Relief Factor vs Balance of Nature: Which is Better?
Today, we will compare two popular supplement brands: Relief Factor and Balance of Nature. While Relief Factor is designed to provide anti-inflammatory joint support, Balance of Nature is a combination of 3 supplements that work together to support your whole-body wellness.
In today’s comparison, we answer which one is better in the context of joint health. We will analyze their ingredients and see what the science says about them. Which one is better for pain, stiffness, and inflammation? Let’s start with a brief summary.
Relief Factor vs Balance of Nature Summary
Relief Factor and Balance of Nature have many positive reviews online. But which one is best for pain relief and joint function improvement? The answer is: neither one is really the best!
Relief Factor is the better option as far as joint health is concerned. It contains a few great ingredients that might reduce your joint pain and improve inflammation response. However, a large part of its formula consists of unproven ingredients.
Epimedium (Horny Goat Weed) and Japanese fleeceflower are ingredients traditionally used for a variety of purposes, including for arthritic pain, but studies are lacking. The ingredients in Relief Factor are either cheap variants, or are under-dosed in the case of turmeric. Considering that Relief Factor costs over $79 for a month’s supply, we expected more.
As for Balance of Nature, it is a good general health supplement, but as far as joint health goes, it’s even worse than Relief Factor! Not only did Balance of Nature Supplements omit key ingredients like Glucosamine and Chondroitin, but they also use proprietary blends, so we can’t see the ingredient doses. For the price that it charges ($80-$100+), you can get better value for money elsewhere.
Relief Factor wins between these two, but it’s best to do more research before buying either one.
What do we recommend?
– Click to See The Current 3 Best-Reviewed Joint Supplements-
Relief Factor vs Balance of Nature: Product Overview
Relief Factor
Relief Factor is one of the top-selling joint stacks on the market right now. You’ll see hundreds of positive Relief Factor testimonials online, with a number of websites praising Relief Factor’s ingredients and benefits.
But what does it do?
According to Relief Factor’s website, this dietary supplement can help you:
- Relieve pain
- Lower inflammation & discomfort
Essentially, Relief Factor is a supplement designed to combat joint pain caused by inflammation and age-related wear and tear.
There’s not much talk about increasing mobility or joint function. The Relief Factor website doesn’t say anything about healing connective tissues and bolstering your joints. The only promises we get are related to reducing joint pain associated with ageing and physical activity.
This begs the question; how will Relief Factor work for you? And how does it compare to its competitor of today, Balance of Nature, in terms of supporting healthy joints?
Balance of Nature
Balance of Nature is a combination of whole food supplements designed to improve your overall health and wellness.
- The so-called “Whole Health System” of Balance of Nature is made up of three different supplements: Fruit and Veggies supplements, and a Fiber & Spices powder drink.
You can buy any of these three supplements individually, or you can do what the manufacturer recommends, and take them all together for total body support.
The Balance of Nature fruit supplement contains a blend of 16 whole fruits plus aloe vera. These include apples, cranberries, cherries, lemons, oranges, grapes, strawberries, and blueberries.
The Balance of Nature veggies blend contains powerful anti-inflammatory ingredients like cabbage, garlic, broccoli, kale, and cayenne pepper among others.
Lastly, we have the Balance of Nature Fiber & Spice drink. As the name suggests, the ingredients we get in this drink include psyllium husk, flax seeds, turmeric, fenugreek, and ginger amongst other spices & sources of fiber.
Essentially, it’s 1 vs 3 in the case of Relief Factor vs Balance of Nature. Relief Factor is a single supplement, and Balance of Nature is a stack of three. But does more equal better when it comes to joint health?
The ingredients should tell us the answer.
Relief Factor vs Balance of Nature: Comparing the Ingredients
As expected, the ingredient profiles of Relief Factor and Balance of Nature are completely different.
Whereas Relief Factor contains joint-targeted ingredients like turmeric and omega-3 oils for joint pain and inflammation, Balance of Nature’s 3 supplements contain a bit of everything, and are more focused on supporting overall health, rather than specifically helping with joint flexibility, pain, or long-range function.
In addition, Relief Factor’s formula is completely transparent, whereas all three Balance of Nature supplements use proprietary blends, which means we can’t see the doses of their ingredients.
However, Relief Factor is far from a perfect supplement – it has some serious issues that we’ll be addressing below.
Relief Factor Formula
The ingredients in Relief Factor as as follows:
- EPA – 647mg
- DHA – 253mg
- Turmeric phospholipid (18% curcuminoids) – 667mg
- Epimedium (20% Icariin) – 200mg
- Japanese fleeceflower (96% resveratrol) – 70mg
We don’t think Relief Factor is a bad joint health supplement, but it’s not the best either. While Relief Factor has a few good ingredients that fight joint pain and inflammation (mainly, turmeric and omega-3s), the supplement effectiveness might be weaker than what is claimed.
To us, there are several reasons why Relief Factor doesn’t look capable of notably improving joint function.
The main one is the use of untested, scientifically unproven ingredients. Japanese fleeceflower, aka, knotweed, is a rare sight in joint supplements. We aren’t aware of any robust clinical trials showing this ingredient is beneficial for our joint flexibility or comfort.
Similar story is with Epimedium, aka, Horny Goat Weed. There is little reason for us to recommend Horny Goat Weed as a joint pain reliever. You will have a hard time to find this ingredient in any high-quality joint supplement.
As the name suggests, Horny Goat Weed is more often found in men’s health enhancers and libido formulas.
