Episode 185
James Schmachtenberger:How One Inexpensive Mineral Makes All The Difference In Your Battle Against Inflammation And Autoimmunity
James Schmachtenberger:
How One Inexpensive Mineral Makes All The Difference In Your Battle Against Inflammation And Autoimmunity
Could your persistent symptoms be linked to a simple mineral deficiency?
In my conversation with James Schmactenberger, we uncover why over half the population is dangerously low in magnesium and how this affects everything from brain fog to sleep problems.
Discover why your current supplement might not be working and the surprising solution that could transform your healing journey.
In my conversation with James Schmactenberger, we uncover why over half the population is dangerously low in magnesium and how this affects everything from brain fog to sleep problems.
Discover why your current supplement might not be working and the surprising solution that could transform your healing journey.
First Aired on: Mar 31, 2025
Episode 185
James Schmachtenberger:How One Inexpensive Mineral Makes All The Difference In Your Battle Against Inflammation And Autoimmunity
James Schmachtenberger:
How One Inexpensive Mineral Makes All The Difference In Your Battle Against Inflammation And Autoimmunity
Could your persistent symptoms be linked to a simple mineral deficiency?
In my conversation with James Schmactenberger, we uncover why over half the population is dangerously low in magnesium and how this affects everything from brain fog to sleep problems.
Discover why your current supplement might not be working and the surprising solution that could transform your healing journey.
In my conversation with James Schmactenberger, we uncover why over half the population is dangerously low in magnesium and how this affects everything from brain fog to sleep problems.
Discover why your current supplement might not be working and the surprising solution that could transform your healing journey.
First Aired on: Mar 31, 2025
In this episode:
In this episode:
In this enlightening episode, James Schmactenberger returns to share his expertise on how magnesium—an often overlooked mineral—can be a game-changer for anyone dealing with inflammation and autoimmunity. With more than half the population deficient in this critical nutrient, James explains why magnesium is essential for virtually every biological function and how modern living has dramatically reduced our natural intake. You'll discover how different forms of magnesium target specific tissues, the important distinction between bioavailability and bioretention, and why Qualia's innovative approach could transform your health outcomes.
Introduction
James Schmactenberger is the founder of Qualia, a company focused on creating cutting-edge health supplements. In this episode, we explore the critical importance of magnesium, why most people are deficient, and how the right supplementation approach can support better brain function, stress resilience, sleep quality, and digestive health.
Episode Highlights
Why Magnesium Deficiency Is So Common
James explains why over half the population is deficient in magnesium despite its critical importance.
- Modern water filtration strips minerals including magnesium from our drinking water
- Filtered water without minerals can actually pull minerals out of your body
- Topsoil depletion and poor agricultural practices have reduced magnesium in our food
- Even those eating a healthy diet are likely not getting enough magnesium
The Critical Difference Between Bioavailability and Bioretention
James reveals why the industry focus on "bioavailability" is often misleading when it comes to magnesium supplements.
- Bioavailability only measures if magnesium gets into the bloodstream
- What really matters is bioretention - how much magnesium gets into and is utilized by tissues
- Many popular magnesium forms have no research showing they're actually used by tissues
- Qualia researched which magnesium forms are proven to reach specific tissues like brain and muscle
Common Signs of Magnesium Deficiency
James outlines key symptoms that might indicate you need more magnesium.
- Muscle soreness and cramping are common indicators of deficiency
- Increased stress levels and difficulty managing stress
- Sleep problems and inability to relax
- Digestive issues including constipation and poor motility
- Brain fog and cognitive difficulties
The Stress-Magnesium Cycle
James explains the vicious cycle between stress and magnesium deficiency.
- Stress causes the body to burn through magnesium reserves
- Magnesium deficiency makes it harder for the nervous system to regulate
- Without adequate magnesium, you become more susceptible to stress
- This creates a downward spiral of increasing stress and depleting magnesium
- Proper supplementation can help break this cycle
Why Different Forms of Magnesium Matter
James describes why Qualia's magnesium product includes nine different forms of magnesium.
- Different forms of magnesium impact different tissues and body systems
- Single-form supplements may leave certain tissues deficient
- Magnesium acetyl taurinate is shown to reach and benefit brain tissue
- Magnesium aspartate has research showing it helps reduce noise-related hearing loss
- Including 70+ trace minerals mimics how we would naturally get magnesium in nature
How Magnesium Supports Brain Health
James details the critical role magnesium plays in cognitive function.
- Synaptic firing in the brain requires the right mineral composition
- Magnesium is disproportionately important for synapse function
- Affects memory recall, creative thinking, and overall cognitive performance
- Can help reduce brain fog associated with inflammatory conditions
- Certain forms are specifically designed to cross the blood-brain barrier
Magnesium's Role in Digestive Health
James explains how magnesium supports healthy digestion.
