If you spend as much time reading health content from internet fitness gurus as we do, there’s a good chance you’ve already heard of AG1, a company that launched in 2010 and quickly grew into one of the best-known purveyors of green superfood powders on the market. Its greens powder, AG1, features a diverse range of ingredients to help support nearly all areas of wellness. There are blends in this powder intended to support energy, immunity, gut health, liver function, hormone function, brain function, and the body’s natural detoxification process.
AG1 is likely one of the most comprehensive greens powders we’ve ever seen, with 75 high-quality whole-food sourced nutrients. Of all the greens powders on the market, AG1 — available in bags of 30 servings or single-serve pouches — is probably the most talked about, although it’s also one of the most expensive. Despite the price, we are big fans because of the extremely thorough formula and objectively good taste.
Main Takeaways
- AG1 is a highly comprehensive formula with a full vitamin and mineral complex and four other blends for total body support.
- The light pineapple and vanilla flavor is lightly sweet and refreshing for people who might have tried other greens powders and don’t like the taste.
- AG1 is safe for athletes who compete in tested categories since it’s NSF Certified for Sport®.
This nutritious greens powder is NSF certified for sport and includes 75 absorbable ingredients and is free of gluten, sugar, dairy, eggs, and peanuts. It is compatible with vegan, keto, and paleo diets.
AG1 Video Review
Our reviews writer, Nick English, gives you the scoop on AG1. In this comprehensive breakdown, he talks about Athletic Green’s benefits, drawbacks, taste, pricing, ingredients list, and more.
We should note that Nick did review a previous version of the formula, and while most of what he covers in the video is still relevant, the formula did change a bit with some of the vitamins and dosages. Read on for a more in-depth look at the current recipe.
AG1 Highlights
This greens powder has plenty of key micronutrients for athletes, with each serving dishing out a potent blend of vitamins, minerals, superfoods, antioxidants, probiotics, digestive enzymes, adaptogens, and more. It even contains some ingredients designed to support mental health, like rhodiola rosea and ashwagandha. It’s difficult to list out every ingredient and its dosing since there are 75 of them, but some are especially notable. Each serving provides 700 percent of your daily value of vitamin C, along with over 100 percent of most B vitamins.
Antioxidants are plentiful, thanks to the twelve servings of vegetables per scoop with spirulina, wheatgrass, chlorella, and more. In addition, you’ll receive 7.2 billion CFU of probiotics. The formula is suitable for just about every dietary restriction since it’s vegan, paleo, keto, and low-carb. What AG1 doesn’t include is just as impressive — there are no artificial sweeteners, preservatives, colors, flavors, GMOs, eggs, or peanuts.
Who Should Buy AG1
- Those who want the most robust and comprehensive greens powder available will like the list of 75 ingredients that are designed to support nearly all areas of wellness.
- If you’re worried about digesting and absorbing the nutrients in your greens, there are digestive enzymes and probiotics here.
- People who want a potential boost in energy. AG1 has reishi mushroom, vitamin B12, and magnesium, all of which are intended to help naturally boost energy levels.
Who Shouldn’t Buy AG1
- Anyone who is looking for a cost-effective greens powder. This formula is stacked, but you have to pay for it.
- People who want to know the exact amounts of every ingredient should look for a greens powder that doesn’t use proprietary blends.
- If you want multiple flavor options or prefer unflavored greens powders, you may be disappointed that this only comes in one flavor.
Price and Buying Options
You can purchase AG1 directly through the AG1 website if you click the link above. It comes in a 30-serving container for about $99 ($3.30 per serving) or 30 individual packets for around $109 ($3.63 per serving).
AG1 Overall
Though this greens powder is likely one of the most expensive options on the market, it also has one of the most exhaustive ingredient lists, making it worth the price for many people. From the hearty servings of key vitamins and minerals akin to a multivitamin to the high dose of probiotics at 7.2 billion CFUs, AG1’s encyclopedic formula has ingredients to potentially support just about all major organs and body functions.
Formulation
With seventy-five of them, AG1 packs in more ingredients than any other greens powder we’ve seen. In this review, we’re going to break them down by the four blends, and separate vitamins and minerals that you’ll find on the ingredients label.
Vitamins and Minerals
AG1 has a ton of micronutrients in its formula. Each serving will net you 555mcg of vitamin A, 420mg of vitamin C, 83mg of vitamin E, and a blend of B vitamins. They’re all very well dosed, with all but vitamin A covering over 100 percent of your daily intake. The minerals that are included are rather comprehensive with ten of the most popular minerals including hearty doses of the electrolytes calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. Notably absent are vitamin K and vitamin D, though AG1 sells those two supplements together as an additional product.
