Omega XL and Relief Factor are two of the most expensive joint supplements. We are talking close to $100 a month. And honestly, I don’t believe either is worth this price. You can see why below.
Quick Verdict
Relief Factor is a better joint pain supplement than Omega XL because it has a broader approach to treating pain and inflammation, has a transparent ingredient list, and higher dosages.
But the combination of slight underdosing, not enough proven joint pain components and unduly high price makes it hard for me to recommend. Instead, products like FlexAgain provide a much more comprehensive formulation that can deliver a stronger effect and much better value.
As for Omega XL, the product is overpriced and there are much better omega supplements available.
| Feature | Winner |
|---|---|
| Ingredients | Relief Factor |
| Dosage | Relief Factor |
| Joint Relief Effectiveness | Relief Factor |
| Third-Party Testing | Draw |
| Clinical Research | Draw |
| Side Effects | Omega XL |
| User Reviews | Omega XL |
| Price | Omega XL |
Quick Verdict
I can’t recommend either Omega XL or Relief Factor. FlexAgain is a better joint supplement with an effective formulation for joint pain relief and support.
What Is Omega XL?
Omega XL is a joint pain supplement and the flagship product of Great HealthWorks, a company that produces multiple dietary supplements, such as immune stimulators and vitamins.
Omega XL aims to go beyond the standard omega 3 supplements by combining different oils, including green-lipped mussel oil. The ingredients are well-backed by clinical research on their effectiveness in reducing joint pain and soreness.
The formulation aims to use more absorbable free fatty acids than fish oil and provide a non-fishy taste to a product that promotes joint health and better mobility.
You can read my in-depth breakdown in my Omega XL review.
What Is Relief Factor?
Relief Factor is a comprehensive joint health supplement created by the company Relief Factor Co, which also produces supplements for anxiety relief, improving energy, and enhancing sleep.
Relief Factor is a 100% drug-free daily supplement that supports your body’s natural response to inflammation, decreasing or even eliminating pain throughout the day. The formulation is drug-free and aims to help the body heal itself.
Relief Factor contains only natural ingredients and has been third-party tested for purity from heavy metals. It is suitable for all health-conscious individuals suffering from joint pain.
You can read my in-depth breakdown in my Relief Factor review.
Relief Factor vs. Omega XL Main Differences
Benefits
The main intention of both supplements is to alleviate joint pain and restore normal function to the joints.
Unlike prescription meds which come with some serious side effects and treat only the symptom, rather than the cause, dietary supplements like Relief Factor and Omega XL use natural substances to reduce inflammation and pain in the joints and muscles and help the body heal itself.
Omega XL’s benefit over standard omega supplements is that it contains more than just EPA and DHA. Instead of going for the standard route which is using fish oil, Omega XL sources the oil from green-lipped mussel.
This has two main advantages. The first is the absence of a fishy taste typical for many omega products and the second is that it contains a powerful combination of healthy fatty acids and lipid mediators.
Relief Factor is also a completely drug-free product, with natural ingredients that support pain relief in various ways. The formulation is designed to give your body the nutrition it needs to eliminate daily pain in the joints and muscles.
Ingredients
The ingredient lists of the two products are rather different, even though they have the same purpose.
Omega XL uses a proprietary blend containing several different oils. The blend prevents us from knowing how much of each ingredient is inside, so we can’t fully determine if the doses are enough.
But my extensive experience with supplements shows that if a product has a proprietary blend, then doses are never enough.
Relief Factor has a transparent ingredients list and we can better gauge how effective the formulation is. I will start with its ingredients and how they affect joint pain.
The product contains 900 mg of Omega 3 fatty acids (647 mg EPA and 253 DHA). Omega 3 is one of the most common joint pain supplement ingredients because it can reduce inflammation, relieve pain, improve joint health, prevent joint damage, help repair existing damage, enhance muscle and connective tissue growth, and improve the lubrication, flexibility, and mobility of the joints [1].
The dose is slightly below the 1100 mg recommendation.
Turmeric is an extract from the root of Curcuma and contains the compound curcumin which can reduce pain and inflammation, restore joint functions, combat osteoarthritis pain, and enhance the efficacy of other antioxidants in your system [2].
Icariin is used in traditional Chinese medicine for various benefits, including reduced swelling and inflammation.
However, the only relevant studies currently available are not on humans, so the effectiveness of Icariin remains highly suspect [3].
Resveratol included as Japanese knotweed root extract is used in Relief Factor because it is known as a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Consuming it can prevent or treat oxidative stress and damage to the cells and tissues throughout the human body [4].
Unfortunately, the dose in Relief Factor is 75 mg, when the recommended amount is 150 mg.
Omega XL contains a bunch of useful ingredients, likely made ineffective by the low dosage of the proprietary blend they are mixed in.
The New Zealand Green Lipped Mussel Extract can improve joint health, flexibility, and mobility, prevent or reduce inflammation, DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), cartilage degradation, arthritis pain and symptoms, asthma, and ADHD, and even provide several overall health benefits [5].
However, the effects have been proven with 375 mg or more of Green Lipped Mussel Extract, while the whole Omega XL blend is 300 mg.
Oil Extract PCSO-524 contains Omega fatty acids, extra virgin olive oil, pure olive oil, and vitamin E. Omega 3 fatty acids are very important for joint health and alleviating joint pain as we’ve already seen.
