Are you ready for your bedtime story? Ok well snuggle in close and let’s get comfy because it’s a goodun! It’s ‘The Story of Supplements’ and how the contemporary practice of nutritional medicine in most countries became supplement-centric. I’ve been thinking about this a lot. And the more I’ve been able to unpack the history of nutrition and how this literally bumped into and then overtook naturopathic practice the more apparent the things that have ‘shaped’ us became…and strap yourself in because it’s actually a rollicking sequence of events 🤓🤯
Maybe you know bits of this? Like the earliest isolation of vitamins in the early 1900s and the role the Great Depression played as a catalyst for the development of the RDAs? But that was just the start and what’s more telling is all that followed – from the 50s successful ‘micronutrient minimalism’ and making nutrition ‘a matter of state’, to the swinging 60s and Dylan’s dietary forecasting (the times were indeed a’changin’!). Beyond this was the boon of big hair in the 80s and greedy reductionism of the 90s. And yes I AM still describing pivotal periods in nutritional science that literally form our prescribing habits and preferences today!
Oh and then then the dawning 🌅 of complexity science arrives with the 2000s with all of its -omes and -omics…..and let’s face it, a lot of ‘oh sh*t’#*@^ moments as we realised the road reductionistic science has lead us down ESPECIALLY wrt something as innately holistic as nutrition and nourishment 🫣
Supplements offer us awesome opportunities as both prescribers and patients but given ALL their history they are curious bedfellows for a profession that prides ourselves on all that’s ‘natural’. But maybe that’s not you? Unattached to the original principles of nature cure and all that, you’re a more modern day supplement-slinging EBM enthusiast 💁 Ok this is still a story you need to hear and get ready for awkward 💁💁
This signals the start of a little series as part of our Update in Under 30 in which we’re going to be looking at trends and truths, innovation and illusions, rewilding of remedies versus some serious ‘wild washing’ and the ‘wild west’ that parts of this associated industry has become …but first we need to have a lil history lesson because hindsight is a wonderful thing and to understand who we are and why we do what we do today we have to unpack our yesterday 🤨
Following The Supplement Story
(The Supplement Boom Series)
This episode takes a deep dive into how we arrived at our current, often supplement-centric, approach to nutritional medicine. Reflecting on the roots of this practice and the pivotal influences—both clinical and commercial—that have shaped it over the decades. What are the implications of our growing reliance on ‘nutrition in a bottle’, even as we continue to champion ‘Food First’?
With insights into the unintended consequences of single-nutrient prescribing and prescriptions bigger than our hair in the 80’s, this episode challenges us to revisit the supplement story—past, present, and future.
You can purchase Following The Supplement Story here. If you are an Update in Under 30 Subscriber, you will this episode waiting for you in your online account. You can become an Update in Under 30 Subscriber to access this episode and the entire library of Update in Under 30 audios and resources here.