AG1’s Approach to Clinical Research

As Science Evolves, So Do We

Since we launched AG1 in 2010, we’ve consistently upgraded our formula, guided by the latest scientific research. Now, we’re building on our history of continuous improvement and helping to raise the standard for the supplement category. Clinical research is a pivotal part of where we’ve been and where we’re going, particularly as we release our upgraded formula, AG1 Next Gen.

Our Approach to Clinical and Pre-Clinical Research

Over the past 15 years, we’ve heard from millions of customers about how AG1 has impacted their health and lives—but we are setting new standards in supplement research and working to explore *how* the formula works and to ensure the benefits people experience are measurable.

Our Team

At the heart of AG1 is our Research, Nutrition, and Innovation team—a world-class group of clinicians, scientists, and researchers with expertise in academic and clinical nutrition, physiology, metabolism, microbiology, food science, and more. This team as a whole plays a central role in shaping the scientific foundation of our product. This includes ingredient scoping and validation, formulation feasibility, identifying evidence gaps to be explored through preclinical and clinical research to deepen our understanding of health outcomes, education, and product development to deliver meaningful innovation.

Being part of the scientific community is an important part of our mission, and the team contributes by publishing reviews, thought leadership pieces, and original research in collaboration with academic partners. As part of our broader mission, we are committed to scientific rigor, sharing the results of AG1’s studies in peer-reviewed journals to ensure our methodologies and findings can benefit the wider health and nutrition field.

Our Research

Over the past few years, we’ve invested millions of dollars in research and development and will continue to do so. In addition to preclinical and observational studies, we have conducted a series of Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trials (RCTs) with third party research organizations and academic collaborators to both validate our product and drive science forward.

Widely accepted as the gold-standard in clinical trials, RCTs provide the strongest evidence for a causal link between intervention (the product) and outcome while minimizing bias. RCT methods include:

• Randomization, which ensures that participants are assigned to intervention or control groups purely by chance, balancing known and unknown confounders
• Control groups (the placebo or standard treatment group), which provide a basis for comparison
• Blinding (i.e. preventing participants and/or researchers from knowing who receives the intervention or placebo), which reduces bias from participants and investigators
• Predefined outcomes and protocols, which ensure consistency and replicability
• Statistical rigor, which helps confirm that outcomes are not due to chance

RCTs on finished products are rare in the industry, as they’re expensive and time consuming. With our newest formulation, AG1 Next Gen, we invested further and doubled down on our investment in research: AG1 Next Gen is rooted in clinical evidence with four gold-standard clinical trials.

Why do Clinical Outcomes Matter?

The supplement aisle is more crowded than ever. But how can you tell which products were actually studied in humans? Clinical outcomes. Clinical outcomes measure the impact of consuming a product or ingredients in the human body. They tell us how something actually performs in real people, not just in theory.

The Trials

AG1 Next Gen was studied across multiple gold-standard clinical trials. The replication of results in multiple studies highlights its effectiveness across different lifestyles and diets. Among other results, AG1 Next Gen is clinically shown to close common nutrient gaps and support gut health. (1-4) Here, some details on the trials themselves.