- Supports peristalsis - the squeezing motion that moves food through the digestive tract
- Can help relieve constipation without the downsides of laxatives
- Unlike laxatives, it supports nutrient absorption rather than hurrying food through too quickly
- Offers a gentler, more natural approach to improving motility
Notable Quotes from this Episode
Even for the people who actually pay a lot of attention to diet, which not everyone does, even if you are eating really good food, there's still a good chance that your body's just not getting enough magnesium.
James Schmactenberger
The more stress that we have, the more that the body burns through magnesium. And then when you have deficiency, then the nervous system can't self regulate and come back into balance or into homeostasis. So having the right amount of magnesium will make you less likely to be stressed.
James Schmactenberger
For us, we think of longevity maybe a little bit more complex or nuanced than many, like it's not just how long do you live, but how healthy, how vibrantly do you live, which can we extend the highly functioning, happy version, not extend bedridden.
James Schmactenberger
Other Resources:
Other Resources:
Connect with James Schmachtenberger
Connect with James Schmachtenberger
Watch this interview:
Watch this interview:
Episode Transcript
James Schmactenberger:[00:00:00] Very commonly if there's what seems like more muscle soreness than there should be for what you're doing, and especially if there's cramping, that's usually a sign that the muscles aren't getting enough magnesium. Some of the other really big ones are around stress and sleep, which I kind of say those together because though they are distinctly different, they also aren't play together for most people, the most common reason that they don't sleep well is excess stress. We live in a world that is just stressful.
[00:01:00]
Julie Michelson: Welcome back to The Inspired Living with Autoimmunity podcast. I'm your host, Julie Michelson, and today we're joined once again by James Schmactenberger. A successful serial entrepreneur with a lifelong focus on using business and innovation to affect large scale change for the benefit of humanity. James is the co-founder and CEO of Quail Life, a company focused on making groundbreaking products for health and wellbeing through complex system science.
Julie Michelson: His areas of expertise include nootropics. Anti-aging and regenerative medicine, sleep and fast-paced entrepreneurialism. If you haven't listened to episodes 63 and 1 0 4, I invite you to go back and give a listen. In today's episode, we are talking about magnesium and the critical role it plays in literally every organ.
Julie Michelson: James shares his knowledge with [00:02:00] us in a way that makes sense and is easy to understand. If you're interested in trying Qualia Life's Magnesium Plus product, you can use Code Michelson at checkout for 15% off.
Julie Michelson: James, welcome back to the podcast.
James Schmactenberger: Thanks. Great to be back. And always good to see you.
Julie Michelson: Always good to see you. It's, it's been too long. Um, but I am really excited for our conversation. I was already telling you, I, I, I know when I get to talk to you, I get to learn a lot. Um, and I, I just am really, really, really excited.
Julie Michelson: To a have you back on, but, but B learn about magnesium because I know how important it is. I knew a fair amount about it. Um, just, you know, some of the more common forms and what they're used for, but, um, I always know that if you guys are [00:03:00] putting out a product. You're doing it better. So why let's even just start there.
Julie Michelson: Um, why did you guys decide to make a magnesium product?
James Schmactenberger: You know, it's interesting because it's a little bit of a different type of thing than what we've historically made, um, you know, a little bit simpler. Um, and so originally I was, I was questionable whether or not we should do it until I actually had an opportunity to dive in some deep conversation with our science team and they started to explain to me everything I didn't know about magnesium, which turns out to be a tremendous amount.
James Schmactenberger: Um, but I think there's a, there's a few key things like magnesium is one of the most. Common things that people supplement and for good reason, right? There's all kinds of studies that show that Over half of the population is deficient in magnesium, um, and so people aren't getting it adequately from their food, they're not getting it from their water, um, and [00:04:00] actually that, that's a big piece that I think is often maybe under emphasized, is that, you know, naturally getting water, it has large amounts of magnesium, other minerals, minerals.
James Schmactenberger: Um, but because a lot of the people are focused on filtering their water, which they should be because normal water has a lot of
Julie Michelson: other, yeah,
James Schmactenberger: the process of filtering it then strips out somewhere between most and all of the mineral content. And when you're drinking water that doesn't have any minerals.
James Schmactenberger: It can actually have an adverse reaction, which is it will strip minerals out of your body. And so knowing that people just aren't getting it from water, which was historically where a lot of it would come from. And then, you know, with things like topsoil depletion and just Bad forms of agriculture that we use, [00:05:00] there's very little nutrient density, very little mineral magnesium content in the food.
James Schmactenberger: So even for the people who actually pay a lot of attention to diet, which You know, not
Julie Michelson: hopefully more of us, but
James Schmactenberger: like, even if you are eating really good food, there's still a good chance that your body's just not getting enough magnesium. Yeah. Then it's important for almost every biological function. So it was one of those things that was like, okay, it, you know, it, it's something that virtually everyone needs.
