It Works! is a supplement and health food brand marketed primarily to women. Many of the brand's products are used for weight loss.
But are It Works! supplements effectively formulated for weight loss? Does the brand use any questionable additive ingredients? How do real users rate and describe the effects of It Works! supplements? And which retailer sells It Works! products for the best price?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in five of the most popular It Works! products (Slimming Gummies, Skinny Brew, Wraps, Super Greens and Cleanse) based on clinical studies to give our take on whether or not they're likely to be effective, and whether or not they're healthy.
We'll also feature unsponsored customer reviews of the brand, provide a cost comparison to show which retailer sells It Works! supplements for the best prices, and feature a video from a former distributor explaining which she quit working with the brand.
It Works! Slimming Gummies Review
It Works! Slimming Gummies contains two active ingredients: apple cider vinegar and MOROSIL.
Apple cider vinegar is included at a dosage of 500 milligrams (mg).
A clinical trial published in the Journal of Functional Foods found that ACV is effective for weight loss, however the trial participants were taking a dose significantly higher than in It Works! gummies.
The clinical trial participants used a daily dose of 30 milliliters (mL), which equates to around 30,000 mg, or around 60 times the amount in It Works! Slimming Gummies.
We have not come across any clinical studies suggesting ACV is effective for weight loss at a dose as low at 500 mg, nor does the brand cite any on their product page at the time of updating this article.
MOROSIL is a patented version of blood orange extract and is included at a 200 mg dose. This appears to be an effective weight loss ingredient based on early research.
A 2015 clinical trial found that MOROSIL caused significant reductions in body weight, waist circumference and hip circumference. Individuals taking MOROSIL lost 6.79 pounds over the course of the 12 week trial, and their waist circumference decreased by 7.4%.
However, the dosage used in the study was 400 mg, or 200% of the dose in It Works! gummies per serving.
It Works! Slimming Gummies contains some inactive ingredients that may be questionable from a health perspective:
Citric acid is a preservative and flavor enhancer that can cause whole-body inflammation in some individuals, as documented in a medical review published in the Toxicology Reports journal.
Natural flavors can contain solvents and preservatives, as documented in our Plexus reviews article.
Overall, we consider It Works! Slimming Gummies unlikely to be effective for weight loss, because both of its active ingredients are underdosed based on our review of clinical studies.
Real People Try It Works!
A YouTube creator named Megan Christmas tried a variety of It Works! supplements in a video with over 25,000 views:
A TikTok creator named Vanessa Flores claims to have lost weight taking It Works! Slimming Gummies:
@vannesa_flores509 Let’s do this! #slimminggummies #viral #weightlosscheck #postpartumbody #postpartum ♬ Che La Luna - Louis Prima
It Works! Skinny Brew Review
The active ingredients in It Works! Skinny Brew, which is a coffee supplement for weight loss, are shown above.
Chromium is a mineral that's included at a dose of 1,000 micrograms (mcg), which equals 2,857% of the Daily Value (DV). We would recommend speaking with a doctor before taking such a high dose of a mineral on a regular basis.
The active ingredients for weight loss are included in a proprietary (prop) blend called Skinny Blend.
Caffeine is included at a total dose of 225 milligrams (mg). As we documented in our Hydroxycut reviews article, caffeine is an effective weight loss ingredient and 225 mg is an effective dose.
Green tea leaf extract is effective for short-term weight loss, but it is an ingredient we recommend avoiding for safety reasons.
A medical review published in The Journal of Nutrition documented that high doses of green tea leaf extract can pose liver toxicity concerns, which is even more of a concern in supplements like this, where the individual dose of green tea extract isn't published.
Guarana seed extract may be effective for weight loss based on one animal study, but we can't find clinical evidence that it's effective in humans.
Yerba mate leaf extract was shown in a 2015 clinical trial to cause significant decreases in body fat mass and percentage body fat in obese patients at a dose of 3,000 mg per day, but the average ingredient dose in this prop blend is only 1,060 mg per day.
The remaining active ingredients constitute a "Nootropic Brain Blend" and should have no effect on weight loss.
The inactive ingredients in It Works! Skinny Brew are shown below:
As we documented in the previous Ingredient Analysis section, we consider natural flavoring additives to be questionable from a health perspective.
Overall, we consider It Works! Skinny Brew potentially effective for weight loss, given that it contains a research-backed dose of caffeine.
However, we can't find evidence that the majority of the active ingredients in this supplement are effectively dosed, and we don't currently recommend this supplement because it contains natural flavors.
It Works! Distributor Explains Why She Quit
A YouTube creator named "Marta Productions" explains why she quit being a distributor for It Works!
We can't verify any of the claims she makes about the company's business processes, but this video has over 125,000 views and may be useful both to potential consumers and potential distributors:
It Works! Wraps Review
It Works sells a product called "Skinny Wrap" which the brand claims can help "targeted areas appear tightened, toned and beautifully smooth."
The brand provides no citation for these claims.
We have not come across any medical research suggesting that applying food-based physical wraps to skin can improve skin appearance or provide "toning" benefits.
