Are Athletic Greens Too Good To Be True?

Athletic Greens is an incredibly popular supplement backed by celebrities and investment bankers. This green-coloured powder, which is added to water for a morning beverage, is packed with 75 different vitamins, minerals, powdered fruits and veggies, probiotics, prebiotics, and plenty of other "natural” ingredients. With a potion-like consistency and plenty of promises of better health, it’s easy to see why people are keen to try this daily powder out. But is this another too good to be true wellness product? Tune in to find out.

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Credit to MonoSheep for the theme music.

Transcript

Welcome to Nutrition Bites. The no nonsense podcast where you get the truth about food so you can eat what you want, and be healthy. I’m your host Maggie and welcome to Episode 33 of this series! There’s a hot new supplement in town, and it’s taking over the wellness industry. It’s the offspring of Goop-style wellness pouches and Bro-style protein powders, and influencers are slurping up a storm. On the menu today, green powders.

Whether it’s a Spotify playlist or a rerun of New Girl, I’m someone who needs constant background noise. Unsurprisingly, this means I listen to a lot of podcasts throughout the day. Two of my favourites are Dax Shepherd’s Armchair Expert and the celebrity-packed Smartless. I guess I just have a thing for white middle-aged male actors shooting the shit with other famous people. Now both of these podcasts are really successful, which means their shows come loaded with sponsors and ad breaks. In the past week alone, both of these series have featured an ad for Athletic Greens - an über popular supplement that is now valued at $1 Billion. This green-coloured powder, which is added to water for a morning beverage, is packed with vitamins, minerals, and lots of other funky “natural” ingredients. One of the biggest appeals of this type of supplement is the fact that one scoop of green powder can provide you with multiple servings of fruits and veggies. How very Willy Wonka. Green powders also come loaded with vague, health-related claims like providing energy, clearer skin, and improving immunity. With a potion-like consistency and promises of better health, it’s easy to see why people are keen to try this out. But is this another too good to be true wellness product? Let’s find out.

Green powders are both self-descriptive but also kinda mysterious. What are they really made of? Well first and foremost green powders are dietary supplements, which means at their core they provide nutrients you may be low in, or missing out on. Green powders in particular tend to focus on supplying micronutrients, like vitamins and minerals, which means they are often low in calories and macronutrients like protein and fibre. Now the types of micronutrients that green powders contain vary widely between products. However, common ingredients found in this type of supplement include powdered veggies and fruits, as well as herb and mushroom powders, probiotics and prebiotics. Whatever ingredient mix a green powder contains, the instructions are often the same. First thing in the morning dissolve a scoop of the powder into water, or other drink, and down that murky-looking swamp beverage. 

Not always, but often, people complain about the earthy, bitter, and general bad taste of green powders. So why go through the pain? Well just like many dietary supplements, green powders have a range of health claims associated with their use, or with their ingredients. From increasing energy to balancing hormones, reducing inflammation and much more, many of the supplements claim to be a one-stop-shop for feeling, and looking, better. And because these supplements usually contain things like powdered broccoli and powdered apples, many imply they can also help you meet your fruit and veg 5-a-day. In order to best evaluate all the claims, pros, and cons of green powders, it really makes sense to just focus in on one product. And of everything on the market right now, one stands out from the crowd: Athletic Greens.

Athletic Greens, which has recently  rebranded to “AG1”, is by far the most well-advertised green powder available. With a heavy digital campaign, and investors including Lewis Hamilton, Hugh Jackman, and Cindy Crawford it’s reached peak pop culture wellness status. Costing around $100 USD a month, Athletic Greens is sold predominantly through their US-based website, and ships to Canada, Australia, China and the EU. They are known for creating a vegan, paleo, and keto-friendly powder, free from many allergens, artificial sweeteners, added sugar, preservatives, and GMOs. Essentially, the millennial key word starter pack for a successful wellness product. But its biggest claim to fame is in it’s ingredients. All 75 of them.

