Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 7 hours ago
In search of the next miracle “cure,” Big Pharma has become very proficient at developing highly effective and obscenely profitable drugs aimed at treating rare diseases (think $750,000 per year) at the expense of ignoring newer, safer and effective treatments geared to a wider audience.
Alex Martinez, CEO and cofounder of Intrinsic Medicine, shares his amazing journey from being a healthcare attorney who witnessed the good, bad and mostly ugly in Big Pharma to revolutionizing how we care for the human microbiome this week on Spirit Gym.
Learn more about Alex’s Intrinsic Medicine company at intrinsicmedicine.com . Find him on social media via LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/alexamartinez
0:00 Intro
8:47 “The mission was attractive to me.”
12:27 Alex got the education he needed while ground-truthing at the same time.
20:50 Why is Big Pharma’s disproportionate focus on drugs that treat rare diseases?
30:16 Evolutionary biology.
39:07 Alex is a very intelligent vegetable.
44:42 Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) formulated with information molecules.
51:53 The fecal transplant isn’t new science.
1:06:46 Freediving helped Alex look inward toward the microbiome.
1:13:26 “What’s inside of us is all around us.”
1:25:05 The HMOs in breast milk serve as training mechanisms in a baby’s gut.
1:36:05 Is it possible that HMOs could work one day like fecal transplants?
1:44:47 Where do these HMOs originate?
1:50:33 Formulating infant formulas that aren’t inflammatory should be the norm but aren’t.
2:07:29 Creating an ethical regenerative business by integrating humanity into it.
2:12:49 Humans are so good at finding comfort in dis-ease.
2:25:34 Where probiotics went wrong.
Listen to Paul's conversation with Alex Martinez and check out the show notes page on our Spirit Gym website at paulchek.com/blog/podcast-episodes/371-from-pharma-insider-to-microbiome-revolutionary-with-alex-martinez
Thanks to our awesome sponsors!
• CHEK Institute https://chek.group/flatabs (for a limited time check out the FREE Flatten Your Abs Forever program plus three FREE bonuses)
• Korrect korrectlife.com/spiritgym (save 15% on the newest drink supplement by Aubrey Marcus by using the code SPIRITGYM at checkout)
• Organifi organifi.com/chek20 (save 20% on your purchase by using the code CHEK20 at checkout)
• Paleovalley paleovalley.com/chek15 (save 15% on your first purchase)
• Pique Life piquelife.com/paulchek (save up to 20% for life and get a FREE starter kit when you subscribe to one or more of Pique’s amazing beverages!)
• BIOptimizers bioptimizers.com/spiritgym (save an extra 15% on your purchase by using the code PAUL15 at checkout)
• Wild Pastures wildpastures.com/paulchek (save 20% and free shipping for life plus $15 on your first order)
We may earn commissions from qualifying purchases using affiliate links.
Music Credit: Meet Your Heroes (444Hz), Composed, mixed, mastered and produced by Michael RB Schwartz of Brave Bear Music miketheschwartz.com
#guthealth #microbiome #paulchek #spiritgym #holistichealth #functionalmedicine #naturalhealingjourney #breastmilk #immunity #earlylife #holisticwellness #gutbrainconnection #gutreset #naturalmedicine #healingfromwithin
In search of the next miracle “cure,” Big Pharma has become very proficient at developing highly effective and obscenely profitable drugs aimed at treating rare diseases (think $750,000 per year) at the expense of ignoring newer, safer and effective treatments geared to a wider audience.
Alex Martinez, CEO and cofounder of Intrinsic Medicine, shares his amazing journey from being a healthcare attorney who witnessed the good, bad and mostly ugly in Big Pharma to revolutionizing how we care for the human microbiome this week on Spirit Gym.
Learn more about Alex’s Intrinsic Medicine company at intrinsicmedicine.com . Find him on social media via LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/alexamartinez
0:00 Intro
8:47 “The mission was attractive to me.”
12:27 Alex got the education he needed while ground-truthing at the same time.
20:50 Why is Big Pharma’s disproportionate focus on drugs that treat rare diseases?
30:16 Evolutionary biology.
39:07 Alex is a very intelligent vegetable.
44:42 Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) formulated with information molecules.
51:53 The fecal transplant isn’t new science.
1:06:46 Freediving helped Alex look inward toward the microbiome.
1:13:26 “What’s inside of us is all around us.”
1:25:05 The HMOs in breast milk serve as training mechanisms in a baby’s gut.
1:36:05 Is it possible that HMOs could work one day like fecal transplants?
1:44:47 Where do these HMOs originate?
1:50:33 Formulating infant formulas that aren’t inflammatory should be the norm but aren’t.
2:07:29 Creating an ethical regenerative business by integrating humanity into it.
2:12:49 Humans are so good at finding comfort in dis-ease.
2:25:34 Where probiotics went wrong.
Listen to Paul's conversation with Alex Martinez and check out the show notes page on our Spirit Gym website at paulchek.com/blog/podcast-episodes/371-from-pharma-insider-to-microbiome-revolutionary-with-alex-martinez
Thanks to our awesome sponsors!
• CHEK Institute https://chek.group/flatabs (for a limited time check out the FREE Flatten Your Abs Forever program plus three FREE bonuses)
• Korrect korrectlife.com/spiritgym (save 15% on the newest drink supplement by Aubrey Marcus by using the code SPIRITGYM at checkout)
• Organifi organifi.com/chek20 (save 20% on your purchase by using the code CHEK20 at checkout)
• Paleovalley paleovalley.com/chek15 (save 15% on your first purchase)
• Pique Life piquelife.com/paulchek (save up to 20% for life and get a FREE starter kit when you subscribe to one or more of Pique’s amazing beverages!)
• BIOptimizers bioptimizers.com/spiritgym (save an extra 15% on your purchase by using the code PAUL15 at checkout)
• Wild Pastures wildpastures.com/paulchek (save 20% and free shipping for life plus $15 on your first order)
We may earn commissions from qualifying purchases using affiliate links.
Music Credit: Meet Your Heroes (444Hz), Composed, mixed, mastered and produced by Michael RB Schwartz of Brave Bear Music miketheschwartz.com
#guthealth #microbiome #paulchek #spiritgym #holistichealth #functionalmedicine #naturalhealingjourney #breastmilk #immunity #earlylife #holisticwellness #gutbrainconnection #gutreset #naturalmedicine #healingfromwithin