James Schmactenberger: Every, not everyone, but a large portion of the population is deficient in. And though there are some pretty good magnesium products on the market, as we really dove into looking at most of them, there were a lot of just common issues that we saw where, you know, there would either be like a lot of the products are a single form of magnesium, which Um, is [00:06:00] can be good if you really know what you're doing, uh, most part, you know, different forms of magnesium impact different parts of the body differently.
James Schmactenberger: And so if you're only taking one form, there's a good chance that they're still going to be deficiencies in certain tissue types. Um, even if certain, even if, you know, some tissues are getting everything that they need, others aren't. Right. And then one of the things that, and this was something I didn't know at all until we started the R& D process on this, um, but really stood out to me was this, this concept of bioavailability, right?
James Schmactenberger: It's, it's like a buzzword in the industry. People talk about it all the time and it's really heavily talked about when it comes to magnesium, you know, is it a bioavailable form of magnesium? I used to think that was important until we actually got into the science and I came to realize that for the [00:07:00] most part, this idea of bioavailability makes no difference, right?
James Schmactenberger: Because the way that bioavailability is tested is you take a thing. And then they test your blood levels and see, is that thing in your blood in higher concentration? And you would think that that would mean something, but what turns out when you get deeper and deeper into the research is that what really matters is what's often referred to as bioretention, right?
James Schmactenberger: Not just how much of the magnesium can get into the bloodstream, but how much can actually get into and be utilized by the tissues. And as we started to dig into the research on that, a lot of the magnesium that was on the market, though it might be highly bioavailable, actually has no research that shows that it gets into or is utilized by tissues.
James Schmactenberger: Um, and so that was an area that we really dove deeply into and pulled. You know, every preclinical and clinical study [00:08:00] that had ever been done on any form of magnesium and looked at, you know, which ones actually have evidence to show that they get into muscle tissue and are utilized that get into brain tissue and are utilized versus just getting into your blood.
James Schmactenberger: And then getting filtered out and expelled, excreted.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Yeah. Um, which is amazing. And I'm kind of giggling because I, I have, you know, I always do my research. I like to learn a little bit before you show up. Um, and I have always, I like the word bioavailability, right? Like it's a, it's a great marketing word.
Julie Michelson: Um, and uh, It's the bio retention testing process is not something, you know, we're going to do at home. So, and again, it's still kind of a little bit based on assumption [00:09:00] where, you know, because you don't really know, we're all so different, right? Like, I, I feel like, well, you know, I. I may not get it into my cells as well as you do, um, but you know, I love, I, again, it was like right away, okay, here's, here's one up level, um, and, and.
Julie Michelson: Right. You know, and then again we'll talk about, you know, the, the variety of the forms and we're not gonna, this isn't going to be a deep dive because I know you don't have three hours to share with us. Um, but I have a question about, because I do, I agree so far with everything you've said and see all the time, the, the, sometimes it's really Kind of easy to see if somebody is deficient in, or could be helped by supplementing with magnesium.
Julie Michelson: Um, and, and I'd love to [00:10:00] touch on the, the, the common ones. Um, is there anyone who shouldn't supplement with, I mean, to me, it's so important for every organ. Why wouldn't you? Take magnesium
James Schmactenberger: for the most part. There's not really a good reason that someone wouldn't like. I mean, there are extreme outlier cases that could exist always.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Disclaimer. Yep.
James Schmactenberger: Right. Like, I guess it is possible that if you had way too much of certain forms of like non chelated magnesium that you could build up toxic levels, but like, there's not realistic ways that most people would end up in that situation. Really? Like from a functional medicine perspective, you often do heavy metal testing, right?
James Schmactenberger: You end up with way too much mercury or cobalt. Magnesium doesn't really function that way. So for the most part, [00:11:00] even if your levels are healthy and you take magnesium, you won't get as much benefit as someone who doesn't have healthy levels, but you're not going to cause harm. Gotcha. Well,
Julie Michelson: and I guess the thing that, that my perspective is.
Julie Michelson: If we know literally like our whole body needs it and different parts need different forms. I mean, even I, and I'm pretty hardcore, I'm not going to test, you know, which for, you know what I mean? Like I still am not going to know if, if I'm low in certain types of magnesium, I know I feel better. with certain types of magnesium.
Julie Michelson: Um, let's, let's talk a little bit about the, the really common, I would call signs, um, that you might be magnesium deficient or symptoms that often improve with supplementing with magnesium. Um, cause you guys, you guys have a [00:12:00] good list and definitely the things I see, you know, with my clients and we see at the clinic are on that list.
Julie Michelson: So share with us. Some indicators that maybe some magnesium is, is warranted.
