Over 90% of Americans are deficient in at least one nutrient at levels needed to prevent acute deficiency disease — and 70% of Function Health's 150,000 members show frank deficiencies even though 75% of Americans already take supplements, meaning most people are taking the wrong things in the wrong forms.
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The supplement market's 200,000 products are almost entirely unregulated pre-market: no FDA approval is required to launch, cGMP compliance is self-certified and only checked retroactively, and a brand can go from concept to shelf in weeks — which is why barcode-based trust scoring and third-party cGMP certification are the only real consumer protection mechanisms.
3
RDA is not your target dose — it is the minimum needed to prevent acute deficiency diseases like rickets and scurvy. For most nutrients (vitamin D being the clearest example), the dose required to prevent long-latency chronic disease is 10-100x the RDA.
4
Supplement form and timing matter as much as dose: magnesium oxide is poorly absorbed versus magnesium citrate; vitamin D2 is less effective than D3; fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) must be taken with dietary fat to achieve up to 50% greater absorption.
Protocols
Concrete recipes — what, when, how much, and why
7 items
Test, don't guess — check nutrient levels before supplementing
WhatBefore starting a supplement regimen (especially vitamin D, omega-3s, magnesium, zinc, B12, iron/ferritin, homocysteine), test your actual blood levels. Use red cell magnesium for a better magnesium indicator than serum; use methylmalonic acid and homocysteine to assess B12/folate/B6 functional status; use omega-3 index rather than total omega-3.
WhenBefore initiating any new supplement, and again at 3-6 months to confirm response.
DoseRetest vitamin D at 3 months; omega-3 index and other micronutrients at 6 months.
For whomAnyone taking supplements who has not measured baseline levels; anyone whose doctor has told them they 'don't need supplements' without having tested.
WhyThe large RCTs that show 'no benefit' from vitamins all share one flaw: they did not measure baseline deficiency. Supplementing a sufficient person produces no effect. Only someone who is actually deficient will benefit. Without testing, you are likely taking the wrong things.
Hyman's clinical rule across 30 years: after doing nutrition testing on tens of thousands of patients — minerals, vitamins, antioxidant levels, oxidative stress, CoQ10 — nutrient deficiency is so widespread that testing universally reveals actionable findings. The Function Health data backs this: 70% of 150,000 health-forward members have frank deficiencies. Key tests: vitamin D (target 45-60 ng/mL, not the lab reference range of 30), ferritin (target 45+, not the lab minimum of 16), homocysteine (target 6-8, not the lab maximum of 14), red cell magnesium. The test-don't-guess principle also enables tracking: 'You want to notice the absence of something — I'm not getting sick all the time anymore' is the expected result for many deficiency corrections.
Mechanism
Nutrients act as co-factors for enzymes: 37 billion chemical reactions per second in the body each require vitamins and minerals as co-actors. A deficiency in any single co-factor creates a rate-limiting bottleneck in one or more metabolic pathways.
Test, don't guess. We check your magnesium level. We check your level of B vitamins like homocysteine and methylmalonic acid which measure B12, folate, B6 effectiveness. We measure omega-3s. We measure vitamin D.
Take fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) with a fat-containing meal
WhatSchedule all fat-soluble vitamin supplements (vitamins A, D, E, and K2) at a meal that contains dietary fat — olive oil, nuts, avocado, fatty fish, eggs — not with a fat-free snack or fasted.
WhenEvery time you take fat-soluble vitamins. If you take them in the morning, ensure your breakfast contains some fat.
DoseConsistent meal-pairing every dose; the absorption benefit applies at every dose, not as a one-time load.
For whomAnyone taking vitamin D, K2, vitamin A (retinol), or vitamin E supplements — which is most people in a longevity-oriented supplement stack.
WhyFat-soluble vitamins require dietary fat present in the gut for micellar solubilization and absorption. Taking them with fatty foods can improve absorption by up to 50% compared to fasted or low-fat conditions.
