Speaker 1: If it's a matter of health, it matters. Health Matters
Speaker 1: with Daniel Martin. Welcome in, everybody. Thanks so much for
Speaker 1: joining me on today's edition. Well, David Beckham has co-founded
Speaker 1: and launched one. Hugh Jackman and Lewis Hamilton are investors
Speaker 1: in another one. It's the rise of these supplement all
Speaker 1: in one drinks. You know, it comes to you in
Speaker 1: a powder form, you stir it up. It's supposedly science pack, researchers,
Speaker 1: clinicians from big name.
Speaker 1: Global, um, clinics and, and medical facilities like Mayo Clinic
Speaker 1: and all participating in this researchers from there. And the
Speaker 1: idea is it could either replace the existing, you know,
Speaker 1: multiple supplements that you're taking or even in some cases,
Speaker 1: maybe reverse aging or help you in the de-aging process.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's a bit of a stretch, or is it? Now,
Speaker 1: these are proven so successful that they are in a
Speaker 1: subscription-based form as well, can be a little bit pricey.
Speaker 1: And got these celebrity backings as well. So some of
Speaker 1: the big names out there and you've seen the ads
Speaker 1: on your social media as well, AG one, the green
Speaker 1: color powder, IM 8, the new David Beckham one, which
Speaker 1: is a red color powder. There's all this branding and
Speaker 1: marketing into it as well.
Speaker 1: Can they actually have an impact on your health? That's
Speaker 1: my question today before you get
Speaker 1: Fooled by the celebrity sheen of it. Let's drill down
Speaker 1: and talk a little bit about it. Welcome back to
Speaker 1: the show, Doctor Benang, consultant endocrinologist and chief medical officer
Speaker 1: for NSAS, and over, is it over or OVA? O,
Speaker 1: OA it is. Doc, welcome back to the show. Hi. Hi,
Speaker 1: how are you? I was tempted.
Speaker 1: I was tempted by one of these, I tell you. Honestly,
Speaker 1: it seems too good to be true when you see
Speaker 1: the medical panel of the people that put the research
Speaker 1: into it and all that kind of stuff, you're like, wow, wow,
Speaker 1: looks quite strong, looks quite legit and above board. What's
Speaker 1: your bottom line intake? It, can it replace the supplements
Speaker 1: you're taking every day? Can it help with anti-aging?
Speaker 1: And improve your health.
Speaker 2: I think the shortest answer I have is maybe, and
Speaker 2: we'll address each one in turn. I think the easiest
Speaker 2: one to address is the anti-aging claim. I
Speaker 1: that's the
Speaker 1: thing, ever since the billionaire started trying to reverse his age,
Speaker 1: Brian Johnson, yes, everybody wants to find out whether medically
Speaker 1: we can do this
Speaker 1: now.
Speaker 2: I think that if it did work, sign me up
Speaker 2: as well.
Speaker 2: The the data that we have for anti-aging is extremely limited,
Speaker 2: and I think the, the concern that we have, you
Speaker 2: all see all these things they, they call scientifically proven,
Speaker 2: and if you really look at it here, many of
Speaker 2: them are in studies in animals and in humans, usually very,
Speaker 2: very small numbers, and the concentration, the amount of uh uh.
Speaker 2: The supplements you need for the NAD Revitrol, and so forth,
Speaker 2: you need pretty high doses, and it's not always in that.
Speaker 2: So many times they say, oh, you know, this amount,
Speaker 2: this particular supplement can reverse aging, but what they don't
Speaker 2: say is the amount of supplement that you need and
Speaker 2: the concern you have is when you come down to
Speaker 2: the replacement all in one, I love the concept of
Speaker 2: all in one, but it comes with problems now.
Speaker 2: We talked about the nutritional benefits. Now, can supplements work?
Speaker 2: Of course, it can, can it be healthy? Of course
Speaker 2: it can. Can it help immunity? Of course, it can,
Speaker 2: but the theory assumes a huge thing. It assumes you
Speaker 2: are deficient. So if you are not deficient, then why
Speaker 2: are you taking it? And that's what I say with
Speaker 2: many of my patients, if you have an all in
Speaker 2: one supplement, it makes a
Speaker 2: Huge assumption that you are, you are deficient in everything,
Speaker 2: and clearly that's not the case, isn't it? I think
Speaker 2: certainly we may not have the best balanced diet in
Speaker 2: the world, and certainly we, I, I opened many of
Speaker 2: us may be deficient in one or two things.