At the time of updating this article, It Works! has no citations at all on the Skinny Wrap product page suggesting that this product is effective.
We consider this product to be a waste of money, and to be the worst It Works! product that we reviewed while researching this article.
It Works! Super Greens Review
The vitamin and mineral ingredients in It Works! Super Greens are shown above. Most of these are synthetic vitamins and minerals, rather than naturally-occurring.
We recommend that consumers be wary of consuming large doses of added vitamins and minerals from supplements. Of note, this product provides 200% of the DV of copper and 100% of the DV of zinc.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) documented that a different supplement company had to recall its products from the market because the added vitamins and minerals were causing toxicity in some customers.
The ingredients in the "Superfood Blend" are shown below:
For the most part, these are whole food ingredients, and the 6.1 gram (g) total dose is relatively high, which is a good thing.
Green tea leaf extract is included, and we explained why we recommend that consumers be wary of this ingredient (especially when its dose isn't published as is the case with this supplement) in our review of It Works! Skinny Brew above.
The inactive ingredients in this supplement are shown below:
We've explained throughout this article why we recommend avoiding natural flavors.
Overall, we consider this product to provide a higher dose of greens than the average green powder supplement, but we don't currently recommend it due to the large number of synthetic vitamin and mineral additives, and the inclusion of natural flavors.
It Works! Cleanse Review
The active ingredients in It Works! Cleanse are shown above.
Aloe vera has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, according to a 2011 medical review.
Milk thistle is a botanical compound with arguably the most research backing for liver support, as we documented in our Liver Health Formula review article.
Dandelion is clinically shown to help heal the liver during acute liver failure, however the dose of this ingredient is not published on the Supplement Facts label, which makes it more challenging to estimate its efficacy.
The inactive ingredients in It Works! Cleanse are shown below:
Sodium benzoate and sodium hexametaphosphate are synthetic preservatives.
Citric acid and natural flavors are ingredients that we recommend consumers be wary of, for reasons outlined previously in this article.
Overall, we consider It Works! Cleanse to be potentially effective for liver support, however it's challenging to say so definitively because the brand fails to publish individual ingredient doses.
We don't currently recommend this supplement, due to the inclusion of four inactive ingredients discussed above.
Our Clean Weight Loss Picks
There are food-based nutrients which have been shown in medical studies to be effective for weight loss.
Dietary fiber was shown in a medical review published in The Journal of Nutrition to cause 16 pounds of weight loss in 6 months when combined with moderate caloric restriction (750 calories per day below baseline).
MBG Organic Fiber Potency+ is our top fiber pick because it's certified organic, provides 7 g of fiber per serving and costs under $1.85 per serving at the time of updating this article.
MCT oil was shown in a meta-study to cause more than one pound of weight loss over 10 weeks. This equates to potential annualized weight loss of 6 pounds per year with less than one tablespoon's worth of MCT oil per day.
Bulletproof MCT Oil is our top MCT oil product, because the only ingredient is MCT oil derived from coconuts. and it currently costs only $15.50 for over a month's worth of product.
Ginger intake "significantly decreased body weight" according to a 2019 meta-study on ginger and weight loss that analyzed data from 14 clinical trials.
Pique La Ginger is our top ginger product, because it's an organic tea in convenient crystallized form, and all that's needed is to pour the powder into a glass and add hot water.
All three of the products mentioned in this section are entirely free of additive ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy or unsafe.
Where to Buy It Works! for the Best Price
It Works! supplements are sold at a variety of online retailers.
Here's a price breakdown for a one-time purchase of the five products reviewed in this article, at the time of updating this article:
Slimming Gummies
Walmart: $69.99 (free shipping, link)
Amazon: $67 (free shipping, link to official Amazon listing)
Brand website: $60 (plus shipping, link)
Skinny Brew (15 servings)
Brand website: $74 (plus shipping, link)
Walmart: $74 (free shipping, third-party seller, link)
Amazon: $74 (free shipping, link to official Amazon listing)
Wraps
Brand website: $74 (plus shipping, link)
Amazon: $74 (free shipping, link to official Amazon listing)
Super Greens
EveryMarket: $116.04 (free shipping, link)
Brand website: $98 (plus shipping, link)
Cleanse
Amazon: $67 (free shipping, link to official Amazon listing)
Brand website: $59 (plus shipping, link)
The price of It Works! supplements varies considerably by retailer. We recommend checking different retailers highlighted in this section to ensure you get the best price.
Pros and Cons of It Works!
Here are the pros and cons of It Works! in our opinion:
Pros:
- Most formulations contain research-backed active ingredients
- Skinny Brew may support weight loss
- Super Greens contains high dose of fruits and vegetables
- Cleanse may support liver function
Cons:
- Slimming Gummies may be underdosed
- Every formulation contained inactive ingredients we recommend avoiding
- Some supplements contain flavoring additives
- Some supplements contain citric acid
- Brand website charges for shipping
- Relatively expensive supplements
- MLM business model
- Some supplements contain green tea extract without published dose