Mertosi's Subco app has a scheduler feature that handles this: it analyzes your product list and generates a timed dosing schedule specifying which supplements to take with food, which with fat, and which separately. The 50% absorption differential means a person taking vitamin D3 5,000 IU fasted is effectively getting the absorption equivalent of 2,500 IU — potentially not enough to move the needle on a deficient level.
In the fats soluble vitamins like AD, D, E, K, you know, should be taken with a meal to help improve absorption and it can impact it by up to 50%. With fatty foods, fatty foods particularly, right?
Choose magnesium citrate, glycinate, or threonate — not oxide
WhatIf supplementing magnesium for any purpose (sleep, constipation, anxiety, muscle cramping, migraine prevention, restless leg syndrome), select a bioavailable form: magnesium citrate for bowel tolerance/constipation; magnesium glycinate for sleep and anxiety; magnesium threonate for CNS/brain support. Avoid magnesium oxide.
WhenAny time magnesium supplementation is indicated; dose timing varies — glycinate and threonate typically in the evening; citrate can be taken morning or evening.
DoseHyman's clinical doses range up to 1,000 mg/day for therapeutic correction (e.g., migraine resolution). Typical maintenance: 300-400 mg elemental per day in bioavailable form.
For whomAnyone prescribed magnesium oxide, anyone with symptoms of magnesium deficiency (muscle cramps, constipation, anxiety, insomnia, palpitations, irritability, migraines).
WhyMagnesium oxide has very low bioavailability (~4-5%). The physician-prescribed default form in hospitals and most clinical settings is oxide — which is why magnesium supplementation is dismissed as ineffective even though the problem is the form, not the nutrient.
CaveatsExcessive magnesium citrate will produce loose stools (this is actually the desired mechanism for constipation relief, but not for other use cases). Scale dose by tolerance.
Hyman's case: a radiation oncology resident at Mayo Clinic — 'saw the best migraine doctors, did everything she could. They couldn't even diagnose a deficiency' — was cured of severe migraines requiring narcotics by 1,000+ mg of magnesium in bioavailable form. Stress depletes magnesium preferentially: 'You just stress alone will deplete magnesium. So if you're stressed, you're going to pee out more magnesium. And guess what? Everybody's stressed.' Diuretics (a common blood pressure medication class) also leach magnesium, creating a common drug-nutrient gap that doctors do not monitor.
Mechanism
Magnesium is a co-factor for over 300 enzymatic reactions including ATP synthesis, neurotransmitter regulation (calming NMDA receptor activity), muscle relaxation, and blood pressure regulation. Oxide form dissociates poorly in gastrointestinal fluid, reducing systemic delivery.
I said that's magnesium oxide that's so poorly absorbed and it's also something that doesn't work for constipation that well. I said how about magnesium citrate and he's like oh he looked it up and he's like oh.
Also said
“Stress alone will deplete magnesium. So if you're stressed, you're going to pee out more magnesium. And guess what? Everybody's stressed.”— Explains why magnesium deficiency is so prevalent even among people eating relatively healthy diets.
Add CoQ10 whenever prescribing or taking a statin
WhatAnyone taking a statin drug (atorvastatin, rosuvastatin, simvastatin, etc.) should co-supplement with CoQ10 or its more bioavailable mitochondria-targeted form, MitoQ.
WhenStart CoQ10 at the same time as statin initiation, not after symptoms develop.
For whomEveryone on a statin, especially those experiencing muscle pain, fatigue, or exercise intolerance.
WhyThe HMG-CoA reductase enzyme that statins block is the same enzyme that produces CoQ10 — an essential co-factor for mitochondrial energy production. Blocking this pathway without replacing CoQ10 causes the most common statin side effect: myopathy (muscle pain, CPK elevation). Most prescribing physicians do not recommend CoQ10 co-supplementation.
Hyman's personal story: calcium score of 0 at age 30, score of 8 at age 35. Went on a statin. No doctor recommended CoQ10. He discovered the connection independently and now takes MitoQ. 'It feels essential.' Personal daily use following statin-induced CoQ10 depletion discovered independently — not recommended by his prescribing physician.
