S6 Ep30: Gut Health and Prebiotics: A Fundamental Connection to Superior Health with Marc Washington
“The path towards better health is through food. But at the same time, we have to do more… not just better for you, but that are really functional” — Marc Washington
Gut health refers to the balance of microorganisms in the digestive tract. However, our gut flora has more function than we think. A gut filled with diverse and beneficial bacteria can impact every dimension of our health including digestion, immunity, and even mental health!
That's why, ensuring that our gut receives the best care has a significant bearing on our well-being. This can be achieved by ensuring that our diet is rich in prebiotics, a type of dietary fiber that fosters the growth and activity of beneficial bacteria in our gut. By understanding the symbiotic relationship between gut health and prebiotics, we can pave the way to better health.
Founded by Marc Washington, Supergut's goal is to leverage the potential of the gut microbiome, enabling everyone to gain and maintain control over their physical wellbeing. Marc has always aimed to provide people with effective control over their health through the means of evidence-based nutritional products that taste delicious too. Supergut is his tribute to his late sister, Monica, a victim of diabetes and other chronic health disorders.
Join the conversation as Marc expounds on the significance of a meaningful name in business success and the distinctions between regular, medicinal, and functional food, while understanding the relevance of prebiotics. Justine and Marc also talk about the concept of food as a lifestyle, the need-to-knows about fiber, and the influential part entrepreneurs play in fostering healthier choices.
Connect with Marc:
As the founder and executive of health and wellness brand Supergut, Marc has always focused on empowering individuals to gain better control over their health with nutritional products grounded in scientific evidence. He launched the Supergut brand in memory of his late sister, Monica, who struggled with diabetes and other chronic health issues.
Supergut is dedicated to leveraging the power of the gut microbiome, allowing individuals to regain and maintain control over their health. Their evidence-based nutritional products are not only designed to be beneficial for health, but also taste good.
A Black entrepreneur himself, Marc is passionate about addressing the vast health disparities that affect Black and Brown communities. Supergut is envisioned to be a major part of the solution in closing these health disparities.
Marc's background includes prestigious academic qualifications including degrees from Princeton and Harvard Business School. He also brings extensive experience in leading large, successful health-focused companies, where he honed his understanding of optimizing nutrition to achieve health objectives.
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Episode Highlights:
02:10 Food as a Lifestyle
05:42 The Gold Standard Clinical Study
08:10 Functional Food vs Medicinal Food
11:32 Prebiotic Fiber Blend
16:11 Low FodMap Diet
22:10 Rebranding- the Importance of a Meaningful Name
27:48 Empowering Others to Make Healthier Choices
Resources:
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Tweets:
Gut health is a critical pillar that supports overall health. Discover the key to better gut health with @jreichman and @supergut_ Founder, Marc Washington. #podcast #entrepreneurship #socialgood #inspiration #impactmatters #NextGenChef #EssentialIngredients #SuperGut #GutHealth #prebiotics #goodbacteria #dietaryfiber #functionalfood
Inspirational Quotes:
02:19 "I like to look at food as a lifestyle as opposed to medicine. Because if we can look at food and incorporate it into our daily regimen, we may have a better shot at being healthier overall, and not having to wait till we get sick." —Justine Reichman
02:56 "The path towards better health is through food. But at the same time, we have to do more… not just better for you, but that are really functional" —Marc Washington
09:45 "Let's stay within food, but let's elevate the level of function that we provide with these foods." —Marc Washington
16:12 "Not all fibers are created equal. Some types of fiber actually can disrupt digestive issues and actually make them worse." —Marc Washington
25:46 "Saying what it is is so meaningful and allows us to get straight into what this product is, how it is different, and what it is going to do in your life." —Marc Washington
26:26 "Food as medicine suggests that we're taking that instead of medicine. It's not about necessarily solving the problem, it's about also preventing the problem." —Justine Reichman
Transcriptions:
Justine Reichman: Welcome to Essential Ingredients. I'm your host, Justine Reichman. With me today is Marc Washington. He is the CEO and Founder of Supergut.