1. A 12-week parallel designed Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) in 105 adults who consumed a Standard American Diet. (Parallel designed studies, which can be better for longer duration studies, feature different groups, each of whom receives different treatments throughout the study.) This study primarily assessed how supplementation of AG1 Next Gen over 12 weeks influenced nutrient gaps and nutrient status compared to a placebo. The secondary objectives of this study were to analyze the gut microbiome along with assessments of safety and tolerability.
2. A 2-week crossover designed RCT in 20 highly active adults. (In crossover studies, the same participants receive different treatments (Placebo and active) at different points in the study. Within-subject comparison helps isolate the effect of the treatment itself since each participant receives all treatments. This study primarily assessed the ability of AG1 Next Gen to fill nutrient gaps. The secondary objectives of this study were to analyze the gut microbiome along with the change in the microbiome after discontinuing AG1 Next Gen. This study also assessed the tolerability and safety of AG1 Next Gen.
3. A 2-week crossover designed RCT in 24 healthy adults with occasional GI distress. This study primarily assessed the effects of AG1 Next Gen on changes in the gut microbiome in those with occasional GI issues, including the change in microbiome health after discontinuing AG1 Next Gen. The secondary objectives were to assess the ability of AG1 Next Gen to fill nutrient gaps in addition to the tolerability of AG1 Next Gen.
4. An acute crossover designed RCT in 16 healthy adults. This study primarily assessed the bioavailability of key nutrients in 16 healthy men and women between 18 and 45 years old, over the course of 8 hours following AG1 Next Gen ingestion. The secondary objectives of this study were to assess the nutrient gaps and tolerability of AG1 Next Gen in an acute setting.

In-Vitro Trials

In addition to our Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials, we’ve established a robust strategy with pre-clinical evidence, like in-vitro trials, to get a better understanding of how AG1 works. Our in-house team of scientists partnered with ProDigest to conduct studies on the effects of AG1 on the gut using a SHIME (Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem) model. This is the industry-leading method for replicating the gut environment. It consists of a series of interconnected sections, called bioreactors, which mimic the physiological and biological conditions of the human gut, including the stomach, small intestine, and different colon regions

Since certain biological processes are extremely difficult to examine in humans without invasive procedures, the SHIME model provides a controlled, highly reliable, and repeatable environment to assess the effects of AG1 on the gut microbiome before progressing to human trials.

The SHIME is one of the few gut models that mimics the entire gastrointestinal tract incorporating stomach, small intestine and different colon regions. Using models like SHIME is particularly important for understanding the mechanisms of action.

The Clinical Research Lifecycle

Just like the trials themselves, the clinical research lifecycle is also rigorous, and it can be lengthy.

We’re proud to share that four clinical trials – rigorously designed, randomized, placebo-controlled trials – on the AG1 Next Gen formula have been completed. This is a major milestone in our scientific journey and one that underscores our long-standing commitment to evidence-based innovation.

Learn more about how the trials were conducted and what we’ve shared since they were completed on our Research page.

In addition to the key findings that have already been shared, we are committed to advancing scientific research through a level of integrity that goes beyond the basic requirements for publication. The next phase of the publishing process starts with submitting abstracts – another word for summaries – to annual conferences. Once accepted, these submissions may be chosen for poster or an oral presentation. Abstracts are typically published post-symposium and the timing can vary depending on the scientific meeting.

We’ve recently had abstracts accepted at several national scientific conferences, including:

• 2025 American Physiology Summit (April 24–27), published here.
• 2025 American Society of Nutrition (May 31–June 3)
• 2025 American Society of Microbiology Annual Conference (June 19–23)
• 2025 The International Society of Sports Nutrition Annual International Conference (June 23-25)
• And more.

It is considered best practice within the scientific community for full abstracts to remain under embargo until they are formally presented at the conferences. As they are published, we will update our Research page. In parallel, AG1 is preparing full manuscripts containing more data from all four trials, which will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals over the coming months for publication.

The process of undertaking a trial, analyzing the results, and publishing them can take years. But we know it’s worth the wait, because we’re committed to advancing science—not just for the sake of innovation, but to contribute meaningfully to advancing the science of nutrition and the microbiome forward.

Leading by Example

We feel strongly that good scientific research is hypothesis-driven and follows a hierarchy of scientific rigor. We’re proud to be part of the scientific community and are passionate about collaborating with experts across the foundational health spectrum, leading universities and institutions, and third-party clinical research centers to fuel scientific discovery and innovation and further validate the beneficial effects of our products.

Since AG1 was founded, our unwavering mission of empowering health has never changed, nor has our intention of being an industry leader in quality standards and research. Why? Because we believe it’s what the customer deserves and because leading by example is the only option.

Learn more about our research methods, study designs, and more here.