Speaker 1: Vitamin D deficiency is known to be happening in Singapore
Speaker 1: for a lot of people, the irony, for example, but
Speaker 1: the point is you won't know until you get tested,
Speaker 2: exactly, right, or sometimes, even sometimes.
Speaker 2: OK, going through a dietary history or sometimes people with
Speaker 2: specific symptoms, you can get a pretty good guess on
Speaker 2: what they're potentially deficient in. But if you have an
Speaker 2: all in one, in other words, I have give you everything,
Speaker 2: it comes up several issues. One, there's a risk of overdose. Ultimately,
Speaker 2: everyone thinks that, oh, you know, all these supplements are
Speaker 2: good for me. They are good, but there's something called
Speaker 2: RDA which basically means the recommended daily.
Speaker 2: And that's like
Speaker 1: the bare minimum, right? It's recommended daily allowance like the
Speaker 1: bare minimum
Speaker 1: you need?
Speaker 2: Yes, there's the bare minimum you need or simply look
Speaker 2: at it the other way, the amount you actually do need.
Speaker 2: So once you hit your RDA and that's the recommended
Speaker 2: daily allowance for 98% of the population. So yes, they
Speaker 2: are stragglers, but long and short of it is that
Speaker 2: the RDA, if you follow it.
Speaker 2: You are pretty good, you're pretty certain that you're gonna
Speaker 2: get exactly what you need. Then you come to a
Speaker 2: situation where some of these supplements promise 500%, 400% of
Speaker 2: the RDA, and we know that there are potentially side effects.
Speaker 2: Even when you talk about vitamin D, yes, you're right.
Speaker 2: Most of many Singaporeans are vitamin D deficient. The problem.
Speaker 2: Then many people know that and the amount of vitamin
Speaker 2: D they take is incredible. So we do have patients
Speaker 2: who are people who take vitamin D and vitamin D
Speaker 2: toxicity can happen. So when that happens, your calcium,
Speaker 1: how much have
Speaker 1: you got to take for that to happen? Because let's
Speaker 1: say the recommended daily allowance is like 500 mg or
Speaker 1: something like that or 1000, let's say.
Speaker 1: Does that mean somebody is taking 5000 or 6000?
Speaker 2: We
Speaker 2: have people taking 10,000 a day, and they've done this
Speaker 2: for years, and what happens it's
Speaker 1: not, no, no,
Speaker 2: no, no, definitely not. And I think that's a very,
Speaker 2: very clear thing. Vitamin D is common, well probably the
Speaker 2: more common ones, zinc toxicity. It can lower immune systems,
Speaker 2: cause nausea, so that's an issue as well. Uh, vitamin C,
Speaker 2: we always take vitamin C when we fall sick, you know, because.
Speaker 2: But if we take too much vitamin C, that can
Speaker 2: cause kidney stones. So if you look at that together,
Speaker 2: I think the first question is that do you need
Speaker 2: the supplements or not? And more importantly, is it going
Speaker 2: to be any any benefit to you if you are
Speaker 2: already replete in that number.
Speaker 1: So if somebody was to order and take some of
Speaker 1: these 92 in one kind of things, but they're also
Speaker 1: taking their own supplements on the site.
Speaker 1: Let's say, and they're not replacing that risk of overdosing
Speaker 1: is there and also the assumption that you're deficient in
Speaker 1: all of this is not
Speaker 1: true.
Speaker 2: I definitely not unless you have a very, very strange diet.
Speaker 2: I think most people, we accept most some people can
Speaker 2: be deficient, but I think if in Singapore we have
Speaker 2: you have access to food and so forth, most healthy people,
Speaker 2: you shouldn't be deficient. I accept.
Speaker 2: There are certain groups, uh, people who have uh intolerances
Speaker 2: to certain kinds of food, lactose intolerance, some people who
Speaker 2: are doing interesting diets, the low carb diet, keto diet,
Speaker 2: intermittent fasting, where you have less uh availability or less
Speaker 2: time to eat certain kinds of food. I accept there
Speaker 2: can be some deficiencies, but I don't accept that someone
Speaker 2: is gonna have no.
