A foundation, not a fix

Where it began

In 2012 our founder, Alex, picked up a severe case of food poisoning while travelling in Peru. It took months to shake off, and afterwards his gut was not the same. He struggled to find foods he could eat that wouldn't work against him, and the lack of options that could support him was limited. He faced constant sickness, low energy and the impact on his mental health.

So he stopped guessing. He read, kept notes, worked with over 10 different specialists including gastroenterologists and nutritionists, and changed one thing at a time. Over the years, that turned into a working knowledge of which ingredients are genuinely worth the space in a breakfast, when the gut is most sensitive, and how much of the rest is marketing language wrapped around oats and sugar. Along the way, the mission evolved beyond managing his IBS to also finding a routine that supported stable blood sugar levels, and meant he didn't have an excessive supplement routine.

Not a cure, not a protocol: a breakfast good enough to eat without thinking about it, made of things he actually wanted in his body. thriiv is that breakfast, made so other people can have it too.

The problem with breakfast

The shelves are full of two things. There is convenience: cereal, bars, sachets of powder that promise a lot and are mostly oats, grains and sugar. And there is the other extreme: a cupboard of individual supplements you have to remember, none of which is food.

Neither is a foundation. One is a habit you keep but does little; the other does something but you do not keep it. We wanted the overlap: real food, genuinely nutrient-dense, and simple enough that you still do it in a rush on a busy morning.

What we made

One blend, built from whole nuts and seeds, with collagen, vitamins and minerals added. Fifteen plants. No oats, no grains, no added sugar, no artificial ingredients, no fillers to make the pack look bigger than it is.

You stir a scoop into yoghurt or kefir, or blend it. It takes about thirty seconds and it tastes of nuts, because it is mostly nuts. There is deliberately some texture: we did not want to grind good ingredients into dust to make them disappear, digestion starts in the mouth, and with our busy lives, that is often forgotten.

How we make it

Every batch is made in Ireland and third-party tested for heavy metals. We put the full ingredient list on the website as well as the pack, in descending order by weight, with the allergens in bold. You should not have to hunt for what is in your food, or be surprised by it.

We would also rather be dull and accurate than exciting and vague. You will not find us claiming thriiv fixes anything in isolation, because it should be part of a well-rounded diet and lifestyle. It represents a well-rounded, consistent base. That is the whole idea.

The name

Lower case, always, and two i's. It is a foundation, not a shout.

Alex Nock, Founder