Uploaded February 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Andrew Huberman promotes supplements to make money. In some cases, he does so by misrepresenting science in ways that will cause harm to his listeners if they take his advice.
In promoting LMNT, a sodium-containing supplement that helps replenish electrolytes and improve sports performance (a legitimate use), Huberman cites a 1998 article in Science by now largely discredited science journalist Gary Taubes, which denigrates the role of sodium intake in cardiovascular disease. This article was written long before a number of rigorous, influential clinical trials definitively demonstrated that Taubes's point of view was wrong (for instance, see: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2010/07/10/its-time-for-the-salt-feud-to-fade/).
Huberman deftly avoids discussing the past 25 years of clinical research and instead rests his case on Taubes and a bunch of hypothetical mechanisms relating to the brain and blood volume--without providing any evidence of his own.
It should first of all be noted that contrary to Huberman's claim that salt intake is only a concern in people with hypertension (not in the clip provided), actually, several randomized controlled trials have shown in prehypertensives (PMID 16762939), and even in people with completely normal blood pressure (PMID 17449506), there is a drastic reduction in cardiovascular events with lower sodium intake.
The mechanism for this is likely due to a lowering of blood pressure, which probably reduces risk all the way down to a systolic blood pressure of as low as 90 mmHg (PMID 32936272). Indeed, the DASH trials showed that sodium reduction reliably reduces blood pressure (PMID 9099655, 11136953).
More recently, in 2021, it was even shown that reducing blood pressure by sodium reduction also reduced all-cause mortality (PMID 34459569), a hallmark and widely publicized finding.
Probably, electrolyte supplements containing sodium are important for athletic performance (after a lot of sweating), but they shouldn't be shilled to everyone to make money as Huberman is doing. This is dangerous and unethical.
Please support me by donating: thedietwars.com/support-me
Andrew Huberman promotes supplements to make money. In some cases, he does so by misrepresenting science in ways that will cause harm to his listeners if they take his advice.
In promoting LMNT, a sodium-containing supplement that helps replenish electrolytes and improve sports performance (a legitimate use), Huberman cites a 1998 article in Science by now largely discredited science journalist Gary Taubes, which denigrates the role of sodium intake in cardiovascular disease. This article was written long before a number of rigorous, influential clinical trials definitively demonstrated that Taubes's point of view was wrong (for instance, see: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2010/07/10/its-time-for-the-salt-feud-to-fade/).
Huberman deftly avoids discussing the past 25 years of clinical research and instead rests his case on Taubes and a bunch of hypothetical mechanisms relating to the brain and blood volume--without providing any evidence of his own.
It should first of all be noted that contrary to Huberman's claim that salt intake is only a concern in people with hypertension (not in the clip provided), actually, several randomized controlled trials have shown in prehypertensives (PMID 16762939), and even in people with completely normal blood pressure (PMID 17449506), there is a drastic reduction in cardiovascular events with lower sodium intake.
The mechanism for this is likely due to a lowering of blood pressure, which probably reduces risk all the way down to a systolic blood pressure of as low as 90 mmHg (PMID 32936272). Indeed, the DASH trials showed that sodium reduction reliably reduces blood pressure (PMID 9099655, 11136953).
More recently, in 2021, it was even shown that reducing blood pressure by sodium reduction also reduced all-cause mortality (PMID 34459569), a hallmark and widely publicized finding.
Probably, electrolyte supplements containing sodium are important for athletic performance (after a lot of sweating), but they shouldn't be shilled to everyone to make money as Huberman is doing. This is dangerous and unethical.
Please support me by donating: thedietwars.com/support-me
