Podcast Summary: Better Offline

Episode: The Internet Is The World's Worst Pharmacy

Host: Ed Zitron

Guests: Paris Martineau (Consumer Reports), Ashwin Rodriguez (freelance writer)

Date: October 29, 2025

Overview

This episode of Better Offline dives deep into the murky world of supplements, protein powders, and the “wellness” industry. Host Ed Zitron is joined by investigative reporter Paris Martineau and health writer Ashwin Rodriguez to dissect Paris’s big story on heavy metal contamination in popular protein powders, explore the wild frontier of supplement regulation, and reflect on the digitization and commodification of health advice. Through sharp wit and real talk, the trio exposes the predatory gaps in both online health ecosystems and the so-called “wellness” economy, showing how the Internet enables its worst actors to sell us ritualized hope in a bottle or a powder.

Key Discussion Points

1. Heavy Metals in Protein Powders & Shakes

• Paris’s report found 69% of protein powders tested contained more lead in a single serving than experts recommend consuming in an entire day. (03:18)
  • "Some of the most contaminated powders we found were plant-based ones... plant-based powders... had just higher levels of lead." — Paris Martineau [03:39]
• Where’s it coming from?
  • Lead typically enters via soil contamination, which is more concentrated during the protein isolate process for plant-based products. (04:02)
• Popular, mainstream brands are not exempt. Consumer Reports conducted rigorous testing over months, sourcing multiple lots for accuracy. (04:35)

2. Why Isn’t This Regulated?

• Supplements fall into a regulatory grey zone due to the 1994 DSHEA Act, which classified them as foods, not drugs (thus less FDA oversight).
  • "These supplement manufacturers aren't required to prove their products are safe before they go to market... they're supposed to comply with good manufacturing practices, but..." — Paris Martineau [09:50]
• FDA Inspections:
  • Of 12,000 registered US supplement manufacturers, the FDA inspected only about 600 last year. Overseas factories saw just 90 inspections. (09:47)
• Supplement companies set their own limits for contaminants like lead and self-report results. (14:58)

3. The Culture & Pitfalls of Supplement Use

• Many turn to supplements out of distrust in the medical system or frustration with healthcare access; others are drawn by ritualistic optimization cultures online (think Andrew Huberman, “stack” obsessives). (12:17, 22:29)
  • "Who has the time? That's like a level of rich person brain I can't understand... I can't even regularly manage to take two pills a day." — Paris Martineau [12:17]
• Supplements are often used as substitutes for medical advice:
  • Real case: Iron deficiency self-treated with supplements, but underlying cause was colon cancer (missed due to lack of thorough medical evaluation). (13:20)

4. Health Halos, Rituals, and Self-Experimentation

• Products sold as “alloyed goods”: Because they’re presented like medicine—but aren’t subject to the same standards—people assume safety and efficacy. (13:54)
• Consumers are left self-experimenting, often without knowledge of actual dosages or purity, and sometimes facing harmful contaminations or dangerous supplement/drug interactions. (15:25, 20:49)
  • “...the concentration [of active ingredient] varies wildly, even pill to pill from the same bottle.” — Paris Martineau [20:49]

5. Online Communities, Radicalization, and Sense of Control

• Forums, Reddit threads, and influencers drive both helpful debunking and dangerous echo chambers.
  • "Communities [give] people a sense of control over something that feels uncontrollable." — Paris Martineau [22:29]
• Ritual and identity (“the stack,” supplement regimens, performance metrics) become cult-like, offering belonging—even suffering together—within online fitness/health cultures (31:14).