Extra virgin olive oil and vitamin E are also beneficial additions to the formulation, but the dosage of the 300 mg proprietary blend all of them share is nowhere near enough to deliver any meaningful effects.
Effectiveness
From my experience with the two products and what I can assume from the ingredient lists, Relief Factor is the more effective product. I have felt some relief from some nagging pain I had, but not nearly enough as I had hoped.
This is still better than the zero effect I have felt from Omega XL, so Relief Factor wins this comparison category.
Clinical Research
Neither product has full formula clinical research proving its effectiveness, but this is generally true for all joint health supplements.
However, the individual ingredients are well backed by scientific studies and most of them are effective in the right doses.
These studies also help us determine if the dosages are high enough to deliver meaningful results, or if it’s all false advertising.
This is why I am highly suspicious when I see proprietary blends hiding the exact dosages of individual ingredients.
Side Effects
The reported side effects of Relief Factor and Omega Xl and mild and most people do not exhibit them, but enough do to warrant mentioning.
One of the main side effects of supplements like these is stomach discomfort such as bloating, gas, or nausea.
More than a few people complain about these issues in user reviews, so it’s definitely a possibility for anyone taking the supplements, especially if you increase the dose to get a quicker result.
I didn’t have any issues with Omega XL in the month I took it, but experienced some mild stomach discomfort halfway through my Relief Factor trial, which was rather surprising, since I don’t usually get any adverse effects from natural supplements.
User Reviews
It is somewhat surprising to me that the two products have rather high scores on user reviews and from a high number of reviews at that. Relief Factor has a 3.9 score on its website and allows full access to all 3000 user reviews.
The negative reviews range from people who have used the product for a month or two and didn’t feel any improvement, to those who can’t cancel their subscription.
There are more than a few dissatisfied customers, but there are also many more who are happy with their purchase as evidenced by the high overall score.
Omega XL has a huge number of reviews, nearing 43,000 at the time of writing this review, and a score of 4.2, which I find perplexing. The opinions on the effectiveness of the product are roughly half and half, with a slight edge on negative ones.
Value-wise though the majority of people believe Omega XL is overpriced for what it offers and I strongly agree with them.
Price
| Product | 1 Bottle (One time purchase) | 1 Bottle (Subscription) |
|---|---|---|
| Relief Factor | $93.95 ($3.13/serving) | $79.95 ($2.67/serving) |
| Omega XL | $94.99 ($1.58/serving) | $85.49 ($1.42/serving) |
My Experience With Relief Factor And Omega XL
Given the high reputation of Omega XL and Relief Factor, I had high hopes they would help me ease some joint pain I’ve accumulated over the years of grappling and weight training.
However, when I inspected the ingredient lists more closely my enthusiasm subsided.
Relief Factor was definitely the product I had felt a much better effect with. I followed the instructions to start with a higher dose and felt my knee pain alleviate with time.
But it was not something groundbreaking and the high price of the product, coupled with the stomach issues I encountered on some days did not leave me satisfied in any way.
There is not much to write about my experience with Omega XL, to be honest. I took 2 soft gels per day as the product says I should but felt no change in my condition whatsoever.
This is easily explained by the low dose. Perhaps if I double or triple the dosage the effect would be much more noticeable but then Omega XL would turn into the most expensive oil supplement on the planet.
Should You Choose Relief Factor Or Omega XL?
If I have to be completely honest with you, you shouldn’t choose either product and opt for one of the better joint supplements on the market, such as FlexAgain.
Omega XL costs $50 per bottle and all it consists of is a 300 mg proprietary blend which is less in total than what individual ingredients need and I find this almost personally insulting.
Pain Relief is better and it does offer some pain relief, but again the high price is not justified by the amount of ingredients and their dosages.
On the other hand products like FlexAgain offer a much more comprehensive formulation, significantly higher dosages, and lower price, so I can’t find any reason to pick either Omega XL or Relief Factor over FlexAgain.
FlexAgain
FlexAgain
A powerful, clinically dosed joint supplement to alleviate joint pain and improve joint health.
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References
- Miles, E. A., & Calder, P. C. (2012). Influence of marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on immune function and a systematic review of their effects on clinical outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis. British Journal of Nutrition, 107(S2), S171-S184.
- Anand, P., Kunnumakkara, A. B., Newman, R. A., & Aggarwal, B. B. (2007). Bioavailability of curcumin: problems and promises. Molecular pharmaceutics, 4(6), 807-818.
- Shindel, A. W., Xin, Z. C., Lin, G., Fandel, T. M., Huang, Y. C., Banie, L., … & Lue, T. F. (2010). Erectogenic and neurotrophic effects of icariin, a purified extract of horny goat weed (Epimedium spp.) in vitro and in vivo. The journal of sexual medicine, 7(4_Part_1), 1518-1528.
- Kjær, T. N., Ornstrup, M. J., Poulsen, M. M., Jørgensen, J. O. L., Hougaard, D. M., Cohen, A. S., … & Pedersen, S. B. (2015). Resveratrol reduces the levels of circulating androgen precursors but has no effect on, testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, PSA levels or prostate volume. A 4?month randomised trial in middle?aged men. The Prostate, 75(12), 1255-1263.
- Abshirini, M., Coad, J., Wolber, F. M., von Hurst, P., Miller, M. R., Tian, H. S., & Kruger, M. C. (2021). Green-lipped (greenshell™) mussel (Perna canaliculus) extract supplementation in treatment of osteoarthritis: a systematic review. Inflammopharmacology, 29, 925-938.
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