According to registered dietitian Megan Robinson, Athletic Greens or AGI is an easy way to boost your nutritional needs, especially if you are a busy runner who doesn’t have time to eat well-balanced meals every day! Many customers notice improved overall health including better energy and digestion. Personally, I did not notice the way I felt using it but I also am zeroed in my nutritional needs. Get the low down on AG1 below.
I remember the first time I saw Athletic Greens. It was an Instagram Live by a pro ultra-marathon runner/ influencer. She was going through her morning routine which included drinking a green drink first thing upon waking up. As she mixed the scoops of green powders into water, it honestly did not look very appealing to me.
She went on to tout the amazing effects she has felt since started drinking Athletic Greens (also known as AG1) daily: improved gut healthy, energy levels, and recovery. I was intrigued.
Soon after, I started seeing mention of Athletic Greens everywhere—on social media, in mailers, as sponsors of podcasts, I started to take notice. When my friend, an elite runner, bought a couple of packages, I asked if I could try some.
Indeed, AG1 seems perfect for a mother runner who is incredibly active and may not have the time to get in all her nutrition.
I got with registered dietitian Megan Robinson, did research, and tried AG1 to write this informed review and determine if AG1 is worth the money and the hype.
Table of contents
Note: I am not a doctor, so please consult yours before taking any new dietary supplements.
Let’s go!
What is Athletic Greens?
While you may have only recently heard of Athletic Greens, the company was founded a while ago in 2010 by New Zealander Chris Ashenden.
Re-branded as AG1, the supplement company’s mission is to make optimal nutrition and performance easy and accessible—with on product, a green powder called AG1.
AG1 is meant to supplement your healthy diet by filling in any gaps with its 75 essential vitamins, minerals probiotics, adaptogens, and whole food-sourced planed compounds. The company’s website claims that daily use of the greens powder will enhance “energy levels, immune health, gut healthy, healthy aging, and hormonal and neural health.”
Related: Should Runners Drink MUD/WTR?
Indeed, you’ve likely seen ads and reels of everyone from active senior citizens to elite athletes using AG1.
AGI products are NSF Certified for Sport which ensures the products are safe and legal for competitive athletes to use. The certification ensures that what is on the label matches what is actually in the product (which is not the case for a lot of supplements on the market).
AG1 is manufactured in Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)-registered manufacturing facilities which are regulated by the Australian government.
Related: How to Tell if a Supplement is Good Quality
My test run with AGI
I took AG1 every morning for a month. I was surprised by the sweet taste and easily got into the habit of drinking it. However, I didn’t notice too much of a health difference. My suspicion is this is because I already have optimal nutrition thanks to the supplements and probiotics I take. I think people who are looking to replace their current supplement regimen or need to fill in nutrient gaps will feel benefits of AG1.
Ok, so what is in AG1?
Well, that all sounds magical. But what exactly is in AG1?
One scoop of AG1 provides:
Athletic Greens Nutrition Facts
- Calories: 50
- Carbohydrates: 6 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Sugar: <1 g
- Protein: 2 g
Essential nutrients
- Vitamin A: 62% of the Daily Value (DV)
- Vitamin C: 467% DV
- Vitamin E: 553% DV
- Thiamine (vitamin B1): 250% DV
- Riboflavin (vitamin B2): 154% DV
- Niacin (vitamin B3): 125% DV
- Vitamin B6: 176% DV
- Folate: 170% DV
- Vitamin B12: 917% DV
- Biotin: 1,100% DV
- Pantothenic acid: 80% DV
- Calcium: 9% DV
- Phosphorus: 10% DV
- Magnesium: 6% DV
- Zinc: 136% DV
- Selenium: 36% DV
- Copper: 22% DV
- Manganese: 17% DV
- Chromium: 71% DV
- Sodium: 2% DV
- Potassium: 6% DV
AG1 also contains four proprietary blends of a variety of powdered forms of herbs, fruits, vegetables, plant extracts, adaptogens, and other nutrients with potential benefits.
Before you read these Athletic Greens ingredients list, consider these two main points:
- The amount of these ingredients are not disclosed. Therefore, it’s not known if the levels are significant enough to have a positive health impact.
- Second, many of the purported benefits of these ingredients have been done in small studies or animal studies. And the benefits haven’t been directly linked to someone drinking AG1. There is no grand study, that says—if you drink AG1 every day for 6 months, you will have better focus, energy, gut healthy, immune health, etc.