Each of the 75 ingredients listed in AG1 is grouped into healthy-sounding categories - like the buzzword-infused “alkaline, nutrient-dense raw superfood complex”. In total, AG1 contains powdered veggies, fruits, mushrooms and roots, digestive enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics, vitamins, minerals and a bunch of other funky sounding plants. While the exact quantities of most ingredients are not known, more on that later, Athletic Greens does list the % daily value of vitamins and minerals. Now just for fun, one serving of AG1 provides you with 500% of your daily Vitamin C, over 900% of Vitamin B12, and 1100% of Vitamin B7. Talk about a try-hard. Now to help educate consumers on its contents, the Athletic Greens website gives a vague 2 sentence bio of each ingredient, and lists its associated health claims. For example, milk thistle seed extract allegedly boosts energy, helps with recovery, aids digestion, supports immunity AND promotes cognitive health. A true multi-talented queen. 

Apart from its mega-ingredients-list claim-to-fame, another differentiating aspect of Athletic Greens is their Certified for Sport® label. This 3rd party certification is intended to help athletes make more informed decisions on supplements, but it’s based on product safety not efficacy. A supplement with a Certified For Sport® label is regularly tested for specific banned substances as well as harmful levels of contaminants like pesticides. It also ensures the product is manufactured in a reputable and safe facility. This definitely helps to provide safety reassurance for consumers, but keep in mind this certification does not verify if AG1 actually makes you any healthier. But the fact that it is tested for contaminants is wildly important. Especially because the majority products in this industry are not tested before they go on market, and some are later found to contain heavy metals like lead and mercury. 

Now you may be thinking - wait what? Supplements available right now can contain heavy metals? Well let me introduce you to the wild wild west of supplement regulations. In general, dietary supplements, which include multivitamin pills, protein powders, and of course green powders, are not well regulated pretty much anywhere in the world. In the US, the FDA does not review dietary supplements for safety or efficacy before they hit the market. They only really get involved if someone reports a serious reaction to a product. 

A somewhat similar hands-off approach is taken in the EU. While legislation from 2002 outlines a regulatory framework, it’s pretty vague. Instead, they leave it up to individual Member States to figure out how to regulate how supplements are made and sold. 

In Canada there is a slightly different approach. Supplements are called “Natural Health Products” (or NHPs), and for any NHP to be sold in Canada some evidence of the products’ safety and efficacy must be provided. But the bar is pretty low. Like it may as well be a phone call with the product owner’s beer league hockey buddy. For example, NHPs that make generic claims about improving health, like most green powders, only need to provide evidence that implies their product works. This can be mentions of ingredients in “reputable textbooks” (that’s not a joke) or merely a few open-label studies on the product - a type of scientific study known for placebo effect and bias. For Athletic Greens in particular, they do not have Health Canada approval. Remember, they are sold online in the US and are shipped to Canada which allows them to skirt some rules, including providing safety and efficacy evidence. Which makes me wonder. Is there any proof that green powders work?

Overall, there is very little research on green powders. It doesn’t help that this type of supplement varies so much, but even still, there just really hasn’t been many studies done on any product. The few trials that do exist are often old, include very few participants, and are only run for a matter of weeks. Also most of these studies are sponsored by the companies that make and sell green powders, so you have to take any of their findings with a heaping teaspoon of salt. Bottom line is, we have zero evidence that green powders do anything for us.

For Athletic Greens in particular, I could not find a clinical trial which tests the efficacy of the product. Evidence provided on their website are inferences from research conducted on individual ingredients. But it’s hard to extrapolate findings from ingredient research to the AG1 supplement as a whole. First, we have no idea how each ingredient interacts with one another. For example, a positive effect of dandelion concentrate could be cancelled when it's competing with 74 other ingredients. What’s more important though, is that we have zero clue as to the quantity of any of these ingredients. Many supplements use the  phrase “proprietary blend” as a, completely legal, regulatory loophole to list their ingredients by name, but not quantity. This means that Athletic Greens could be including only a teensy, Marcel the Shell sized pinch of ingredient in the entire package. 

So in order to avoid any legal trouble, Athletic Greens is actually really careful not to make any specific claims about their product as a whole, rather, they resort to stating generic benefits like how AG1 provides “comprehensive and convenient nutrition formulated for high performance”. Where they are misleading, but not entirely untruthful, are in the health claims associated with individual ingredients. Here, they use creative phrasing to bypass problems. For example, rosemary is an herb that is traditionally used for brain function. Bilberry has a strong historical association with eye health. And policosanol appears to benefit the body. You get the picture. 

