Supplements You Shouldn’t Waste Your Money On 

AG1: Whether it's from a famous podcaster or athlete, I feel like everyone and their mother have heard of the amazing benefits of AG1 powders, but at $99 for a 30-day supply what are the benefits? The AG1 website claims that AG1 helps support gut health, focus and energy, stress and mood balance, and immune defense. The website also states that AG1 was designed to fill nutrient gaps that could be missing in your diet and that one scoop meets all of your foundational health needs (1). 

Okay cool, so what are the ingredients? 

AG1 has 75 ingredients including pro and prebiotics, digestive enzymes, and mushroom powders, as well as various fruit and herb compounds. All of these ingredients are non-GMO and certified by NSF International. 

So what’s the problem? 

One of the issues with AG1 is that we do not know the actual amounts of any of the ingredients, only that all of them (1 scoop) add up to 10.3 g. The issue with this is that certain ingredients need to be in adequate amounts to do what AG1 says they do. For example, for ginger to benefit digestive health, you need at least 1-3g, is this amount in AG1? We have no idea. This is not only an issue for ginger but also for reishi mushrooms (for immunity and mood you need 6-8g) milk thistle (for mood and detox you need ~7g), and ashwagandha (for stress reduction you need 1-2 g) are these amounts in 1 scoop of AG1, probably not. Another issue is that AG1 advertises itself as a replacement for a typical multivitamin. While AG1 does contain adequate to high levels of zinc, vitamins C, E, and B. AG1 does not contain vitamin D, iodine, iron, or choline which are seen in a typical multivitamin and important to health. Okay, so what about the claim that AG1 fills all your nutrient gaps? To put it bluntly, if you eat your fruits and vegetables you do not need this supplement. Let's do some math: an adult should eat around 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day if you removed all the water from 5 servings of produce to make a powder like AG1 you would get about 50 grams (2). 1 serving of AG1 gives you 10 grams of unknown quantities of vitamins and minerals from fruits and vegetables, at best this is 1/5th of your daily needs. Not to mention all the fiber you are missing out on when you do not eat actual foods. So yeah save your money, eat your fruits and vegetables and if you want to have some reassurance or are worried about gaps in your diet take a multivitamin for a fifth of the cost of AG1. 

Apple Cider Vinegar Gummies:  Drinking 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (AVC) has been shown to help with blood sugar control and weight loss (3). Acetic acid is the active ingredient in vinegar thought to be responsible for these health effects. Okay great! So ACV gummies do the same, right? They taste better and have the same ingredients, right? Let's find out. 

Apple cider vinegar gummy ingredients 

While ACV gummies do contain some ACV they also contain other additives such as dyes, syrups, and sugars. For example, most ACV gummies contain 2 or more grams of sugar per serving. ACV gummies also do not contain the same amounts of acetic acid (the ingredient needed for benefits) as actual ACV. For example, ConsumerLabs conducted an analysis of a popular apple cider gummy brand Goli, and found that each gummy only had 20.2 mg of acetic acid each, way less than the 800mg associated with health benefits (4). To top it all off there are no studies that have examined the effect of ACV gummies on weight loss or blood sugar control. So save your money and drink actual apple cider vinegar! 

Biotin: I think everyone has heard that if you want to grow your hair you should take a biotin supplement. But did you know biotin has no proven effect on hair or nails in healthy people (5)? Turns out that unless you have a biotin deficiency that is underlying your hair loss (there are many reasons you could be experiencing hair loss), taking a biotin supplement is completely useless. Biotin deficiency is very rare because biotin is found in a variety of foods like eggs, organ meats, seeds, nuts, and potatoes to name a few. So unless you know you are deficient in biotin (which is very rare in people who eat a normal balanced diet) save your money and skip this supplement! 

BCAA: AKA branched-chain amino acids are supplements that contain the essential amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine (essential because your body cannot make them so you have to get them from your diet). The good news is that there are a lot of foods that contain BCAA such as beef, chicken, eggs, beans, and legumes. BCAA supplements are marketed to help build muscle and enhance recovery after a workout, the only problem? The research does not support these claims (6). One study concluded that dietary BCAA supplements alone cannot promote muscle building and instead noted that some human studies reported a decrease in muscle protein synthesis after taking BCAAs7(awkward) (7). So yeah don’t waste your money on BCAA supplements and eat foods that contain BCAAs instead! 

References

1. “AG1 by Athletic Greens®.” AG1 by Athletic Greens®, drinkag1.com/. Accessed 15 Mar. 2024. 
   

2. “Athletic Greens’ AG1: Is It Worth It?” ConsumerLab.Com, ConsumerLab.com, 2 Jan. 2023, www.consumerlab.com/answers/athletic-greens-ag1-is-it-worth-it/athletic-greens-ag1/. 
   

3. Fahey, R.L.. (2017). Health benefits of apple cider vinegar and other common vinegars: A review. Integrative Medicine Alert. 20. 67-72. 
   

4. Rubin , Courtney. What Do Apple Cider Vinegar Gummies Actually Do? , 24 Apr. 2023, www.fastcompany.com/90773079/apple-cider-vinegar-gummies-goli-vitamins. 
   

5. Patel, Deepa P et al. “A Review of the Use of Biotin for Hair Loss.” Skin appendage disorders vol. 3,3 (2017): 166-169. doi:10.1159/000462981
   

6. Spillane, Mike et al. “The effects of 8 weeks of heavy resistance training and branched-chain amino acid supplementation on body composition and muscle performance.” Nutrition and health vol. 21,4 (2012): 263-73. doi:10.1177/0260106013510999
   

7. Wolfe, Robert R. “Branched-chain amino acids and muscle protein synthesis in humans: myth or reality?.” Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition vol. 14 30. 22 Aug. 2017, doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0184-9