Research-Based

Athletic Greens Vs. Ka’Chava – Which Superfood Supplement Is Top?

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By Jack Cincotta, MS

Reviewed by Juliana Tamayo, MS, RDN - Last Updated

Athletic Greens Vs Ka'Chava

In the world of superfood supplements, perhaps the most popular and long-lasting product is Athletic Greens. 

It’s often the first supplement people think of when they think of green drinks.

But of course, there’s another potentially powerful supplement out there, too, that has made quite the stir in recent years. This superfood is called Ka’Chava. 

Now, a quick glance at these products, and you can see that they are very similar in terms of their promoted benefits and all of that. 

But which of these two powerhouse superfood supplements is better? Or does it depend on certain factors?

We’ll answer those questions and more as we get into this comparison of Athletic Greens vs. Ka’Chava.

Athletic Greens vs. Ka’Chava: Overview

  • Athletic Greens and Ka’Chava are both superfood supplements with many vitamins, minerals, herbs, fruits, vegetables, probiotics, and more
  • Athletic Greens has higher doses of vitamins, greens, and adaptogens, whereas Ka’Chava is generally higher dosed for the minerals, mushrooms, digestive enzymes, and fruits
  • One of the main ways Ka’Chava stands out is its 25g of protein and omega fatty acid blend, which may make it more useful as a meal replacement or workout recovery supplement
  • One main way Athletic Greens stands out is its higher concentration of specific antioxidant compounds
  • Both Athletic Greens and Ka’Chava may provide benefits for gut health, energy, digestion, immunity, cognition, stress reduction, and reduced inflammation
  • Athletic Greens costs $3.33 per serving, while Ka’Chava is priced at $4.66 per serving
  • Ka’Chava is the best option for people who want a total superfood supplement or meal replacement, whereas Athletic Greens is a solid option if you just want a superfood/micronutrient supplement

About Athletic Greens and Ka’Chava

Athletic Greens and Ka’Chava are both advertised as superfood supplements with a wealth of proposed health benefits. While they are pretty similar, let’s take a look at each supplement and overview what they’re all about. 

Athletic Greens

Athletic Greens is a green drink designed to deliver comprehensive nutrition and health benefits in just one daily drink. 

athletic greens supplement bag

It contains over 75 ingredients, including vitamins, minerals, plant extracts, herbs, adaptogens, and much more. Plus, they say that their formula has constantly evolved and improved over the last 10 years, leading to an increasingly higher-quality product. 

The Athletic Greens philosophy is to focus on only the most essential ingredients that deliver health benefits, based on science and research. It is advertised to boost immunity, promote gut health, increase energy, and much more.

Ka’Chava

Ka’Chava is a daily super blend filled with a boatload of ingredients your mind and body need for holistic health. It is featured by a whopping 85+ ingredients, including various superfoods, vitamins, minerals, adaptogens, fatty acids, and plant protein. 

ka’chava

With all of these ingredients, Ka’Chava is essentially designed to be a nutritious meal replacement shake, giving your body all that it needs to start the day off strong. 

And it is advertised to deliver 11 “head-to-toe” benefits, including immunity, energy, digestion, stress, and heart health, just to name a few.

Comparison – Athletic Greens vs. Ka’Chava

These two superfood supplements are certainly eye-catching on their own. 

But now we’re going to look at the specific comparisons between Athletic Greens and Ka’Chava. You’ll see that a number of things are similar, but that there are also many factors unique to each supplement. 

We’ll go over the main ingredients in each, the benefits, pricing, flavor options, company details, safety and quality, and other factors to determine which superfood supplement reigns supreme.

Below, you can look at the table for a quick reference. But keep reading below that if you want to know the ins and outs of Athletic Greens and Ka’Chava. 

