AG1 CEO unpacks Foundational Nutrition focus on ingredient synergies, biotics, and phytonutrients

US-based AG1 developed its daily holistic wellness supplement on Foundational Nutrition. This all-in-one concept prioritizes ingredient synergy and bioavailability, focusing on micro- and phytonutrients, whole foods, and biotics that prioritize gut health for overall well-being. AG1’s drink powder is formulated as an addition to a healthy, whole-food diet. 

Current nutritional guidelines don’t traditionally include micro- and phytonutrients, which play a “key role in maintaining a healthy immune system, preventing chronic diseases, promoting optimal cognitive function, and other health benefits,” argue the company’s Research, Nutrition, and Innovation team and international researchers in a paper. 

Nutrition Insight explores Foundational Nutrition with AG1’s CEO, Kat Cole, and Ralph Esposito, chief science and nutrition officer, who co-authored the paper highlighting the elements of Foundational Nutrition and its impact on human health. 

Esposito explains: “While we each have a degree of individuality, our bodies rely on the same nutrient foundation to nourish the systems that power our health. What we eat fuels our bodies and delivers the calories, nutrients, and building blocks we need to function.” 

“If a person lacks any of these (macronutrients, micronutrients, phytonutrients), their physical and mental health can suffer and even impact lifespan.” 

Cole adds that AG1’s foundational nutrition supplement “combines a multivitamin, pro- and prebiotics, and nutrient-dense whole foods into one scoop that helps people start their day with foundational nutrients and gut health support that help cover common foundational gaps in a modern diet and lifestyle.” 

Whole foods first

The paper, published in Nutrients, highlights Foundational Nutrition as a response to a growing global issue of poor nutrition. The authors highlight that whole foods contain a complex matrix of nutrients that work together synergistically instead of being consumed in isolation. 

“You can take all the vitamins and minerals you want, but if you aren’t absorbing or digesting them, then you’re certainly, at a minimum, not getting the full benefit,” says Cole. “At the same time, if you have fairly robust gut health, that alone doesn’t support a thriving life. You still have to eat healthy, nutrient-dense foods.” 

Cole says that even if people eat healthily and are not exposed to stressful environments, they often lack nutrients.The paper authors stress the consumption of highly bioavailable nutrients that exert synergistic effects elicits a greater impact on overall health than the sum of their individual or less-potent nutrient effects.

Cole adds that whole foods offer additional benefits beyond the micro- or phytonutrients they contain. For example, citrus fruits contain citrus bioflavonoids in addition to vitamin C. 

“There are things that come together that make the benefits of food more likely to be realized,” she says. “Kimchi and sauerkraut are not only probiotics, they’re also plants. From them, you’re getting phytonutrients, pre- and probiotics; that’s why it’s so good for you.” 

Although AG1’s philosophy is that nutrient-dense whole foods always come first, Esposito says that “nutrient gaps due to modern diet, declining soil quality, and stressors continually compromise our health.” 

“In the US, over 75% of the population do not consume the recommended intake of fruit and vegetables. A direct consequence is that people are missing not only certain micronutrient needs but also other essential phytonutrients, which we now understand to have a profound impact on multiple body systems, starting in the gut.” 

Addressing micro- and phytonutrient gaps

While dietary guidelines typically consider macronutrients (e.g., fats, fiber, and protein) and vitamins and minerals like zinc and iron as essential nutrients, the Foundational Nutrition framework highlights additional nutrients, such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, phospholipids, and omega-3 fatty acids.

Foundational Nutrition builds on three pillars: gut health, whole foods and phytonutrients.The paper indicates that nutritional scientific literature provides examples of other nutrients that, when consumed in sufficient amounts, have profound effects on human health.

“When our bodies don’t receive adequate amounts of these essential nutrients, nutrient gaps — the gap between what is required and what is consumed on a daily basis — can form,” stresses Esposito. 

“Factors like aging, stress, exercise, environmental toxins, and modern diets exacerbate nutrient gaps, making foundational supplementation like AG1 — with its vitamins, minerals, prebiotics, and probiotics — an effective way to support nutrient absorption, gut health, and overall well-being.” 

Cole adds that even people who eat healthily and are not exposed to stressful environments lack certain nutrients, such as “certain types of B vitamins, ideally the methylated forms, choline, alpha lipoic acid, magnesium, and other vitamins and minerals.”

Prioritizing gut health

Foundational Nutrition’s third element is gut health as a focal point for improving systemic health and nutritional status. The gastrointestinal system is the body’s primary medium for absorbing nutrients, and the microbiome is mainly responsible for breaking them down. 

Moreover, research indicates that microbial dysbiosis or disbalance decreases the intestine’s ability to use and absorb nutrients, while this condition is also linked to various health risks. 

The daily supplement combines multivitamin, pro- and prebiotics, and nutrient-dense whole foods (Image credit: AG1).“Although we’ve studied the human body for centuries, we’ve only started to specifically research and understand the gut environment in the past 17 years,” says Esposito. 

“Research consistently shows one of the most impactful things you can do to support your microbiome is consume a diverse range of whole food-based nutrients that can be hard to get in even healthy diets, emphasizing the importance of daily Foundational Nutrition.”

According to Cole, research indicates that “our gut microbiomes are not as diverse as they once were.” 

“Microbial diversity, presence of beneficial bacteria, is a need for people living a modern life, and that’s where AG1’s, pro- and prebiotics and phytonutrients come in.”