Mechanism
CoQ10 (ubiquinone/ubiquinol) is the electron carrier in mitochondrial complex I and II. Without adequate CoQ10, oxidative phosphorylation is impaired, ATP production falls, and reactive oxygen species accumulate — causing the mitochondria-rich muscle tissue (skeletal and cardiac) to be the primary site of injury.
Statins... it interrupts the enzyme that makes cholesterol. That same enzyme makes HMG COA reductase makes CoQ10. So you're blocking CoQ10. What is CoQ10? It's essential nutrient for making energy from food. And it and your mitochondrial function. So people get muscle injury and muscle pain.
Scan every supplement's barcode to check its trust score before buying
WhatBefore purchasing any supplement (or auditing what you already take), scan the barcode through the Subco app to access: (1) a 29-attribute trust score, (2) the full inactive ingredient / excipient list flagging problematic additives, (3) cumulative nutrient totals across your entire stack to identify overdoses or gaps.
WhenBefore purchasing any new supplement; when auditing an existing stack; when a practitioner recommends a brand.
For whomAnyone buying supplements at any price point, from drugstore to professional-grade.
WhyWithout independent quality verification, consumers have no way to know if a product contains what the label claims, whether it has toxic excipients (titanium dioxide, artificial dyes), or whether their multi-product stack is inadvertently delivering toxic doses of any single nutrient (e.g., selenium from 10 products simultaneously).
CaveatsThe trust score primarily reflects manufacturing standards and third-party cGMP certification — it does not replace baseline blood testing to determine whether you actually need the nutrient.
The top-scoring brands (Metagenics scored 10/10) share key features: third-party cGMP certification by NSF or UL (not self-certified), publicly posted certificates of analysis (COAs) indexed by lot number, testing both before ingredient blending and after final product, and rejection of lots that miss the label claim by any amount. By contrast, popular brands like Centrum contain titanium dioxide (banned in Europe for DNA damage risk), Red 40, and Yellow 5 — none of which have any nutritional function and are present purely as colorants. Amazon basics supplements have been caught with zero active ingredient despite full label claims (a ginkgo biloba product found to contain zero ginkgo).
The biggest one that makes a difference is whether or not you're getting a third party to certify your cgmp practices... There's NSF and UL, these two big firms that'll come in and do what you are doing. You know, go tour the facilities, kind of do make sure you're actually following, give you a certification. That's like a fundamental big one.
Also said
“Why do you take a blue pill or a red pill or have titanium dioxide or have dyes and chemicals? Yeah, these things that are not good. They don't need to be in your supplements.”— The inactive ingredient problem — common supplements contain additives with documented harms, present for aesthetic reasons only.
Support glutathione production with NAC and lipoic acid under high toxic load
WhatWhen exposed to significant environmental toxins (wildfire smoke, occupational chemicals, heavy metals, urban air pollution), supplement with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and alpha-lipoic acid to support glutathione synthesis — the body's primary detoxification conjugate.
WhenDuring and after periods of high toxic exposure. During events like wildfires, start supplementation immediately and continue for several weeks after.
For whomAnyone exposed to significant environmental toxins; anyone with chronic illness driving high oxidative stress; smokers and former smokers.
WhyGlutathione is the final common pathway for conjugating and excreting heavy metals, environmental toxins, and reactive oxygen species. Production is limited by cysteine availability (NAC provides this) and cofactor status (lipoic acid recycles glutathione). Genetic variation in glutathione S-transferase enzymes means some individuals have significantly higher need.
Hyman cites glutathione as a key compound he tests in functional medicine practice. He used the LA wildfire situation to illustrate community-level supplementation: someone had already shared an 'LA fire recovery stack' in the Subco community. The Metagenics Tranor product (taurine + magnesium + B6) is cited alongside for calming the nervous system, which also helps reduce stress-driven nutrient depletion.
Acetylcysteine is a compound that boosts glutathione. There's also other things like lipoic acid and you wouldn't know things unless you test or you know if you are someone in LA I would say here's some things you should take.