Alkaline, Nutrient-Dense, Raw Superfood Complex
The point of this blend is to provide phytonutrients beyond traditional vitamins and minerals. In this complex, you’ll find a ton of potentially beneficial greens, like spirulina, wheat grass, chlorella, and kelp, along with some fan favorites like ginger, green tea extract, and beetroot powder, among many others. AG1 includes all of these and then some to potentially deliver antioxidants and a host of other nutrients meant to help keep your body functioning at top levels.
Nutrient Dense Natural Extracts, Herbs, and Antioxidants
If you’re looking for adaptogens and other big hitters, this is the complex you’ll likely be most interested in. It features some ingredients intended to provide mood support, like rhodiola rosea, ashwagandha, and beta-glucans which may aid in immune health. CoQ10 is also included for potential heart health. Milk thistle, dandelion root, and ALA are also present among a host of other herbs and antioxidants.
Digestive Enzyme & Super Mushroom Complex
With so many ingredients, it may be challenging for your body to absorb and make the most of them all, which is why AG1 has a digestive enzyme complex. You’ll find astragalus root extract, bromelain, and burdock root powder. It also includes adaptogenic mushrooms, like reishi powder and shiitake powder, in this blend.
Dairy Free Probiotics
The probiotic complex is the most straightforward blend of the bunch with only two ingredients, but don’t let that fool you. AG1 has a potent dose of 7.2 billion Lactobacillus Acidophilus and Bifidobacterium Bifidum intended to aid digestive health.
Dietary Considerations
AG1 and keto fans would get on just fine, as would vegans, paleo folks, and people with sensitive allergies — there’s no gluten, dairy, corn, egg, peanuts, animal byproducts, lactose, sucrose, dextrose, herbicides, pesticides, GMOs, or preservatives. There also aren’t any artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners. There is technically some soy, but they note that it doesn’t contain any trypsin inhibitors or other soy proteins.
(We tried 47 brands: Check out our best green superfood powder picks.)
What to Consider Before Buying AG1
So what should you consider before completing your order for AG1? Consider why you’re thinking about taking a greens product in the first place. Do you want whole-food sourced micronutrients? Interested in antioxidants or digestive health support? Maybe you’ve heard they contain adaptogens that might help with stress. It’s also important to consider the taste and price before making a final decision. Let’s break these factors down so you can purchase with confidence.
Micronutrient Sources
There aren’t a ton of studies that have been performed on the potential health benefits of greens powders, though a couple of small studies published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine did find that taking green superfood products similar to AG1 resulted in reduced blood pressure among their participants. (1)(2)
When examining the product’s claims, it’s worth remembering that vitamins and minerals can carry out many bodily functions independent of where they originate. AG1 has ingredients that may support “energy, immunity, gut health, liver function, hormone function, brain function, and detoxification.” It may be worthwhile to consider whether or not you care where your nutrients come from, as the source may not actually influence their effectiveness.
Antioxidants
The main benefit usually associated with green superfood powders is that antioxidants may help to slow certain kinds of cellular damage and fight inflammation, meaning that, in some respects, they might slow the onset of aging.
Some vitamins (A, C, and E) are regarded as antioxidants and would make a fine “antioxidant supplement” on their own, but many of the whole food ingredients — like spirulina and chlorella — in this product are also marketed as antioxidants. It’s important to consider that despite the good reputation of the ingredients, AG1 hasn’t actually quantified its antioxidant content, making it hard to speak to its actual antioxidant content.
Digestive Health
The most remarkable component here is the probiotic bacteria, which may improve everything from immunity to anxiety. But there’s also prebiotic fiber in the inulin, burdock root, and artichoke leaf, which is meant to act as food for the probiotic bacteria. Finally, there are some digestive enzymes here, like bromelain, which may improve nutrient absorption. AG1’s emphasis on digestion is much more impressive than your average greens product.
Stress and Adaptogens
This product contains certain ingredients commonly referred to as adaptogens, which may help the body to respond to stress from strength training and everyday life. Taking adaptogens might help you respond to the stress of a tough day at the office and to the stress of a tough workout, which is why so many people are interested in them.
Some of the adaptogens here include rhodiola rosea and reishi mushrooms to potentially help in a number of areas, from subjective well-being to better immunity. These are both areas of your health that stress might heavily affect. Other adaptogens here include astragalus and ashwagandha, but there is one standout problem: We don’t know how much of each ingredient AG1 contains — which leads to our next point.
