AG1 (company)

AG1 formerly known as "Athletic Greens" is a brand of a daily health supplement in powder form founded in 2010 by Chris Ashenden, a former New Zealand police officer.^[1] The product is advertised as a green powder that combines multiple supplements to meet a consumer's nutritional needs.^[2]

AG1

Formerly	Athletic Greens
Industry	Food processing
Founded	December 2010; 14 years ago (2010-12)
Founder	Chris Ashenden
Headquarters	Nevada, Carson City , United States
Key people	CEO Kat Cole
Products	Supplements
Website	drinkag1.com

Background

AG1 was formulated in an effort by Chris Ashenden to solve for his health issues which included nutrient malabsorption. Dissatisfied by the available medical options to resolve his ailment, Ashenden sought to create a supplement which would aid in covering his nutritional needs, which eventually resulted in the formation of Athletic Greens; later renamed to be AG1.^[3][4] Owing to the scrutiny regarding his criminal history, Ashenden was replaced as CEO by Kat Cole in July 2024.^[5][6]

Ingredients and nutritional benefits

Each bag of AG1 contains 75 vitamins, minerals, probiotics, whole food-sourced plant compounds, and adaptogens intended to support energy levels, immune system health, gut health, healthy aging, and hormonal and neural health.^[2][7] AG1 claims to bridge the nutritional gaps that can be found amongst individuals.^[8] As of 2025, AG1 is a product that is NSF Certified for Sport.^[9]

Investments and partnerships

Tim Ferriss is one of the earliest endorsers who later became and investor of AG1. Ferriss referred to the product in his best-selling book about weight loss, The 4-Hour Body.^[10][11] Some other investors and endorsers include Dr. Peter Attia, DJ Steve Aoki, Lewis Hamilton, Cindy Crawford, and Hugh Jackman. AG1 has also partnered with Ripper GC of the LIV Golf League, Andrew Huberman, Joe Rogan, and Lex Fridman.^{[12][13][14][15]} As of January 2025, the company is valued at USD $1.2 billion.^[16]

Controversy

The health benefits of consuming AG1 are found to be considerably vague.^[17][16] The scientific methods that are used by AG1 to claim nutritional efforts were criticized by Dr. JoAnn Manson, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, as lacking scientific "rigor":

These are very small randomized trials. Just as a comparison, we do large-scale randomized clinical trials of many dietary supplements... For a multivitamin, we did a randomized control with 15,000 participants for 11 years to document that there was, in fact, a significant reduction in cancer incidence when taking the multivitamin compared to placebo ... That's what I'm talking about when I say rigor.^[16]

Charlotte Martin, a dietitian and author makes the statement that the amount of individual nutrients that a user absorbs is insignificant due to the addition of a relatively large quantity of ingredients present in the powdered mixture.^[16]

According to Jonathan Jarry of McGill University, the AG1 blend is backed by very little scientific support.^[13]

Other critics have pointed out that a significant number of AG1 ingredients' dosages are not disclosed on the label as they are considered "proprietary" and that AG1 includes in it exorbitant amounts of vitamins which are in excess of recommended levels; such as 1,100% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin B7 and 467% of the recommended amount of vitamin C.^[16]