Welcome, Marc.
Marc Washington: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me, Justine.
Justine Reichman: I'm pleased to have you, and I'm pleased to learn about your product. Personally and professionally, I'm excited. I'm very curious to always learn more about the gut, and how it affects how we feel, and the foods that we put in our system, and how it affects the gut and the microbiome, and all those things. And so this is just a conversation for me. So those that are not familiar with Supergut, Marc, if you'd be kind enough to just give us your 32nd pitch.
Marc Washington: Yeah, absolutely. So at the highest level, we are a gut health nutrition brand. And so we create really tasty, convenient and delicious foods that are actually super foods for your gut. So on the other side, that literally clinically validated, that changes your gut in a positive way for your health with an intended outcome. So things like better weight management, better blood sugar control, even better sleep, mood and energy. Those things are connected to your gut as well. So we know that we can impact all of those that we do through food as opposed to supplements, probiotics or some of the other pathways. We're very much a food based gut health business.
"I like to look at food as a lifestyle as opposed to medicine. Because if we can look at food and incorporate it into our daily regimen, we may have a better shot at being healthier overall, and not having to wait till we get sick." —Justine Reichman
Justine Reichman: So thank you for sharing that, that clarifies a bunch of questions. It also begs a few more. You had launched it and said when you first spoke that it is a food that helps your gut, weight management and all these things. And you also said that you had some clinical trials, talk to me a little bit about that. Because first of all, clinical trials are really expensive. They are far between. But for me, it's really an exciting conversation, because I think that I like to look at food as a lifestyle as opposed to medicine. Because if we can look at food and incorporate it into our daily regimen, we may have a better shot at being healthier overall, and not having to wait till we get sick. We got doctor's because it's more preventative. And so I'd love to hear a little bit about what you found.
Marc Washington: Yeah. So for me, it goes back to a bit of the ethos for the company. And the reason why I started this was really an aspiration to do more through food. I absolutely believe as well that food is a lifestyle. People's love to eat. I love to eat. And I think the path towards better health is through food. But I also think that at the same time, we have to do more. Because when you look at chronic health conditions, they're getting worse every single year. And so despite the advances in technology and science, medicine, supplements and food, we're less healthy. And so my idea is, how can we actually leverage food just as a lifestyle, but actually be that preventative medicine, so to speak. So food is medicine. And in order to do that, I wanted to take a differentiated approach like truly functional foods. Not just better for you, but that is really functional. And part of that was taken a different approach from a science standpoint and from a clinical evidence. And so as opposed to just the traditional food and supplement path, maybe looking at a clinical research study here and there and sprinkling a little ingredient into something, we literally have gone deep in the science. Started with formulating our products, and literally looking through hundreds of clinical studies to formulate our prebiotic blend that goes into our products. But the next level which you mentioned is just very rare in this space is to actually go through clinical validation. So we did a clinical study on our products. It's always more taking a page that you see in medicine and biotech, but actually applying that in a food context and a food setting.
"The path towards better health is through food. But at the same time, we have to do more… not just better for you, but that are really functional" —Marc Washington
Justine Reichman: So before you go any further, what prompted you to want to take that initiative and do the clinical trial.
Marc Washington: Yeah. It really does go back to the founding of the company, and so it's hard to separate this from my inspiration of why I decided to do this. And I've been in this space throughout my career. It's what I know and love, like helping people feel better, live better, live healthier is what gets me going another level for me and why I decided to start this company was actually my sister. She struggled with her health or metabolic syndrome, and she passed away far too young. And that struck a chord in me.It just really lit a fire to do something different that could have a fundamental impact on human health. Again, not just better for you. And the way that I felt confident in being able to do that was to take a more evidence base, a deeper science based approach. And part of doing that means actually going out and validating that this works. So it's not just making a claim, right, like a food or supplement company, but actually going out and proving that this works so that we can feel confident that we deliver on the promise of truly being a functional food. And so it is literally part of the ethos of the company. It's something that I lined out with my very original investors. A group out of the bay area called the production board, Dave, the founder.
