As someone who’s dealt with digestive issues for years, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued by probiotics. Wherever I look, there are probiotic products—from and powders to gummies and fizzy sodas—that claim to boost your immune system, fix your gut, and even improve your mood.

There are many different , but common ones include Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Saccharomyces. They can be found in fermented foods—like yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha—or grown in laboratories and packed into supplements.

A wealth of is coming out about how the microbiome—the mixture of bacteria, fungi, and viruses that live on the skin and inside the gastrointestinal (GI) tract—boosts immunity, aids digestion, and energizes us. As a result, probiotic supplements, which are designed to optimize the overall health of the microbiome, have exploded in popularity. The probiotic supplement market is projected to reach a value of nearly by 2034,Ìęespecially among competitive athletesÌęlooking to up their game.

But can probiotic supplements actually improve athletic performance? The truth: while some studies seem promising, the three experts I interviewed have no intention of recommending them to athletes anytime soon.

The Appeal of Probiotics for AthletesÌę

We are surrounded by microorganisms. There are pathogenic bugs that cause infections and diseases and harmless ones that don’t really affect us. Then, there are the good guys, known as probiotics, which are living microorganisms that confer health benefits when ingested.

According to , a microbiome researcher at Case Western Reserve University, probiotics diversify your microbiome, which provides protection against pathogens that can make you sick and improves your intestinal lining’s ability to absorb nutrients better. And some suggests they play an important role in the prevention of chronic and infectious diseases, too.

Athletes are already very attuned to their bodies and want to do everything possible to optimize their health, says , a sports medicine physician at Stanford Medicine. It’s no wonder so many are experimenting with probiotics in hopes of achieving a faster race time or, like me, a nice long jog sans bloating.

Besides, even if you’re in tip-top shape, vigorously working out can mess with your gut health. A 2023 systematic review published in the found that super intense workouts like HIIT may decrease the thickness of the protective mucus that lines and the intestines, potentially allowing gut bacteria to seep into the bloodstream. HIIT may suppress the immune system, making athletes more susceptible to illnesses such as upper respiratory infections; it can also trigger diarrhea and heartburn. Naturally, you’re not going to compete well if you’re feeling sick.

Ghannoum says we’re starting to see evidence that probiotics could mitigate these negative effects and improve athletic performance. Here’s what we know so far.

Probiotics May Reduce GI Discomfort

About the mid-run
runs. Gastrointestinal problems (like bloating or loose stools) can impair an athlete’s physical performance and mental wellbeing. It’s a common problem athletes face—and one that may (one day) be solved with probiotics.

A small study published in the examined how taking probiotic supplements every day for 28 days before a marathon (and two hours before the race start time) impacted runners’ performance. Out of the 24 participants, 20 men and 4 women, one group was given a probiotic capsule, and the other received a placebo.

Per the study’s findings,Ìę probiotic supplementation significantly reduced the incidence and severity of GI symptoms, like diarrhea and stomach aches, in marathon runners. While it’s unclear why probiotics have this effect, the researchers suspect probiotics may help runners maintain their pace, giving them a competitive advantage.

Supplements Might Improve VO2 Max, Mood, and Help Athletes Recover From Exhaustion

Another perk: probiotics may help your muscles extract oxygen from your blood, enabling them to lengthen and contract more efficiently.

A 2019 study published in concluded that Lactobacillus supplementation boosted aerobic capacity,Ìęwhich refers to how much oxygen your muscles use while exercising (otherwise known as VO2 max). Out of 30 university badminton players between the ages of 19 and 22, half consumed a probiotic drink daily for six weeks, and the rest were given orange juice as a placebo. To assess VO2 max, participants were asked to perform a 20-meter shuttle run test. Results showed that probiotics increased VO2 max by 5.9 percent. The greater your VO2 max, the more power you’ll be able to generate and the longer you’ll be able to do high-intensity activities.

Furthermore, subjects in the probiotic group reported lower anxiety and stress levels. As , a registered dietician and director of the Center for Nutrition and Performance at Drexel University, says, “Mood is a big part of athletics.”Athletes who report lower levels of tension, depression, and anger tend to have more competitive success, shows.

And one person’s mood can directly affect how their teammates feel, too. “Low energy and low mood in a team is contagious,” says Dardarian. Probiotics could also help athletes bounce back after an intense workout or competition.

Another 2019 study published in the discovered that long-distance runners who took probiotics felt less mental and physical exhaustion after completing their usual training regimens. According to the researchers, probiotics could potentially help competitors recover faster and, better yet, avoid injuries. “Proper recovery allows for restoring energy stores, repairing muscle tissues, and normalizing physiological functions, which are critical for sustaining high-performance levels and preventing burnout,” says Fredericson.

Reduce Inflammation and Increase Muscle Mass

Finally, probiotics may clear inflammation from the body. For context, athletes tend to have in their bodies compared to non-athletes. Left unchecked, chronic inflammation can dampen performance, recovery, and competitiveness. Sore muscles aren’t exactly a key to endurance.

