The Science of Supplements: What Works, What's Hype, and What Could Actually Harm You | Dr. Mahtab Jafari
5/11/20261 hr 6 min
Creatine, melatonin, peptides, protein powders, green powders, probiotics, multivitamins, and much more: A pharmaceutical scientist breaks down the evidence and busts the myths.
Dr. Mahtab Jafari is a Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine, and the Founding Director of the UC Irvine Center for Healthspan Sciences. She is the author of the award-winning book, The Truth About Dietary Supplements: An Evidence- Based Guide to a Safer Medicine Cabinet.
In this episode we talk about:
- Product quality, safety, and regulation
- The most important thing to do before starting dietary supplements
- Vitamins B, C, and D (and the multivitamin debate)
- The research on amino acids and peptides
- The truth behind sleep supplements
- The efficacy of herbs, botanicals, and green powders
- Heavy metal risk factors
- Supplements for brain health and muscle growth
- Probiotics and gut health
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDan Harris· Host0:00
[upbeat music] This is the 10% Happier podcast. I'm Dan Harris. [upbeat music] Hello, everybody. Today we're talking about one of the most confusing and controversial areas of wellness and fitness, and that is supplements. Should you be taking them? Which ones should you be taking? How do you know? How do you separate fact from fiction in the midst of this multi-billion dollar, almost entirely unregulated business where people are making all sorts of wild health claims? So what to do about all this, we brought in a ringer, an expert, Dr. Mahtab Jafari. She's a professor at the University of California, Irvine, and she's also written a book called The Truth About Dietary Supplements: An Evidence-Based Guide to a Safer Medicine Cabinet. Real quick, as many of you know, one of the major use cases for supplements is, of course, sleep, which is why we are this week over on the 10% app adding a ton of new sleep content. We've just added 10 new sleep meditations. We're also gonna be doing a live session tomorrow where our teacher of the month, Cara Lai, is gonna talk about how to use meditation for sleep. And alongside all of this, we'll be doing some sleep-centric content here on the pod. Sleep, as you know, is the apex predator of healthy habits. Nothing works without it.