So we aligned at the very outset, like let's take a very science based approach to feeding your gut in a way that can change health. So it was always part of the foundation. It was actually published earlier this year. We did a gold standard clinical study. And so that's like randomized, double blind placebo controlled. All those things that you hear about these studies that make it really legitimate, we went through that process. We had close to 200 individuals consuming Supergut, and we used our shakes for the study. We track them over the course of three months to just measure various different aspects of health and wellness. We looked at an overall quality of life metric. How are they feeling? What do they call it? The quality of life. How it is improving in particular, because we recruited individuals who are suffering with their health, with elevated blood sugar, and you're overweight or obese, and we saw a significant move in a quality of life. But we also tracked hard kinds of clinical outcomes as well. So the thing that we saw that moved the most was blood sugar. And you're probably familiar with healthy control, not letting your blood sugar spike and crash and stay elevated is literally one of the leading kinds of factors for staying healthy. So we saw a significant reduction in average blood sugar levels for those who are on a consistent diet with Supergut, it's literally on par with the leading diabetes medication. And this is through a tasty shake that people actually enjoy. So back to the lifestyle part of it.
Justine Reichman: So you mentioned something, first of all, that's amazing. I'm so impressed, because not many of these organizations and these companies that I talked to really go through that process. More and more people are doing it, but it's a hard process. It's a long process.
Marc Washington: It's hard to sell a result when you have a placebo. What we did is we had another shake, same amount of protein, same amount of calories. But it was just missing our unique prebiotic blend, because we wanted to show that that really was the differentiating factor that drove the blood sugar, but also help maintain healthier weight, healthier blood pressure, and then overall quality of life. So these things connected between the gut and the brain, like sleep quality, and energy, and mood, all moved in a positive direction for those who are consuming it.
Justine Reichman: I want to try it all now.
Marc Washington: You should. It fundamentally works. We proved it. And now, it's actually been published in a peer reviewed leading medical journal. Literally one of the first foods, commercially available foods that they've ever published research on because it is quite rare for a food company to do that, and to get the level of result that we saw.
Justine Reichman: So before I move on, I just want to go back to something you called functional food. I've gone to the doctor and they've recommended functional food, blend and whatever. How does functional food differ from medical food? And what is that category made up of?
"Let's stay within food, but let's elevate the level of function that we provide with these foods." —Marc Washington
Marc Washington: Yeah. Functional food is essentially an umbrella of foods that serve more than just the function of feeding you for nourishment. It's intended to provide a healthy outcome. One that you can feel and ideally measure. It's not a formal FDA category, but it's more of a broad general category of foods and supplements that fit this category of actually moving in the end point for you in your health beyond just nutrition. Functional food is different from another class. It's called the next level of medical food, which really veers away from more lifestyle. It's just part of nutrition, but it happens to have function. And that truly is for treating a chronic condition. It is typically not very enjoyable, or as convenient, as tasty. And that is a specific formal regulated category of foods that fall into that medical food. So like feeding formulas, things of that nature typically fall into the medical food. We actually looked at this at the very outset, because I knew that what I was creating was truly functional. But let's also be as preventative as possible, and let's also make it as enjoyable. I want to make this habitual, something that is part of a lifestyle. So I was like, let's very much stay within food. But let's just elevate the level of function that we provide with these foods.
Justine Reichman: So my question to you is, because you've done these trials, because you've gotten some efficacy, if you can prove some efficacy scientifically around this, would you consider then incorporating that into medical food down the road as you get more and more trials underway? Is that something--
Marc Washington: I would say that if we have the option value of going down that path, because we have built this product on such a base of clinical validation. I would say it is an option, it's not the plan. There's something in me that's kind of, I think, something unique about my perspective is all below, I truly fundamentally believe and invested in science. And I truly believe in function. I absolutely want to impact public health. At the same time, I come from a consumer. I both individually, as well as professionally, how can we make this habit? And so lifestyle, that gene pulls me so hard that I think about the future and the ways that will grow and expand it is about making these products more accessible, not less or more things that can be more commonly incorporated into your daily diet and routine. So if there's a direction that we pull, I would say it tends to go more in a lifestyle orientation, but just with an elevated level of function that you can expect from your normal foods.
