Bulk Greens Powder vs Athletic Greens: Which one is best?

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'After two weeks, I have thoughts...'

While most of us should be getting all the nutrients we need from our varied and healthy diets (👀), we often feel like we need an extra helping hand, whether in the form of protein shakes, vitamin supplements or green powders. The latter of that list has become quite common place in the kitchens of the #wellness crew, and one brand is reigning green supreme right now: Athletic Greens, or AG1.

The powder is backed by everyone from scientists to influencers alike, with people praising the green supplement for everything from improving digestion to boosting immunity. WH's very own shopping editor loved the supplement when she tried it too. The only catch? AG1 comes with a hefty price tag. We're talking minimum £79 hefty. Yup.

Now, I don't know about you, but amid a cost of living crisis, dropping that much per month on a greens supplement isn't a priority for me. Between paying for gym memberships and other supplements that I love, my wellness budget is pretty maxed out.

But is it weird to say I'm kind of jealous of the people who were glugging down their green juice, chanting about the benefits online? I too wanted to reap all of these immune-boosting, digestion-supporting rewards.

So, when Bulk's Complete Greens were recommended to me for £9.99 while was doing a restock of my beloved vegan protein powder on Bulk.com, I threw it into my basket to try out. At the time, I was feeling a little stressed out, overworking and getting very run down, so it was the perfect time to the test the potency of a veg-based supplement.

Two weeks later, I've got big thoughts about whether this supplement that's 6x cheaper cheaper than AG1 works.

Bulk Complete Greens powder review

My rating:

Typically, I'm very pro-food, much preferring to chow down on some tenderstem broccoli than drink it. But, as I mentioned, life had become a lot lately: I was busy, not prioritising my veggie intake - living on speedy pasta recipes and slices of toast, as tends to happen when we're overworked - and boy was I feeling it.

Pair that with starting to work in an office again after a year of working from home, which also required a rush-hour commute, and my immune system wasn't able to keep up. The tickly throat, constant sneezing and fatigue was letting me know what I was about to be wiped out by a cold.

So, on the first day of drinking my greens, I was glad to just do something that felt good for my body. The Bulk green powder doesn't promise quite the same extreme side effects as AG1, which claims to be able to bolster digestion and nutrient absorption while also helping the best endurance athletes in the world better recover from their training.

Topping up nutrients with a supplement like this can make you feel a little better, whether it's a placebo or not, and often begins a cascade of healthier habits throughout the day.

Bulk's green powder packs in eight of the best super greens that are 'fully established in sports nutrition': spirulina, chlorella, broccoli, pumpkin protein, spinach, alfalfa, moringa and kale. We all know greens are good for us, but Bulk says the pros of its blend are that it's high in fibre and convenient, helping you load up on super greens without chewing.

By comparison, AG1 lists a massive ingredients list of 73 different types of fruit and vegetable powders, probiotics and other nutrients. While that sounds good on the surface, the concentration of certain ingredients may exceed the body's absorption capacity (for instance, one scoop contains 525% of your recommended intake of vitamin C) meaning you'll likely lose a lot of those expensive ingredients in your urine.

A big selling point of AG1 is that it's not just greens: it also contains live probiotics and CoEnzyme Q10 and mushroom powder for mental focus. I already take the probiotic Symprove on the daily, which is robustly supported by science for improving gut health, so I don't need to switch to a different probiotic ingredient. While the other 70-something ingredients sound great, could I get the benefits I was craving from just eight green ingredients?

While you can get Bulk greens powders in flavours such as Mixed Berry and Apple & Lime, I went for the unflavoured version. There are two reasons: I wanted to see what a blend of spirulina and kale would taste like (just me?) and I wanted the ability to mix my green powder in to things like smoothies and protein shakes without adding any extra flavour.

The first few times I drink my green powder, I mix it with Bulk's vegan protein powder. The packet says to use around 9g of powder at a time, which I add to a blender along with almond milk, protein, ice and sometimes a frozen banana or mango too. The concoction tastes a little grassier than my recipe sans greens powder, but it's not off putting at all.

Then one day I try the Complete Greens powder bare, just with ice and water - regrets. It is bitter, grassy and overall not delicious. I down it anyway, slightly gagging, and the horrible taste is out of my mouth within a few moments. But FYI for those tempted to try: the flavoured versions have great reviews on site, and I will be purchasing the Mixed Berry flavour next time I stock up.

I asked WH's shopping editor to try some of her beloved AG1 to compare and I have to say, it was much tastier. As the drink includes fruit powders, it's much sweeter and more tolerable when drunk alone.

After two weeks of taking Bulk's greens powder, I definitely feel different. Like I said, I was getting run down at the start of taking the supplement, with all the signs of a cold brewing. But it never amounted to anything. Instead, it just tapered off without me having to take a day off work lying in bed with a headache and cold flannel.

Was this the magic of green powder? It's impossible to tell. It could be that this particular cold was never going to develop, I got brilliant sleep to help recover from the germs or a million other reasons. I'm a realistic when it comes to nutrition, so I'm definitely not crediting spirulina with curing my sickness, but I do think that, when you're run down, every little helps. It's likely the additional greens was what my body needed when it was working its hardest to fight off a cold and tackle stress.

Still, I wouldn't recommend everyone drinks a green powder. I think these are something that's a lovely addition to your diet, not a first step, so if you're not eating 30g of fibre, barely sleeping and have no time to exercise, a green powder will not fix your health complaints. But as a relatively well-but-stressed person, I think this greens powder was a great addition to my diet for some extra boost.

I can't comment on my energy levels, digestion or exercise recovery as a result of drinking the greens powder because there are too many variables at play and not enough testing time to say it was definitely the supplement that made a difference. But I will say that I'm going to be regularly turning back to it when I want to feel better. Not bad for less than a tenner.

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