This week on What Doesn’t Kill You, Katy Keiffer calls Dr. Marion Nestle to talk about dubious effectiveness of nutritional and dietary supplements. Dr. Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health; and Professor of Sociology at New York University. Her degrees include a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition, both from the University of California, Berkeley. Learn about the origins of the supplement industry in the 60s & 70s, and find out why supplements are not regulated by the FDA. Are there any benefits to taking supplements? Hear how the supplement industry uses statins from prescription drugs in their products, and how they are able to sell these pills over the counter! Later, Katy and Dr. Nestle discuss the marketing tactics of the supplement industry, and how they seduce their customers. Thanks to our sponsor, Tabard Inn.

“We got hooked on supplements when we started getting suspicious about the food system… There is very little evidence that they do good, and some evidence that they do harm.” [3:00]

— Dr. Marion Nestle on What Doesn’t Kill You