Justine Reichman: Thank you for explaining that and giving us your perspective on it. Because I think that many times, people are not sure what functional food is and what it is. And I think clarifying and understanding the difference can empower people to make the right change for themselves. You started this business, you're not too far in but you're far enough that I see your packaging. Really beautifully designed.
Marc Washington: Thank you. So we have three different product lines, all of which are based on this foundational prebiotic blend. And I can define that.
Justine Reichman: I was also gonna say maybe you can clarify what your proof is. Obviously, I don't want any trade secrets. But yeah, what makes your prebiotic blends special?
Marc Washington: Sure. We're very open in talking about this. It starts, obviously, as we talked about. So Supergut is all about gut health. But it's supposed to be more of a supplemental approach, more of a probiotic driven approach. We actually focus on the food that nourishes the good bugs that are in your gut. The prebiotics. And prebiotics are largely found in high fiber plant foods. That's the primary source of prebiotics. There are other foods that also have prebiotics in them as well. But by definition, a prebiotic bypasses your digestion, and it has an effect where it actually nourishes the trillions of microbes in your gut. And a lot of people focus on probiotics. How can I add a few more to the mix and improve my health? You already have trillions of bacteria, live bugs in your gut. The problem is we're not feeding them well. Literally, the stats say that less than 5% of adults in this country get the minimum amount of fiber in your diet that you're supposed to. And fiber is the primary source for prebiotics. And what we're trying to do is to close that gap. And so we created a very powerful, unique blend of prebiotics. In particular, a class of prebiotics called resistant starch. So naturally found in starchy plant foods, like soybeans, unripe and green bananas, or in potatoes in small modest quantities, or beans and legumes. So this resistant starch, it's very, very good at resisting digestion. So it's very effective at getting into your gut, your large intestine and feeding some really important microbes. So there's a ton of research on resistant starch and other prebiotics. But it's also really hard to get in your diet like how often are you going out and chopping that super dark green off the tree banana that tastes chalky and starchy, and just dries up. Nobody's eating that, right?
And so we were like, the research is so profound. Let's create our own unique blend. Let's put it into delicious, tasty food that people can have on a consistent basis. Back to your original question. So we have three product lines that we put this blend into. So we started with our shakes, which is a very similar traditional protein shake, but it's kind of like a two in one because we put in as much of this prebiotic fiber as we do protein, So it's a really healthy dosage of our prebiotic fiber blend. We also now put it into snack bars. And so it's a category of format that people love. Everybody loves to snack, loves a good tasty snack bar. The problem is with most snack bars, you might as well have a candy bar shot with sugar. They'll spike your blood sugar and you'll be hungry like a half hour after eating. These are incredibly satisfying and keep your energy and your blood sugar levels nice and stable. And then we've actually come out with what we call the gut health booster. And so what's this prebiotic fiber mix on a standalone basis? So unflavored, unsweetened, it really allows for versatility. Most people that use the blend, the powder, they'll just add it to their morning coffee. And so that's about this concept of, how can we make this habitual? Just get into your everyday life. Other people will make their own smoothies, or we'll add it to yogurt or oatmeal, really, as we call it. Just add it to anything, blend, because we want to help turn anything into more of a gut health superfood. And so that's the three products that we have in Supergut.
Justine Reichman: Thank you for sharing that. I do have a question. You talk a lot about the impact it has on the gut. Now, there's a lot of issues. People can have H Pylori, or SIBO, or all these different things. Are you familiar with the impact it has on those kinds of things? I mean, they're all different.
