Educational Hub

This section is meant to be more laid-back and educational. It’s where I (Jon) try to answer the questions I get all the time and share what I’ve picked up over the years. I think this might be one of the most important parts of the whole site—because one of my main goals is to help people actually understand the power of good supplements, food, lifestyle, quality health products, and just taking care of yourself in general.

What is a supplement? Why are they important?

At its core, a supplement is not a shortcut — it’s a modern bridge. It exists to replace or restore nutrients, compounds, and elements that were once abundant in our natural environment, food, and water but are now missing due to how we live, grow, and eat today.

🥦 The Evolutionary Perspective

For nearly all of human history, our nutrition came from whole, wild foods grown in nutrient-rich soil, unfiltered water that carried natural minerals and gases, and continuous exposure to sunlight and microbes that shaped our gut and immune systems. Modern agriculture, food processing, and sanitation — while lifesaving in many ways — have dramatically reduced nutrient density and environmental diversity.

Peer-reviewed studies confirm that the vitamin and mineral content of fruits and vegetables has declined 20–70% over the past 50 years due to soil depletion and industrial farming practices (Davis et al., J Am Coll Nutr., 2004). Likewise, we now eat far less omega-3-rich wild fish, fermented foods, and organ meats — all once daily staples for human physiology.

💧 The “Hydrogen Water” Analogy

Take something like hydrogen-rich water. In nature, hydrogen gas is generated constantly through geochemical reactions between water and minerals in underground aquifers and natural springs. Traditional societies often drank from these mineral-rich, “living” waters — the same springs that earned reputations as “healing waters.” Modern tap and bottled water, by contrast, is stripped of minerals, sterilized, and de-energized, leaving behind none of the molecular hydrogen that research now shows can act as a selective antioxidant, reduce oxidative stress, and improve mitochondrial function (Medical Gas Research, 2020).

So when we “supplement” with hydrogen water, we’re not adding something unnatural — we’re restoring a piece of the natural world our biology evolved with.

🧩 The Role of Supplements Today

Think of supplements as nutritional restoration tools — designed to fill the widening gap between what we should be getting from whole foods and what modern life actually provides.

  • Multivitamins support broad nutritional deficiencies in a world where even organic produce may lack full-spectrum micronutrients.

  • Magnesium, zinc, and trace minerals counterbalance losses from filtered water and processed foods.

  • Vitamin D, omega-3s, and probiotics restore inputs from sunlight, seafood, and soil microbes that modern indoor living and sterile environments have reduced.

  • Polyphenols and plant compounds (like pomegranate extract, curcumin, or quercetin) mimic the dense phytochemical diversity humans once encountered in seasonal, wild diets.

🧬 Why It Matters

When these nutritional or environmental inputs disappear, the body adapts — but often at a cost. Suboptimal nutrient status contributes to fatigue, poor recovery, immune dysfunction, and chronic inflammation. Multiple studies show that targeted supplementation can restore physiological function and improve biomarkers of oxidative stress, metabolic health, and immunity (Nutrients, 2022).

⚖️ The Daly Certified Mindset

Understanding supplements through this lens changes everything. It’s not about chasing the newest trend or stacking pills — it’s about strategically restoring what your biology expects but your environment no longer provides.

If you start from that principle, the entire Daly Supplement Dictionary makes sense. Every compound represents a way to reconnect modern humans with their evolutionary blueprint — safely, scientifically, and effectively.

Are there supplements you think everybody should take?

Yes — I genuinely believe that almost everyone (aside from a very small few) should be taking these supplements, no matter what:

  1. A methylated multivitamin

  2. Trace minerals

  3. A high quality fish oil (if not eating fatty fish > 4 days a week)

  4. An amino acid complex or complete protein supplement (especially if you don’t consume enough protein on a daily basis, and I believe most people do not)

Here’s why: thanks to monocrop farming, depleted soils, and the modern world we live in, most people are deficient in vitamins and minerals. Those deficiencies can cause a ton of random symptoms, and honestly, the simplest starting point is a good methylated multivitamin.

Trace minerals are basically the “extras” your multivitamin might miss — little nutrients your body still needs but most vitamins skip over.

Fish oil? Huge deal. These essential fatty acids are involved in a ton of processes all over your body. If you’re not eating fatty fish like salmon or sardines at least four times a week, a supplement is the easiest way to cover it.

Amino acids are next-level important. Shockingly, so many of my clients are deficient, mostly because they aren’t eating enough diverse protein — especially meat. Amino acids aren’t just for building muscle; they’re literally the building blocks for everything your body does: immune system, enzymes, hormones, energy, neurotransmitters, detox pathways — basically every process you can think of.

