Huberman Lab Supplement: Is Athletic Greens Worth It?

Athletic Greens is comprehensive nutritional supplement that Dr. Huberman says he takes daily for foundational nutritional support. But is this supplement really worth the cost?

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What is Athletic Greens?

Athletic Greens (now called AG1) is a nutrition powder that you mix into a drink, and is recommended for daily nutritional support.

Athletic Greens is a sponsor of a number of popular podcasts such as The Huberman Lab and the Tim Ferriss Show.

AG1 is described as combining ‘nine synergistic health products into one with 75 of the highest quality ingredients’.

And to be a product ‘providing nutrients and comprehensive benefits spanning improved gut health, immune support, energy and improved mental focus all packed into a one-minute daily habit.’

Athletic Greens Nutrition Facts

What is in Athletic Greens? The daily serving of Athletic Greens is one scoop which has 50 calories, 0g of fat, 6 g of carbohydrate, 2g of dietary fiber, 2g of protein and 0mg of cholesterol.

Athletic Greens Ingredients

Here is a list of the Athletic Greens ingredients, and it is a long list!

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Consult your Physician or Registered Dietitian before starting nutrition supplements. 

Athletic Greens: Huberman Lab Podcast Sponsor

Here is how Dr. Huberman describes Athletic Greens on his podcast:

I’d like to take a quick break and acknowledge on of our sponsors, Athletic Greens.

Athletic Greens, now called AG1, is a vitamin, mineral, probiotic drink that covers all of your foundational nutritional needs.

I’ve been taking Athletic Greens since 2012 so I am delighted that they are sponsoring the podcast.

The reason I started taking Athletic Greens and the reason I still take Athletic Greens, once or usually twice a day, is that it gets me the probiotics that I need for gut health. Our gut is very important, it is populated by gut microbiota that can communicate with the brain and the immune system and basically all the biological systems of our body to strongly impact our immediate and long term-health and those probiotics in Athletic Greens are optimal and vital for microbiotic health.

In addition, Athletic Greens contains a number of adaptogens, vitamins and minerals that make sure that all of my foundational nutritional needs are met and it tastes great.

Dr. Andrew Huberman on Athletic Greens

Athletic Greens / Huberman Lab Controversy

The Huberman Lab is known for doing ‘deep dives’ into the scientific evidence for various ‘protocols’ to enhance mental and physical health and having medical and scientific experts as guests. (For a list of Dr. Huberman Book Recommendations click here.)

When Dr. Huberman discusses other supplements he references specific scientific articles and often talks about the rigor of the scientific study.

I really appreciate the detail The Huberman Lab goes into and I have found the knowledge Dr. Huberman imparts in the podcast (including supplements for brain health, and non sleep deep rest protocols like yoga nidra and self hypnosis) invaluable to me as I try to make good choices on improving my mental and physical health.

As you can see from the quote above Dr. Huberman does not go into detail about Athletic Greens other than saying probiotics are vital for microbiotic health and that Athletic Greens helps him meet his ‘foundational nutritional needs’.

He does not reference any specific research articles regarding the effectiveness of Athletic Greens. I also cannot find any on their website or on pubmed.

So how do we reconcile Dr. Huberman saying he personally takes Athletic Greens (a major sponsor of the podcast) without the usual scientific discussion The Huberman Lab podcast is known for?

Well, we can realize that quality podcasts do need financing and that The Huberman Lab listeners are the likely consumers of this product. The Huberman Lab delivers excellent information at no cost and needs some sort of financing to do that, which Athletic Greens provides through sponsorship.

In his ‘Developing a Rational Approach to Supplementation for Health & Performance’ podcast Dr. Huberman he says that when he is asked ‘if I can only take 1 supplement, what should I take?’ he asks ‘What is your budget? Can you afford $100 per month for supplementation?’

If people can afford $100 per month he suggests they take Athletic Greens. This is because he considers Athletic Greens a ‘foundational supplement’, because it has adaptagens, prebiotics and probiotics. Basically he considers Athletic Greens like a nutritional insurance policy.