"Not all fibers are created equal. Some types of fiber actually can disrupt digestive issues and actually make them worse." —Marc Washington
Marc Washington: I was saying, I'd say in general, yes. Obviously, each individual condition is different, and every individual is different as well. We do have a lot of experience. So we do have a chief science and medical adviser, gastroenterologist who helped in thinking through the innovation and the clinical validation. And he's helped address the specific impact of what our fiber blend can do for different individuals especially for those that are dealing with particular chronic digestive issues. I would say for most of them, it actually can be quite beneficial. It's something you do have to take on a case by case basis, though, because not all fibers are created equal. And some types of fiber actually can disrupt some of those digestive issues and actually make them worse, depending on how they're fermented, how they're digested. And whether or not they might cause bloating or exacerbate some of those symptoms that come with digestive disorders. One of the benefits of our blend, it actually is very well tolerated. There's actually a classification for it, it's called Low Fodmap.
Justine Reichman: For those people that are not familiar with Low Fodmap, maybe you can just explain what that is? Because I'm familiar with it. Because on a personal level, I've had SIBO. They've explained to me that I should have a Low Fodmap diet. It's more and more common these days to have these experiences. So can you just explain for everyone what a Low Fodmap diet is?
Marc Washington: Absolutely. And so Low Fodmap essentially means following a dietary path of consuming foods and things in your lifestyle that aren't going to cause your digestive issues to flare up. And one of the key indicators, in particular for types of fiber that are not Low Fodmap. So the High Fodmap fibers, essentially, means they're not very well tolerated in general, and it's specifically for people with digestive issues and might not be well tolerated. Some of the things that you hear about, like exacerbate so cause bloating, or diarrhea, or constipation. And a lot of times, it's because they're very quickly fermented, they're quickly digested in your upper gut. Or even sometimes, in your small intestine. And when that happens, it can cause some of these chronic digestive issues to flare up. And so on the other side, there are certain types of fiber and lots of other foods that are Low Fodmap. So they're less likely to cause some of those digestive issues to flare up. And what was actually intentional in our design is that we actually use sources of the prebiotic fiber that, yes, they're very powerful, they're very potent, but they're also Low Fodmap. Meaning that they're very slowly digested, and less likely to cause issues to flare up. And also, you can consume them in higher quantities as well without getting really bloated and without having to run to the bathroom every five minutes. And so it's a more accessible type of fiber for the children. It also is, on a relative basis, a more accessible form of fiber for those following a Low Fodmap diet.
Justine Reichman: Can you maybe just give us an example of a couple items that you might find on a Low Fodmap versus a High Fodmap that you can eat everyday.
Marc Washington: So our sources of fiber are Low Fodmap. So bananas, when you eat them in they're more unripened form, have a fair amount of fiber resistant starch, and it's a Low Fodmap type of fiber. A High Fodmap type of fiber is called inulin, chicory root is what that's called. And so you find it in a fair amount of food products, but you can only have so much of it because a lot of people say it causes you to blow up like a balloon when you start to have too much of a type of fiber called inulin. So that's a High Fodmap.
Justine Reichman: Awesome. And for our guests, maybe we'll stick up the legs for High Fodmap and Low Fodmap so people can look that up a little deeper there. So okay, so now, tell me where are you? I know that you're still in the early stages. Where are you now, and where are you looking to go?
Marc Washington: Really good question. Yeah, really good question. So we're a couple years old. We actually rebranded to Supergut just not even a full year ago. Our brand is very nascent. Well put together, a brand is there, we've got good packaging, etcetera. We are still 100% direct to consumer business. So that's the only way that someone can interact or engage with our brand and our products, supergut.com. We are very quickly expanding. One of the biggest steps for us is to actually increase awareness and distribution. And so to have our products much more broadly available, because my aspiration was always about accessibility, and how can we have impact at scale. And so having our products available in physical retail in addition to our website has always been part of the plan. We're at that phase now where we're like, our brand is ready, our products are ready, clinical studies published. We just need to get our products, our brand out there, and our products more available for people to try. So that's a significant shift and initiative for us is actually getting our products out there in particular, in physical retail shelves over the coming months and years.