Probiotics may have a potent anti-inflammatory effect. One found higher levels of anti-inflammatory proteins in the blood and urine samples of athletes taking probiotics after a triathlon. According to Fredericson, some researchers suspect probiotics may strengthen the intestinal lining, thereby preventing harmful substances from leaking out and triggering inflammatory immune responses and prompting the body to produce short-chain fatty acids that fight inflammation. “Reducing inflammation has been shown to influence athlete’s performance by allowing for quicker recovery between workouts, reducing pain and discomfort, preserving muscle mass, and allowing athletes to train at higher intensities for longer periods,” Ghannoum says.

Even more, a proposed that probiotics could increase the amount of amino acids absorbed into the bloodstream, potentially building muscle mass. Muscle mass helps athletes generate force quickly and efficiently, says Fredericson, which lets them perform powerful movements. “Essentially, stronger muscles mean better ability to jump, sprint, change direction, and execute sport-specific skills with greater power and control,” he says.

Despite Promising Studies, Doctors Say It’s Too Early to Cosign Athletes Taking ProbioticsÌęÌęÌę

Though the body of literature surrounding probiotics and athleticism is growing, it’s still in its , and there’s a lot scientists don’t know yet.

We Don’t Know Exactly How Different Probiotic Strains Affect People

Most studies have been conducted in tiny groups of people, making it tough to apply the findings to the general population or mice (which doesn’t translate to human health), says Fredericson.

The biggest issue is that scientists don’t fully understand what an ideal microbiome looks like or how probiotics affect people differently. The probiotics that benefit one person can differ from the type that helps another.

It’s also unclear if the probiotics inserted into capsules and gummies even survive the journey from the manufacturing plant to the truck onto the shelf at the store and through your intestines. “The supplements might have about 10 million colony-forming units (CFUs) of probiotics, but the number of them that live to make it through the various acidic stomach environments is few,” says Dardarian. And if the probiotics die off, there won’t be enough of them to have the intended health effects.

As a result, the medical community widely agrees—although there are a couple of —that it’s too soon to recommend athletes add probiotic supplements to their diet. “We need larger studies to prove the benefits are real,” says Ghannoum. But that could change in the future as we learn more about probiotics. “The research is changing, and in a couple years from now, we’ll know a lot more,” says Fredericson.

The Best Way to Get Probiotics? Food.

The experts I interviewed are in agreement that the best way to get probiotics—and improve your microbiome—is through food. Why? Foods contain a more diverse mix of microorganisms (unlike supplements, which are usually rich in one or two very specific probiotics that may not even be beneficial for your specific microbiome). tells us, after all, that what we eat significantly shapes and changes our microbiome.

To get the most out of your probiotics, you also need to load up on prebiotics or non-digestible foods that come from beans and whole grains, which feed microorganisms and help them grow and thrive in your gut. The best way to load up on prebiotics? Fiber. Dardarian recommends eating 35 grams of fiber daily (which, she adds, many people don’t do).

Probiotic Foods to Try

Here are some probiotic foodsÌęyou can start adding to your diet:

• Aged cheese
• Pickles, sauerkraut, and kimchi
• Kefir juices
• Kombucha
• Yogurt
• Miso and tamari sauce

If You Decide to Try Supplements

If you still want to give supplements a shot, go ahead. For most people, there’s little risk in taking them (the exception being people who are immune-compromised because they can, in rare cases, cause infections).

Verify the Supplement Is Safe, and Start with a Low Dose

Try to find a product that’s been evaluated in clinical trials and has the NSF stamp of approval, which confirms via third-party testing that the supplement is contaminant-free and contains the ingredients it says it does.

Dardarian, who works with professional athletes, says that if you choose to go the supplement route, gradually increase your dosage to let your body adjust to the probiotics and fiber. To do so,ÌęGhannoum suggests taking the probiotic every other day for the first week. If you feel good, increase that to every day—specifically, at the same time every day and, ideally, 30 minutes after a meal, as this will help with absorption.

Finally, test the supplements out in your pre-season or well before a big competition, says Dardarian. Probiotics and fiber can cause , like diarrhea and bloating, that can wreck performance. As such, it’s wise to experiment when the stakes are low to see how you react.

Other than that, taper your expectations. Sure, they may improve your health—but will they help you suddenly set a new personal record? As Dardarian says, “The jury is out.”

Want more ofÌęșÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű’s Health stories?Ìę.

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Electrolytes are . If you head to your local grocery store or vitamin shop, you’ll find rows of electrolyte-infused powders, tablets, and beverages that claim to rehydrate you quickly and effectively.

There is one product, in particular, that many : salt pills. The tiny white tablets, which contain a concentrated amount of sodium chloride, have exploded in , with many people swearing the pills have taken their athletic performance to the next level.

