The word “supplement” covers an enormous range of things. Vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, enzymes, hormones, probiotics — they’re all called supplements, but they work through fundamentally different mechanisms and serve fundamentally different purposes. Understanding those differences helps you make better decisions about what you actually need. Most supplements work by providing raw materials or … Read more
One of the most important questions you can ask about any health product is: who tested it, and what did they find? For ASEA, the answer to that question involves the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory — one of the United States Department of Energy’s national laboratories, operated by Battelle Memorial Institute. This is not a … Read more
One of the most common things people say when they encounter health research is “I’m not a scientist, I can’t evaluate this.” It’s a reasonable thing to feel — research papers are dense, the methodology is technical, and the conclusions are often hedged in ways that make them hard to interpret. But here’s what I’ve … Read more
The anti-aging industry is one of the largest and fastest-growing sectors in health and wellness. Billions of dollars are spent every year on products, treatments, and interventions that promise to slow, stop, or reverse the aging process. Most of them share a common problem: they’re working at the wrong level. The visible signs of aging … Read more
The health and wellness industry is enormous, profitable, and largely built on claims that sound compelling and prove very little. That’s not a secret — it’s a structural feature of a market where the barrier to making a health claim is low and the barrier to verifying one is high. Most people don’t have the … Read more
I’ve been involved in the health supplement industry for over 30 years. In that time I’ve seen a lot of products come and go, and I want to be straight with you about something. Most supplement companies make good products. The ingredients are real, the manufacturing is legitimate, and the products do what they’re designed … Read more
Most of what passes for health care — and most of what people spend their health budget on — is symptom management. That’s not a criticism. Symptom management has real value. If you have a headache, you want it gone. If you can’t sleep, you want to sleep. Managing symptoms makes life livable. But there’s … Read more
