients, with the additional ingredients for the flavored types of formula. Unfortunately, the ingredients label isn’t fully disclosed.
In fact, there’s a real lack of information! This makes it incredibly difficult to figure out the efficacy of the formula, making the brand seem shady, rather than transparent.
However, more on whether the formula will work or not later. First, let’s look at the ingredients.
- Super Greens Blend – Spirulina Powder, Kale Powder, Wheatgrass Powder, Spinach Powder, Broccoli Powder, Organic Alfalfa Powder, Chlorella (Broken Cell Wall), Beetroot Powder, Moringa Powder, Kelp Powder, Matcha Green Tea, Grape Seed Powdered Extract (95% Proanthocyanidins), Ashwagandha Root Powder.
- Other Ingredients (in the Tropical Punch Flavor) – Flavoring, Sweetener (Sucralose).
- Additional ingredients in the Pomegranate and Cranberry flavor – Acid (Citric Acid), Colors (Beetroot Red, Anthocyanin)
How does The Super Greens Taste?
When it comes to the taste of The Protein Works Super Greens, it’s not that positive! The formula is available in three different flavors – Tropical Punch, Pomegranate, and Cranberry and Unflavored, but none of the flavors are particularly well-loved.
Those that consume the flavored types of formula claim that it tastes sickly sweet but that the grassy greens taste still remains, and those that consume the unflavored formula think it’s too pungent.
Personally, I think the unflavored formula would be palatable for those that are used to drinking super greens drinks, but I’m not pleased about the sucralose, an artificial sweetener, used as a sweetener in the flavored formulas.
Want to enjoy drinking your super greens drink? Check out my round-up of the best tasting super greens to try.
Side Effects
The Protein Works doesn’t give any side effect warnings in relation to the product, but it does recommend not consuming it if you’re breastfeeding.
I would like to add that if you’re suffering from a medical condition, taking medication, pregnant, or under the age of 18, you should consult a doctor before consuming this, and other superfood formulas.
Does The Protein Works Super Greens Work?
The main problem with this formula is the fact that there isn’t a fully disclosed ingredients label, as mentioned briefly already.
If you’re an avid Lifehacker Guy reader, you’ll know how much I dislike proprietary blends in supplements, but one thing that I dislike even more is when there’s no clear amount of information about blends, and we pretty much have both with this formula.
The unflavored formula has no information about the amounts of ingredients, but the flavored types do.
However, it’s not transparent information – the only information the brand provides about the numerical amount of ingredients within the flavored formula is that 80% of the formula is Super Greens Blend.
So, my question is, what makes up the other 20% of the formula?
It must be flavoring and sucralose – not ideal!
Anyway, nonetheless, we have this percentage of information to work with! Having a super green blend (containing 13 ingredients) that takes up 80% of the formula means that in a 9g serving, there would be 7.2g of the blend.
Some of the ingredients within this blend do have standard recommended doses, so looking at those might help us to figure out if the ingredients within the formula are sufficiently dosed.
The spirulina, wheatgrass, chlorella, and ashwagandha within the blend have a combined minimum recommended daily dose of 6.5g, meaning that if these were sufficiently dosed, there’s 1g left for the other 9 ingredients.
Therefore, it’s very unlikely that all of the ingredients within the formula are going to be substantially dosed in the flavored formulas. Perhaps in the unflavored formula, there may be a chance that all of the ingredients are sufficiently dosed.
The Protein Works Super Greens Reviews
The Protein Works Super Green formula is available on Amazon, so we can take a look there at some unbiased customer reviews. The product scores an overall star rating of 4 out of 5 stars, with 75 ratings in total. The taste of the formula is debated, and that’s what most of the negative reviews are regarding – most people aren’t keen!
Let’s take a look at a selection of these reviews below.
In water, it doesn't taste the greatest, the flavor masks any leafy green taste, but can be overpowering and powdery in texture. However, mixed with juice it's quite pleasant. I can see an improvement in my skins texture and appearance. I would recommend this to anyone looking to get more superfood minerals and nutrients into their diet. I take it in the morning. A great addition to my health and beauty routine.5-star reviewer
Not as bad in taste as some make out, but not as good as others make out. For a ‘healthy' treat try mixing a serving into your normal pancake mix.4-star reviewer
The first time I bought this, it was a few years back and it was the unflavoured kind. I hated it – the taste was unbearable. So when I saw they'd brought out some flavored versions I decided to try it again, this time opting for Tropical Punch. No. It's still disgusting. Only, this time it's disgusting, far too artificially sweet and the tropical flavor is reminiscent of cheap squash. You can still taste the garbage/swamp water flavor, the “tropical punch” does nothing to disguise it. So if you're thinking this might be an improvement on the unflavoured, it isn't. It's still as bad. Not even blending it up with a banana helped. I dumped the whole bag down the sink. Even the smell makes me nauseous.1-star reviewer
Money-Back Guarantee / Returns Policy
The Protein Works offers a 365-day guarantee, which they call a ‘Life Guarantee’. However, if you’ve only taken a few scoops of the formula, you’ll get a full refund, but if you’ve had more, the weight of the product you return depends on how much of a refund you will get.
Where to buy Super Greens?
You can buy The Protein Works Super Greens powder from The Protein Works website, on Amazon, and other third party online supplement retailers. If you’re in the UK, you can buy The Protein Works from Holland and Barrett stores.
Is It Worth The Price?
The Protein Works Super Greens are available in 250g, 500g, and 1kg pouches. For the sake of comparison with other formulas on the market that are typically sold in 30 serving tubs or pouches, I’ll be looking at the price of the 250g pouch, which contains 33 servings.
One 250g pouch costs £15.99 (approximately $21.15), which works out at a cost per serving of £0.48 (approximately $0.64).
This is an incredibly cheap cost per serving in comparison to other formulas on the market.
However, with no information about the amounts of any of the ingredients (not even a proprietary blend amount), it’s impossible to tell if the ingredients are sufficiently dosed, meaning that it’s probably worth this price – it’s not a high-quality formula so I wouldn’t expect it to have a high price point.
The Bottom Line
I was so interested in taking a look at this formula, not only because it’s popular, but because it’s produced by a brand that primarily creates protein products, so I was eager to see if they actually hit the mark with a superfood formula.
Honestly, I’m left feeling quite underwhelmed, and this is due to the fact that the formula doesn’t have a fully disclosed ingredients label, and (for the flavored formulas) 20% of the formula is made up of an artificial sweetener and flavorings.
To me, adding an artificial sweetener to the formula takes away the whole purpose of creating a natural formula.
Although this supplement is extremely cheap, I would recommend upping your budget slightly to make sure you’re purchasing a super greens formula that’s actually going to provide you with benefits, and not supply you with artificial sweetener!
LifeHacker Guy Greens Recommendation
Some Call This An "Extreme" Step...
Most super greens supplements are disappointing.
I learned this the hard way. After creating this blog in 2018, I spent months buying and testing all the most popular brands.
I wasn’t happy with the results so I did something you might call "extreme"....
In 2019 I created my own brand that ticks every single box of what I look for in a super greens product:
- 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 immunity, boost mental clarity and shake off brain fog - 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.