The amount of supplements being sold on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook by AI influencers from Chinese companies is disgusting.
Every day I get a photo of a supplement a patient found online that they want me to review.
Just last Friday my patient sent me a photo of two blood pressure and metabolism support herbal and vitamin liquid blends her 80 year old father asked her to buy for him.
I look up the brand and who owns the brand.
Strike #1 it’s owned by a Chinese company straight from China.
The label says “all natural” – strike #2 – plastic is all natural, eye roll, don’t fall for anything that says “natural”.
It also says GMP certified, this is Good Manufacturing Processes Certified, which is a good thing, if it’s not a lie.
You can search companies on the NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) database to see if they really are GMP certified as well as listed as safe for athletes, an even tighter certification.
Strike #3, it’s not in the GMP certification database despite saying it is.
Sadly, you have to do your homework these days and I encourage all of you to do the 3 step check I just ran you through for every supplement.
Which brings me to why I’m moving away from a lot of the old tried and true supplement brands that I have recommended for almost two decades.
While listing out all the brands I do like would take an entire email, I’ll say this, I’m actively working on getting to know the owners of companies to be able to trust that what I’m recommending is what you’re actually getting.
The supplement industry has changed a lot in the last 20 years and it’s horrifying.
Right now Standard Process from Palmyra, Wisconsin and NutriDyn from Minnesota are on the top of my list for big manufacturers as I have met the owners of these companies and they are solid in their commitment to high quality.
Along with the big players, I’m testing out two small supplement companies, Mt Angel Supplements, from Oregon and the other is oral peptides, antioxidants and more NuBio Age from Florida, I’ll keep you posed on what I determine.
I’m still a fan of custom compounding vitamins from VitaminLab and looking into another custom vitamin company from Oregon to avoid taxes bringing supplements in from Canada.
As we move into a phase of more women on hormone replacement therapy the companies that make the estradiol patches are working to keep up with the demand.
The twice weekly estradiol patches have been tougher to get ahold of and weekly patches seem to be holding on with supply.
What I’ve found with the weekly patches is that you may want to replace them every 4-5 days vs every 7 to keep dosing similar to the twice weekly ones.
My hunch is that things will get corrected in the next few months but until then make sure to watch your stash of patches and consider getting a little back stock just in case.
You can do that by having your provider send a prescription into a different pharmacy than you usually use and pay cash for the patches vs using insurance.
There are even companies out there that offer discounts for cash pay estradiol patches like Good Rx.
The other alternative is to move from patches to creams, gels or injections of estradiol.
At this point work on getting some back stock for at least 1-3 months just in case things get a little wonky.
This is the same recommendation I have for those taking NP thyroid or Armour thyroid.
The NP thyroid has been rumored to be pulled from the market for a few years and nothing has ever happened however, the regulators say August 2026 is when they are actually going to pull the NP thyroid from distribution.
I don’t know if they will or not but if you or someone you know is taking NP thyroid, have them get at least 6 months of back stock to ride out whatever may be coming.
Thyroid medications are tricky and I’d hate to have someone trying to figure out what to do last minute.
While I hope that all of these scams, shortages and adjustments of what’s available to us go away I’m not sure what the future holds.
This is why it’s so important to be vigilant when it comes to what you put in and on your body.
Know that I’m watching all of this and will keep you updated as to what’s happening.
Here’s to staying on top of your health!
Dr. J
PS: If you’d like to be the first to learn about my monthly membership, Sovereign Longevity, where I’ll be keeping you up to date on what to know about shortages, scams, your health, and more so that you can be your own best health advocate, head HERE.
PPS: If you’re interested in using travel as a catalyst for transforming your health, jump on my waitlist for the Travel and Transform membership HERE.