When on acid-blocking drugs (PPIs), monitor and supplement zinc, calcium, and B12
WhatAnyone taking proton pump inhibitors (omeprazole, pantoprazole, esomeprazole, etc.) long-term should have zinc, calcium, B12 (serum plus methylmalonic acid), and bone density monitored regularly, and should supplement these nutrients preventatively if levels trend low.
WhenFrom the start of PPI therapy. For anyone who has been on PPIs for more than 6 months without nutrient monitoring.
For whomAnyone on a PPI for GERD, Barrett's esophagus, or ulcer treatment.
WhyPPIs inhibit gastric acid, which is required for the absorption of zinc, calcium, and vitamin B12 (via intrinsic factor activation). Long-term PPI use causes downstream deficiencies that manifest as osteoporosis, depression, dementia, and neurological symptoms — conditions that are then treated as separate diseases rather than drug-nutrient interaction effects.
Hyman notes that reflux itself is frequently a dietary issue rather than a structural one: 'If I get stuck somewhere and I have to eat something crappy because I'm starving... I will get immediate reflux... it's because of what I'm eating, it's not because I have some defect.' The ideal intervention is diet correction so PPIs can be tapered — but for those who remain on them, the monitoring and supplementation protocol is essential. The broader principle: every chronic prescription drug should prompt a review of which nutrients it depletes or blocks.
You take this drug for a long period of time that inhibits mineral absorption like zinc and calcium you osteoporosis. It inhibits B12 absorption which is critical for so many functions that can cause depression, dementia, neurologic issues. People don't know this.
What's new
Personal practice updates, fresh positions, predictions
8 items
Long latency deficiency diseases — the gap between RDA and optimal dosing
~18 min
Robert Heene coined the concept of long latency deficiency diseases: conditions caused not by frank scurvy-level deficiency but by sub-optimal levels sustained over decades. The RDA for vitamin D (~30 IU) prevents rickets; the level needed to prevent osteoporosis, cancer, dementia, heart disease, and autoimmune disease is approximately 3,000 IU — a 100-fold difference.
Why this matters: Reframes the entire supplement debate: doctors who cite 'big studies showing no benefit' are testing doses designed to fix deficiency diseases nobody has, not doses that prevent the chronic diseases everybody gets.
Background
Most medical training on nutrition focuses on acute deficiency diseases (rickets, scurvy, beriberi, pellagra) that are essentially absent in developed countries. RDA standards were designed around those acute diseases.
Hyman explains the problem directly: 'If you look at vitamin D, you need maybe 30 units so you don't get rickets, but you might need 3,000 units so you don't get osteoporosis or cancer or dementia or heart disease or autoimmune diseases.' The RDA is the minimum floor for acute disease prevention, not the target for longevity. The same gap exists for omega-3s, magnesium, zinc, and B vitamins — where sub-deficiency levels that pass standard lab screening are still far below what the tissue needs for optimal function. Hyman calls these long-latency deficiency states the silent epidemic in his patients.
If you look at for example vitamin D you need maybe 30 units so you don't get ricketetts but you might need 3,000 units so you don't get osteoporosis or cancer or dementia or heart disease or autoimmune diseases or a whole bunch of things that we call long latency deficiency diseases.
Also said
“The RDA... It's not the amount you should be taking. It's the minimum amount you need to be taking so you don't get some of these horrible diseases.”— Explicit clinical clarification that RDA is a floor, not a target.
70% of Function Health's 150,000 members are frankly nutrient deficient — despite 75% already taking supplements
~35 min
Function Health has tested over 150,000 members and found that nearly 70% are deficient at the minimum lab reference range — not just insufficient. This is in a health-forward population that is already more likely to eat well and take vitamins. Simultaneously, 75% of all Americans take supplements and 55% are regular users, but deficiency rates remain at 90%+ by some measures, indicating most supplementation is misaligned.
Why this matters: Destroys both the 'you don't need supplements' and 'just take a multivitamin' arguments simultaneously — the problem is not the category but the selection, form, dose, and personalization.
Background
NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) is conducted annually by the US government, testing blood nutrient levels in a representative population sample.
