8.2
A soluble fibre supplement that is honest about being one
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#10 of 12 overallSupplements
GreenLeaf Metabolic Support review
by GreenLeaf Naturals
Not dangerous, not dishonest in any actionable way, and not likely to do anything you would notice. A clean label wrapped around ingredients whose real-world effect on body weight is somewhere between tiny and zero.
5.4Not recommended
Last updated · used for 8 weeks · reviewed by Tom
Disclosure: We have no affiliate relationship with GreenLeaf Naturals and earn nothing if you buy it. We paid for this product ourselves. Full disclosure
Tom’s verdict
I have no quarrel with GreenLeaf as a company — the label is clean, the quantities are disclosed, and they refunded us without a fight. My quarrel is with the proposition. The evidence for green tea extract and chromium producing meaningful weight loss is thin, and the effect sizes that do show up in the literature are the kind you need a study to detect and would never notice yourself. Forty-two dollars a month is a lot to pay for something operating at the edge of measurability.
What we liked and what we didn’t
Strengths
- No proprietary blend — quantities are disclosed
- Manufactured in a facility with third-party quality certification
- Marketing copy is hedged rather than fraudulent
- Refunds processed without argument in our test
Problems
- The published effects for these ingredients on body weight are very small, and often not statistically robust
- $42/month for an effect you are unlikely to detect
- High-dose green tea extract has been associated with liver injury in rare cases
- Caffeine content is not stated on the front of the label
Best for
Honestly, nobody in particular. If you want the ingredients, green tea is cheaper.
Not for
Anyone with liver concerns, anyone sensitive to caffeine, or anyone hoping this moves the scale.
What the evidence actually shows
Green tea catechins and chromium picolinate have both been studied for weight loss with generally disappointing results — small effects, inconsistent replication, and meta-analyses that tend to conclude the clinical relevance is questionable. There are also case reports linking concentrated green tea extract to hepatotoxicity, which is why the safety score is not higher despite the clean manufacturing.
Why 'clean label' is not the same as 'works'
GreenLeaf does the transparency things right. Every ingredient has a stated quantity, the facility is certified, and nothing on the bottle is a lie.
None of that speaks to whether the ingredients do anything. Transparency about an ineffective formula is still an ineffective formula, and the supplement industry has learned that clean labelling reads as efficacy to most shoppers. It is not the same claim.
What’s in it
- Green tea extract (EGCG)
- Chromium picolinate
- Cayenne fruit extract
- Black pepper extract
Ingredient lists are transcribed from the packaging at the time of testing. Formulations change — check the label you receive.
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