Expert support for health and nutrition-related claims

Evaluating and summarizing the scientific literature has been a common theme throughout my career spanning laboratory research, teaching at the college level, and product development.

As a researcher and formulator in the dietary supplement industry, I was responsible for product substantiations that covered every aspect of product and ingredient claims including certifications, identity testing, and preclinical and clinical research on dietary ingredients. My experience includes writing responses to inquiries—about dietary supplement label claims—from the FDA and the National Advertising Division (NAD).

I’m confident drawing conclusions based on the science, even when it involves challenging public health pronouncements or widely accepted points of view. For example, until recently medical professionals taught that all types of dietary fat should be avoided. Knowing that this advice was not supported by scientific research and could be harmful, I wrote a book, Fat Is Not the Enemy. And I created a course at Stanford University called Fat Nutrition and Current Health Concerns where students read research articles and discussed the lack of evidence for associations between dietary fats and cancer, obesity, and heart disease.