Specific deficiency rates from the NHANES data Hyman cites: 90%+ deficient in omega-3s, 80%+ insufficient or deficient in vitamin D, 45% deficient in magnesium, and 40% deficient in zinc. Iron deficiency is also prevalent. The Function Health finding — 70% frankly deficient in a health-motivated population that is actively supplementing — makes the point vividly: the average Subco user takes 6 products yet is still likely deficient, because they are taking the wrong things at the wrong doses in the wrong forms.
75% of Americans take a dietary supplement, 55% are regular users, yet 70% are still getting those lab results from you. So, like they're definitely taking the wrong things or not enough of the right things.
Supplement form is as important as dose — magnesium oxide vs. citrate as the canonical example
~60 min
Magnesium oxide is the most commonly recommended and prescribed form of magnesium in conventional medicine, including hospitals, yet it is poorly absorbed and ineffective for the most common use cases (constipation relief, restless leg syndrome, anxiety). Magnesium citrate, glycinate, or threonate are the appropriate forms depending on the goal.
Why this matters: Hyman was in the hospital post-surgery and had to correct his own attending physician in real time. The form problem is not fringe — it persists at the top institutions.
Background
There is a whole spectrum of magnesium salts with different absorption profiles. Oxide has low bioavailability (~4%). Citrate is much higher, and glycinate and threonate have specific CNS-penetrating properties.
Hyman: 'I said to the attending physician I said you know I want to get magnesium said sure and he wrote an prescription... I said that's magnesium oxide that's so poorly absorbed and it's also something that doesn't work for constipation that well.' Mertosi adds that his fiancée's OB recommended magnesium oxide for restless leg syndrome — same problem at a different institution. The core failure is that medical training covers nutrients at the deficiency-disease level, not at the form-optimization level. The same principle applies to vitamin D (D2 prescription vs. D3 OTC) and to iron (ferrous sulfate vs. other forms).
I said that's magnesium oxide that's so poorly absorbed and it's also something that doesn't work for constipation that well. I said how about magnesium citrate and he's like oh he looked it up and he's like oh.
Also said
“The prescription vitamin D which is vitamin D2, right? Which isn't really the optimal vitamin to take. You want to take vitamin D3 and it doesn't work as well for many reasons.”— Extends the form-specificity principle to vitamin D — the prescription version is the inferior form.
Drug-nutrient interactions are systematically missed — statins/CoQ10 and PPIs/B12 as primary cases
~68 min
Statins block the HMG-CoA reductase enzyme that makes both cholesterol and CoQ10 — a nutrient essential for mitochondrial energy production. Most prescribing doctors do not co-prescribe CoQ10, and patients develop muscle pain and elevated CPK as a result. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) — the second or third most prescribed drug class — impair absorption of zinc, calcium, B12, and other minerals, causing downstream deficiencies that are attributed to other conditions.
Why this matters: These are not obscure edge cases — statins are the number one prescribed drug and PPIs are second or third. The nutrient interactions are well-documented but systematically ignored in clinical practice.
Hyman's personal example: he went on a statin at age 35 after his calcium score went from 0 to 8 between ages 30 and 35. Nobody recommended CoQ10. He had to discover it independently and now takes MitoQ. For PPIs: 'You take this drug for a long period of time that inhibits mineral absorption like zinc and calcium you osteoporosis. It inhibits B12 absorption which is critical for so many functions that can cause depression, dementia, neurologic issues.' The broader category — St. John's Wort reducing birth control and antidepressant effectiveness, vitamin K interacting with blood thinners — is so large that there is an entire medical textbook on drug-nutrient interactions.
Statins... it interrupts the enzyme that makes cholesterol. That same enzyme makes HMG COA reductase makes CoQ10. So you're blocking CoQ10. What is CoQ10? It's essential nutrient for making energy from food... and doctors don't recommend usually CoQ10 with statins.
Also said
“You take this drug for a long period of time that inhibits mineral absorption like zinc and calcium you osteoporosis. It inhibits B12 absorption which is critical for so many functions that can cause depression, dementia, neurologic issues.”— The PPI mechanism — a parallel drug class with the same problem of depleting nutrients doctors don't monitor.