Speaker 2: Uh, across the board, deficient in everything. Therefore, I must
Speaker 2: take a supplement for
Speaker 1: everything. That's a good point. I always was, it's so
Speaker 1: interesting here to say that there's this risk of overdose
Speaker 1: as well, because I always assume that if you just
Speaker 1: take too much of something, your body's gonna just pass
Speaker 1: it out for when it comes to supplements. And basically,
Speaker 1: if you take too many supplements, you're just gonna generate
Speaker 1: expensive urine.
Speaker 1: Um, but that's not always the case, is it? Well,
Speaker 2: I mean, there, there's a limit. our bodies are extremely intelligent.
Speaker 2: I mean, think about it. Water is a common thing,
Speaker 2: isn't it? We, the more we drink, the more we
Speaker 2: pass out, but there's always a limit where your body says,
Speaker 2: hang on a second, I can't do anymore. You're putting
Speaker 2: too much in. And ultimately, although I'll accept the risk
Speaker 2: is not high, but
Speaker 2: Then the risk is there so you you go back
Speaker 2: to the first question, do you need it in the
Speaker 2: first place? And although I, I, I, I agree again
Speaker 2: I agree there's probably a place for all these supplements
Speaker 2: out there. I think we have to have a bit
Speaker 2: exercise a bit of caution when we start any kind
Speaker 2: of supplements and I think to any of the listeners
Speaker 2: out there, the first question we ask is, yes, I
Speaker 2: want this supplement. The question you should ask is why?
Speaker 2: Why are you in the supplement and.
Speaker 2: And we must be clear, supplements don't have real therapeutic benefits,
Speaker 2: you know, if you've got a headache,
Speaker 1: it's not gonna cure anything
Speaker 2: exactly it's to supplement what you're not what you think
Speaker 2: you don't have or what you don't have. So if
Speaker 2: you have it, is there really a benefit in taking
Speaker 2: more of it? And this is where the RDA comes in,
Speaker 2: the recommended daily allowance if you already.
Speaker 2: Have that and you're just increasing more there's no benefit
Speaker 2: yes I agree certain situations uh again uh under certain
Speaker 2: medical situations you may need more for reasons we can
Speaker 2: discuss at some stage, but for most healthy people I
Speaker 2: think we'll be very, very clear uh if you can
Speaker 2: get something from the diet I think.
Speaker 2: That's a lot more useful because if you're low on
Speaker 2: something like vitamin D, zinc or something, almost certainly you're
Speaker 2: gonna be low on other things because what it means
Speaker 2: is that you're probably not eating a certain kinds of food,
Speaker 2: and this kind of food is going to be deficient
Speaker 2: in several other things as
Speaker 2: well.
Speaker 1: So really, if you're getting everything from your diet and
Speaker 1: your lifestyle, or the bare minimum or the RDAs.
Speaker 1: Many people could actually be wasting their money with supplements
Speaker 2: potentially, potentially, but I think we have to be clear.
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't want to kick supplements to the side.
Speaker 2: I think they do have a huge but
Speaker 1: it should
Speaker 1: be a more bespoke approach to it. Know what you're
Speaker 1: deficient in and use the supplement to make up for that.
Speaker 1: It's different for every person.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and I
Speaker 2: I think that we have to be clear that I, uh,
Speaker 2: if you're gonna take a supplement, I would prefer that
Speaker 2: you go more specific you've got certain complaint, you got
Speaker 2: certain deficiency then you replace that deficiency that when you
Speaker 2: take something altogether you get a hodgepodge of so many minerals,
Speaker 2: vitamins at one time you have a risk of.
Speaker 2: Overdose as we said too interestingly you would know that if,
Speaker 2: if you have too many minerals at one time, I
Speaker 2: mean we we we it's instinctive we take different medications
Speaker 2: different medications can interfere with one another. suddenly these minerals
Speaker 2: can interfere absorption wise, for example. So calcium and iron
Speaker 2: very well known if you take it together, nothing gets
Speaker 2: absorbed copper and zinc, if you take it together, you
Speaker 2: get an interference. So ultimately if you put too many
Speaker 2: things together.
