Cheers Supplement Review (Restore): Honest Assessment for Canadian Buyers

Cheers (formerly Thrive+) is the US brand that legitimized the DHM hangover supplement category. Their Restore formula was one of the first premium products to position DHM as a science-backed ingredient rather than a novelty. If you’re researching this category seriously, you’ve likely encountered Cheers.

This review covers the formula quality, the pricing reality for Canadian buyers, and whether it’s the right product for you.

Disclosure: Hovenia is a direct competitor. We’ve reviewed Cheers’ publicly available product information and have tried to be accurate.

These statements have not been evaluated by Health Canada or the FDA. Cheers products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

What’s In Cheers Restore

Core formula per serving:

DHM (Dihydromyricetin): 1,000mg
NAC (N-acetyl cysteine): included (glutathione precursor)
Milk Thistle Extract (standardized silymarin): included
Prickly Pear Extract: included
B-Vitamins: B1, B6, B12, B9 (folate)
Vitamin C: included
Zinc: included

Format: 4 capsules per serving

Formula Assessment

Cheers Restore is well-formulated. The founder (Shri Kulkarni, biochemistry background) built the formula around the actual evidence rather than marketing trends, and it shows.

DHM 1,000mg: Correct dose. The premium segment standard, optimized for acute use.

NAC: This is Cheers’ main regulatory differentiator from Health Canada-compliant products. NAC is the same mechanism as L-Cysteine (glutathione precursor) and equally effective biochemically. The issue is regulatory: the FDA issued warning letters to supplement companies regarding NAC’s status as a dietary supplement (it may be excluded from the definition under the FD&C Act because it was investigated as a drug before supplement marketing began). For a US product, this is a grey zone that most companies navigate. For Health Canada NPN licensing in Canada, L-Cysteine is the cleaner choice — which is why both NDW and Hovenia use L-Cysteine instead.

If you’re buying from the US for personal use, NAC isn’t a safety issue — it’s a regulatory positioning issue. If you’re concerned about NHP compliance in Canada, it’s the relevant difference.

Milk Thistle: Cheers specifies the silymarin standardization on their label, which is the right practice. You can verify you’re getting a therapeutic silymarin dose rather than unstandardized herb dust.

Prickly Pear: Included at appropriate positioning in the formula.

B-Vitamins + Vitamin C + Zinc: Solid micronutrient support. The B-vitamin complex is essential (alcohol depletes B1/B6/B12). Vitamin C adds antioxidant capacity. Zinc is depleted by alcohol and involved in immune function and wound repair.

Electrolytes: Not a primary feature of Restore’s formula. This is a gap — electrolyte depletion is a core hangover mechanism — but Cheers has a separate product (Hydration mix) that addresses this.

The Canadian Pricing Problem

Here’s the honest math for Canadian buyers.

Cheers US pricing: ~$35–42 USD for a pack of 12

Canadian buyer’s actual cost:

USD to CAD conversion: ~$48–58 CAD (at typical rates)
International shipping to Canada: ~$15–25 CAD
Potential customs/import duties: variable, often $0 for supplements under threshold
Total: $63–83+ CAD for 12 servings = $5.25–6.92 CAD per serving

Hovenia V2 target: ~$1.50–2.25 CAD per serving, shipped from Canada

The gap is not about profit margin on either side — it’s that Cheers built for the US market, and the international shipping + currency conversion creates a significant premium for Canadian buyers.

For occasional purchases (1–2 times a year), the premium may not matter. For regular use (monthly restock), the math gets uncomfortable fast.

The NPN Question for Canadian Buyers

Cheers Restore does not carry a Health Canada NPN. This matters for:

Legal compliance: Health Canada requires an NPN for supplement products sold in Canada. A product sold in Canada without an NPN doesn’t meet the Natural Health Products Regulations. Buying from a US website for personal import is in a grey zone.

Quality assurance signal: NPN licensing means Health Canada has reviewed the product for safety, efficacy (within permitted claims), and quality. GMP manufacturing is required. This is a verification layer that doesn’t exist for products without NPN.

Practical import issues: NPN-free supplements crossing the Canada-US border can face customs holds or be flagged. Typically fine for personal use quantities, but not guaranteed.

If you’re a Canadian buyer for whom regulatory compliance matters, this is the critical difference.

What Cheers Does Better Than Competitors

Brand depth: Cheers has years of published content, scientific communication, and brand building. Their Science page and evidence communications are honest about what DHM does and doesn’t prove. They’re not making “eliminates hangovers” claims.

US market social proof: Thousands of reviews, media coverage, and brand recognition that no Canadian competitor currently matches.

Product range: Cheers has expanded beyond Restore into a full product suite (Hydration, Protect, etc.) that addresses the full recovery stack across multiple products.

The Bottom Line

Cheers Restore is a legitimately good product with a well-constructed formula. For US buyers, it’s one of the top choices in the category.

For Canadian buyers specifically:

The currency/shipping premium makes regular use significantly more expensive than domestic alternatives
No Health Canada NPN means operating outside the Canadian regulatory framework
The same core formula is available from Canadian NPN-licensed manufacturers at substantially lower cost

If you’re in Canada and deciding between Cheers and Hovenia, the formula quality is comparable. The relevant differences are all on the regulatory and pricing side.

→ Hovenia vs Cheers → → Best DHM Supplement Canada 2026 → → NAC vs L-Cysteine: Why the Difference Matters →

Hovenia is a Canadian liver health supplement company and direct competitor to Cheers. This review reflects our honest assessment of their publicly available product information. Products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA or Health Canada.