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AG1 Proprietary Blends:
Alkaline, Nutrient-Dense Raw Superfood Complex for a Healthy Gut
According to AG1, this blend includes nutrient-dense ingredients meant to support a healthy gut microbiome such as spirulina, a freshwater algae.
Other ingredients include bilberry fruit extract, chlorella powder, pineapple fruit concentrate, beetroot powder, and cocoa bean polyphenol extract that have been linked to lowered cardiovascular disease risk and eye health. The blend also includes a prebiotic fiber meant to grown good bacteria in the gut.
Related: Should Runners Drink Prime?
Ingredients: organic spirulina, lecithin, organic apple powder, inulin, organic wheat grass juice powder, organic alfalfa powder, organic chlorella powder, organic barley leaf, acerola fruit juice powder extract, broccoli flower powder, papaya fruit powder, pineapple fruit concentrate, bilberry fruit extract, beetroot powder, rosehip fruit powder, carrot root powder, spinach leaf powder, cocoa bean polyphenol extract, grape seed extract, green tea extract, licorice root powder, lycium berry fruit extract, ginger rhizome powder, slippery elm bark powder, kelp whole plant powder
Dairy-free probiotics 7.2 billion CFU also for a healthy gut
AG1’s blend of dairy-free probiotics is aimed at balancing the bacteria in your gut as well as decrease whole body inflammation.
Ingredients: Lactobacillus acidophilus (common probiotic strain used for the balance of the gut microbiome by reducing intestinal pH, which helps to keep bad bacteria from colonizing in your gut).
Bifidobacterium bifidum (a probiotic naturally found in humans that can help fight inflammation, infection, and GI issues such as constiatopn and lactose intolerance). infants and adults, may help fight inflammation, infection, and discomfort from lactose intolerance and constipation.
Nutrient Dense Extracts, Herbs, and Antioxidant for Lower Stress Levels
This blend includes antioxidants, adaptogens (herbs that help your body adapt to stress), and plant extracts. Some of the headliners include the adaptogens ashwagandha, rhodiola, eleuthero root, and dandelion root which may help with reduced stress, fatigue, liver health, and inflammation.
Ingredients: alkaline pea protein isolate, citrus bioflavonoids extract, artichoke leaf extract, citric acid, rhodiola root, eleuthero root extract, rosemary leaf extract, milk thistle seed extract, R,S alpha-lipoic acid, ashwagandha root extract, dandelion whole plant dry concentrate, hawthorn berry extract, beta-glucans, policosanol, coenzyme Q-10, stevia leaf powder, vitamin K2
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Digestive Enzyme and Super Mushroom Complex to Help with Nutrient Absorption
This blend is meant to help you better absorb your AG1 and the other nutrients you take in throughout the day. The naturally occurring enzymes may support digestion and nutrient absorption, according to GI1.
Ingredients such as reishi mushroom powder and shiitake mushroom powder have been linked to immune health as well since our gut is ground zero for our immune systems.
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Ingredients: astragalus root powder, bromelain, burdock root powder, reishi mushroom powder, shiitake mushroom powder
Related: The Best Energy Gels for Your Marathon
How does AG1 work?
In order to feel the benefits of AG1, the company recommends you make drinking AG1 a daily habit. Take a you take in one scoop of the green powder daily first thing on the morning on an empty stomach with an 8-ounce glass of cold water.
For those who prefer a little more flavor, the company’s website includes various recipes and ideas for incorporating AG1 into other beverages, smoothies, and snacks.
The site says that customers can expect to notice benefits such as better focus, energy, and gut healthy in as little as a few days, up to a few weeks, depending on their health baseline.
What does AG1 taste like?
AG1 tastes lightly sweet and smooth. I had expected it to taste grainy, earthy, and chalky and was pleasantly surprised that it doesn’t taste the way it looks. The fruit extracts, especially the pineapple, make it taste sweet. Adding a splash of lemon juice enhances the flavor.
Drinking it with cold water is a must—otherwise it definitely doesn’t taste good.
If you can’t stomach the flavor, try adding it to smoothies or yogurt. You can find many AG1 recipes on the AG1 site and online.