Speaker 2: Ultimately, how much is actually being absorbed and how much
Speaker 2: do you actually need?
Speaker 1: When you looked at the ingredient list of some of
Speaker 1: these all in one powder supplement drinks, do any of
Speaker 1: the ingredients also worry you besides the idea of the clash,
Speaker 1: I mean, some of them are adaptogens and herbs and
Speaker 1: things like that. I mean,
Speaker 2: my main concern with that is not, I don't think
Speaker 2: it's dangerous per se. I think my first question is that,
Speaker 2: is it applicable to everyone? Because I think the concern
Speaker 2: I have is that
Speaker 2: Uh, these things are all let's, everybody can take this,
Speaker 2: and I just I just a bit cautious that are
Speaker 2: there groups of people who don't need this, especially those
Speaker 2: who are already on different kinds of supplements or actually
Speaker 2: have a very good diet, uh, I don't, I think
Speaker 2: the risk of harm is extremely low. However, the, the,
Speaker 2: the benefits are questionable.
Speaker 1: Having said that, there are some that do need it, right?
Speaker 1: that do require
Speaker 2: absolutely I think the the most obvious ones are those
Speaker 2: with medical problems, those people with uh example kidney disease
Speaker 2: and so forth, they have poor calcium absorption, they have
Speaker 2: a risk of bone disease so I think those people
Speaker 2: need it for the normal population. Many of us now
Speaker 2: uh very trendy low carbohydrate diets, intermittent fasting. I think
Speaker 2: those people, they are potentially at risk of.
Speaker 2: Nutritional deficiencies simply because they have for intermittent fasting, they
Speaker 2: are taking less time, they have less time to eat.
Speaker 2: So in other words, they have less meals. So it's
Speaker 2: difficult to cover all your nutrients if you're taking 2
Speaker 2: meals a day or 1.5 meals a day with 3
Speaker 2: meals a day. So for intermittent fasting, I think sodium, potassium, uh,
Speaker 2: omega 3, very important because these are things you tend
Speaker 2: to forget, uh, in time.
Speaker 2: If you're doing intermittent fasting, just make sure you have
Speaker 2: enough fiber, hydration is very important because these things are
Speaker 2: ketosis or or low carbohydrate promotes dehydration. So I do
Speaker 2: think that in specific circumstances, you may want to consider
Speaker 2: supplements and I think it will be helpful, but I
Speaker 2: don't think there's one supplement that fits everyone. No,
Speaker 1: exactly. That's why I really think that I'm bewildered.
Speaker 1: That this approach is being taken in 2025 because we
Speaker 1: should be at that point of a bespoke approach to
Speaker 1: your health. I really firmly believe that, which is, we
Speaker 1: know what your problems are, we're gonna address them specifically.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and I think the, the, the thing is
Speaker 2: that it gets very trendy when you start getting
Speaker 1: the David Beckham and
Speaker 2: nothing against any, I won't name any celebrity.
Speaker 1: I shouldn't say Daniel Martin launches a drink or something
Speaker 1: like that. Who knows, we'll
Speaker 2: never know, but I think that, you know, when you
Speaker 2: look at celebrity, I mean, with all due respect to
Speaker 2: any celebrity, but these are
Speaker 1: sportsmen, athletes, you know, they've worked with sports physicians. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's the branding that comes along.
Speaker 2: True, but I, I'm quite certain that they didn't get
Speaker 2: to where they were taking the supplements they're endorsing. So
Speaker 2: I think that that's the important thing, uh, to appreciate
Speaker 2: kudos to them. I'm sure they have an excellent regime,
Speaker 2: but the concern is that they didn't get to where
Speaker 2: they are using this formula. So that's the concern that
Speaker 2: we have that. But
Speaker 1: the thing is, when you look at some of these
Speaker 1: are the panel of medical experts seems very impressive. The fact.
Speaker 1: They keep talking about this is science fact and research based.
Speaker 1: I mean, again, pinch of shock because these are not
Speaker 1: necessarily all published in peer reviewed medical journals or anything
Speaker 1: of that nature, but these are people from, like I said,
Speaker 1: Mayo Clinic and stuff like that who are participating in this.
