Why You Aren't Absorbing Your Supplements - Chervin Jafarieh | TUH 310

Episode Overview

• Host Gary Brecka and guest Shervin Jafarieh (co-founder and formulator of Cymbiotika, alongside his business partner since age 15, Shahab, and R&D partner Dr. Shilpa Raut, who holds a PhD in liposomes) explore how ancient observational practices—like Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and biodynamic farming—intersect with modern biochemistry and liposomal supplement formulation.
• The narrative progresses from the historical depletion of North American soil and the gut-brain axis into the mechanics of digestion, biological dentistry, liposomal nutrient delivery, and specific longevity and hormone protocols.
• Listeners should note explicit business ties and sponsorships disclosed during the episode: at 1:14:03–1:14:28, Shervin and Gary disclose a formal business partnership between their organizations, and the episode features paid promotions for Gary's AI tool Just Ask Gary (THEULTIMATEHUMAN.COM/AI), BodyHealth's PerfectAmino Pre-Workout containing BH4 (BODYHEALTH.COM, code ULTIMATE20), and Cymbiotika's Liposomal NAD+ (CYMBIOTIKA.COM/GBNAD).
• This episode is highly relevant for anyone looking to understand why gut dysbiosis drives mental health issues, how eating mechanics impact digestion more than lab tests alone, and how complex supplement formulations mimic whole-food nutrition.

