What's All The Hype about AG1 (Athletic Greens) Supplement?

Health Benefits or Money Waster

I was asked the other day what were my thoughts on the greens supplement - AG1 and if it was worth the money. To be honest, I have never used the product or even really did much research on it. But it is highly recommended by hundred’s of influencers and health experts. Even Dr. Andrew Huberman, a well known neuroscientist and Dr Peter Attia, doctor and author of the book Outlive -The Science and Art of Longevity recommend this product. And, I mean if it is good enough for Joe Rogan, it is good enough for anyone, right??!! (insert winking eye here)

For those who have maybe never heard of this supplement, this natural health product is promoted as a ‘daily foundation nutrition supplement that supports whole body health’ - * taken directly from their website*.

It is meant to replace multiple supplements with just one scoop daily. With 75 ingredients of vitamins, minerals, superfood complex, stress adaptogens, prebiotics/probiotics, antioxidants, digestion support. Now I would question the person who would be taking all these individual supplements in one day (75 is alot!) and what is their purpose. See full listing below.

So here is my deep dive.

Where did Athletic Greens come from?

In operation since 2010, Athletic Greens was a concept founded by Chris Ashenden who wanted to bring daily nutrition to everyone in a convenient way. They chose the best 75 nutrients that would benefit the body and made it easy to take with one scoop a day. They have provided their own research studies with their own in house team of doctors, scientists and researchers, along with a third party to validate and to back their product. AG1 is committed to providing the highest of quality product and results.

Some studies were done based on SHIME (simulator of the human intestinal microbial ecosystem), and tested for digestibility. The first problem I see here is that a simulator is not always indicative of what goes on inside each person’s gut in real life. We all have different levels of microbial ecosystems in our gut. No two people are exactly the same. Other studies were based on single arm studies (this is where a group is tested prior to the intervention and then after the required days of the intervention) with small sample sizes (35 people) for a short period of time. In this case it was 90 days.

Read some of their studies here.

And lets face it, when it comes to studies paid for by your own company for the purpose of selling your product, you are only going to talk about the good results and benefits. Its just good marketing. No one is going to buy your product is you say it is hard to absorb and has no known health benefits.

I feel that I can not continue until I give a brief overview on how these dietary supplements are regulated.

How are Dietary Supplements Regulated?

In the United States, Under the FD&C (Food, drug and Cosmetic) Act, the FDA does NOT have the authority to approve dietary supplements for safety and effectiveness, or to approve their labeling, before the supplements are sold to the public. It is the responsibility of dietary supplement companies to ensure their products meet the safety standards for dietary supplements and are not otherwise in violation of the law. And since the product goes out to market without alerting the FDA, because it can, the FDA will be periodical checks on manufacturing and labelling to ensure that the product is labelling correctly and does not make any claims of treating, diagnosing or curing an illness or diseases.

FDA 101: Dietary Supplements | FDA

In Canada, all dietary or natural health products must go through a government process to receive a NPN (natural product number). To get this number, you must provide the submission of a Product License Application (PLA), which must include detailed information on the product (e.g. its medicinal and non-medicinal ingredients, dose, potency and recommended uses) along with evidence supporting its recommended conditions of use. Once a product has been assessed and deemed safe, effective and of high quality, a product license will be issued along with an 8-digit Natural Product Number (NPN). Although this is about to be changed and it will make it much harder and more expensive to get natural health products approved for sale in Canada. This will decimate the Natural Health Industry and cause many to become sick.

Information Kit - Regulation of Natural Health Products - Canada.ca

So, What Are the Pros and Cons to AG1?

To be totally blunt, there are not a lot of pros or cons to this product.

Pros:

• Lots of ingredients that most likely contain micronutrients to help you feel good

• Convenience

• The promise of increased energy, improved gut health, improved immunity, better skin health, enhanced recovery for athletes

Cons:

• Lots of ingredients - do not really know what is a health benefit and what is not

• Proprietary blend so we don’t actually know what the percentage or doses are of each nutrient

• Reportedly doesn’t taste great

• There are no independent studies done

My Final Thoughts

The online reviews are very mixed for this product. And after doing the research on this product, I think it really comes down to the individual and what you are willing to pay for for convenience. Now, I am one to always give the benefit of the doubt to certain products. Give it a try and see if it works for you. But for me, I probably would not use this product. Why?. The high quantity of concentrated greens does not work for my gut and can cause some stomach disturbances. I also think that this product has an overload of ingredients some may even call it filler. It is like they took all top talked about and ‘buzz word’ superfoods, probiotics, mushrooms, anti oxidants and threw it all in a basket without being open on the dosages of all of them. So how do we know what is actually working for us in our bodies and what is actually of no benefit at all.

If you are a user of this product and you feel great on it, then that is awesome for you. If you have given this product a chance and feel no real difference, then this product probably isn’t for you. If you tried this product to help with certain symptoms like low energy or fatigue and it didn’t help, then I suggest that you talk with a health care practitioner to get to the root cause of the symptoms.

I am interested to know you thought below. Thanks.

Danni

---

Elevate Your Nutrition with Personalized One-on-One Coaching.

Are you ready to revolutionize your approach to nutrition and unlock your full potential for vibrant health and well-being? If so, I'm thrilled to offer you my personalized one-on-one nutrition coaching program!

*Personalized Assessment

*Customized Nutrition Plan

*Ongoing Support & Accountability

*Education & Empowerment

Whether you're looking to improve your eating habits, manage a specific health condition, or simply feel better overall, my one-on-one nutrition coaching can help you achieve your goals.

If you're interested in learning more or scheduling a consultation with me, please don't hesitate to reach out. I am here to support you on your journey to better health and wellness.