I called up two sports dietitians who work with endurance athletes and asked them what they really think about salt pills. They were in agreement: the average athlete shouldn’t bother messing with them.

“Most people who exercise do not need salt pills; however, for endurance athletes and people who exercise in hot environments or at very high-intensity levels, salt tablets could be useful,” says , a registered dietitian and associate professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Texas Tech University.

What’s the Hype with Salt Pills?

Perspiring during vigorous exercise causes you to lose a lot of fluids and electrolytes, including sodium, potassium, and calcium. If you don’t replace those lost electrolytes, you can become dehydrated.

Without enough fluids in your body, you can expect your muscle function, athletic performance, and cognition to take a hit. “You’re eventually going to have to slow down or stop exercising,” says , a sports dietitian for endurance athletes and owner of the nutrition coaching serviceÌęVictorem Performance Nutrition.

If you drink too much water or only drink water, says Childress, during prolonged exercise—four hours or more (for example,Ìęmarathons or Ironman distance triathlons), you can wind up with a serious condition called exercise-induced . This electrolyte imbalance occurs when you have too-low sodium levels in your blood as the excess water dilutes salt concentration. This can trigger cramping, fatigue, confusion, and low blood pressure, according to the .

“A lot of athletes perceive salt tablets as a safety net that’ll protect them from hyponatremia,” says Childress. The allure is obvious: salt pills, in theory, offer athletes a quick solution when they’re on the go. But can a tiny pill actually keep you quenched during and after lengthy workouts?

Figuring Out How Many Salt Pills to Take in a Day

Knowing how many salt pills to take—and when to have them—is a delicate dance. Even if, say, you and your buddy are backpacking along the same exact route, the amount of electrolytes you should ingest may vary, potentially significantly, from the amount your friend requires, Brown says. Your rehydration needs largely depend on how much you sweat (and how much sodium is in your sweat) because some people expel more salt than others.

The only way to know, for sure, how much sodium chloride you need after a tough day on the trail is to conduct a sweat test to measure your sweat rate and composition. “If an athlete knows how much sodium they lose, they can replace it to the T,” Childress says.

Sodium concentration, or the amount of sodium in your sweat, varies widely from person to person, says Childress, but, on average, people lose about 1 gram or 1,000 milligrams (mg) of sodium per liter of sweat. So, if you sweat out a liter of fluids—and therefore about 1,000 mg of sodium—you’d want to take a salt pill that has 1,000 mg of sodium during (or right after) your workout to replenish the lost salt, Childress explains.

If you’re looking for a sweat test to determine salt loss, get in touch with a sports dietitian. They can measure how much fluid you lose during exercise and calculate your sweat electrolyte concentration. That way, you won’t have to guess what you need to ingest to stay hydrated. If you want to figure out how much sweat you lose, a sweat rate test is helpful; this entails weighing yourself on a bathroom scale before and after an intense workout. (Read about how to do one at home.)

Yes. It Is Possible to Take Too Many Salt Pills.

Here’s the issue: most people wing it. Because they’re unlikely to know how much sodium they lose in their sweat, they’ll pop a few salt pills, hoping to rehydrate. But taking too many (salt pills often come in a 200- to 400-milligram dose) can wreakÌęhavoc on your body. “The downside is you can overdoseÌęon them pretty easily if you don’t know what you’re doing,” Childress says. When that happens, you can develop hypernatremia,Ìęa condition where there’s too much sodium in the blood, which excessive thirst, nausea, confusion, muscle weakness, and dizziness.

Hypernatremia and hyponatremia can feel and look similar—so some people may develop weakness and assume they’re dehydrated when, in actuality, their sodium levels are way too high. Then, they’ll take even more salt pills and exacerbate the issue. In very extreme cases, this can cause people to .

You Don’t Need Salt Pills—Hydrate This Way Instead

Athletes have to be careful about how many salt tablets they take, Childress says. Not only are salt pills unnecessary for athletes, but they’re alsoÌę.

However, if you’re still set on taking salt pills, start with a low dose, says Childress, and make sure you drink enough water with them. “You’re not going to have any hydration benefit if you’re taking salt pills and not drinking fluid. They go together,” Brown says.

If you don’t think salt pills are worth the hype, you can skip them altogether. Brown recommends drinking 16 ounces of fluid per hour that you’re working out. If you’re a super sweater, you may want to up that to (at most) 1 liter per hour, she adds.

An easy way to check your hydration levels is by evaluating your urine. If your pee is dark or you’re going to the bathroom less frequently than usual, you should increase your fluid intake. Clear pee suggests you’re over-hydrated and could use some electrolytes, Brown says. The goal is for your pee to look like light lemonade, she says.

Opt for a Salty Snack or a Piece of Fruit

For those exercising at least three hours or in hot conditions, alternate between drinking water and sports drinks to keep your electrolytes in balance, Childress says. You can also munch on water-rich fruits and vegetables like watermelon, cantaloupe, celery, or broccoli.