Key Concepts

• Soil Health, Regenerative Agriculture, and the Microbiome: Shervin shares that he learned at age 7 from his cousin (a raw food authority) and the teachings of Dr. Rudolf Steiner that chlorophyll is "bio-identical to human blood, it's just one atomic structure different." Furthermore, growing food via biodynamic farming isn't just about getting the best biotics and minerals (which Shervin calls the "side effect"), but about building devotion, responsibility, and discipline in children. Gary cites Blue Zone research and ancestral novels to explain that historically, the soil microbiome and human gut microbiome were "almost identical" (differing by only a few strains) because human life and agriculture operated within a "long walking distance" geographical radius. Shervin notes that in the early 1800s, 7 million bison roamed North America, tilling the plains, pooping, and driving the hydrological and mineral cycles; within 10 years (also stated as 15–20 years), only 15,000 remained, fundamentally altering North American soil and nutrition, where 91 trace minerals are now largely overlooked.
• The Gut-Brain Axis and Neurotransmitter Production: Shervin claims that a person's entire mental and emotional state is dictated by the health capacity of their microbiome, from the oral cavity all the way down. Protective mindset compounds—specifically serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine, and anandamide ("the bliss")—are manufactured in the GI tract. Gary adds that pharmacology cannot duplicate these in factories; drugs can only blunt them, increase absorption capacity, or provide precursors. Anecdotally, Gary notes that out of more than 150,000 patients seen through his previous clinic, not a single patient who suffered from anxiety did not also have severe gut dysbiosis. Additionally, Shervin claims that one round of antibiotics can wipe out the entire butyrate-producing chain in the gut, starving colonocytes and allowing small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) to develop.
• Metabolic Fate, Methylation, and Whole-Food Complexity: Gary explains that when real food enters the body, it has only three choices: turn it into energy, build something from it, or eliminate it as waste. Because of this, humans do not "desensitize" to real food (someone eating 1,500 calories a day won't need 4,000 calories 10 years later or 10,000 calories 20 years later). In the methylation cycle, Gary explains the body uses trimethylglycine (TMG) to break homocysteine down into L-methionine, which converts into S-adenosylmethionine, then S-adenosylhomocysteine, and back into homocysteine. To mirror nature, Shervin formulates Cymbiotika products with 14 to 20 compounds per label and zero fillers so the body recognizes them as complex food.
• Liposomal Delivery Technology and Formulation Specifics: Because absorption matters more than mere ingestion, Shervin explains that Cymbiotika uses pure sunflower-derived phosphatidylcholine (with no soy or cheap lecithin) to form a phospholipid bilayer sphere that acts like a protective basketball. This structure bypasses stomach degradation, is broken down by bile salts in the intestines (as confirmed by Gary), and delivers nutrients into the bloodstream. Shervin cites internal "gold standard double-blind pharmacokinetic studies" (no sample sizes given), notes a liposome patent is almost filed with 7 more clinical studies in preparation, and Gary mentions reading their creatine study prior to the show. Key formulations discussed include:
• Liposomal NAD+: Contains 300 mg of NAD, 1 gram (1,000 mg) of Trimethylglycine (TMG), Apigenin, LuteMax trademark / Zeaxanthins, and a "little bit" of caffeine.
• Sea Moss: Includes tributyrin (a postbiotic / butyric acid) to protect colonocytes and counter antibiotic damage.
• Liposomal Glutathione: Contains glutathione (a tripeptide master antioxidant), PQQ, CoQ10, and riboflavin to activate it. Shervin claims taking it for 60 to 90 days improves dysbiosis, skin, vision, hearing, and smell while unburdening the liver.
• Liquid Colostrum: Sourced from a 3rd-generation family co-op of Amish grass-fed dairy farms across southern Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Calves receive the first 80–85%, and the remaining 15–20% is harvested and cryogenically frozen on the spot to preserve bioactives, lactoferrin, and immunoglobulins, then blended with phospholipids, Icelandic sea salt, and organic vanilla extract (which tastes so sweet during an unplanned live taste test that Gary jokes, "I'm calling bullshit on the label," accusing Shervin of hiding honey in it).
• Shilajit: Offered as a black tar resin or a flavored packet blended with Peruvian organic cacao, Icelandic sea salt, Brazilian organic honey, and organic hazelnut butter (Shervin hedges, "I think we sell the most shilajit on earth").
• Menopause / Women's Health Formula: Launching in October and formulated with Dr. Shilpa Raut using Ayurvedic principles. It features fenugreek, L-theanine, and healthy fats in a liposomal matrix, designed (Shervin hedges, "I think this is an evening formula") to be taken alongside their Magnesium Complex (a tri-complex of Givomag trademarked magnesium glycerophosphate, magnesium glycinate, and magnesium taurate).
• Biological Dentistry and Oral Cavitations: Because the microbiome begins in the mouth, hidden oral infections can silently burden the body. Shervin shares that in 2020, despite being completely asymptomatic, he intuitively felt something was off during quiet moments and got a cone beam X-ray (CBCT). It revealed four deep-pocket jaw cavitations from previous wisdom teeth extractions, which were surgically cleaned out by Dr. Valerie Kanter, immediately granting him heightened mental clarity, efficiency, total recall, and focus.
• Liver Burden, TCM, and the True Cause of Halitosis: Citing Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Shervin explains that the liver is the "seat of anger and frustration." When the liver becomes overburdened—such as from processing alcohol and acetaldehyde—gases and toxins back up and travel through the portal vein into the bloodstream to be exhaled through the lungs. Therefore, Shervin claims that halitosis (bad breath) actually originates from the portal vein and an overburdened liver, rather than gingivitis in the mouth.

