Going deeper on ingredients and absorption
When it comes to nutrition at its most basic level, everything ladders up to physical absorption. You can consume as many nutritious ingredients as you like, but the crucial point is whether or not your body can actually take them in and use them. This is why bioavailability is so important. Bioavailability is the extent to which your body can absorb, distribute, and eliminate any given nutrient.
A lot can affect the bioavailability of a supplement or supplement ingredient, such as factors like dosage, formula, and your own personal physiology.
Bioavailability has always been an essential consideration for us. In fact, the driving belief behind AG1 is that high-quality ingredients combined with digestive support can improve the body’s ability to use the essential nutrients delivered. Since 2010, we’ve continuously upgraded our formula, guided by the latest research on nutrition and bioavailability. In 2012, we introduced methylated forms of certain ingredients for better utilization. Methylation is a vital chemical process in the body where a small molecule called a methyl group (one carbon and three hydrogen atoms) is added to DNA, proteins, or other molecules. This modification can influence gene expression, protein function, and various metabolic processes. In the case of certain vitamins, such as B12 and folate, being in a methylated form can enhance their bioavailability and support essential biological functions. AG1, our latest innovation, includes more bioactive forms of the nutrients your body needs.
In a recent clinical trial, we measured the absorption of key nutrients contained in AG1. Participants consumed AG1 or a placebo on two separate occasions. After consuming each drink, participants had their blood taken at various timepoints over eight hours. We were able to determine how quickly these nutrients were absorbed into the blood stream and how long they stayed significantly elevated over the course of the 8-hour period. (4) What did we find?
The results showed that key nutrients including folate, vitamin C, zinc, calcium were significantly elevated in the blood after drinking AG1 versus placebo. In addition, almost 90% of the measured nutrients were significantly elevated in the blood within 30 minutes of drinking AG1. In fact, folate levels peaked in the body within 60 minutes of drinking AG1. (4) Folate supports a healthy mood through the role it plays in the production of various neurotransmitters. The folate in AG1 Next Gen is methylated (5-MTHF) and is found to be more bioavailable than folic acid.
In this trial, we observed the key nutrients in the formula were readily absorbable, leading to noticeable changes in the circulating concentrations of these nutrients. What does this mean? It means that AG1 Next Gen’s nutrients were shown to be quickly and easily absorbable into the blood and were available to be used by the body. [4]