Morning Complete is a wellness powder supplement sold by a brand called ActivatedYou, which contains prebiotics, probiotics and green powder. The brand suggests that the "potent blend of nutrients" in their supplement can help "rev up your metabolism" and "support healthy liver and cellular functioning."

But does Morning Complete contain research-backed ingredients or are these just marketing claims? Are the ingredients included at effective doses? Are there any questionable additive ingredients? And how do real users rate and describe the effects of this supplement?

In this review we'll answer all of these questions and more as we review the ingredients in Morning Complete based on medical research. The supplement contains a large number of active ingredients (35 by our count), so we'll break our ingredient analysis into sections: Prebiotic Blend, Probiotic Blend, Botanicals Blend and Inactive Ingredients.

We'll also explain what retailer has the best price on Morning Complete, document our concerns about the brand's product testing claims, and share real, unsponsored user reviews of this supplement.

Ingredient Analysis – Prebiotic Blend

The Prebiotic Blend contains two ingredients: tapioca fiber and cinnamon bark.

Tapioca fiber is a type of dietary fiber, and dietary fiber intake is associated with reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, obesity and other negative health outcomes according to a meta-study published in the Nutrition Reviews journal.

The total dose of 4.05 grams (g) is not particularly high given that adults should consume 21 to 38 grams minimally according to the Mayo Clinic, and fiber is only one of two ingredients in this blend, but any supplemental fiber is better than none for most Americans.

Cinnamon bark is an ingredient we recommend avoiding unless it's specifically listed as Ceylon cinnamon bark. The cheaper Cassia cinnamon is high in a toxin called coumarin which can harm the liver, as we documented in our Shakeology reviews article on another health supplement containing this ingredient.

Ingredient Analysis – Probiotic Blend 

The Probiotic Blend contains nine species of probiotics at a total dosage of 10 billion colony-forming units (CFU). This appears to be an effective maintenance dose for healthy adults based on a review by the American Family Physician Journal, which recommended at least 10 billion CFU daily.

A specific strain of L. gasseri was shown in a clinical trial published in the Nutrients journal to improve stress response in otherwise healthy young adults.

L. acidophilus may improve nutrient absorption based on clinical trials, as we documented in our review of probiotic supplement Floraspring.

Ingredient Analysis – Botanical Blends

Morning Complete contains six different blends of mostly botanical ingredients. The "green superfoods" that the brand references in their marketing refers to these blends.

There are some healthy, whole food ingredients in these blends such as broccoli and fennel seed, but the ingredient doses are relatively low. All of these blends combined have a total dose of 1,410 milligrams (mg), or 58.75 mg per ingredient.

We'll give a few examples of why we consider the majority of these ingredients to be underdosed below.

Milk thistle seed extract is included in a "Cellular Function and Liver Support" blend with an average dose of 15 mg per ingredient.

Milk thistle is one of the most well-studied herbal compounds for liver function, but a medical review on the compound suggests the effective dose is around 600 mg per day, or 40x the average ingredient dose in this blend.

Ginger root is an effective metabolism enhancer that may cause modest weight loss, but it's included in a "Metabolic Enhancing" blend with an average ingredient dose of only 65 mg.

A 2019 medical review on ginger for metabolic benefit analyzed results from 14 clinical trials on the topic, and most doses were at or over 2 g per day. The lowest ginger root dose used in any of the trials was 500 mg per day, or 7.69x the amount likely in Morning Complete.

Green tea leaf extract is another ingredient in the Metabolic blend that we recommend avoiding. As we documented in our Skald reviews article, high doses of this ingredient have been shown to cause toxicity in clinical trials. We don't believe the amount that's likely in this supplement should be harmful, but we recommend avoiding this ingredient entirely as a safety precaution.

Ingredient Analysis – Inactive Ingredients

Morning Complete contains two inactive ingredients we recommend avoiding. 

Natural flavors is a broad categorization that fails to describe the specific flavoring compounds used. While we consider it to be a healthier option than artificial flavors, a medical review published in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal documented toxicity concerns regarding some natural flavoring agents and their metabolites.

Citric acid is a preservative and flavor enhancer. As we referenced in our review of Beauty Focus Collagen (another supplement containing this ingredient), citric acid has been shown to cause whole-body inflammatory reactions in some individuals based on a series of case reports published in a medical journal.

Real, Unsponsored Morning Complete User Reviews

A YouTube review of Morning Complete from a creator named "Very Réal" has over 150,000 views, and she explains why she doesn't recommend the supplement after using it for 30 days:

Morning Complete is also sold on Amazon, which is a more objective resource for customer reviews than a brand's website in our opinion. It's been reviewed over 2,000 times on Amazon with an average review rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars.

The top positive review from a verified purchaser comes from a user named "natacha lamarre" who gives the product 4 out of 5 stars and claims it improved their gut health:

"This product has made me more regular with less bloating. I want to try it for the full 3 months to really see the full effects. It seems to have curbed my appetite a bit too. It’s a bit pricey, but if it truly does what is says, I guess it’s worth it."

The top negative review from a verified purchaser named "JetA1Pilot" who claims Morning Complete caused side effects and gives it a 1 out of 5 star rating:

"After taking the first scoop on day one the bloating started with gas and discomfort within an hour. Mild cramps followed after about 2 hours. Started to feel nauseous after 3-4 hours and had to take medication to alleviate the stomach cramps and nausea in order to get through the work day."

Where to Get the Best Price on Morning Complete

At the time of updating this article, Morning Complete has one of the largest price discrepancies we've seen for any supplement we've reviewed on Illuminate Health.

Brand website: $79

Amazon: $49.95 (link to official Amazon listing)

Amazon currently retails this supplement for 37% less than the official brand website.

No Proof of Third-Party Testing

ActivatedYou claims that Morning Complete goes through "rigorous testing for quality, purity and potency" at a third-party laboratory. However, the brand doesn't publish this testing or any proof of these claims.

If they have the test results, why not publish them?

We don't understand why so many supplement companies make health claims without providing proof of such claims, and we recommend that consumers disregard claims made by companies that fail to provide proof.

Our Clean Probiotic and Greens Recommendations

Our top probiotic supplement pick is Future Kind Vegan Probiotic. It provides an effective dose of 30 million colony-forming units (CFU) and has no questionable ingredients. The only active ingredients are probiotics and the only inactive ingredients are non-toxic excipients like vegetable cellulose and medium-chain triglycerides. 

Interested consumers can check out Future Kind Vegan Probiotic at this link to its product page on the official brand website.

Our top green powder supplement pick is Naked Greens sold by Naked Nutrition. The core of this product is a greens blend, featuring ingredients like organic broccoli, organic alfalfa grass and organic wheat grass.

Naked Greens is entirely free of questionable additive ingredients like natural flavor.

Interested consumers can check out Naked Greens at this link to its official product page on Naked Nutrition's website.

Conclusion

Morning Complete contains effective doses of prebiotics and probiotics. The supplement also contains some greens, but at relatively low doses.

We don't recommend this supplement overall due to the inclusion of questionable active ingredients like cinnamon bark and green tea leaf extract, and questionable inactive ingredients like citric acid.

Since the core of this product is a probiotic blend and a greens blend, it seems logical in our opinion to use separate probiotics and greens supplements which are free of questionable additives.

For consumers intent on purchasing Morning Complete, Amazon currently has the best prices by a wide margin.