Does AG1 Make You Healthier? What Their Own Research Shows on its Health Benefits.
Updated: 2 days ago
AG1 is heavily marketed as a simple way to improve nutrition, gut health and overall wellbeing. But what does the research actually show?
AG1, formerly known as Athletic Greens, is one of the better-known “greens” powders on the market. Its appeal is obvious: one daily drink supposedly provides a broad mixture of vitamins, minerals, probiotics, plant compounds and other ingredients. But there is an important distinction between a product containing potentially beneficial ingredients and evidence that the finished product actually improves health.
A recently published randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial gives us a useful opportunity to examine that question.
As ever, please talk to your doctor or medical practitioner most familiar with your medical history before implementing any changes in diet, exercise or lifestyle, especially if you are under treatment. Links to all studies / resources at bottom of page.
What did the study find?
Notably there is no easy to find link from the AG1 website to the study. So we dug a little further...
The study (La Monica et al) involved just 30 healthy adults, split equally between AG1 and placebo, who took their assigned product daily for four weeks. Researchers examined the participants' gut microbiome, digestive symptoms, stool characteristics and a range of blood markers.
The researchers did find some changes in the gut microbiome. Several bacterial species increased in the AG1 group, including Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum. However, these appear to include bacteria supplied directly by the product itself.
That sounds impressive, but here's the catch: the overall diversity of the microbiome did not improve significantly. Neither of the principal measures of microbial diversity, Shannon diversity or Chao1 richness, showed a significant treatment effect. There was also no significant difference between AG1 and placebo in overall microbial community composition.
In other words, AG1 changed some of the bacteria detected in stool, but the study did not demonstrate that it produced a healthier or more resilient microbiome.
What about digestive health?
There was a potentially interesting result here. Participants taking AG1 reported an improvement in their digestive quality-of-life score, with an effect size that the researchers described as moderate-to-large. However, the difference between AG1 and placebo did not quite reach conventional statistical significance: p=0.058. That's close, but “almost statistically significant” isn't the same as statistically significant. There were also no significant differences in stool consistency or bowel frequency.
So the study provides a signal worth investigating, rather than convincing evidence that AG1 improves digestive health.
What about overall health?
This is where the marketing claims get ahead of the evidence. The study did not demonstrate improvements in blood glucose, cholesterol, body weight, blood pressure or other important metabolic markers. Nor did it measure outcomes such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, longevity or mortality.
The researchers discuss possible mechanisms involving short-chain fatty acids, gut-barrier function, immune regulation and tryptophan metabolism. These are interesting biological hypotheses, but they were not actually demonstrated in this trial.
There are some significant caveats
Perhaps the biggest issue is the study's size and duration: 15 people per group for only four weeks. The participants were also healthy adults, meaning there was relatively little room for improvement in the first place.
More importantly, the research was funded in part by AG1, while two authors were employees of Athletic Greens International. Other authors had received funding, consulting fees or other financial relationships with supplement companies. That doesn't mean the results are wrong. Industry-funded research can be perfectly legitimate. But it does mean we should be particularly interested in whether independent research replicates the findings.
There is also an unusual problem with the placebo. It consisted largely of maltodextrin. The authors themselves acknowledge that maltodextrin could affect the gut microbiome, making it a questionable control for a study specifically examining microbiome changes.
Final Thoughts
Does AG1 benefit your health?
Possibly, but the evidence is much weaker than the marketing might suggest. This study provides reasonable evidence that AG1 can introduce or increase certain bacteria in the gut and may improve some aspects of digestive wellbeing. It does not establish that AG1 improves overall health, metabolic health, cardiovascular health or longevity.
It is important to put the product in perspective. If your diet is already rich in vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds and other minimally processed foods - or you are already taking a regular multi-vitamin and mineral - an expensive greens powder will not transform your health.
The strongest evidence for improving health still comes from improving the diet itself, not from putting more things into a powder and drinking them.
As a part of a wider conversation about health, lifestyle and addressing the pillars of health have to be included. Except in cases of genuine deficiency, supplements cannot make-up for poor health stemming from a sub-standard diet, lack of exercise, poor sleep, stress and work-life imbalance.
Improving health is about finding motivation, prioritising self-care and taking action. If you want to take effective and targeted steps that fit into your unique lifestyle, The Whole Health Practice is here to help. Whether your interest is healthspan and longevity, to beat chronic illness or to enhance your mental health and well-being, our consultations and programs deliver results that are tailored to your needs.
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Stay Healthy,
Alastair
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Related Resources and Studies
La Monica MB, Raub B, Hartshorn S, Gustat AL, Grdic J, Kirby TO, Townsend JR, Sandrock J, Ziegenfuss TN. The effects of AG1® supplementation on the gut microbiome of healthy adults: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2024 Dec;21(1):2409682. doi: 10.1080/15502783.2024.2409682. Epub 2024 Oct 1. PMID: 39352252; PMCID: PMC11445888.
Other
Díaz-Lago M, Blanco F, Matute H. Expensive seems better: The price of a non-effective drug modulates its perceived efficacy. Cogn Res Princ Implic. 2023 Jan 26;8(1):8. doi: 10.1186/s41235-023-00463-4. PMID: 36700994; PMCID: PMC9879252.
Wierzejska RE. Dietary Supplements-For Whom? The Current State of Knowledge about the Health Effects of Selected Supplement Use. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Aug 24;18(17):8897. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18178897. PMID: 34501487; PMCID: PMC8431076.
Ronis MJJ, Pedersen KB, Watt J. Adverse Effects of Nutraceuticals and Dietary Supplements. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol. 2018 Jan 6;58:583-601. doi: 10.1146/annurev-pharmtox-010617-052844. Epub 2017 Oct 6. PMID: 28992429; PMCID: PMC6380172.
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