To restore your sodium levels, instead of a salt pill, throw in something more satisfying, like a bag of pretzels or salted nuts, spread cheese on a few crackers, or grab some chips, sheÌęsays.

If you, like me, don’t keep track of your sweat or water consumption, then simply drink to thirst, suggests Childress. Finally, if you want to nail your hydration game, your best bet is to talk to a sports dietitian. She explains, “It’s really worth the money and time to meet with a professional who can run the sweat tests and design an individualized hydration strategy.”

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Years ago, I had a roommate who worked out every day and would also consume Dionysian amounts of Entenmann’s cake. My kind of guy. We got along, in part, because of a shared conviction that the pursuit of physical fitness didn’t preclude putting away vast quantities of processed sugar. Not to brag, but in my prime I could eat an entire family size package of Chips Ahoy as a post-run snack. The glories of youth.

But you get older and, you’d like to think, wiser. When I recently saw my former roommate, he mentioned that he’d started taking the popular daily supplement powder AG1 as a form of nutritional insurance. He is not alone; the brand was valued at $1.2 billion in 2022 and has been dubbed a “unicorn” in an overcrowded supplement market.

Part of this success can be attributed to seductive messaging: the AG1 website tells us that it is a “science-driven supplement that supports physical health and mental performance” and is “designed to replace multiple supplements by providing a comprehensive blend of nutrients in one tasty scoop each day.” That tasty scoop consists of 12 grams of greens powder, which are meant to be mixed with 8 ounces of water and consumed on a daily basis. Its purported benefits include increased energy, immunity defense, and improved gut health.

An optimized nutritional boost in an easily administered dose. Needless to say, we’ve heard similar promises before. But such miracle elixirs make us ever-keen to ask the question: Could it be true this time?

What Is AG1?

Formerly known as “Athletic Greens,” AG1 is one of the more prominent examples of the recent powdered greens craze.ÌęThe brand was founded in 2010 by Chris Ashenden, an entrepreneur, athlete, and fitness enthusiast from New Zealand.

Earlier this year, AG1 announced that Kat Cole, a former COO and president at the franchise restaurant group Focus Brands (now named GoTo Foods), would be succeeding Ashenden as the company’s CEO, though Ashenden will remain on the board of directors.

According to the AG1 website, the supplement is for anyone “who wants to ensure their nutritional needs are met on a daily basis” in an “obsessively curated product” that contains multivitamins and multiminerals, pre- and probiotics, antioxidants, and buzzy “superfoods” whose supposed health benefits are touted by the brand. Other ingredients include: rose hip fruit powder (“a source of phytonutrients that are foundational for the body”), dandelion root (“known to help soothe the stomach and support digestive enzyme secretion”), and slippery elm bark powder (“known to soothe the gut lining”).

Obsessive curation doesn’t come cheap; a monthly supply of AG1 will set you back $79. By comparison, a month’s worth of Greens and Superfoods from Bloom Nutrition costs about $35. But AG1 has a unique set of ingredients and a carefully crafted image of exclusivity, positioning itself as the Cadillac of the supplement world.

It’s certainly true that no other greens powder company has AG1’s celebrity firepower. The brand has been endorsed by athletes like Olympic runner Allyson Felix and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, as well as an endless roster of wellness and fitness influencers. Hamilton has invested in the company, as have Hugh Jackman and Cindy Crawford. Alex Honnold, who also holds a minority stake, is another AG1 fan. In an email, the Free Solo star told me that while it was hard to put his finger on what exactly he loved about the product, he nonetheless regarded it as “part of a healthy morning routine.”

“It helps me feel generally well—sick less often, fewer stomach issues, etc.,” Honnold said.

Like many brands, AG1 has an affiliate , partnership opportunities for content creators, as well as the tried-and-true discount for subscribers who get their friends to sign up. According to its website, the company pays out a 15-percent commission on subscription sales by referral.

The company has also been smart about partnering with some of the biggest names on the self-optimization podcast scene, including Tim Ferriss, Joe Rogan, Rich Roll, and Andrew Huberman. Although the Huberman Lab didn’t respond to a request for comment on the nature of its partnership with AG1, the podcast’s sponsorship page notes that they “only work with brands whose products we personally use and love.”

Do We Need Multivitamins and Greens Powders in the First Place?

On AG1’s website, under a subheading that asks “What products does AG1 replace?” I found the following: “One daily serving of AG1 eliminates the need for other supplements such as a multivitamin, probiotics, greens, and superfood powders, vitamin B complex, and vitamin C tablets.” The product, we learn, “supports brain, gut, and immune health.” A single-arm study (which means a study with no control group) with 35 participants funded by AG1 found that most users felt “more calm” and that their “digestion improved” after three months of using the product.