Taurine 2 g/day — primate data showing 20% lifespan extension with cardiovascular benefits
~82 min
Taurine at 2 g/day is emerging as a longevity-relevant conditionally essential amino acid. Primate studies showed approximately 20% lifespan extension. It has cardiovascular effects and acts as a calming neurotransmitter that helps regulate neurological function. No conventional doctor will recommend it; it must be found through self-directed research or expert stacks.
Why this matters: A 20% lifespan extension signal in primates is a large effect size. The compound is inexpensive, generally safe, and can be found in combination products like Metagenics' Tranor (taurine + magnesium + B6).
Background
Taurine is not classified as a vitamin (the body can synthesize small amounts) but functions as a conditionally essential nutrient under stress, aging, or high toxic load.
Mertosi describes discovering taurine through his own research and Hyman's supplement stack: 'Two grams of taurine a day, it's kind of much more than people had thought about before, but in primate studies showing like really long extensions to 20% extension, I think, in primates to life and a bunch of cardiovascular effects, too. No doctor has recommended me to take taurine. I've had to find that on my own.' Hyman adds that he uses a Metagenics product called Tranor (taurine + magnesium + B6) for patients with anxiety, because taurine calms the nervous system. Taurine and CoQ10 are both categorized as 'conditionally essential' — not required for survival under perfect conditions but essential given the actual stress, toxin load, and drug interactions people face.
Two grams of torine a day, it's kind of much more than people had thought about before, but in primate studies showing like really long extensions to 20% extension, I think, in primates to life and a bunch of cardiovascular effects, too. No doctor has recommended me to take Tori. I've had to find that on my own.
NHANES and Function Health data: soil depletion compounds dietary deficiency by 5-40% per nutrient
~55 min
Modern agricultural practices have depleted soil organic matter and the microbial-mineral cycling that allows plants to extract minerals. Compared with data from 40-50 years ago, key nutrient concentrations in common foods have fallen 5-40%. Combined with the shift to only 12 primary food species (versus 800 historically consumed), the food supply cannot cover even the RDA for many nutrients.
Why this matters: Closes the loop on 'eat a balanced diet and you'll be fine': the diet has fewer nutrients per calorie than it once did, while modern stress and toxin load increases the body's nutrient demand.
Hyman: 'We we've consumed, you know, 800 species of plants and foods with all sorts of phytonutrients... Now we probably eat three main species of plants basically corn, wheat, and soy. And then maybe another total of 12.' The soil depletion data compounds this: 'between 5 to 40% decrease in in a lot of key nutrients.' Fortification (adding some vitamins back to refined grains) is cited as an admission that the food supply is impoverished: 'It's only fortified because it's so impoverished to begin with. Otherwise, it wouldn't need to be fortified.'
We look at data back 40, 50 years. The quality of the soil, the organic matter is depleted because of our farming practices. The interaction between the microbes and the organic matter and the plants is actually how the minerals and nutrients are extracted from the soil and to get into the plant. So we're seeing between 5 to 40% decrease in a lot of key nutrients.
The supplement industry's regulatory structure is pre-market permissive — a brand can reach market in weeks
~42 min
Pharmaceuticals require pre-market FDA approval under cGMP standards. Supplements are governed by 21 CFR 111, which requires cGMP compliance but only enforces it retroactively after a complaint — no pre-market review. A new supplement brand can be conceived, manufactured, and listed on Amazon in weeks. The result: 200,000 products, 8,000 brands, and no systematic quality gate.
Why this matters: Explains structurally why trust scores, third-party cGMP certification (NSF, UL), and barcode scanning matter — they are the only proactive quality layer consumers have.
Background
The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994 established the current framework, which allows 'structure/function claims' (supports healthy blood sugar) but prohibits disease-cure claims (treats diabetes).