Quotes

• At 0:05:32 - "Someone always asks me, he goes, what's the number one thing you would do to elevate our world? Well, get all the kids in the garden. Have them learn how to grow food. Give them that practical purpose and also responsibility and discipline which creates devotion, right, to the food that they're eating." - Shervin Jafarieh explaining how biodynamic gardening builds character in children, with nutrient-dense food being a secondary side effect.
• At 0:11:48 - "Our entire mental emotional state is dictated by the health capacity of our microbiome, starting from the oral all the way down to the bottom." - Shervin Jafarieh framing the foundational link between the GI tract, oral health, and mental well-being.
• At 0:18:30 - "Cymbiotika, and I don't want this to be a whole Cymbiotika thing, but it's basically we took supplements and turned them into food. And didn't sacrifice on quality, on execution, on standards at all whatsoever." - Shervin Jafarieh describing the philosophy of combining 14 to 20 compounds with zero fillers so the body recognizes supplements as whole food.
• At 0:23:25 - "The body has three choices. It can take something and turn it into energy, it can build something from it, or it can eliminate it as waste." - Gary Brecka explaining why the human body never desensitizes to real food calories over time.
• At 0:25:07 - "We had more than 150,000 patients through our previous clinic. We did not have a single patient that suffered from anxiety that did not also have severe gut dysbiosis." - Gary Brecka sharing an anecdotal clinical statistic (explicitly hedged as anecdotal at 0:25:04) illustrating the connection between gut health and anxiety.
• At 0:26:51 - "A lipid bilayer is essentially, think of like a basketball. I'm going to throw a basketball to Gary and I'm going to put all these nutrients in there." - Shervin Jafarieh using an analogy to explain how sunflower-derived phosphatidylcholine liposomes protect nutrients through the stomach until bile salts break them down in the intestines.
• At 0:29:03 - "What's the old adage, you are what you eat? No, you are what you can absorb." - Shervin Jafarieh emphasizing why digestive mechanics and bioavailability matter more than raw nutrient intake.
• At 0:29:33 - "Detoxification might be more important than nutrition these days." - Shervin Jafarieh quoting his cousin's perspective on modern environmental burdens versus nutrient intake.
• At 0:34:51 - "Most of us eat like somebody's going to steal it from us, right? Big bolus bites of chicken or meat or fish, and that gets into the gut, there's not enough surface area for the enzymes to get around them, and indigestion, bloating, gas, constipation, they're linking it to the food, not actually the way that they ate." - Gary Brecka explaining how poor mastication causes digestive distress regardless of food quality.
• At 0:47:44 - "Hunger during a fast is not constant, it comes in 20-minute waves about every three hours. So you don't need to be really strong for 15 hours or 14 hours. You need to be strong for 20 minutes every three hours." - Gary Brecka sharing an insight from leading tens of thousands of people through water fasts to help listeners mentally manage fasting.
• At 0:50:53 - "Halitosis is not from gingivitis, it's coming from the portal vein. Because all those gases and toxins, there's nowhere for it to go, they put it in the bloodstream to come out of the lungs." - Shervin Jafarieh explaining how an overburdened liver causes bad breath via the bloodstream and lungs.
• At 1:16:23 - "The ultimate human to me means to be living in your dharma. Your chosen path that is part of your intuitive path. That is the ultimate. It doesn't matter what it is, but it's embodying purpose and having nothing get in between that path." - Shervin Jafarieh concluding the episode by defining what it means to be an "ultimate human."

Takeaways

• Upgrade your eating hygiene and mastication: Never eat while in a stressed, sympathetic state ("running from a lion"). Chew your food thoroughly to create enough surface area for digestive enzymes, and avoid drinking 20 ounces of cold or carbonated soda water during meals, which dilutes your stomach's hydrochloric acid.
• Time your macronutrients and food combinations properly: Eat heavier, slow-digesting proteins earlier in the day when stomach acid is strongest. Avoid eating fast-digesting sugars or ice cream immediately after slow-digesting proteins like steak, which traps the sugar in the gut to ferment, bloat, and turn your stomach contents into "kombucha."
• Ride out the 20-minute hunger waves during periodic fasts: Consider adopting a structured fasting routine—such as Shervin's protocol of taking every Sunday off from food (a 24-hour fast) and fasting for 2 to 3 days every 2 weeks. When fasting, remember that hunger only hits in 20-minute waves roughly every 3 hours, so you only need willpower for 20 minutes at a time.
• Hydrate and mineralize upon waking: Model Shervin's morning ritual by waking naturally with the sun around 5:30 AM without an alarm, immediately drinking 24 ounces of spring water mixed with 1 teaspoon of Icelandic sea salt and molecular hydrogen, and following it with shilajit tea.
• Use a sauna and cool plunge for sleep optimization: To maximize recovery and aim for a 100% sleep score, apply Gary's evening routine of using a sauna followed by a cool plunge (rather than a shocking ice-cold plunge) right before bed.
• Screen for asymptomatic oral cavitations with a CBCT scan: If you have had wisdom teeth extractions or root canals in the past, do not rely solely on pain or symptoms to gauge oral health; consider getting a cone beam X-ray (CBCT) with a biological dentist to check for hidden jawbone cavitations that may be silently taxing your microbiome and mental clarity.
• Pair intuitive body awareness with clinical diagnostics: While clinical microbiome testing (such as Genova diagnostics) is useful, prioritize cultivating quiet moments to listen to your own intuition and daily digestive feedback—such as bloating, bad breath, or emotional shifts—to guide your detoxification and nutritional protocols.