Of course, increased calmness and improved digestion are rather vague and subjective metrics by which to proclaim efficacy. Purveyors of dietary supplements have to be careful about any purported health claims, lest they end up being classified as a drug—at which point they would need to be vetted by the FDA. (On the AG1 website, there’s an asterisk attached to pretty much all of the alleged benefits of its ingredients to inform us that “these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration” and that “this product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”)

Case in point: in 2023 the marketing and manufacturing companies behind dietary supplement Balance of Nature had to temporarily pause operations following an warning that the company was not in compliance with federal regulations because its health claims technically made it a “new drug” that required FDA approval. In a separate case earlier that year, Balance of Nature had to pay a $1.1 million settlement as part of a in California that took the brand to task for alleging it could help treat or prevent serious diseases like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

As șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű has covered in the past, many prominent voices in the medical community don’t think daily multivitamins are necessary. David Seres, a professor of medicine at the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University Medical Center, has long beat the drum for us to take a more skeptical stance toward multivitamins and the broader supplement market. Seres told me that AG1 was another example of what was essentially a “freeze-dried salad of exotic fruits and vegetables.”

Seres was adamant that, unless one has a known deficiency of a particular vitamin or mineral, multivitamins have no proven benefit. He also advised against taking daily multivitamins as a preemptive measure. “To my knowledge, there is no high quality evidence of any health benefit from multivitamin supplementation in the general population,” Seres told me. “And there is evidence that there is potential for harm.”

Seres referred me to a in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), which pooled 84 separate studies to conclude that vitamin and mineral supplementation was associated with “little to no benefit” in preventing cancer and cardiovascular disease. (AG1 was not a part of this analysis.) As for the what’s-the-harm-in-taking-a-supplement-anyway approach, Seres of men in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico that appeared to link an increased risk of prostate cancer with vitamin E supplementation.

When I ran this summation by a spokesperson at AG1, she provided the following statement: “Each of the ingredients in AG1 is backed by peer-reviewed literature. Our team of scientists and researchers have reviewed thousands of studies as part of the formulation and continuous improvement process for AG1.”

It should be noted that the academic community is not unanimously against multivitamin use. A by university scientists, for instance, found that multivitamins might help counteract cognitive decline in older adults.

Nor is everyone as dismissive of greens powders as Seres. Emily Prpa, a registered nutritionist in the UK, told me that for some groups—like first-year college kids with “very beige” diets of processed foods—the multivitamin-as-insurance approach probably does make some sense. As for the possibility of doing harm through a potential vitamin overdose, Prpa told me that, generally, the body was very good at handling excess nutrients.

However, Prpa stressed that her approach was “food first” and that people can “meet their vitamin and nutrient needs through a well-balanced diet.” She suggested that the “natural” way of getting one’s nutrients was preferable anyway, since certain fat-soluble vitamins (like vitamin A) are more effectively absorbed with food.

Prpa also explained that large doses of one mineral might get in the way of your body absorbing other micronutrients ingested at the same time—a concept known as competitive absorption. “With some of these proprietary blends where they are just mixing a lot of things together, that’s possibly a red flag,” Prpa said. “Are you actually getting all of those vitamins and minerals that they say you’re gonna get from one scoop? It’s unlikely.”

The Research Behind AG1

A company spokesperson for AG1 sent me the following statement: “We have worked with third-party experts to conduct studies and research to further validate the benefits of AG1 as a whole, beyond the research and studies for ingredients. These are published on and peer-reviewed scientific journals, and show significant evidence of the efficacy of AG1.”

There’s a on the company’s website labeled “Research,” which lists peer-reviewed studies, albeit ones that are funded by AG1 and largely co-authored by AG1 employees. According to the AG1 spokesperson: “As is standard for the industry, the studies on AG1 are funded by the company and conducted by independent third-party experts and labs. These studies are in addition to a wide body of third-party literature to support efficacy and safety of the ingredients in AG1.”

It’s worth noting that most of these studiesÌęinvestigated the product’s potential beneficial impact on the gastrointestinal tract using a simulator that “mimics the physiological and biological conditions found in the human gut” and were not conducted on actual humans. There’s nothing wrong with that—in vitro studies are safer and less invasive—but as the authors of the studies themselves , further investigations are needed to verify the product’s actual health benefits for humans in a clinical setting. The verdict, in other words, is still out.

The company’s website also mentions a clinical trial on human subjects that involved a double-blind trial with 30 participants in which healthy adults were given either AG1 or a placebo for one month. ( was just published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition in October.) Subsequent stool samples purportedly revealed that AG1 enriched the microbiome by “more than doubling the levels of healthy bacteria known to bolster digestion.”

The healthy bacteria in question appear to be Lactobacillus acidophilus UALa-01 and Bifidobacterium bifidum UABb-10, which are both listed on AG1’s ingredients list. However, while L. acidophilus and B. bifidum are some of the better known species of probiotics, there isn’t much proof that the specific AG1 strains have any health benefits.