Related: The Best Protein Powders for Runners
Pros & Cons of AG1, according to a Registered Sports Dietitian
According to Robinson, here are Pros and Cons of AG1:
Pros:
- NSF certified for sport- 3rd party certified
- Gluten, nut, dairy free for allergy or intolerant individuals
- Easy to use mixed in water or milk
- Contains prebiotics/probiotics to promote good gut health (7.2 billion CFUs or probiotics in one serving)
- Contains “superfoods” organic spiraling, chorella, wheatgrass, broccoli flower, green tea to help reduce inflammation
- May help fill the gaps with nutrition for athletes unable to consume enough energy from foods or have a limited diet due to food allergies/intolerances
Cons:
- Doesn’t taste good to many people
- Vitamin/mineral content is tailored for individuals containing adaptogens which may have drug interactions, 75 ingredients that are not all scientifically proven, and some vitamin/mineral doses exceed recommended daily amounts
- Not all health claims can be supported when consuming a large dose blended together
- Expensive
- No evidence of consuming superfoods blend in a powder form to be superior over consuming whole foods
- Nutrition facts do not list individual amounts of ingredients so it’s hard to know if it’s enough to be beneficial
How is taking AG1 different than taking a multivitamin?
Drinking AG1 is not the same as taking a multivitamin.
AG1 includes ingredients such as adaptogens and probiotics that a multivitamin does not have that may improve stress levels, energy levels, and gut health. However, while AG1 includes many of the essential daily vitamins, it does lack vitamin D as well as omega-3 and vitamin K.
(If you are looking for the best multivitamin on the market, that would be Previnex. Hands down. Save 15% with code TMR15 plus a moneyback guarantee!).
Do you absorb the nutrients of AG1?
You will excrete the excess water soluble vitamins (B vitamins, vitamin C) in your urine and the color of your urine will be a bright yellow due to the riboflavin, says Robinson.
AG1 Reviews Round-up
AG1 has many happy customer reviews on several website, averaging about 4 stars.
Customers say they look forward to drinking it every day and have noticed improvements in their bowel movements, energy levels, skin, and digestion.
Negative Athletic Greens reviews mostly have to do with the taste, cost, difficulty cancelling subscriptions, and faulty shaker bottles.
How much does AG1 cost?
So, the cost…how much does AG1 cost?
- One 30 serving pouch costs $79 with a monthly subscription ($2.63 per serving), or $99 without a subscription ($2.48 per serving).
- A travel pack of 30 individual servings costs $89 for a subscription ($2.79/serving), or $109 for a one-time purchase ($3.63/serving).
This also includes a 90-day moneyback guarantee, a free starter kit and may include a year supply of D3 and K2, or 5 travel packs, depending on what you buy.
Is AG1 worth it?
If you are someone who is looking to boost their nutrition perhaps because you are struggling to meet your nutritional needs with your diet, then AG1 could be right for you.
Drinking AG1 may cost you several bucks a day. However, it does include probiotics, multiple vitamins, and adaptogens all in one (essentially your probiotic, multi-vitamin, and coffee), therefore it could be worth the money and potentially even save you money if it replaces those items in your diet.
Again, keep in mind that getting your nutrients from food is paramount and that none of the benefits claims made by AG1 are specifically supported by research!
Who should drink AG1:
People looking to improve their athletic performance and recovery, energy levels, focus, healthy aging, immune health, and gut health may consider drinking AG1.
And, those who have a difficult time meeting their nutritional needs with diet alone.
People who are looking to simplify or replace their current supplement regimen or need to fill in nutrient gaps will feel benefits of AG1.
Who should NOT drink AG1:
People who should not drink AGI include children, pregnant women or breastfeeding women, people taking certain medications due to potential interactions, people with kidney disease, and those with some autoimmune conditions.
The bottom line
AG1 is an easy way to boost your nutritional needs, especially if you are a busy runner (aka EVERY mother runner) who doesn’t have time to eat well-balanced meals every day! Many customers notice improved overall health including better energy and digestion.
I used AG1 for a month and didn’t notice many differences, though my health has already been optimized due to Previnex!
However, bear in mind that AG1 claims aren’t supported by research. We don’t know the exact amounts of ingredients included. And, it’s not for everyone (especially pregnant or breastfeeding women and those with certain medical conditions).
If your doctor says it is safe for you to try AG1, then go for it! You have a 90-day moneyback guarantee!
If you want guidance with your running goals, check out my run coaching services. Also, be sure to check out my free training plans:
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