So yeah, if you’re not getting enough of these key nutrients from food alone, supplementation can make a massive difference.

Are you saying that supplements can fix everything?

Nope, absolutely not. I actually believe that eating whole foods is more powerful than any supplement or medication could ever be — but here’s the thing: supplements are just one piece of the puzzle. The whole human puzzle includes your diet, genetics, exercise, lifestyle, environment, and yeah… supplementation too. I’ve seen cases where supplements helped people reduce or even replace medications, but that’s something you should only do with a doctor — I can’t give medical advice, I’m just sharing what I’ve seen happen.

Supplements are amazing for filling in nutrient gaps and helping your body run at peak performance. Honestly, I’ve seen some mind-blowing stuff happen just by giving the body the right vitamins, minerals, amino acids, electrolytes, and fuel for the microbiome. When your body gets the raw materials it needs, it can do truly remarkable things.

That said — you cannot out-supplement a poor diet/lifestyle. Stick to real, whole foods. My clients (and me too!) see the best results with things like:

  • Grass-fed, finished meats

  • Fish (especially fatty fish)

  • A2 milk from grass-fed cows (or raw milk if you can trust the sourcing)

  • Fruits — especially berries

  • Sweet potatoes, butternut squash, yams

  • Garlic and onions

  • Microgreens

All organic if you can swing it.

I usually don’t push eggs because it’s so hard to find pasture-raised, fully vegetarian-fed eggs with no corn, soy, or supplemental feed — those can cause inflammation in some people. BUT, if you can get the right eggs, they’re an absolute nutrient powerhouse.

I’m not sick, I’m healthy. Why should I take any supplements?

That’s the best place to start. The point of supplementation isn’t always to treat disease — it oftentimes is to preserve, optimize, and protect the state of health you are already in. Modern wellness isn’t just the absence of illness; it’s the presence of resilience — physical, mental, and cellular.

🧬 The Biological Truth

Even in “healthy” individuals, micronutrient insufficiency is remarkably common. Studies from the CDC and NHANES surveys show that a large percentage of adults in the U.S. fail to meet the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for several key nutrients:

  • Over 90% of adults don’t get enough vitamin D

  • Roughly 70% are insufficient in magnesium

  • Nearly half fall short in vitamin C, calcium, and zinc

These aren’t deficiencies severe enough to cause a sudden health catastrophe — they’re the kind that slowly erode optimal function over time: weaker immunity, slower recovery, reduced focus, and metabolic inefficiency. You might not feel “sick,” but your cells are likely working below their potential.

🍎 Prevention Is the Highest Form of Medicine

When you’re healthy, your goal shifts from correction to preservation. The body’s systems — from mitochondrial energy production to DNA repair — depend on an uninterrupted supply of micronutrients and antioxidants. Supporting that foundation through smart supplementation can help you:

  • Maintain cellular resilience against oxidative stress and inflammation (Nutrients, 2020).

  • Enhance cognitive and metabolic performance during high-demand periods (Frontiers in Nutrition, 2021).

  • Slow the biological aging process by supporting mitochondrial health and NAD+ metabolism (Aging Cell, 2022).

These are not disease claims — they’re evidence-based principles of functional longevity.

⚖️ The Daly Certified Perspective

At Daly Certified, we don’t view supplements as “medicine.” We view them as maintenance and optimization tools for modern living — ways to keep your physiology running at the level it was designed for before processed foods, nutrient-depleted soil, artificial light, and chronic stress entered the picture.

You don’t start replacing your car’s oil after the engine fails — you maintain it so it never does. The same logic applies to human health.

🧠 Why It Still Matters for You

If you’re healthy today, the goal isn’t to “fix” anything — it’s to stay that way, and ideally, to feel even better. Optimal energy, focus, sleep, mood, and immunity aren’t accidents; they’re the byproduct of supporting every layer of your biology before something breaks.

Smart supplementation helps keep your nutrient reserves topped off, your cells defended, and your systems communicating efficiently. It’s not a replacement for diet, movement, or lifestyle — it’s the modern scaffolding that helps those things work better together.

🚀 The Bottom Line

You don’t take supplements because you’re broken.
You take them because you’re aware — because you understand that being “healthy” in today’s world requires active maintenance, not passive hope.

Why not just listen to my doctor when it comes to my health and supplements?

Most people only see their doctor after something’s already gone wrong. By that point, the conversation usually turns into: “Which medication can manage your symptoms?” — not, “How can we actually support your body to heal on a deeper level?”

