Isabel Viña Bas: The Challenge of Supplements

Today we speak with Dr. Isabel Viña Bas, an expert in hormones and supplementation. With over 300,000 followers on Instagram and one of the most listened-to health podcasts in Spain and Latin America, Isabel is passionate about public education and the creator of IVB formulas.

After recording videos explaining symptoms, supplements, and how our body works, Isabel answers 3 questions for us:

-Isabel, what made you choose medicine and the study of hormones as your vocation?

I really can't imagine doing anything else. I truly believe my purpose is medicine. I think there's nothing more beautiful than understanding how our body works and why it works, as it's the only companion we have throughout our lives. I love everything related to medicine: how the brain works, how the heart, the pancreas, etc., work. And if we take a step back, what makes things work is hormones and metabolism. Without hormones and metabolism, which encompass all the reactions occurring every second in millions and millions of cells, our body wouldn't function. So, I believe there's nothing more fascinating than understanding the 'why.' I think wisdom is the key to knowledge, action, and peace of mind. Being able to share what I know with people, seeing that sense of empowerment on their faces when they understand the 'why' behind things, is the most beautiful part. In fact, if I could start over, out of everything, I would choose medicine a thousand times over.

Isabel began to take an interest in dietary supplements during her early years in medical school, and her curiosity only grew. She continued her self-taught education, expanding her knowledge of dietary supplements, an area that goes far beyond the ostracism it had faced in Western medicine.

-What formula has been a challenge?

Wow! That's a great question. I truly believe they all are a challenge. I think the most dangerous thing is to assume a supplement will be easy because those are often the most complicated. So, I believe formulas are always complicated when you know what you want and are very specific and discerning with each supplement. But if I have to choose one, due to the complexity of explaining and formulating it, although it's hard to pick just one, it would be Metabolic-Max. It would be the supplement I'm most proud of because it's very difficult to naturally improve the function of a hormone as important as insulin and to do so effectively and differently from existing approaches has been the biggest challenge. It has also been complex to explain, as the insulin hormone is highly stigmatized and not well understood. That's why it was complicated to formulate and convey its importance.

-What should someone who is outside the world of supplementation, who isn't convinced of what it can offer, know? What do you advise to supplementation skeptics?

I love skeptical people. I believe that when faced with the unknown, you have two options: be skeptical, investigate, ask, search, or try it yourself. Or directly criticize, denigrate, and lump all supplements into the same category. I think unfortunately people confuse doubt or concern with criticizing what they don't know. Of course, doctors are generally trained in supplements and tend to criticize what we don't know. I think people who are respectfully skeptical are key. That will encourage them to become interested: Why isn't one supplement the same as another? Why doesn't one supplement cost the same as another? Why does one work and another doesn't? All that curiosity is the key to knowledge.

While it may be true that not everyone is at a point in their life where supplementation is necessary, I do believe that to some extent, especially with today's lifestyle and low nutritional quality, along with external stimuli like pollution, stress, or lack of time, supplements are necessary to enjoy the health optimization that existed a hundred years ago when we lived in the countryside, slept 10 hours, and had highly nutritious food.

I believe quality supplements have their function. More is not better. Better is better.

If you want to learn more about Dr. Isabel Viña Bas's formulas, click here.