"Magnesium deficiency alone plays a role in every single disease that we’ve found. Minerals, not vitamins, are much more important to the body."
Barton Scott
EFR 471: The Dangers of Mineral Deficiency and How to Improve Nutrient Absorption in the Body with Barton Scott
Barton Scott is a chemical engineer and nutritionist. In 2025, he founded Upgraded Formulas, a company offering a line of supplements “that are 100% bioavailable and are absorbed better by the body than any other brand on the market today.”
Our bodies, Barton claims, only “absorb about 25% or less” of most supplements on the market. This fact, he says, is less telling of what is and isn’t in most of today’s supplements and more of a reflection of how inefficient our bodies are at absorbing the nutrients in them.
In fact, this inefficiency is only going to get worse for many as certain trends of modern living continue to wreak havoc on their gut health. From bad diets to excess drinking to living stressful lives, a variety of factors that too many people today are familiar with contribute to gut dysfunction.
“Because of that,” continues Barton, “I knew that trying to heal the gut was not going to be enough.”
Listen in as Barton reflects on the personal experiences which would lead to the founding of Upgraded Formulas. He also shares some hard-to-swallow pills regarding mineral deficiency and what we all need to focus on to fill common nutrient gaps.
Follow Barton @askbarton
Follow Upgraded Formulas @upgradedformulas
Follow Chase @chase_chewning
Key Highlights
Barton shares why he used to feel that he was nutritionally lacking in spite of him living what he considered at the time to be a healthy and active lifestyle.
Which popular supplements are totally unnecessary to take?
Which nutrients should we be most focused on getting enough of, and in what quantities?
Powerful Quotes by Barton Scott
When you take a normal supplement, you absorb about 25% or less of that supplement and that’s because our bodies are not perfectly efficient and they’re not going to be. In fact, with the world as polluted as it is, [our bodies’ ability to absorb nutrients is] probably going to get worse and worse.
The world right now is a thousand times more toxic than at any other time in recorded history.
If a woman who is iodine deficient gives birth to a child, that child will have, on average, an IQ that is 20 points lower than their mother’s.
Episode resources:
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