There are other sources of all the components of Athletic Greens but it would require effort to compile them otherwise.

Dr. Andrew Huberman has been taking Athletic Greens since 2012. He says ‘I like it and it makes me feel better. I have more energy, I sleep better, my digestion is certainly better, and it supports the gut microbiome’

There may not be robust studies showing benefits specifically from taking all the micronutrients together in Athletic Greens, but with his overall knowledge of neurobiology and nutritional science, he personally has decided that taking Athletic Greens daily is worth it.

The question is – Is Athletic Greens a good value? And I suspect that will be different for each person and their particular circumstances.

Athletic Greens Huberman Promo Code

An order of Athletic Greens using the Huberman Lab Promo code (at athleticgreens/huberman) provides you with a bonus of travel packs and a years supply of vitamin D3/K2.

Ordering Athletic Greens

I ordered Athletic Greens though their website after hearing about it from The Huberman Lab sponsorship. I ended up getting about 6 shipments over a year. With shipping, each order was $86.

When you order Athletic Greens you order 30 days or start a subscription and your first delivery contains a pouch, a container, a scoop and a water bottle with measurements to mix the powder. The container is really nice, I did not mind keeping it out on my kitchen counter, and you can easily turn it around so the label is not visible.

You can adjust the timing of your subscription delivery, with a choice of every 15 days, 30 days, 45 days or 60 days.

I initially had it set at a 30 day interval but then quickly increased it to 45 days and then to 60 days as I was not taking it as regularly as I did initially.

They do make it very easy to change the timing, you just log into the online account and switch it to a different delivery interval, or cancel your subscription or reactivate it.

Is Athletic Greens Worth It? Personal Review

Did I notice a difference from Athletic Greens? Well, over the year that I took Athletic Greens I improved a considerable amount mentally and physically.

I was really very burnt out when I started taking Athletic Greens, and over the course of the year I did a lot of things to improve my well being (many of which I learned about on The Huberman Lab Podcast).

I am referring to Dr Huberman’s discussion of various topics such as the importance of early morning light exposure, the benefits of cold exposure, breathing techniques like the physiological sigh, NSDR protocols like self-hypnosis and yoga nidra, prioritizing sleep and trying the Huberman Sleep Cocktail.

So it is really hard to pinpoint how much of my improvment was due to Athletic Greens.

I actually enjoyed the taste, and unlike green supplements I had taken in the past it mixed up very easily.

But…. when I clumsily spilled some onto a light grey top one day I was stuck with an embarrassing stain for the day and the shirt was almost ruined for good. It will easily stain anything light coloured.

To be fair, the spillage was not the fault of the Athletic Greens bottle. The bottle is actually very well made and has never leaked. (I have never put it in the dishwasher)

Athletic Greens Vitamin D3 K2

As an aside, I really like the bottle of vitamin D3 and K2 that came as a bonus with the subscription. Taking vitamin D is really important and this helped me take it regularly.

It’s a really nice bottle and the dropper has clear measurements on it. When I had to buy more vitamin D I actually transferred it into this bottle as I preferred it so much.

I stopped my Athletic Greens subscription partly because of the expense and also I was not finishing a pouch in 60 days once I started taking it less regularly. This meant that when my next subscription delivery arrived, I still had some left from the last delivery. It was starting to pile up.

I was at this point taking in a much more balanced diet and had done more research into which supplements I felt were right for me. I now prefer to take specific supplements in a thoughtful manner.

Would I use Athletic Greens again in the future? I might if I begin to feel really run down again, or I may look into a lower cost Athletic Greens alternative.

In terms of supplements for brain health, I am now being more focused in what I take. I am regularly taking creatine and magnesium threonate and I take the ‘Sleep Cocktail‘ a few times a week.

Depending on how I am feeling, I add a few other supplements to my daily regimen, particularly the bioflavinoids luteolin and quercitin.

Consult your Physician or Registered Dietitian before starting nutrition supplements. 

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• Huberman Lab Supplement: Is Athletic Greens Worth It?