Even where Relief Factor uses well-studied, effective joint pain relievers, there are issues.
For example, the turmeric Relief Factor uses is just plain turmeric powder. The same one you’ll find at your local grocery store. It’s much cheaper to just buy a bag of turmeric powder if you want to use it for inflammation and pain relief.
The omega-3s in Relief Factor are not a bad choice, but they are not optimally dosed for severe inflammation and rheumatoid arthritis. Experts recommend using at least 2,000mg of EPA+DHA per day to improve joint function and comfort in the case of rheumatoid arthritis.
For osteoarthritis, though, lower doses are shown to work just as well. So it depends on your situation.
Overall, Relief Factor is a pricey capsule that contains a mixed bag of effective and less-than-ideal ingredients.
But is Relief Factor better than Balance of Nature? Let’s find out!
Balance of Nature Formula
The ingredients in all three Balance of Nature supplements are contained inside proprietary blends, which makes it impossible to see if they’re properly dosed. This allows the manufacturer to get away with underdosed ingredients, without us knowing.
The Veggies supplement consists of three proprietary blends:
- Maintain blend – 856mg
- Fend blend – 653mg
- Refresh blend – 501mg
The Fruits supplement consists of three proprietary blends as well:
- Maintain blend – 731mg
- Fend blend – 719mg
- Refresh blend -561mg
Fiber & Spice contains two proprietary blends:
- Whole Fiber Ingredients – 10g
- Whole Spice Ingredients – 3g
The ingredients in Balance of Nature products are mostly compounds that you will find in everyday foods; from broccoli, spinach, and blueberries, to spices like chili pepper.
Fruit and vegetable ingredients are generally seen as healthy and can support your immune function, as well as reduce oxidative stress from exercise. Some of these food ingredients are potent antioxidants, which can help lower systemic inflammation, including that of your joints.
As for the Balance of Nature fiber & spices supplement, it consists of fiber and pectin as prebiotics that can improve the health of your gut bacteria. It also contains ingredients like cardamon and ginger which are great for your digestion.
On the whole, Balance of Nature contains a bunch of different ingredients thrown together in hidden individual doses.
Although some of Balance of Nature’s ingredients are shown in clinical research to be effective for promoting overall health and longevity, we don’t quite rate it as the best formula for joint pain, flexibility, or long-term function.
As disappointing as Relief Factor is, we would still pick its formula over Balance of Nature’s any day.
Relief Factor vs Balance of Nature: Safety Analysis
On the whole, both Relief Factor and Balance of nature look like safe supplements to us. The ingredients they use are all commonly seen in supplements, and are studied for their safety. Especially in the case of Relief Factor, where the doses are light.
That said, it’s important to remember that we don’t see the doses of ingredients in Balance of Nature supplements. Some of them could be dosed too high, resulting in negative side effects in some people.
Balance of Nature also contains a good amount of fiber; if you have a sensitive gut, it may cause stomach upset, diarrhea, or constipation.
Relief Factor vs Balance of Nature: User Reviews
It is worth checking some Relief Factor and Balance of Nature reviews before you go ahead and pick your supplement.
While we can never know 100-percent that an anonymous Relief Factor or Balance of Nature testimonial is legitimate and written by a real person, the feedback can be useful in telling us general things about the supplement, including if we’re dealing with a scam!
Thankfully, that doesn’t look to be the case with Relief Factor nor Balance of Nature.
Relief Factor vs Balance of Nature: Pricing & Value
Relief Factor Pricing
Relief Factor will set you back by $93.95 for a single purchase (a month’s supply) + shipping and handling.
The price for new customers is $24.95 – only if you subscribe to automatic shipments. After this initial order, the price goes up to $79.95 per month. You will be charged automatically each month if you subscribe to Relief Factor’s plan.
Relief Factor doesn’t have a clear return policy. It appears that they have some kind of a money-back program, but only lasting 30 days and if you return the product unused.
Balance of Nature Pricing
The price of Balance of Nature supplements depends on how many of them you want to use.
You can buy the Fruits & Veggies supplements for around $89.95. The Fiber & Spice powder drink will cost you around $69.95. Or you can “save” some money by buying all three as a part of the Whole Health System – costing around $159.95.
There is also an option to become a Preferred Customer, where you pay for a monthly subscription for Balance of Nature supplements, which can save you 31% per product + free shipping. For example, if you subscribe to Balance of Nature, you can get the Whole Health System (Fruits & Veggies + Fiber & Spices) for $109.95 per month.
In either case the asking price is high. If your goal is to improve joint health and reduce pain, there are better options available on the market, for less.
The Bottom Line
In our eyes, Relief Factor and Balance of Nature are both letdowns.
Their ingredients are a mixed bag of understudied and underdosed compounds. In the case of Balance of Nature Supplements, you can’t even see the amounts of ingredients in them.
As far as joint health goes, we’ll give the edge to Relief Factor, simply because it is more focused for that goal.
Turmeric and some DHA and EPA should help reduce joint pain. But the turmeric and omega-3 oils that Relief Factor uses come in cheap forms.
For example, omega-3s in Relief Factor come in the synthetic ethyl ester version, which your body may absorb less of compared to natural triglyceride-form fish oil. As a result, you’re better off just buying standalone fish oil and turmeric supplements instead, which should give you even better results.
If you want to reduce joint pain and improve your quality of movement and flexibility, you can check the current market-leading joint supplements we recommend below.
Not What You Were Looking For?
– Click to See The Current 3 Best-Reviewed Joint Supplements-