Mertosi: 'There are systems now that can say come up with an idea and a brand and get a supplement and market in weeks. So that's why you're seeing the explosion.' The explosion is quantified: 4,000 products in 1984 versus 200,000+ today. Titanium dioxide (banned in Europe, linked to DNA damage), Red 40, and Yellow 5 were found in Centrum — a widely advertised flagship supplement — when Subco analyzed its inactive ingredients. The FDA case against a 'natural' male enhancement supplement that actually contained Viagra illustrates the outer edge of the problem: without independent third-party testing, consumers have no visibility into what is actually in the pill.
With supplements, it's not something that gets done up front. You can be held to this standard retroactively like in the if something comes up, but it's kind of up to you... no one's checking up front.
Big supplement RCTs fail because they don't measure baseline deficiency before randomizing
~90 min
Large RCTs on vitamins (omega-3, vitamin D, B vitamins, beta-carotene) that show 'no benefit' almost never measure participants' baseline nutrient levels. If you give vitamin D to someone who is already sufficient, there is no effect — the effect size washes out when half the trial population was not deficient. The studies are not testing what they claim to test.
Why this matters: Provides a mechanistically coherent explanation for why doctors dismiss supplements based on RCTs, while functional medicine clinicians see clear benefits — they are supplementing people who are actually deficient.
Hyman: 'If your vitamin D is fine and you take vitamin D, you won't notice any change. But if you don't measure vitamin D at the beginning or omega-3 fats, if you don't measure if someone's deficient and you give everybody a thousand of people vitamin omega-3 fats, some might be fine because they eat a lot of fish, but some might not be. And the effect size washes out.' The fix is the test-don't-guess principle: measure baseline nutrient status, supplement specifically where deficient, and re-test to confirm response.
If your vitamin D is fine and you take vitamin D, you won't notice any change. But if you don't measure if someone's deficient and you give everybody a thousand of people vitamin omega-3 fats, some might be fine because they eat a lot of fish, but some might not be. And the effect size washes out.
Recommendations
Products, supplements, and tools mentioned in the episode
A mitochondria-targeted form of CoQ10 (attached to a triphenylphosphonium cation for mitochondrial membrane concentration), recommended by Hyman as his personal form of CoQ10 supplementation to offset the CoQ10 depletion caused by statin therapy.
Standard ubiquinol CoQ10 concentrates poorly in mitochondria. MitoQ's TPP cation allows it to accumulate several-hundred-fold inside the mitochondrial matrix where CoQ10 is needed. Hyman: 'It feels essential.' Personal daily use following statin-induced CoQ10 depletion discovered independently — not recommended by his prescribing physician.
vs alternatives
Standard ubiquinol CoQ10 (100-300 mg/day) is more widely studied and less expensive; MitoQ is more bioavailable for direct mitochondrial delivery but has a smaller published evidence base in human trials.
It ended up finding about finding it myself, right? Take Mitoq now. You know, it's just one of those things that feels essential.
Subco (sub.co) — supplement trust scoring and stack management app
Service Sponsored · disclosed
Free app/website with 200,000 supplement products cataloged, 29-point trust scoring by brand (NSF/UL certification, lot testing, COA availability), barcode scanning, nutrient aggregate totals across your full stack, 80 expert protocols including Hyman's, and a scheduler for correct timing.
DisclosureHyman is an advisor to Subco and co-investor with Mertosi. The episode is essentially a launch-partner conversation. Mertosi (guest) is the founder.
The 29-point trust scoring system weights third-party cGMP certification (NSF or UL) as the single most important factor. Metagenics scores 10/10. Top-tier brands that additionally post lot-level COAs publicly earn extra points. The platform does not sell supplements and explicitly pledges never to profit from supplement sales. The average Subco user makes 2-3 stack changes after seeing their initial trust score. The planned integration with Function Health biomarker data will allow test results to feed directly into supplement recommendations.
To do this, we've cataloged over 200,000 supplement products that you can search in our app or by their scanning the barcode. And we've built an in-depth trust score rating from 29 different attributes that let you understand the manufacturing standards and quality of your supplements.