The only study that comes up when you look up Lactobacillus acidophilus UALa-01 in the National Library of Medicine’s database, PubMed.com, is a on the effects of the probiotic on bone mineral density and calcium levels in postmenopausal women. The conclusion of the study notes that: “The consumption of L. acidophilus probiotics daily for 12 weeks among postmenopausal women does not affect the profile of BMD, but it may help in stabilizing bone turnover . . . However, it is worth noting that three months of probiotic supplementation could potentially disrupt calcium and glucose status in postmenopausal women.”

When I asked AG1 why they chose these specific strains of bacteria despite a relative lack of published research on them, a company spokesperson replied: “The probiotics in AG1, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum, are well researched and chosen for their safety profile across a variety of populations.”

Professor Gregor Reid, a distinguished professor emeritus at Canada’s Western University and author of the 2023 book , told me that “people are getting sort of carried away with the idea that everything that is Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium is a probiotic and that’s not the case.”

“For the consumer, it’s a shame because they seem to think that all probiotics are the same and therefore, if you’re taking a probiotic, it must be good,” he said. “But unless there’s clinical data to support it then you really don’t know what it’s doing.”

Reid is on the scientific board of the probiotic supplement company Seed, and might be incentivized to be critical of a rival brand’s product. However, Reid was adamant that he is not claiming that AG1 is a bad product, but that the onus is on a probiotics company to prove the nutritional value of its specific strains. As he puts it, “The question is where’s the clinical data showing these two strains have a probiotic effect and what is the effect?”

As a practical resource for people who want to do their own research, Reid recommends a —a fairly expansive directory of products that lists probiotic strains and applications, as well as relevant studies, which is put together by the Alliance for Education on Probiotics. Lest he be accused of bias, Reid pointed out that neither AG1 nor Seed are listed on the site.

So What’s the Takeaway?

Should you take AG1? The tacit promise of a product where every ingredient is “backed by peer-reviewed literature” is that a proprietary blend of those ingredients will confer an optimized synthesis of every alleged benefit and minimal side effects. At present, there have been no independent studies that verify that AG1 does this.

But it’s also not hard to find people who, like Honnold, believe that their daily greens powder fix does have some positive effect. Whether that perceived improvement is a consequence of AG1’s formula, or because investing $79 per month in a trendy wellness product makes you more likely to take ownership of your health in other ways, remains up for debate. But to paraphrase the , why not just eat a few more damn vegetables?

Indeed, usually when articles come out questioning the claims of some new superfood-laden wunderproduct, they will conclude with a reminder that there isn’t a way to outhack the conventional healthy diet. (AG1 does not claim that its product eliminates the need for healthy eating.) It’s always so disappointing. Because who doesn’t want to live in a world where the adverse effects of last night’s boozy bacchanalia can be neutralized with an ashwagandha root smoothie?

Our collective desire for the nutritional panacea comes at a moment when distrust toward experts might be at an all-time high. According to Seres, part of the reason why so many people prefer to listen to influencer health gurus rather than scientists is that the latter group often hasn’t done a good job in communicating dietary advice to the general public. (AG1’s website notes that the company has an “in-house team of doctors, scientists, and researchers.”) The result is a certain amount of cynicism; Seres said the first question he hears when new guidelines are announced is, “OK, are eggs in or out this time?”

“People follow the recommendations of scientists and nutritional guidelines for the three most important reasons possible: they want to live longer; they want to live healthier; and they want to be happier,” Seres said. “When we change our minds as scientists—which we don’t do frivolously but based on new evidence—we need to do a better job of explaining why, so that people are actually willing to listen to us.”

If Seres has any words of comfort for those who may be dismayed that we can’t cancel out our food vices with a greens powder supplement, it’s that we should regard perfect nutrition as a utopia, rather than something we need to beat ourselves up for not achieving.

As he puts it: “Shooting for the ideal diet is the goal; achieving it is not.”

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For elite runners, proper nutrition is one of the key ingredients to success. But among the rigorous workouts and races, maintaining a balanced diet that’s optimized for performance and recovery can be a challenge on its own. That’s why the pros turn to trusted brands like to round out their training with essential nutrients. As the official sports nutrition partner of the , NOW fuels winners and record-setters—but its products are also useful for everyday runners. To learn more about how the Brooks Beasts are fueling for the win with NOW, we talked to , the team’s nutritionist and associate professor of health and human performance at Eastern Oregon University, and seasoned team member and world record holder . Here’s what they had to say.

Nutrition for Runners

șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű: Who are the Brooks Beasts, and why is their nutrition so important?