Comparison Table

Below is a snapshot table regarding some of the key features of Athletic Greens and Ka’Chava:

Product:Athletic GreensKa’Chava
VitaminsGenerally Higher Doses; A, C, E, K2Lower Doses: A, C, D
B-Complex and BiotinMuch higher doses; includes allLower doses; includes all
Minerals10 total; modest doses14 total; moderate to high doses
Greens/VegetablesPart of a 7+ gram blend500mg
Fruits/RedsPart of a 7+ gram blend ^5g
Functional MushroomsYes, but only 2Yes, includes 4
AdaptogensYes, 4 (incl. ashwagandha, rhodiola)Yes, 2
Digestive EnzymesYes, 1Yes, 5 total for numerous nutrients
Probiotics7 Billion CFUsUnclear dosage
PrebioticsYes (Astralagus, burdock)Yes (Inulin)
Protein2g25g
Fatty AcidsNoYes
Specific Antioxidant CompoundsYes (CoQ10, ALA)None beyond what occurs naturally in superfoods
Regular Price*$99.00$69.95
Price/Serving*$3.33$4.66
Money-Back Guarantee60 days30 days
Best ForNutrient Support and Overall Health and WellnessNutient Support, Health/Wellness, and Meal Replacement

*Based on original options with no discounts. Other pricing options are detailed below.

Athletic Greens vs. Ka’Chava: Supplement Formulation

With 75 ingredients in Athletic Greens and 85 in Ka’Chava, it’s clear that these are some pretty dense formulas. 

And below, we’ll look at the main features of each and see which one may stand out a little above the other. 

Vitamins

Both Athletic Greens and Ka’Chava have many different vitamins, including vitamin A, all B-complex vitamins, biotin, vitamin C, and vitamin E. 

However, with the exception of vitamin E, Athletic Greens contains much higher dosages of all of these vitamins. 

athletic greens supplement drink

In particular, the higher doses of B-complex vitamins may contribute to higher energy in Athletic Greens. 

And higher amounts of vitamins A, C, and E could provide greater antioxidant effects.

Plus, Athletic Greens includes vitamin K2, whereas Ka’Chava does not. But Ka’Chava has vitamin D, and Athletic Greens doesn’t. 

Having enough vitamins is crucial for overall health and wellness, including energy, immune function, brain health, and much more. 

Minerals

Minerals are another important aspect of overall health and wellness. They contribute to bone health, nervous system function, heart health, and many other things. 

Athletic Greens contains 10 different minerals, whereas Ka’Chava features 14 minerals. 

They all contain calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, selenium, copper, manganese, chromium, sodium, and potassium. 

But Ka’Chava also includes 4 minerals, not in Athletic Greens. These are chloride, molybdenum, iron, and iodine. 

Iron and iodine stand out since these can be common deficiencies, especially in women and vegetarians. 

In terms of dosages, Ka’Chava also generally has higher amounts of the minerals. 

Another standout is that Ka’Chava has a lot more magnesium than Athletic Greens, which is important since magnesium is another mineral many people don’t get enough of.

Superfoods: Greens/Vegetables

Now, let’s talk about a major aspect of both of these supplements: the green superfoods. 

In Athletic Greens, they have a superfood complex weighing over 7 grams that consists of many different greens, including spirulina, chlorella, wheat grass, broccoli, kelp, and spinach. This complex also has fruits, which we’ll detail in the next section.

And in Ka’Chava, they have a super green and vegetable blend that weighs only 500mg. It includes beets, carrots, spinach, broccoli, tomato, kale, parsley, cucumber, asparagus, chlorella, and others. 

All of these foods provide an assortment of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other phytochemicals to add immune health, energy, cardiovascular health, metabolism, brain health, and pretty much every aspect of health. 

But Athletic Greens likely contains significantly more due to their higher dosage.

Superfoods: Fruits

Within the same 7+ gram blend in Athletic Greens is also a number of fruits, including apple, acerola, papaya, pineapple, bilberry, and Lycium berry. 

And in Ka’Chava, they have a dedicated blend for antioxidants and super fruits weighing over 5 grams. This includes acai, berry, maqui berry, strawberry, tart cherry, blueberry, and other berries for potent antioxidant effects. 

It’s likely that Ka’Chava has the edge here for superfood fruits and antioxidant effects.

Mushrooms

Both Athletic Greens and Ka’Chava contain a number of different functional mushrooms. 

They both have reishi and shiitake, although Ka’Chava also has maitake and cordyceps, so it certainly contains more mushrooms. 

ka’chava mushrooms

These functional mushrooms may aid cognition, immune health, stress responses, energy, and even athletic performance. 

