I can guess when you graduated from your training to be a nat/nut/IM GP just by how you complete this sentence, ‘In student clinic my supplementing style would’ve been best described as…’
a) Lots of lecithin, Brewer’s yeast, some rosehip based Vit C with bioflavonoids
b) Every patient pretty much got some P.P.M.P. alternating with P.C.I.P.
c) Chelates of every kind – Fe, Mg, Zn
d) Activated everything – absolutely everything must be methylated & every mineral is best served as a citrate or bisglycinate
e) Nanoparticles, Liposomes, Intermediate hormones (calcifediol)
f) Offal capsules? Oyster Zinc, anyone?
What have I missed? We gotta laugh, right 😂. This is not unique to us, of course, we could play the same game with the prescribing practices in any health profession. It’s par for the course when R underpins D (in R&D). It’s also a reminder that we’re mere mortals, subject to overwhelm when faced with a tsunami of treatment options and the meteoric rise of marketing claims about the superiority of every single new supplement to hit the market. But like every open market, the progression of product development has been shaped by trends as much as by truths. There has been some inspiring innovation and some very impacting illusions of that, along the way.
So, do you know how to distinguish between the two?
The latest Update in Under 30 episode is the second in our ‘Supplement Boom’ series and it’s all about better equipping us to be able to do just that. Along the way, I describe the current fork in the road we’re faced with when it comes to styles of supplements – on one side is an attempt to return to our ‘food-as-medicine’ roots with more food-like-forms of nutrients, and on the other, increased adoption of knowledge & developments from the pharmaceutical industry for greater medicalisation of our supplements. We’re so fortunate this fork in the road doesn’t force us into only one. We can reap the benefits of both, pick and choose the product paradigm that is the best fit for each patient and presentation, even create in the one prescription the perfect combination of the two.
But on both ‘sides’ of the supplement styles (‘pure as snow’ v ‘potent as f*ck’😯)
There’s a real mixed bag of innovation and illusion buried under an enormous amount of BS, bravado and spin
We need to have a system for supplement sleuthing that helps us to quickly see through the spin. Look no further…
The Supplement Boom Series: Innovation or Illusion
When every new supplement claims to be superior — “Best bioavailability!”, “Enhanced tissue delivery!”, “Optimally active!” — it’s hard to keep up, let alone cut through the noise. Some novel nutrient forms and delivery systems represent genuine scientific progress. Others? Just the illusion of it. Right now, we’re standing at a fork in the road: one path pushes us toward more food-like, nature-inspired forms & formulations; the other embraces high-tech innovations borrowed from pharma. Both offer real breakthroughs — and their fair share of smoke and mirrors. So how do you tell the difference? That’s exactly what I’m about to unpack…this is going to get juicy!
You can purchase Innovation or Illusion 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.
