Inner Circle: Two Years In

What we asked, what we found, what we still don't know, and what comes next.

Two years ago, we started the Inner Circle with a simple aim: to bring our community with us, not just as customers, but as citizen scientists, co-creators and fellow members.

A clinical trial can tell us whether something works under controlled conditions. It can't tell us what happens on a busy Tuesday morning, in a real kitchen, in the life of someone who is also working, caring for others and getting through winter. 

Some of the most useful questions in nutrition are answered in everyday life, and the Inner Circle lets us ask the people they matter to. Because everything we do, from the science to the products we make, should serve our community.

In two years, that has meant more than 6,200 members, five studies, around 370 study places filled and more than 1,300 responses to our GLP-1 and vitamin D surveys alone. Here is what you have helped us build so far, including the results that surprised us.

Who the Inner Circle is

The Inner Circle is open to Ancient + Brave customers who have subscribed to a product for three months or more. There are now more than 6,200 members across the UK.

That also means the Inner Circle is not a cross-section of the population. Members tend to be health-engaged, familiar with supplements and, in most of our studies, women in midlife. We keep that in mind whenever we share what we find, and we will always say who took part.

What we have studied together

Since 2024, Inner Circle members have taken part in four completed studies, with a fifth now in analysis. They fall into two groups: studies that measured biology at home, and studies that asked what it is actually like to live with a product.

Measuring biology at home

True Omegas+ (2025)

30 women aged 45 to 68 took True Omegas+ daily for 12 weeks and completed at-home finger-prick blood tests before and after. Their Omega-3 Index, EPA and DHA levels, and omega-3 to omega-6 ratio all rose by a statistically significant amount over the 12 weeks.

What it can and can't tell us: this was a single group with no comparison group, so it shows how these markers changed in these women over 12 weeks. It doesn't tell us what would have happened without the product. We've published the full write-up on ResearchHub, and you can read the story behind it in our journal.

True Biome (2025)

40 women aged 45 to 54 took True Biome daily for 12 weeks and completed at-home stool tests at three points, looking at short-chain fatty acid production, Bifidobacterium and overall gut scores. Alongside this participants completed self perception surveys, where 94% of participants said they would recommend True Biome to a friend at the end of 12 weeks.

This study has informed the planning for a larger, controlled clinical trial. Partnering with a third-party researcher we plan to investigate further into the impact of daily True Biome supplementation on gut health markers.

Trialling a product before launch

Brave Ancestral Protein (January 2026)

Our largest study so far. 160 members (159 women and one man) took Brave Ancestral Protein daily for two weeks before it launched, without knowing which product they were testing, and shared their experience through questionnaires, photos, voice notes and journal entries. By the end, 83% said they had built a ritual they wanted to keep.*

Read the study: The Inner Circle Protein Study

True Skin Alchemy (2026)

55 women aged 34 to 55 took True Skin Alchemy daily for eight weeks before launch, again without knowing which product they were testing, and told us how their skin felt along the way. 98% found it easy to fit into their daily routine, and every participant said they would join another Inner Circle study.*

Read the study: The Skin We're In

*Self-reported feedback from Inner Circle studies. Individual experiences vary.

Our first placebo-controlled trial

The Inner Circle Sleep Study (September to October 2026)

This autumn, [87] women aged 40 to 55 from the Inner Circle joined a four-week sleep study run with Loughborough University, entirely from home. It was randomised, blinded and placebo-controlled, so neither the participants nor the study team knew who was taking True Nightcap and who was taking a placebo. Of the participants who gave feedback at the end, every one said they would take part in a future study, and 97% rated the support they received four or five out of five. What they valued most was contributing to research for women their age, building a calmer bedtime routine and learning about their own sleep. As one participant put it: “Being part of a community of women hoping to make a difference to a difficult time in our lives.”

The data is being analysed now. We'll share what we find, whatever it shows, and Inner Circle members will hear first.

What you have told us

Alongside the studies, well over a thousand of you have answered our community surveys. Each one has changed what we do or how we talk about health. Here’s a quick summary of what we’ve learned together in 2026.

Vitamin D (September 2026)

757 of you told us how you think about vitamin D. Two in three knew the NHS autumn and winter advice, yet the most common reason for not taking it was uncertainty about whether it applied to you, and one in three said a blood test would prompt them to start. 71% believed tiredness is a sign of low vitamin D, which it can't reliably tell you, and while 89% knew that spending little time outdoors raises the risk, 75% spend most of their day indoors. Knowing isn't the hard part. Doing is. Read the full findings.

GLP-1 medications (summer 2026)

In addition to shaping the products we make, your feedback helps inform the products we choose not to make. In the summer of 2026, GLP-1 support products are springing up everywhere but, as ever, we listened before we launched.

561 of you shared your experiences and views of GLP-1 medications, including more than a thousand written comments. Nine in ten of you who started the survey finished it, which for a long survey on a sensitive subject says a great deal. There was no single consensus, and that mattered. It shaped how carefully we approach this area, and what we chose not to say. Read more in The decision we didn't rush into.

What surprised us

• How willing you are to take part. People who see our surveys tend to finish them, even long ones on difficult topics, and every True Skin Alchemy participant said they'd join another study.

• How much the most useful findings were about behaviour rather than products. The vitamin D survey showed that the gap is rarely knowledge. It is knowing whether advice applies to you, and remembering to act on it.

• That a study without a clear headline can still shape what comes next. True Biome has informed the plan for a larger, properly controlled study.

What we still don't know

• What happens over time. Most studies so far have run for weeks, not years. We'd like to follow how things change for the same people over longer periods.

• How many of you have taken part. We know how many study places have been filled, but not how many individual people that is, because many of you have joined more than one study.

• What would happen without the product. Only our sleep study has had a placebo group. Studies without one show change, not cause.

• How far our findings apply beyond the Inner Circle. You are a self-selected, health-engaged community, so what's true for you may not be true for everyone.

• What you want us to look into next. Tell us, and it could shape our next study.

What comes next

After a busy 2026, there’s still time to get involved in the Inner Circle before the end of the year. Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up.

• Our annual survey arrives on Thursday 19 November. It's a bigger set of questions than usual, and the start of a yearly check-in on how this community is changing.

• A vitamin D Inner Circle study planned for January 2027, where we will be using at-home blood tests to measure vitamin D levels. If you’re keen to get involved, be sure to keep an eye on your inbox for an invitation.

• Sleep study results will follow once the analysis is complete.

• The Inner Scoop, our new quarterly letter to members, will bring you what we've learned four times a year.

Thank you

None of this exists without people who are willing to answer a long survey, post a stool sample or take something every morning for weeks and tell us honestly how it went. Thank you for being part of the Inner Circle, and for helping us ask better questions.

Dr Jenna Macciochi

Director of Science & Innovation, Ancient + Brave

We’re always open to making our circle bigger. To find out more about the Inner Circle, including how to join, head over to our next post, Welcome to the Inner Circle.