Justine Reichman: That's exciting. And so where will you start? So we're gonna get into?
Marc Washington: It's a good question. There's a number of places. I would say the category that we're broadly most interested in is in the natural organic space. And so think of the Erawan in Los Angeles, think of your Whole Foods, think of your Sprouts. Think of your Bristol Farms as well, another more southern California retailer. What we've seen is that a lot of customers who are more progressive and understand the importance of gut health, that's a lot of the times where they're shopping first, at least, they're early adopters and looking more in the natural organic space. And so we do know that that's where our early adopting customers will be. So that's where we're focused for now. That being said, you could probably hear what I'm doing. I'm talking, the aspiration is much bigger. We actually really aspire to have a broader impact at scale, and this is something that really should be more part of the masses. Your everyday routine, we're making it delicious, tasty, accessible. And so eventually, we want to be out there in large grocery stores. Your Kroger's of the world, your Targets of the world, that will be the aspiration. But I'd say that that's probably going to be next year in the years beyond.
Justine Reichman: Awesome. Well, that sounds super exciting. You have a lot that you've done, and a lot that you've planned on doing. As a fellow founder, I'm excited to see where you are today, and I'm excited to follow the journey.
Marc Washington: Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Me too. Long ways to go, long ways to go.
Justine Reichman: You said you're rebranded. You've been around for three days, what was the impetus for the rebrand?
Marc Washington: A little bit of the background when we first started, and it's actually a lesson learned for me. So I mentioned at the outset, my inspiration for starting the company. Not just being my experience and aspirations, but also my sister being a personal story. When we actually started out, I actually named the brand inspired by her directly. So my sister's name was Monica, and our original brand was Muniq, M-U-N-I-Q. I made it up like, literally it was just Monica plus unique, which was her personality as well as unique. And obviously very, very tied to my personal story, my personal inspiration. In fact, a lot of our focus during our first phase that I called our proof of concept era was really targeting individuals who were just like Monica, who were really struggling with their health, so not as preventative, literally more treatment oriented. So already dealing with real issues with weight, and in particular, blood sugar control. Obviously, we couldn't make specific health claims, but a lot of individuals who were using our product were living with diabetes and obesity, or both.
So really focused on those individuals who really struggle with their health, just like Monica had. And it was a very successful proof of concept on the one hand because we saw how impactful this could be on someone who is struggling, who has tried every diet, pill, medicine and potion and actually has it helping them make a step change in their health. But at the same time, it became very clear that if the aspiration was to have broader impact at scale, like getting further downstream or upstream, I should say that prevention was the pathway to do that. The ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And how can we make this accessible more broadly? Because this isn't just something that affects someone who has really struggled with their health. How can we help someone avoid getting to that point in their health, in their life as much as possible will always, have always and will always be there for someone regardless of where they're on their health journey. And so if someone's struggling, it's like a no brainer. We know this works. We trooped into clinical, literally, you need to be using this product. But the new thinking is key for even someone more progressive. How can we help you build your foundation for better health, which as we know now is largely in your gut, and how can we help you stay on top of your health and your performance and from a preventative standpoint? And that's the spirit which rebranded under Supergut just a year ago.
Justine Reichman: Well, it's funny. I've had a couple different startups myself, different ideas for the last 30 years. So I've learned, if not worse, our successes and our failures. But originally when I was coming up with names, and I don't know if you experienced this, I would try to come up with something that was meaningful to me. And I realized it, you got to stay what it is.
"Saying what it is is so meaningful and allows us to get straight into what this product is, how it is different, and what it is going to do in your life." —Marc Washington
Marc Washington: Yeah, that's so true. It's one of the hardest things to do, isn't it? And then you fall in love with the same, you're like, oh, this is it. And then you go out, and it's not available, of course. So that was also one of the learnings. And I think you hit on it very well . People were inspired when they got to talk to me and hear what was the meaning behind Muniq. But when they first saw it, they're like, what is this? How do I pronounce it? I'm not sure exactly. So we actually had to get through all of that before we could even talk about the product. Now, when I say it's Supergut, oh, gut health, right? Exactly. Really saying what it is is so meaningful, and just allow us to get straight into, what is this product? And how is it different? What is it going to do in your life? So that the name has really, really paid off. I think that's a good insight.