Adaptogens

We also see a few different adaptogens in each of these supplements. 

Adaptogens are important since they help the body better respond to and deal with stress. This can help lower cortisol and lead to improvements in many health areas. 

Some research-backed benefits of adaptogens include balance hormones, enhanced endurance, increased energy, better sleep, and improved cognitive function. 

Athletic Greens seems to be the winner here since it has Rhodiola, eleuthero, ashwagandha, and ginger, whereas Ka’Chava just has maca and ginger. 

Digestive Enzymes

Athletic Greens and Ka’Chava have ingredients designed to support digestion. However, it seems that Ka’Chava has more of these ingredients.

In Athletic Greens, the only enzyme they have is bromelain, which can help digest protein and other ingredients.

But in Ka’Chava, they include 5 different digestive enzymes: amylase, protease, cellulase, lactase, and lipase. And together, these enzymes help digest many different nutrients, including carbs, fat, protein, lactose, and cellulase.

Prebiotics and Probiotics

Continuing on with gut health ingredients, Athletic Greens and Ka’Chava both have prebiotics and probiotics. 

Prebiotics can increase the number of good bacteria in the gut. And probiotics themselves ARE the good bacteria. So, this 1-2 punch is often used to promote better gut health and digestion.

In Athletic Greens, they have astralagus and burdock root, which provide sources of prebiotic soluble fibers.

And Ka’Chava has inulin, which is also a prebiotic soluble fiber. 

Lastly, Athletic Greens has the probiotic strains Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium, whereas Ka’Chava has Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus rhamnosus.

Athletic Greens has over 7 billion CFUs, yet in Ka’Chava they don’t say how many CFUs. 

Clear Differences

So far, there have been many similar features between Athletic Greens and Ka’Chava, although there have been a few differences. 

But now, let’s get to some of the major distinctions between each product. 

Protein: Ka’Chava

One way Ka’Chava stands apart from Athletic Greens is its protein content. It includes 25g of protein per serving in the form of different plant proteins, such as pea, brown rice, and quinoa. 

This is compared to Athletic Greens, which only has 2g of protein per serving from pea protein. 

Fatty Acids: Ka’Chava

Another aspect of Ka’Chava not seen in Athletic Greens is an omega-fatty acid blend. 

Ka’Chava has an 11-gram blend consisting of oat, acacia, chia, and flax to deliver fiber and essential fatty acids.

These fatty acids can benefit brain, heart, and joint health, and offer anti-inflammatory effects.

Antioxidant Compounds: Athletic Greens 

There are also some things Athletic Greens has that Ka’Chava doesn’t, including antioxidant compounds

Athletic Greens has citrus bioflavonoids, alpha-lipoic acid (ALA), and CoQ10. And these compounds offer potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and can even decrease signs of aging.

Athletic Greens vs. Ka’Chava: Benefits

All in all, Athletic Greens and Ka’Chava share a number of potential health benefits due to their similar formulations. In particular, Ka’Chava and Athletic Greens may have the following benefits:

athletic greens vs kachava benefits
  • Gut Health
  • Digestion
  • Energy
  • Immunity
  • Stress Reduction
  • Antioxidant/Anti-Inflammatory Effects
  • Cognition

However, there are also some unique benefits for each superfood supplement. 

Unique benefits of Athletic Greens may include:

  • Better stress response (has more adaptogens)

Unique Benefits of Ka’Chava may include:

  • Muscle Recovery (with more protein)
  • Can be a Meal Replacement

Athletic Greens vs. Ka’Chava: Customer Feedback and Reviews

The overall rating for both supplements is very high. And you can have quite a bit of confidence in these ratings since they both have massive amounts of reviews. 

athletic greens rating from website

Athletic Greens has a 4.5 out of 5 rating on their website, based on over 20,000 reviews. 

And Ka’Chava has an average 4.6 out of 5 rating on their website, based on over a whopping 44,000 reviews. 

ka’chava rating from website

On Amazon, Athletic Greens has a 4.5 out of 5 rating based on nearly 3,000 reviews. 

And Ka’Chava has a 4.5 out of 5 rating based on around 5,000 reviews.

Customers for Athletic Greens generally note increased energy and improved digestion. However, some people complain about the high price and note concerns of heavy metal toxicity in spirulina and other ingredients. 