Also said
“Metagenics, who you brought up, is our 10 out of 10, they're our highest scoring brand on the platform. They do one thing that is rare... they make every batch test COA publicly available. So you can like look at your bottle, look at the lot number, go online, pull it up and see the results from the test. That's like a gold standard for us.”— Defines what top-tier transparency actually looks like — lot-level COA public access.
Function Health (functionhealth.com) — comprehensive biomarker testing
Service Sponsored · disclosed
150,000+ member comprehensive lab testing platform that includes nutrients most standard panels miss: red cell magnesium, omega-3 index, methylmalonic acid, homocysteine, vitamin D (target 45-60), ferritin (target 45+), CoQ10, glutathione, iodine, copper. The baseline test before building any serious supplement protocol.
DisclosureHyman is co-founder and chief medical officer of Function Health. He references it multiple times as the data source for nutrient deficiency statistics.
Function Health is positioned as the upstream partner to Subco: test with Function, then use Subco to find the right supplements in the right forms at the right quality level to correct what the test reveals. The partnership direction is to allow Function test results to flow into Subco personalized recommendations — the test-don't-guess principle operationalized end to end.
Test, don't guess, you know. We check your magnesium level. We check your level of B vitamins like homocysteine and methylmalonic acid which measure B12, folate, B6 effectiveness. We measure omega-3s. We measure vitamin D.
A Metagenics-branded combination product containing taurine, magnesium, and B6 — recommended by Hyman for patients with anxiety, nervous system dysregulation, and stress-driven magnesium depletion.
DisclosureHyman has a curated supplement store and has recommended Metagenics products to patients. Metagenics is mentioned as an example high-trust brand throughout the episode.
Hyman: 'I actually use a product, it's a metagenic product called Tranor for a lot of patients which has taurine, magnesium, B6, a lot of things are very helpful in calming the nervous system.' This product covers three conditionally essential nutrients simultaneously in highly bioavailable forms, addressing the stress-nutrient depletion cycle: stress depletes magnesium, magnesium depletion increases anxiety, anxiety increases stress. Taurine adds calming neurotransmitter support and the emerging longevity signal from primate lifespan data.
vs alternatives
Standard pharmacy magnesium oxide products provide inferior bioavailability and no taurine or B6 co-factors. Individual taurine plus magnesium glycinate plus P5P (active B6) stacked separately achieves the same but requires three separate products.
I actually use a product, it's a metagenic product called Tranor for a lot of patients which has taurine, magnesium, B6, a lot of things are very helpful in calming the nervous system.
Lines worth pulling out — contrarian, specific, or perfectly phrased
5 items
If that logic was true, you shouldn't drink water because you pee out what you don't need. Your body takes what you need.
Hyman's rebuttal to the 'vitamins make expensive urine' dismissal — the most common doctor argument against supplementation, delivered with a logic-level counter-argument.
75% of Americans take a dietary supplement, 55% are regular users, yet 70% are still getting those lab results from you. So, like they're definitely taking the wrong things or not enough of the right things.
The single most damning data point in the episode: high supplement use and high deficiency rates coexisting proves that the problem is quality, form, and personalization — not lack of will.
Why do you take a blue pill or a red pill or have titanium dioxide or have dyes and chemicals? Yeah, these things that are not good. They don't need to be in your supplements.
Direct critique of Centrum as the flagship example of a widely trusted brand that contains harmful inactive ingredients serving no nutritional purpose.
The doctors were actually recommending stuff already and the cardiologists were recommending fish oil or CoQ10... the gastroenterologist recommending probiotics... but they didn't know what brand or they didn't know what to take.
Reveals the real doctor problem: not ideological opposition to supplements but lack of a trusted quality framework — the same gap Subco is designed to fill.
You have 37 billion chemical reactions in your body every second. And every single one of those chemical reactions requires a co-actor or helper and those are facilitated by enzymes. The enzymes need various nutrients to activate that pathway.
Hyman's core mechanistic argument for why nutrient sufficiency matters — every metabolic pathway in the body has a rate-limiting co-factor step that cannot be bypassed by diet alone when deficiency is present.
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Educational summary of the cited expert source — not medical advice. Open the source recording linked above and consult a qualified physician before acting on any protocol.