Justine Reichman: Well, we share our experiences. Some of them are the same, some of them are different. But we're here to basically share those kinds of insights for other founders and people changing the future of food so that it can be more integrated as part of a healthy way to live, as opposed to solving the problem because we feel sick. So I'm trying on a personal note to food as medicine suggests that we're taking that instead of medicine. I've been trying to come up with another word, you might be that perfect person because it's really not about necessarily solving the problem. It's also about preventing the problem.
Marc Washington: Yeah, yeah, for sure. So I have thought about this, we don't use the phrase ology, food is medicine in our advertising. But when talking about what it is, that is a way that really resonates with people because it gives you a bit more of a mental picture of what it is that we're talking about. Food is medicine. I'm not anti medicine, but I'm very pro food. I'm very pro food. Just as a supplement, but if we can prevent the need for someone to need to take medicine, that is success. That's true prevention. And so the words that work for most people when they describe that food as medicine, even though we don't, like I said, use it in a lot of our marketing materials, I tend to talk more about functional foods because it has that same connotation, and it truly is functional and doing something for your health. But it's like true functional food, not just saying it because it's cool, or trendy, but a true function that you can make that shows up in a measurable way. So that tends to be how I talk about it more than food as medicine.
"Food as medicine suggests that we're taking that instead of medicine. It's not about necessarily solving the problem, it's about also preventing the problem." —Justine Reichman
Justine Reichman: Yeah, I think that that's an accurate category for functional food. And I think that that really, it would be important for me to see that come to a place where it's more popular among everyone. And food is medicine has become a popular term that everyone can relate to. Because somebody put it out there, and now everybody's been using it. Yeah, that functional food. Or maybe there's another word that can really empower people to say, hey, let me make the choice to stay healthy. If we eat too much sugar, there's studies that say that that's not good for us.
Marc Washington: Yeah, for sure. And the thing I like about functional food, I do see and I think this will continue, consumers increasingly demanding, discerning and wanting to get more out of the things that they put into their bodies. And so I do think that the consumer demand builds some tailwinds around this general concept of functional food. And so doing more than some of the traditional approaches supplements have taken in the past was just a claim without a whole lot of substance behind it. People want what they're nourishing their bodies with to actually have some function or increasing number of them. And frankly, a lot of them are getting more into diagnostics, measuring to actually say, how is such a food or supplement affecting my body? Whether it's an Apple Watch or ring, how am I sleeping or band? Continuous glucose monitors three levels or neutral senses. How different things are impacting their body, I think that isn't only going to continue to increase this demand. I think it's important for brands to step up to that consumer expectation around food that has true function behind it.
Justine Reichman: For those listeners that tuned into the whole podcast, that watch the whole podcast on the videocast, is there a discount we can offer them on your products?
Marc Washington: I'm glad you asked Justin. Yes, of course, we'd love to offer a 20% off discount for any of your listeners that do come to supergut.com Just enter the promo code NextGen when you go to checkout, you'll get 20% off your Supergut purchase.
Justine Reichman: Awesome. Thanks so much. Marc, thank you so much for joining me, I really appreciate it. Before we go, can you just let everyone know how they might be able to access your product and where they can go about finding it?
Marc Washington: Yeah. Well, as of today, the only place to find us is on our site. So you can get a supergut.com, and you can go and check it on.We have a lot of the content that we talked about today about the science behind Supergut. But obviously, you can go and check out our products, as well as our shakes, bars and our fiber mix. And then we're very active across social as well. We do try to get some engaging and sometimes educational content out there across Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok as well. So find us generally at Supergut.
Justine Reichman: Don't forget to follow Marc at Supergut. I want to thank everyone for tuning in today.