Ka’Chava customers also note better energy as well as increased satiety and better digestion. Many people use it as a meal replacement and enjoy the various flavors.

Athletic Greens vs. Ka’Chava: Other Considerations

There are also some other things to consider when comparing Athletic Greens and Ka’Chava. 

Company Reputation

Both companies have solid reputations and are dedicated to delivering high-quality nutrition to their customers. 

Athletic Greens has been around since 2010, while the makers of Ka’Chava, Tribal Nutrition, have been around since 2012. 

Returns

Athletic Greens has a 60-day 100% Money-Back Guarantee policy. 

With Ka’Chava, you can get a refund if you’re not satisfied as long as you inform them within 30 days. They also have an “Empty-Bag Policy,” meaning you can return one bag of each flavor even if they’re empty.

Taste/Variety

Athletic Greens comes in only one flavor, whereas Ka’Chava has multiple flavor options. 

Ka’Chava comes in:

  • Vanilla
  • Chocolate
  • Coconut Acai
  • Chai
  • Matcha

Dietary Restrictions

Both companies took the time to ensure their products remained free from common allergens. 

Athletic Greens is gluten-free, egg-free, nut-free, dairy-free, and has zero added sugar. It is also non-GMO and free from herbicides, pesticides, artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, and sweeteners.

Ka’Chava is vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, and free from preservatives, artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners.

Benefit Preferences

Another thing to consider is what you actually want to get from these products.

Now, both of them are very similar in that they provide foundational nutrition for overall health and wellness.

With that being said, Ka’Chava is better for those wanting an actual meal-replacement because of its extra calories, carbs, fat, and protein.

But Athletic Greens is better if you are looking for a general superfood drink to take alongside a meal or separate from meals.

Otherwise, they really deliver very similar benefits. 

Athletic Greens vs. Ka’Chava: Price and Value

In this section, we’ll take a look at product pricing to see which may have the better value. 

With Athletic Greens, you can either purchase pouches or travel packs. 

A one-time purchase for the pouches costs $99 ($3.30/serving). But you can also purchase a single monthly subscription, which costs $79($2.63/serving), or even a double monthly subscription, which costs $149 ($2.48/serving). 

athletic greens value

The travel packs have the same purchase options. The one-time, single monthly subscription, and double monthly subscription prices are $109($3.63/serving), $89($2.97/serving), and $169($2.82/serving).

Athletic Greens

Get up to 25% OFF

Athletic Greens

  • Formula includes over 75 ingredients
  • Contains high dosages of each ingredient
  • Benefits immunity, gut health, energy, and more

Ka’Chava comes in bags with 15 servings (“meals”). The regular price is $69.95($4.66/serving). But you can also choose the Subscribe & Save option to save 10 dollars, which puts the price at $59.95($3.99/serving). You can get it delivered every 15, 30, or 45 days.

ka’chava value

So, Ka’Chava is more expensive but keep in mind that it can act as more of a meal, whereas Athletic Greens is just a superfood drink. 

With this considered, and given that they both offer similar nutrient profiles, it seems that Athletic Greens may have a slightly better value, but it’s really close.

Athletic Greens vs. Ka’Chava: Which Supplement is Better?

If I had to pick an outright winner, I’d pick Ka’Chava because it includes many of the same ingredients as Athletic Greens while also offering protein, calories, and other nutrients to make it a meal replacement. 

With that being said, some of you may not be looking for a meal replacement, in which case Athletic Greens is the better option.

But for most people, Ka’Chava is likely the best choice.

Nonetheless, here is the ultimate bottom line:

  • If you’re looking for the most nutrition from both micronutrients and macronutrients, Ka’Chava is the winner
  • If you want a superfood and meal replacement, pick Ka’Chava
  • If you’re just looking for a superfood/micronutrient supplement, go with Athletic Greens

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Jack Cincotta, MS

Jack Cincotta is a certified holistic health coach through AFPA and a board-certified holistic health practitioner through AADP. He has written hundreds of articles on nutrition and supplementation. Jack has a M.S. degree in Psychology and is passionate about researching the science behind nutrition. He often uses research-backed supplementation protocols for many of his clients to optimize results.