So if there’s no evidence that green powders work, why do people take them? Well looking at the reviews of Athletic Greens, and similar green powders, it’s easy to see that most people are being misled. A frequent comment raised by Athletic Greens consumers is about their ingredient health claims - like the “increased energy” consumers experience after taking the product. Now keep in mind two things here: one, feeling energised is a subjective experience, and two, there are ingredients in AG1 (like match powder) that are naturally caffeinated. So is it the special blend of ingredients Athletic Greens that are keeping them energized or the caffeine they could easily get from a cup of green tea? But still, many people are convinced they feel healthier, whatever that means, after their daily AG1 beverage.

Other positive reviews of Athletic Greens comment on improved digestive health, which makes sense considering that probiotics, prebiotics and digestive enzymes are included in this product. People also really like the convenient “all in one” aspect of a green powder - no more grandma-approved pill organisers needed. And it’s this characteristic that really resonates with people leading busy, on-the-go lives, who may struggle to take their daily vitamins or regularly eat their fruits and veggies. 

And while the AG1 reviews tend to be overwhelmingly positive, at least those that they allow on their website, negative ones do exist. And, unsurprisingly, the biggest disappointment from customers is that they don't really see or feel any difference in their health. Shocking, I know. Other reviews have criticised the bad taste of the drink, as well as the $100 monthly price point. 

Now from a nutrition standpoint there are other causes for concern when it comes to green powders. First, the vitamin levels tend to be outrageous - I mean over 1000% of your Vitamin B7 is so silly. More importantly though, excess intake of water-soluble vitamins (like Vitamin C and the Bs - great band name btw) is simply peed out. Our body can only absorb and use so much and the rest needs to exit. With fat-soluble vitamins, which include Vitamin A, E, D and K, our body holds onto extra levels in our fatty tissue and liver, and too high of a build up can be toxic. Same idea with minerals. Now Athletic Greens doesn’t have dangerous levels of minerals or fat-soluble vitamins, but it’s a good reminder to always check the supplement label.

Another cause for concern with green powders are the side effects. Because there are often so many ingredients, in unknown quantities, it’s unpredictable how your body will react. So far, the side effects from Athletic Greens tend to be mild, mostly digestive issues, but you never know how your body will handle 75 ingredients at a time. And if you have a health issue or are on prescription medication, then you should absolutely avoid green powders until you talk to your doctor. There are just so many potential interactions between ingredients and medicine that can put your health at risk. For example, astragalus root powder extract (an ingredient in Athletic Greens) is known to negatively interact with a common antidepressant. Even caffeine, which should be avoided for people who suffer from epilepsy or heart arrhythmias, can secretly be hiding behind common ingredients like matcha powder and green tea extract. 

And although many of these interactions, and potential side effects, are usually not too serious, it still doesn’t help the case for green powders. From everything we know, green powders talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.  With no proof they work, no idea of the quantity of ingredients, and only vague, subjective, health claims about individual ingredients, it’s a big buyer beware scenario. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they are bad for you, merely a waste of time and money.

I mean the very definition of a supplement is something you add to your diet that is tailored to your unique nutritional needs. If you don’t need Vitamin C then a daily drink containing 500% of the recommended value is useless. Similarly, supplements aren’t meant to replace real food either. Despite the enthusiasts claiming you can get multiple fruit and veggie servings in one drink, broccoli powder is just not the same as the real thing. One of the biggest benefits of eating whole fruits and veg is all the fibre that you get, and these kinds of drinks have none of that. Now with that said, I do understand how these supplements can be helpful in moments where regularly eating whole veg isn’t going to happen for a few days. Like during a big bout of travel. But other than those specific instances, getting your nutrients from eating real food is always recommended.At the end of the day, there are many methods to improve your health in the way that green powders suggest they can. Of course those things, like getting quality sleep, are not packaged in a convenient powder financially backed by celebrities, but they’re often free and proven to work. When it comes to your health, you hold the power to decide what you want to spend your time and money on. And if green powders interest you, then hey, that’s your prerogative. Just don’t be surprised if the only change to your body ends up being funky breath. 

That’s been the bite today. Stay hungry.

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