Kyle Pfaffenbach, PhD: The Brooks Beasts are a professional track team consisting of some of the world’s best middle-distance runners. Nutrition is one of the four foundational pillars of training, with workouts, sleep, and mental health being the others. Proper nutrition, first and foremost, promotes overall health and wellness. From a performance perspective, sound nutritional practices allow the Beasts to train effectively, recover properly, and race competitively.

What are some of the most beneficial supplements for runners?

Pfaffenbach: The most important point to remember is that supplements are just that—supplemental to a healthy diet. If a runner’s overall diet is not sorted, supplements rarely make up for that. Once a healthy diet is in place, one of the most important supplements is . Whey is a highly absorbable form of protein that kick-starts the recovery process when taken after each run. Next would be . Collagen peptides taken before runs may support ligament synthesis, which could help maintain healthy soft tissues.* There is also a variety of effective supplements that may offer benefits to runners, including , , , and .

 

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Why do Brooks Beasts choose to use NOW Sports Nutrition products over other brands?

Pfaffenbach: We trust NOW Sports. NOW is transparent with its testing and quality control. The supplements are manufactured in-house under very strict conditions. Many of the products in the Sports Nutrition line are third-party tested and certified through . Finally, we like that NOW offers uncomplicated, straightforward supplements in effective doses. They avoid overly complicated products with complicated blends that often have ineffectively small doses of the desired ingredients.

Fueling for Wins

Brannon, what does your daily regimen and post-workout for nutrition look like?

Brannon Kidder: For my daily nutrition goals, I typically focus on my macronutrient needs. I don’t count these values every day, but I have tracked them in the past to get an idea of what an ideal day would look like. Every day, I shoot for the same fat and protein goals and then vary the carbs to suit my needs. I always make sure that I am getting enough fats and protein first for my recovery. Then, I will make sure to fuel appropriately with carbs for my hard and long efforts. I eat carbohydrates every day, but the needs change for a five-mile recovery day versus a 15-mile run.

 

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Even though the food changes from day to day to suit my training needs, I always focus on hydration and recovery.* I add an tablet to my water before and during my workouts to help replenish what I’m losing through sweat. Then, I drink a shake using with some carbs added following training.

As far as daily supplements, I’ll also take pre-workout to delay muscle fatigue and speed up recovery time.* And as part of my recovery plan, I use to help maintain muscle strength and mass.*

I have been a member of the Beasts for more than seven years, and I try to dial in nutrition a little more each year. When I’m eating well and using supportive supplements, it can really help optimize my performance.*

What have been some of your biggest accomplishments this season?Ìę

Kidder: We started off the outdoor season with a world record in the distance medley relay! It is a somewhat rare opportunity to run a relay as a professional. When the chance to run a DMR was presented to me and my teammates—Brandon Miller, Isaiah Harris, and Henry Wynne—we jumped at the opportunity. We were excited for the chance to race as a team again. There is something special about racing with and for your team rather than an individual event.

 

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Going into the event, we were excited about assembling such a good team and thought we might be able to take a pretty good shot at a world record. On paper, we had the ability to do it, but most of the time your relay result isn’t as simple as adding up everyone’s on-paper personal bests. I think we were able to get the record because we were all running for each other. We knew it would take all four of us having a good day to get the record, and we got the job done. I ran better than I would have knowing my three teammates were relying on me. The season is just getting started, but that has definitely been my biggest accomplishment so far.

What advice can you give runners working toward personal goals in the sport?

Kidder: Whenever I’m asked this question, my answer is always “be consistent.” Running is a sport that really gives you back what you put into it, but sometimes those gains are measured in months and years rather than days and weeks. It’s hard to tell in the moment, but having many solid days stacked on top of each other is the best way to improve. A bunch of good workouts and runs will always beat some great workouts surrounded by inconsistency.

products have been recognized among the best in the industry, backed by world-class research and development standards and quality-sourced ingredients, to support a range of sports nutritional needs for professional to everyday athletes.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

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In 2013, a group of five physicians from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Warwick Medical School in the U.K. made a bold statement:

“We believe that the case is closed—supplementing the diet of well-nourished adults with (most) mineral or vitamin supplements has no clear benefit and might even be harmful. These vitamins should not be used for chronic disease prevention. Enough is enough,” they wrote in Annals of Internal Medicine, one of the most popular medical journals in the US.

Their declaration was based on decades of that found no evidence multivitamins reduced the risk of heart disease or cancer, prevented memory decline, or lowered heart attack rates.Ìę

In science, however, the case is almost never truly closed.Ìę

This year, of more than 3,500 people over the the age of 60 who took multivitamins every day for three years found they performed better on memory tests after a year. After three years, the multivitamin group showed none of the age-related memory decline evidenced by the placebo group.ÌęÌę

Does this mean the multivitamin naysayers should start taking vitamin supplements? Who can benefit from them, and who shouldn’t bother?