Supplements aren’t meant to replace medicine. They’re meant to fill that huge gap between ‘you’re fine’ and ‘you’re sick.’ They help optimize nutrient levels, reduce chronic inflammation, and support your body’s natural ability to heal and regulate itself.

From my experience working with a ton of people and looking at their charts, one thing became obvious fast: the more medications someone is on, the sicker they are. Medications aren’t fixing the root problem — they’re just putting a band-aid on it.

Here’s the kicker: not all supplements are created equal. Many products are underdosed, use forms your body can’t absorb, or aren’t tested for purity. That’s exactly why Daly Certified exists — to find the supplements that are actually worth your time and money, and meet high standards for quality, transparency, and bioavailability.

Doctors (and nurses of course, go nurses!) are amazing — they save lives every day. But most don’t have the time (or specific training) to dig into nutrition, supplement quality, or how specific compounds interact with your body on a biochemical level. Overall, doctors receive an average of 19.6 contact hours of nutrition instruction during their medical school careers (Devries et al., 2014). That’s where Daly Certified steps in — bridging the gap between “what your doctor tells you to take” and “what your body actually needs to perform at its best.”

Also, let’s be real: supplements are basically required these days. Thanks to soil depletion, processed foods, and modern living, it’s nearly impossible to get all the nutrients you need from food alone. Sure, if you were hunting and gathering in the forest, drinking pure stream water, breathing clean air, and living in a tight-knit community — maybe you could get away without supplements. But that’s not most of us. 99% of people need them to cover the gaps and to optimize the body.

Why isn’t every product that I recommend in liposomal form?

It’s a fair question — if liposomal delivery enhances absorption, why not make everything liposomal? The answer, like most things in biology and biochemistry, is nuanced. Not every nutrient needs that delivery system, and sometimes, chasing the “latest tech” can mean overcomplicating or even compromising the product.

🧬 What “Liposomal” Actually Means

“Liposomal” refers to a delivery form in which the nutrient is encased inside microscopic phospholipid bubbles (liposomes). These tiny spheres mimic cell membranes, allowing certain nutrients to bypass harsh digestive environments and enter the bloodstream more efficiently. In other words, liposomes are a way to protect and transport delicate compounds that are normally broken down, poorly absorbed, or unstable in the gut.

For compounds like vitamin C, glutathione, and certain plant polyphenols, this delivery system can significantly improve bioavailability — in some cases by several fold (Nanomedicine, 2021). That’s powerful science — when it’s applied appropriately.

⚖️ But More Is Not Always Better

Here’s the reality: not every nutrient benefits from liposomal delivery, and in some cases, it may be unnecessary, wasteful, or even less ideal.

  • Many minerals and amino acids are already highly absorbable in their chelated or free-form states. Wrapping them in phospholipids adds cost and complexity without meaningful improvement

  • Fat-soluble vitamins (like A, D, E, and K) are naturally absorbed with dietary fats — essentially nature’s original “liposomal” system

  • Some compounds, like magnesium or zinc, rely on specific intestinal transporters rather than passive diffusion, meaning a liposome won’t necessarily improve uptake

And perhaps most importantly — liposomal quality control in the supplement industry is still uneven. True, pharmaceutical-grade liposomes require precision: particle size, stability, and encapsulation efficiency all matter. Unfortunately, many “liposomal” supplements on the market today don’t actually contain verified liposomes when tested. That’s why a blanket “liposomal is best” mentality can mislead more than it helps.

💰 Cost, Stability, and Practicality

Producing genuine liposomal products requires specialized equipment, stabilizing agents, and cold-chain storage, which dramatically increases manufacturing costs. If a nutrient is already well absorbed in another bioavailable form — for instance, magnesium glycinate, N-acetyl-cysteine, or B12 methylcobalamin — then forcing a liposomal form can raise the price without improving the outcome. At Daly Certified, we prioritize effectiveness per dollar, not just trend appeal.

🧠 The Daly Certified Framework

Our approach is simple: use the right delivery system for the right nutrient — no more, no less.

We evaluate whether a liposomal form is scientifically justified, clinically validated, and cost-efficient for the consumer. If it checks all three boxes, we’ll recommend it. If not, we choose the best alternative — whether that’s a phytosome complex, chelated mineral, coenzyme form, or standard capsule — based on what the evidence supports.

💡 The Takeaway

Liposomal technology is an incredible advancement — when used where it belongs. But making everything liposomal isn’t science; it’s marketing.

Our goal isn’t to follow trends — it’s to follow evidence, to protect your wallet, and to recommend what actually works. Because not every nutrient needs a high-tech delivery system — some just need to be in the right form, at the right dose, from a company you can trust.