Disclaimer: None of the information in this article constitutes medical advice, and is just the opinion of the writer(s). We recommend that patients follow their doctor’s guidance in regard to pain relief.
Golden Revive + (also described as “Golden Revive Plus”) is a dietary supplement for joint pain relief manufactured by a brand called UpWellness. The brand describes this product as a “natural solution for stiff joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles.”
But can a dietary supplement really relieve joint pain? Does Golden Revive + contain research-backed ingredients? Does it contain any unhealthy additive ingredients? And how do real customers rate and describe the effects of Golden Revive +?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Golden Revive + based on clinical studies to give our take on whether this supplement is likely to be effective or if it’s a waste of money.
We'll feature unsponsored customer reviews, highlight some questionable health claims on the brand's website, and provide a cost comparison to show which retailer sells Golden Revive + for the best price.
Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in Golden Revive + are shown above.
Boswellia serrata extract is included at a dose of 333 milligrams (mg). We consider this an effective dose.
A medical review published in the BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies journal analyzed data from seven clinical trials on this ingredient for pain, and reported the minimum effective dose to be 100 mg daily.
BCM-95 is a patented turmeric extract that's also included at a 333 mg dose.
A 2012 clinical trial found this ingredient to be effective for reducing pain and other symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at a daily dosage of 1,000 mg, or more than 300% of the amount in Golden Revive +.
We cannot locate any medical studies proving that BCM-95 is effective for pain reduction at the dose in Golden Revive +, nor does the brand currently cite any on its product page.
Bromelain is an enzyme that’s included at a 167 mg dose. As we documented in our Heal n Soothe reviews article, the only medical studies we could find on bromelain and pain reported a minimum-effective dose of 200 mg, so we consider this ingredient slightly underdosed in Golden Revive +.
Quercetin may be effective for pain, as a 2022 meta-study found quercetin to be effective for various types of chronic pain including cancer pain and inflammatory pain.
Piperine is a black pepper extract that’s included because it’s proven in medical studies to increase the bioavailability of curcumin (the active chemical compound in turmeric) by up to 2,000%. We consider this an effective ingredient inclusion.
We can’t identify any medical studies proving the remaining ingredients (vitamin C and magnesium) to be effective for pain at the dosages used.
Overall, we consider Golden Revive + likely to provide some level of pain relief, because most of its active ingredients have research backing, and several are effectively dosed in our estimation.
Another good thing about this supplement is that its inactive ingredients should be entirely safe and non-toxic.
Brand's Own Research Disputes Their Claims
The product page for Golden Revive + on the UpWellness website cites clinical research that fails to support the brand's own claims, at the time of updating this article.
As shown above, the brand claims that the patented form of turmeric they use is "backed by over 50 clinical studies and a 15-year track record for safety and effectiveness" with two citations to support those claims.
However, the citations do not actually prove those claims.
The first citation is a medical review that is not focused on the specific patented turmeric used in Golden Revive +, but rather an overview of curcumin, which is a chemical compound in turmeric.
The second citation is an animal study on curcumin treatment for pain relief that didn't even use the patented turmeric extract used by Golden Revive +.
The brand's website also claims that bromelain "works as well as many anti-inflammatory drugs for pain relief":
However, the study cited to back this claim does not prove that bromelain in isolation is as effective as anti-inflammatory drugs. It shows that bromelain when combined with two other compounds (one of which, Devil's Claw, is not even included in Golden Revive +) has an anti-inflammatory effect.
We consider it to be a major red flag when a brand makes health claims that are unsupported by their own citations, and we urge UpWellness to remove the unsupported health claims from their website, or adjust them to match the research they're citing.
Questionable Health Claims on Brand Website
The Golden Revive + website claims that the patented turmeric they use is 200x stronger than raw turmeric. There is no citation for this claim.
While extracts of plants are more potent than the raw material, we have not come across any research suggesting that BCM-95 is 200x more potent than raw turmeric.
A clinical trial that the manufacturer of BCM-95 cites on their own website reported that BCM-95 is 6.93x better-absorbed than raw turmeric.
We urge Golden Revive + to either cite this claim or to remove it from their website.
UpWellness also claims that their supplement only takes 30 seconds per day to “grease your joints and protect your heart and lungs.” This claim is uncited.
Ignoring the strange “grease your joints” statement, there is no explanation as to how this supplement “protects” the heart and lungs.
Golden Revive + doesn't appear to have been studied in any clinical trials, so we don't understand how its manufacturer can make such specific health claims.
Where to Get the Best Price
Golden Revive + is sold at a variety of online retailers. Here's a price breakdown for a one-time purchase at the time of updating this article:
EveryMarket: $65.81 (free shipping, link)
Brand website: $64.95 (free shipping, link)
Amazon: $36.95 (free shipping, link)
Golden Revive + is currently 43% cheaper on Amazon than on the brand's website, however the Amazon listing is from a third-party seller, so it may be safer to purchase directly from the manufacturer.
Our Clean Anti-Inflammatory Picks
MBG Omega-3 Potency+ is our top omega-3 supplement pick.
"Many favorable effects of Omega-3 are believed to result from their anti-inflammatory properties," according to a 2023 medical review.
Cornbread CBD Lotion is our top CBD lotion pick, because it also contains menthol, which was shown in a 2022 clinical trial to reduce pain scores.
Cannabidiol (CBD) is clinically shown to be effectively absorbed through the skin, and CBD caused "significant improvements in pain" when applied topically in a 2020 clinical trial.
Cinnamon was shown to reduce inflammatory markers in a 2020 clinical trial. The study authors concluded that “Cinnamon could be regarded as a safe supplement to relieve pain.”
Illuminate Labs Ceylon Cinnamon Extract is our standardized cinnamon supplement, which is third-party tested for purity and potency and costs only $15 at a subscription price.
All of the products recommended in this section are entirely free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy or unsafe.
Real Customers Review Golden Revive +
Golden Revive + is sold on Amazon, which is a better resource for honest customer reviews than a brand’s website in our opinion.
The supplement has been reviewed over 2,300 times on Amazon at the time of writing this article, and has an average review rating of 4 out of 5 stars.
The top positive review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named “James Culp, Jr.” who gives the product a 5/5 star rating, and claims it’s the most effective pain supplement they've used:
“I've been out looking for pain medicine but I don't want to take anything that's going to kill me down the road or make me crazier struck me out so I'm a vegetable I tried this stuff and the best stuff I have ever try I highly recommend it and it's all natural and I noticed a difference in my pain agony after a couple hours”
The top negative review from a verified purchaser comes from a user named “Beatrice N. Garza” who gives the product a 1/5 star rating and claims it did not relieve pain:
“it made my stomach upset , didn't work!! when I purchased it said I would be 100% satified and Was not !! I wasted $40.00 !!!!”
UpWellness (the supplement's manufacturer) has an average review rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars on Facebook at the time of updating this article.
UpWellness currently has an average review rating of 2.33 out of 5 stars on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website.
Golden Revive + currently has an average review rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars on Google.
Pros and Cons of Golden Revive +
Here are the pros and cons of Golden Revive + in our opinion:
Pros:
- Should provide some level of pain relief
- Contains multiple research-backed active ingredients
- Contains black pepper which enhances the effects of curcumin
- No unhealthy additive ingredients
Cons:
- Brand's own research citations fail to prove their marketing claims
- Brand makes questionable and uncited health claims
- Mediocre online customer reviews
- Doesn't appear to be clinically tested
- Challenging to find real customer reviews on YouTube or TikTok