6. Protein Maximalism and Diet Culture

• Obsession with protein intake is now pervasive: “Protein” has replaced “low fat” as a health halo label, promoted beyond scientific need.
• For most people, current diets already provide sufficient protein without supplements or added “protein” products. (32:40)
  • “It’s the new low fat... but it’s the first diet trend that hasn’t had the bubble pop on it.” — Paris Martineau [34:49]

7. The Role of Technology & Wearables in Health

• Devices like Oura rings, sleep trackers, and fitness apps can lead to obsessive behaviors, data overload, or even disordered eating/exercising. (46:42, 48:16)
  • "I remember when I got one of the first Fitbits... it very quickly became an obsessive thing." — Ashwin Rodriguez [48:16]
• Tech companies’ growth/engagement incentives are at odds with promoting moderation or individualized, humane health advice. (49:25)

8. Advice, Consistency, and Wellness Fatigue

• The best advice is the least sexy and hardest to sell: sleep well, eat real foods, move consistently, create routines—NOT quick fixes.
  • “Eat whole foods, make healthy choices, take care of your body. Everyone falls asleep if you say that.” — Paris Martineau [42:25]
• Marketing and engagement flywheels encourage pushing “new hacks” or metrics, while ignoring (or gamifying) fundamentals.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On supplement regulation:
  "These supplement manufacturers aren't required to prove their products are safe before they go to market... they're supposed to comply with good manufacturing practices, but..." — Paris Martineau [09:50]

• On chronic lead exposure:
  "The fucked up thing about lead is that it lingers in your body... your body kind of thinks of it like calcium... puts it in your bones... it hangs out in there for years or decades." — Paris Martineau [05:41]

• On supplement labeling:
  "What it says on the label very often is very different than the concentration in the actual pill or powder." — Ashwin Rodriguez [16:37]

• On supplement culture and agency:
  "It gives them a sense of control over something that feels uncontrollable." — Paris Martineau [22:29]

• On “protein maximalism”: "People overwhelmingly think you need more protein than you actually do... for the average person, you’re probably getting more than enough protein through your food." — Paris Martineau [32:14]

• On the seduction of wearables and data:
  "I have data from my ring, I have stats from my bed... I couldn’t tell you a single fucking thing about my fitness other than I feel and look better than I have." — Ed Zitron [47:32]

• On the hard truths of health:
  "The best advice is just... eat whole foods, make healthy choices, take care of your body. Everyone falls asleep if you say that." — Paris Martineau [42:25]

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 03:08 — Paris on heavy metals in protein powder study
• 04:02 — Where does lead contamination come from?
• 07:37 — Lax FDA oversight of supplements
• 09:47 — DSHEA Act and the supplement loophole
• 13:20 — Case study: Iron supplements & missed diagnosis
• 20:49 — Lack of consistency/purity in supplement dosages
• 22:29 — Supplements as control/coping amid failed healthcare
• 32:14 — Protein obsession and real daily needs
• 46:42 — Tech wearables, wellness gamification, and obsession
• 49:25 — Tech companies' incentives at odds with health goals
• 51:19 — Why advice like “consistency and routines” matters more than gadgets or hacks

Tone & Style

The conversation is brisk, sardonic, relatable, and data-driven. The hosts and guests balance irreverence ("gas station boner pills", "protein slop bricks") with genuine empathy for people caught in dysfunctional health systems—grounding their critique with honesty about their own fitness journeys, frustrations, and missteps.

Summary & Takeaways

• Supplements, especially protein powders, are poorly regulated. Many contain unhealthy levels of lead and other contaminants, even among top-selling brands.
• The wellness economy exploits both people’s search for health optimization and their frustration with mainstream medicine—with “regulation” often left to self-interested companies.
• Online communities and influencer cultures create both avenues for support and new rituals of self-experimentation—sometimes constructive, sometimes predatory.
• Quantified self/devices/apps often gamify health at the expense of intuition and moderation, aligning business growth with potentially unhealthy behaviors.
• Evidence-based health remains stubbornly “boring”: sleep, whole foods, routine, movement. But these basics are harder to sell—and less clickable—than hacks, quick fixes, and new metrics.
• Ultimately, informed skepticism, personalized advice, and moderation beat out ritualized stacking, number chasing, and blind faith in online or on-label claims.

“Nobody wants to hear it, but just… eat whole foods, make healthy choices, take care of your body. Everyone falls asleep if you say that.”
— Paris Martineau [42:25]

For more:

• Paris Martineau: @parisNYC on Bluesky / @parismartineau on Twitter; Consumer Reports
• Ashwin Rodriguez: ashwinrodriguez.com; Bluesky
• Ed Zitron: @edzitron; BetterOffline podcast and newsletter