I tried Tony Horton’s greens powder for 30 days. Well, it wasn’t actually his… I didn’t break into his house and steal his belongings.

And you know who Tony Horton is, right? I feel like everyone who was between the ages of 15-50 in the mid-2000’s has probably heard of the P90x workout series. There was a moment then where it felt like everybody I knew was doing that program. He’s the trainer in that series.

Now that we’re all set, Tony Horton has his name on a new supplement line called Power for Life. The greens product is called Foundation Four, but I also tried other products in the line. For the sake of clarity though, let’s start with the greens powder.

Foundation Four

Foundation Four is supposed to be a way for you to “kickstart” your energy for the day. The product is a greens powder that is supposed to improve your digestion, turn back aging, support the immune system… it sounds magical.

The first time I tried Foundation Four it was pretty assertive on the taste buds. The package claims it is strawberry flavored, but it was mostly dehydrated kale and broccoli flavor, with an overtone of sweetness. This makes sense, kale, spinach, and broccoli are the ingredients mentioned in the greens portion of this. And I’m not saying I disliked it. I just wasn’t quite prepared for it the first sip. 

After a couple of days drinking it straight up, I mixed it with a serving of the MCT & Collagen product they sell. (more on that soon) Since the MCT/collagen powder is vanilla-flavored, it actually tempered the flavor of the Foundation Four and made it more palatable.

But if I’m honest, I can drink the greens powder without the collagen added and I actually kind of crave it now. I think that can happen with any greens powder; strong at first and you’ll eventually adapt.

The packaging and website proclaim it has magnesium (in the form of magnesium glycerophosphate), fiber, and pre/probiotics. The nutrition label says it has 2 grams of fiber. I don’t usually call that “high fiber” if it’s only 2g. But if you’re not eating any fiber, that’s an improvement. Because 2 is more than zero… ya know? 

In researching, I found that magnesium glycerophosphate is good for sleep and relaxation. So maybe this should be a bedtime drink… now that I know that AFTER 30 days of consumption. So I guess my next 30 days should be taking it at night and see if that yields anything different. 

Peak MCT & Collagen

Jumping to the Peak MCT and Collagen product… guess what? This one has fiber in it too, another two grams! So if you take the two together, you get 4 grams. (I can math!) 

I am used to collagen products providing a dose of protein and this one… does not. This is probably due to the fact that it is plant-based. It’s actually made of Vollagen, which is a trademarked vegan collagen blend that provides amino acids. But there is zero protein listed on the nutrition facts, so don’t assume this is going to be part of your massive protein loading.

The MCT (medium chain triglycerides) is a fatty oil added to this and it supposedly helps with weight management and stuff. It’s what folks were putting in their coffee for a hot minute there, but now I suppose there are still people doing that but I just don’t hear about it as often. As someone who went to high school and college in the 1990’s when everyone was terrified of fat, it’s still weird in the recesses of my brain to hear an oil touted as a weight management tool.

This is pretty clumpy and doesn’t mix into drinks well unless you blend it (try a frother!) A shaker cup performs better than just a spoon. The clumps seem logical since it is made of oils that are somehow dehydrated. 

Replenish

Lastly, we have the electrolyte drink from this line, Replenish. Electrolytes are an interesting arena, as every company seems to handle this kind of different. That makes sense because people lose these essential minerals at different rates so it’s important to find the products that work best for you as an individual. When I’m doing really intense efforts (like marathon training), I tend to lose a lot of salt as evidenced by the white crust that coats my face. In those times, I like lots of salt.

Replenish is not a high sodium drink, it has 75mg of salt in each scoop. It also has 225mg of calcium, 115mg of magnesium, and 216mg of potassium. It has generic freeze-dried coconut powder and several registered trademarks on the other ingredients. Both the Calcium and the Marine Algae are registered to Aquamin… wait, the algae?

Yep, Aquamin is an algae-based compound that provides the calcium in this, but many other trace minerals to help in muscle contraction, as well as building your teeth and bones! It just sounds funny to say there is literal algae in this.

The flavor here is “Citrus Burst”, which is a name that makes me laugh a little. Does adding “burst” to it make it more exciting? Why can’t it just be called citrus? Or citrus-ish, that may be more accurate. Because the flavor is fine and definitely citrus adjacent, but nobody is going to think they’ve eaten a fresh piece of citrus fruit while drinking this.

But I like this, it’s not overly extreme on anything. It mixes well and I drank it on the (stationary) bike several times.

Verdict

So speaking of outcomes… how did this change my life? 

Not at all…. 

I feel just as crummy as I did prior to taking it. 

To be clear, I didn’t feel like this was going to be some kind of magical elixir no matter how exciting the marketing copy makes the line sound. I don’t know what it’s going to take to feel better and that feels like a different topic. But I didn’t have more or less energy taking this, I didn’t have better or worse digestion. I just felt status quo… except I started to crave this if I missed a day. Yes, I am saying I didn’t just tolerate the taste, I liked it. 

Will I keep taking it? I don’t know! It’s not as expensive as some of the greens powder on the market. You can get a 30 day supply for $35 on Amazon (as of this posting) and it’s even cheaper if you utilize the Subscribe & Save function.

I’ve been using a different brand of collagen for years that is tasteless, mixes into beverages really well, AND it has protein. So this one doesn’t feel essential, other than I actually prefer the taste of the greens with the collagen mixed with it. But is it critical to drink it? Nope…. As I said, I adapted and I like the flavor. 

I didn’t mention buying it directly from the company yet, right? Well… it’s more expensive. And it’s REALLY expensive if you want to buy it one time to try it. They’re really aggressively pushing that subscription plan and I’m so tired of subscribing to everything in life when I just want to try something new. Subscription economy is out of control. So…. Take that however you feel works best for you and your finances. 

So I will finish my second jar of it and then see if there is a change when it is removed from my life. Maybe that will be the clincher, I’ll feel even worse if I stop taking it? There will probably be no change. I probably have a new normal that I hate and no magical powder will change that. But I also don’t think there is anything wrong with this line and at least this one doesn’t have an army of influencers selling this to you, your mom, and your mom’s best friend’s dog at 4x the price. So it has that going for it!