Vitamins and Memory Loss

Dr. Adam Brickman, a neuropsychologist and a professor at Columbia University, led the study on the impact of multivitamins on cognitive decline in older adults. He found people taking multivitamins (in this case, the study used Centrum Silver vitamins, though Brickman says it’s likely any high-quality multivitamin will replicate the same results) experienced a significant improvement in their memory as compared to those in the placebo group after one year, an effect that was sustained on average over the three years of the study.Ìę

“It’s certainly not a panacea for cognitive aging,” Dr. Brickman says, “but it is a reliable effect.”

He pointed out that multivitamins are not a treatment for Alzheimer’s or dementia, and everyone should consult with a doctor before taking any supplements. While this study only included people over the age of 60, some research shows cognitive decline .Ìę

A daily multivitamin is a for those interested in covering all bases, but this approach should not come at the expense of eating a varied diet full of fruits and vegetables. A found that while getting adequate amounts of vitamin A, vitamin K, magnesium, zinc, and copper were associated with a lower risk of early death, those benefits were only found when vitamins came through food, not supplements.Ìę

“No one is saying that taking vitamins is a replacement for having a healthy diet,” Dr. Brickman says, adding, “This is truly just a supplement that might enhance or bump things up a little bit.”Ìę

This means that if you do decide to take a multivitamin supplement to hedge your bets, it’s essential to also prioritize good nutrition, which means filling your plate with whole, unprocessed foods and eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein.Ìę

Vitamins for Athletes

While the science isn’t clear about multivitamin supplements for the general population, , a Canada-based certified holistic nutritionist who specializes in sports nutrition, says there are certain instances when a vitamin supplement is highly recommended: folic acid for women trying to conceive and during pregnancy, or with a condition like Crohn’s disease, which makes it difficult for the body to absorb nutrients.ÌęÌęÌę

“In some situations like that, a multivitamin could help fill some gaps where the food might not be processed by the body the way it’s supposed to be,” says Boufounos.

If most people don’t need to take a multivitamin, what about athletes—especially endurance athletes who regularly push their bodies to the limit?Ìę

is a Minnesota-based registered dietitian who works exclusively with endurance athletes. She says when it comes to nutrition, she always starts with food.

“That’s always the gold standard,” Larson explains, “and a supplement is not a replacement for a balanced diet.”

Larson does recommend her athletes get an annual or semi-annual blood test to find out if they have any vitamin deficiencies, as well as consult with a primary care physician to make sure there aren’t any underlying medical conditions or medications that might conflict with supplements. Many of the female endurance athletes she works with find their iron levels are low, and she recommends an iron supplement—or better yet, iron-rich food—to help with performance and energy levels.ÌęÌęÌę

Boufounos agrees, saying she always takes a food-first approach with athletes. She approaches supplementation as a short-term solution to bridge any gaps while trying to correct dietary patterns.Ìę

“I never want to tell an athlete that they have to supplement long term because you also get into a situation where I think some people unintentionally rely on the supplement,” says Boufounos.Ìę

She especially sees this phenomenon with green powders, which often contain multivitamins.Ìę

“I’ve seen so many athletes supplement with a green powder that also had the multivitamin in it and then they’re like ‘Sweet, I don’t need to ever eat a vegetable ever again,’” says Boufounos.Ìę

How to Choose Your Multivitamin

If you decide you do want to start taking a multivitamin, Boufounos says it’s important to make sure your supplement meets the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for as many of the micronutrients as possible. Some supplements have 100 percent of the RDA for only a few vitamins, and the other ones don’t come close to the daily recommendations.Ìę

More than price, however, look at what’s included in the multivitamin. Boufounos says it’s not worth paying for extra micronutrients if they are in negligible amounts.ÌęÌę

Both Larson and Boufounos say it’s essential to buy supplements that are third-party tested, especially if you’re an athlete in a tested sport, but also to make sure the supplements are safe and contain exactly what the label claims. Supplement companies that are third-party tested will always state that distinction clearly on their website or marketing materials.Ìę

Larson also recommends serious athletes who might be tested for their sport take supplements that are labeled NSF Certified for Sport or Informed Choice for Sport.Ìę

“I would be very careful about just typing in ‘multivitamin’ on Amazon and buying something because there are most definitely knockoffs on Amazon and that can get sketchy pretty quickly,” Boufounos says. She recommends buying supplements directly from the company’s website, not an online storefront.Ìę

If you plan to start taking vitamin supplements without consulting with an expert, Boufounos recommends sticking with a multivitamin, instead of selecting individual vitamins on their own.

“It would be safer for an athlete to use a multivitamin if they’ve never done a blood test and never worked with a dietician or a sports nutritionist than it would be for them to just randomly pick any supplement off the store shelves,” Boufounos says, because you might pick supplements that work against each other.

The science so far is clear about two things: multivitamins appear to help age-related cognitive decline but don’t seem to prevent chronic disease. The best multivitamin strategy—whether you’re an athlete or not—is to focus on food first, supplements second.Ìę

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