Speaker 2: I
Speaker 2: think the important thing to take home as well as
Speaker 2: I'm not saying there's no benefit. I think at this
Speaker 2: point in time, the lack of evidence doesn't mean that
Speaker 2: it doesn't work, but rather the fact that we don't
Speaker 2: have anything at the present.
Speaker 2: Time, so I don't wanna knock it at the moment,
Speaker 2: but to be able to say this is definitely something
Speaker 2: that's going to change your life and and to to
Speaker 2: put it on paper that is gonna make you healthier,
Speaker 2: I think that's the concern that we have again, I
Speaker 2: think supplements do have benefits. I mean in over and
Speaker 2: we have our own supplements as well, but the important
Speaker 2: thing is that we are specific ultimately we have a symptom,
Speaker 2: we have a for
Speaker 1: the individual.
Speaker 2: Potentially we're looking into that, but the most important thing
Speaker 2: is people have certain kinds of complaints we analyze and
Speaker 2: we think these people are deficient and ultimately we replace.
Speaker 2: It's not a simple thing you walk in here or
Speaker 2: I'm tired and or my friend is taking it, everybody
Speaker 2: should be on this supplement. I think that's,
Speaker 1: that's the potential for me like again that kind of
Speaker 1: referral system that shouldn't,
Speaker 2: yeah, yeah, I think again, supplements are to supplement, you know,
Speaker 2: and everybody is different.
Speaker 2: So I think if you have any particular complaint and all,
Speaker 2: all that, I think you still have to go to
Speaker 2: the old adage, go see a primary, uh, go see
Speaker 2: your healthcare professional, discuss that and see. I think the
Speaker 2: concern is that let's not try to um take things
Speaker 2: on too much on our own, but you know, just,
Speaker 2: and just pick the supplements that you think you're going
Speaker 2: to need, uh, because you may not need them at all.
Speaker 1: In fact, that was the question that one of our
Speaker 1: listeners just WhatsApped across at 963-11938. They asked, Can I
Speaker 1: go to a doctor and take a blood test to
Speaker 1: find out what I'm deficient.
Speaker 1: In so that I'm not overdosing.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and I don't think you sometimes only blood tests
Speaker 2: can certainly confirm it. I think a good not only
Speaker 2: blood test, but a good dietary history and many nutritionists, dieticians,
Speaker 2: and all it can do that uh because at the
Speaker 2: end of the day, you can't test for everything even
Speaker 2: for blood. I mean, you can, but we don't, it's
Speaker 2: not really practical, isn't it? I think if we go,
Speaker 2: go down, we we make sure that you're not overweight, underweight,
Speaker 2: we should go through your diet, what do you eat
Speaker 2: in a typical week, uh, it's we can get a
Speaker 2: pretty good idea on how.
Speaker 2: potentially balanced or unbalanced your diet is uh if you
Speaker 2: your specific uh dietary preferences, you're vegan, vegetarian, uh or
Speaker 2: you don't like certain kinds of food, uh you're intolerant
Speaker 2: to certain kinds of food, for instance, lactose intolerance and
Speaker 2: you avoid milk, for example, then it, it becomes clearer
Speaker 2: and easier to actually uh evaluate what you're potentially deficient
Speaker 2: in and I think during these times supplements are very
Speaker 2: helpful because you already know what they're deficient, they clearly
Speaker 2: need it.
Speaker 2: So, ultimately, you can replace that, but we need to
Speaker 2: be clear what you're replacing.
Speaker 1: Because I know as an endocrinologist, what you're also interested
Speaker 1: in is the idea of balance, right? The hormonal levels,
Speaker 1: or whatever, and I'm wondering whether if you're taking all
Speaker 1: the 192 supple, you're putting things out of balance as well.
Speaker 1: And if, if you're not specifically addressing what you get,
Speaker 1: if things are out of balance, can it lead to
Speaker 1: like long term issues? You talk about the patients or
Speaker 1: Individuals who are taking a 10,000 mg vitamin D for
Speaker 1: long periods of time and real damage can happen.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, of course, again, they are rare. I mean, you,
Speaker 2: you're right, there's a huge range in which in which
Speaker 2: you can take, but again, why do you put yourself
Speaker 2: in potential risk the high uh high vitamin D, high calcium,
Speaker 2: potential heart disease, and so forth, and you kind of
Speaker 2: think about it, you didn't really need to go down
Speaker 2: that road in the first place.
