Is AG1 (Athletic Greens) the Real Deal?

What is the deal with AG1? (in my best Seinfeld voice)

I can’t seem to escape the bombardment of Athletic Greens (AG1) advertising. It encroaches on my personal space like a bathroom attendant offering me a squirt of soap. Some of my favorite podcasters including Joe Rogan, Tim Ferris, Andrew Huberman and Chris Williamson shill for AG1 on their shows. So I had to ask myself…is this stuff legit?

What’s AG1’s pitch?

As stated on their packaging, AG1 is comprehensive + convenient daily nutrition with 75 vitamins, minerals, and whole food-sourced ingredients, made for just about everybody. On the AG1 website, they make claims to support gut health, healthy aging and the immune system. So let’s see if evidence backs this up.

Breakdown

Let’s break this supplement down looking first at the cost, so we know what we’ll be looking to shell out for these benefits. Then we’ll take a look at the ingredients and dosages to figure out if AG1 can support the claims that they make.

AG1 has a few different price tags…

• $99 for 30 servings as a standalone order ($3.30/serving)

• $79 for 30 servings shipped on a monthly subscription ($2.63/serving)

• $149 for 60 servings shipped on a monthly double subscription, for couples ($2.49/serving)

How is it as a multi-vitamin?

Multi-vitamins are broadly viewed as an insurance policy to make sure you are getting the micronutrients that your body needs, especially on days when our diet isn’t optimal, like on 2 for 1 beer & wing day at Hooters.

Looking at the label we can see that it has many of the vitamins considered to be essential in a daily multivitamin at proper dosages, including:

• Magnesium: Crucial for muscle and nerve function, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure regulation.

• Calcium: Essential for bone health and maintaining proper nerve and muscle function.

• Vitamin C: Important for the repair of all body tissues and the synthesis of collagen.

• B Vitamins (including B12, B6, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin): Vital for energy production, brain function, and the synthesis of red blood cells.

• Zinc: Supports immune function, wound healing, and DNA synthesis.

• Vitamin E: Acts as an antioxidant and helps protect cells from damage.

• Folic Acid: Important for tissue growth and cell function, and particularly critical during pregnancy for women.

It doesn’t include Vitamin D3 or Iron. Vitamin D3 helps the body absorb calcium, promoting bone health and supporting immune, brain, and nervous system functions. Iron is crucial for making hemoglobin, which carries oxygen throughout the body, and supports energy production and immune health.

AG1 unfortunately also uses folate, which is the natural form of Vitamin B9 instead of folic acid (synthetic B9) which the body absorbs more efficiently than it does natural folates.

How is it as a probiotic?

Probiotics are live microorganisms, often referred to as "good" bacteria, that provide health benefits when consumed. They help balance the gut microbiome, which can improve digestive health and boost the immune system.

Scanning their website, I can see a claim that AG1 contains two of the safest probiotic species, lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacterium bifidum. And Indeed, these species are two of the most well researched within the human body and are important for overall wellness.

Although some probiotics have been proven to benefit people with specific medical conditions like inflammatory bowel disease or antiobiotic induced diarrhea, there is serious lack of evidence to suggest that they are beneficial in broadly healthy individuals.

The prevailing view is that a rich, balanced, and diverse gut microbiota is likely to yield the best health results. However, probiotics don’t really seem to improve on these factors. Stick to prebiotic fibers and the addition of fermented foods if you are looking for a scientifically backed way to improve your overall gut health. For more on probiotics, please see our issue on gut health here.

What else is in this green powder?

We also see 3 sections of proprietary blends labeled:

• Alkaline, Nutrient-Dense Raw Superfood Complex

• Nutrient Dense Extracts, Herbs & Antioxidants

• Digestive Enzyme & Super Mushroom Complex

You may ask yourself: what are “proprietary blends” and why do supplement companies use them?

Proprietary blends are mixtures of various ingredients used by supplement companies, listed under a single quantity on the label without disclosing the amounts of each individual component.

The reason companies want you to think they have a proprietary blend is to protect their unique formula from competitors. However, many use it as a tool to disguise the amount of particular ingredients, especially the more expensive ones, in their formula.

Without going over every single blend ingredient, lets pick out a few in the “Nutrient Dense Extracts, Herbs & Antioxidants” blend to check their possible efficacy.

Alkaline pea protein isolate is a solid nutritional ingredient but when we look at the blend which is only 2,732mg and see on the label that protein makes up 2g (2,000mg), it seems likely that there are only 732mg left of ingredients to round out this 17-ingredient blend.

Further down the list we see Rhodiola Rosea and Ashwagandha which both have some promising evidence as effective adaptogens.

The effective dose for Rhodiola is a minimum of 50mg as a daily preventative against fatigue but has seen much more effectiveness in the range of 288-680mg according to Examine.com.

For Ashwagandha, the typical dosing regimen is 600 mg per day, split into two doses: one taken in the morning with breakfast and the other in the evening.

So doing some back of the napkin math, lets say an effective dose of these ingredients is 300mg each for a total of 600mg. Adding in the pea protein, that leaves only 132mg for the other 14 ingredients in the blend, leading me to be very suspicious of whether there are effective amounts of these formulation components. It would be like making a margarita with an eye dropper worth of tequila, like that all-inclusive Cancun dump we all went to in college

“But DK, I take it for the greens!”

While green microalgae ingredients in AG1 like Spirulina and Chlorella can be effective, the recommended dosage is in the range of several grams, which AG1 is lacking.

Are there any alternatives that can offer vitamins, minerals, greens and gut benefits?

Vitamins and minerals: a third-party tested multivitamin will cover these bases. I use Nature Made Multivitamin for Him, which also has an Iron version available if you’re not getting enough Iron through your diet. But before dropping your hard-earned cash on a multi, get some bloodwork done and see if you have any vitamin and/or mineral deficiencies.

Greens: you guessed it, add in more fruit and veggies to your diet. The doses of plants in the greens supplements on the market are broadly ineffective.

Gut benefits: if you’re unable to get the recommended 25-50mg per day of fiber through your diet, supplementing with psyllium husk may be a good idea. It contains both soluble and insoluble fiber and easily mixes with a shake, water, juice or oatmeal. Maybe if psyllium husk changed it’s name to something sexy like “Psy H Matrix”, people would consider it valuable…Big Psyllium needs to get on that.

To put a green bow on it, AG1 and many other high-cost supplements have driven relevance through a strong marketing campaign much more than by science-backed evidence. While I don’t believe AG1 will harm your health, I don’t accept it’s claims as “a foundational nutrition supplement for whole body health”. There are simply much better options just by adding a piece of fruit and a veggie to your daily routine.

I’m here to support you on your journey to a healthier, fitter life. As always, I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. Let me know what topics you’d like me to cover in future issues by replying to this email.

Want to share this issue of DK Does Midlife via text, social media, or email? Just copy and paste this link: https://dkdml.beehiiv.com/

For additional content, follow me on Instagram here

Be well,

Dave

Please note: This newsletter is designed for informational purposes only and should not be taken as professional medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare provider for advice tailored to your health and fitness needs.