Proprietary Blends
For what many consider the best greens powder available, this is the biggest potential issue with the product. Are these ingredients impressive? Absolutely, but we don’t know the dosages of the ingredients in the proprietary blends. How strong is the antioxidant effect of the product? We know that there are two grams of dietary fiber but don’t know about the prebiotic fiber. Do the adaptogens reach the best doses typically recommended in studies?
A common recommendation for astragalus extract, for example, is about 250 milligrams, and for reishi mushroom, it’s over a gram. In a scoop of AG1, those ingredients are both in the 125-milligram Digestive Enzyme & Super Mushroom Complex, along with several other ingredients. It’s likely that the developers of the formula rely on the ingredients working synergistically with all the other adaptogens, but we usually prefer a bit more transparency with each ingredient labeled individually. It would be particularly nice to know how much of each constituent AG1 contains, so you can get a better idea of the supplement’s potential health benefits.
Taste
Many greens powder flavors make us hesitant to drink them, as they taste reminiscent of dirt and moss. AG1 is hailed as a powder you can truly enjoy, savoring each sip instead of feeling a need to shotgun it like a fraternity pledge slamming a beer. The main flavors that come through are pineapple, vanilla, and papaya, though the base of added flavorings also includes cherry powder, carrot, and broccoli.
Unlike many powders, AG1 doesn’t try to smother the bitterness of its ingredients with artificial sweeteners; it also contains notes of ginger, which work alongside the bitterness to make a slightly sweet and spicy beverage that’s actually pretty pleasant. In fact, it’s widely considered one of the best-tasting greens powder out there.
Price
AG1 is known for its subscription model — you get a discount if you sign up for a monthly shipment. If you do that, you’re looking at $79 per 30-serving bag or roughly $2.63 per scoop. If you prefer individual travel packs, you’ll pay a bit more for the subscription at about $89 ($2.97 per serving).
If you’re not sure that this is the product for you and don’t want to commit, you can make a one-time purchase, but you’ll have to pay a bit extra. The 30-serving pouch is around $99, or $3.30 per scoop, while the travel packs are about $109 ($3.63 per pack). In either case, you’re provided with a 90-day money-back guarantee on your first order, an unusual perk for a product like this and one that may help you decide to pull the trigger.
Final Word
This is one of the most nutrient-dense greens powders we’ve seen, let alone tried. It’s not crazy high in minerals like calcium and magnesium, so this shouldn’t replace green vegetables in your diet, but it’s super high in vitamins. AG1 seems to contain plenty of antioxidants and may well have a significant impact on digestive health because of the pre/probiotics and digestive enzymes. However, it would have been nice to see AG1 do a better job of quantifying the antioxidant benefits of the product and disclosing the doses it uses. Plus, it’s much more expensive than many other greens powders, which could be prohibitive for some consumers.
If the price is no issue, this product in could definitely be a convenient source of a lot of essential nutrients for athletes, adaptogens, and ingredients for digestive health. Cost aside, this remains one of the most nutritious green superfood powders on the market. For most of the best greens powders, probiotics and antioxidant levels are the primary selling point. But AG1 is also a supplement for vitamins A, B vitamins, C, E, and zinc supplements. It certainly provides much more bang for your buck than other greens powders we’ve tried.
FAQs
Should I drink AG1 every day?
AG1 does recommend taking one serving every day, and most people do. That said, it’s not absolutely necessary, and you may see benefits from drinking the powder every other day. If you want to save money, you can try every other day and up the frequency as required.
What can AG1 do for me?
This product is stacked with tons of potentially beneficial ingredients that may aid digestion, immunity, and stress. It has a wide range of vitamins and minerals while also including four proprietary blends. There is a blend for superfoods, digestive support, probiotics, and herbs, among more.
How much does AG1 cost?
Unfortunately, AG1 is one of the more expensive greens powders on the market. The 30-serving pouch costs around $99 ($3.30 per serving), and orders of 30 individual packs cost about $109 ($3.63 per serving) If you subscribe to regular deliveries, you’ll save ten dollars on either option.
References
- Zhang, J et al. Taking nutritional supplements for three months reduced blood pressure but not blood lipid levels in students. J Chiropr Med. 2006 Summer; 5(2): 53–59.
- Zhang, J et al. The effect of fruit and vegetable powder mix on hypertensive subjects: a pilot study. J Chiropr Med. 2009 Sep; 8(3): 101–106.