Speaker 1: Another question came in. This person says, I'm a big
Speaker 1: fan of juicing and green juices. Are those enough to
Speaker 1: make up for nutritional deficiencies?
Speaker 2: Um, well, they can replace some of the deficiencies that
Speaker 2: you can have vitamin C, for example, but I think
Speaker 1: that fiber, vitamin C, but not things like omega 3 fats.
Speaker 2: Correct, you know, I, I think that, you know, ultimately,
Speaker 2: we need a balanced diet. At the end of the day,
Speaker 2: you're talking about greens and fruits, but we're not talking
Speaker 2: about this magnesium and so forth which you get from
Speaker 2: your meats and so forth. So ultimately, I think a
Speaker 2: balanced diet is important. So I think the first thing
Speaker 2: again to anyone who's considering supplements, take one step back,
Speaker 2: ask yourself first, do I eat everything? Do I like
Speaker 2: to eat everything? Do I have a balanced diet? If
Speaker 2: the answer is yes, and you do eat that.
Speaker 2: More or less throughout the week, you probably don't need
Speaker 2: supplements if you're healthy.
Speaker 1: The
Speaker 1: key is in the name. It's called a supplement. It's
Speaker 1: meant to supplement and add on to where you're weak in,
Speaker 1: in your natural
Speaker 1: diet.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. And if you really look at the data now,
Speaker 2: at this point in time, there is no convincing evidence
Speaker 2: that any form of supplementation can beat a well-balanced diet.
Speaker 1: So I don't need to order la. Well, I better
Speaker 1: go and check first, take our own advice that we've
Speaker 1: just discussed. But I do tell you, I mean, I
Speaker 1: do end up taking a lot of pills on a
Speaker 1: daily basis in terms of like supplements, and I do
Speaker 1: wish that I could just take one and solve all
Speaker 1: the problems. But now I understand the problems that can
Speaker 1: be associated with that.
Speaker 2: But again, the question back to you again is why
Speaker 1: why
Speaker 2: are you
Speaker 1: taking like the bare minimums, I thought I think OK,
Speaker 1: here I'll admit, OK, the thing I take on a
Speaker 1: daily basis is daily multivitamin.
Speaker 1: I take omega 3 fatty acid twice a day, um,
Speaker 1: which is the 500 mg 21, 2 times. I take
Speaker 1: a vitamin D, I take a vitamin C, I take
Speaker 1: a magnesium before bed.
Speaker 1: And there's one more.
Speaker 1: See, like, there's so many bottles that are open every morning,
Speaker 1: it's just
Speaker 2: chat about your diet history and mum,
Speaker 1: isn't that like the bare minimum or something like that,
Speaker 1: something like that, but I don't know if I'm deficient
Speaker 1: in those. I know I'm deficient in vitamin D and
Speaker 1: magnesium is supposed to help with the sleep, so that's
Speaker 1: why I take those. And the multivitamin is just a
Speaker 1: good catch-all. That's what I thought.
Speaker 2: Well, I think, I think the important thing I have
Speaker 2: to take one step back again. We need to know
Speaker 2: why you're taking it and what I think the vitamin
Speaker 2: E fair most of us, you know, we don't go
Speaker 2: in the sun. I think it's going to be you.
Speaker 2: You're going to be deficient, and I think that that's
Speaker 2: absolutely right. But I suppose the rest of it, the
Speaker 2: evidence is not strong. And the concern again as well
Speaker 2: is that if you have magnesium levels, for example, is normal,
Speaker 2: what's the dose of magnesium you're taking? And, and I
Speaker 2: suppose the question to you is, do you think it
Speaker 2: really helped your sleep?
Speaker 1: When I remember to take it, maybe it does. That's
Speaker 1: a good point. It's always a pleasure having you on
Speaker 1: the show. Thanks for coming back. All right, see you.
Speaker 1: Helping me understand this idea of this rise in these
Speaker 1: all in one.
Speaker 1: Powdered supplement drinks. Doctor Bennong, consultant endocrinologist and chief medical
Speaker 1: officer for ESAs and Ova. This has been Health Matters.
Speaker 1: Before making any decisions based on the information in our program,
Speaker 1: please consult a medical professional.