James Schmactenberger: Well, there's several because, you know, because magnesium impacts virtually everything in the body, there's going to be signs or symptoms that show up kind of everywhere. But, but I would say the most common things that people would likely notice, um, If muscle soreness and muscle cramping would be really common signs, and so every, all the things I'm about to talk about could also be caused by other stuff.
James Schmactenberger: Of course. Like this body is just that simple as we know, but very commonly if there's what seems like more muscle soreness than there should be for what you're doing, and especially if there's cramping, that's usually a sign that the muscles aren't getting enough [00:13:00] magnesium. Um, some of the other really big ones are around stress and sleep, um, which I kind of say those together because though they are distinctly different, they also aren't, they hit, they play together, you know, for most people, the most common reason that they don't sleep well is excess stress.
Julie Michelson: And what does stress do to our magnesium levels?
James Schmactenberger: Right. So the more stress that we have, the more that the body burns through magnesium. And then when you have deficiency, then the nervous system can't self regulate and come back into balance or into homeostasis. So having the right amount of magnesium will make you less likely to be stressed.
James Schmactenberger: It'll give you more capacity to adapt to stress, which really, I think, is one of the ultimate goals that everyone should have.
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
James Schmactenberger: We live in a world that is just stressful.
Julie Michelson: Please. Everyone. Yeah. Um,
James Schmactenberger: so trying to avoid [00:14:00] stress, you know, unless we're all going to become hermits and go live in a cave is really hard.
James Schmactenberger: So then how do we increase our capacity to adapt to the stress of life? Um, though there's, you know, all kinds of. Things around that magnesium really does play a key role there because of the functions that it plays in allowing the nervous system to regulate to Sort of calm or soften itself Um, and it has this, and if, if that's not there, then it has this vicious cycle, right?
James Schmactenberger: Because if you don't have magnesium, you're going to be more likely to be stressed. And then in being stressed, you're going to burn up the magnesium reserves that you have, which is going to make you even more stressed and then not have what you need to be able to get out of that state.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. That's not good.
Julie Michelson: Not ideal. Yeah. And definitely impacts. I like that. I like that. You put stress and sleep [00:15:00] together. Cause I don't think we can ever detangle those two either. Um, cause obviously when we're really stressed, we're not sleeping, but also when we're not sleeping, it's hard to get out of the stress state. So, um, yeah.
Julie Michelson: I don't know. I, what else? I know there, there's one, we use mag, magnesium, um, as, as a gut tool at the clinic.
James Schmactenberger: Yeah. So that would be the other most common area would be around GI support. Um, and you know, magnesium does a lot of things, but one of the things particularly that it does in GI health is it, it increases or supports peristalsis.
James Schmactenberger: Um, right. So that's for people who peristalsis is basically the. The squeezing motion that your GI system does to move food down and through it, um,
Julie Michelson: I'll dumb it down. Motility. Yeah.
James Schmactenberger: Perfect.
Julie Michelson: Motility. Yeah.
James Schmactenberger: Yeah. Basically without adequate magnesium. body can't [00:16:00] do motility or peristalsis effectively, um, and then that often will, you know, result in people feeling constipated or bloated or just like they're not.
James Schmactenberger: digesting well. And then that
Julie Michelson: leads to all the other downstream. If you're constipated, then you're going to, you know, you're not detoxing. Well, it's the, and, and, and, but it, it is interesting, you know, I mean, people will come in and, you know, have spent years on laxatives or, and I'm like, no, no, no, no, no.
Julie Michelson: Here's a bottle of magnesium. Let's just give your body what it needs, you know? And so for people that. I tend to have a history of that kind of stop and start challenge. Um, that's like the first order of go. I, I, I think from my perspective is like, why wouldn't you take magnesium that's supporting your body?[00:17:00]
Julie Michelson: You know, but people don't know. It's usually
James Schmactenberger: where I would start, right? Yeah. I mean, not solve everything. No,
Julie Michelson: but as a tool. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
James Schmactenberger: Um, you know, if, if someone is dealing with slow digestion or with constipation and they go to laxatives, you know, obviously it depends on the laxative, but in many cases, like that's just going to move things through so quickly that you're then for one dealing with the inverse, which is also like, if you're moving food through too quickly, your body doesn't actually have the time to be able to absorb all the nutrients, which is kind of the whole point of digestion.
Julie Michelson: Supposed to be. Yes.
James Schmactenberger: Right.
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
James Schmactenberger: Um, so that's where magnesium will usually in, in the majority of cases address that need in a way that not only doesn't hurt, but it's likely to actually help nutrient absorption.
Julie Michelson: I, I just had to sing it again. We're not telling we're [00:18:00] not. Diagnosing or treating anybody for anything, but it, you know, the just that tendency to to find something simple that doesn't have the downsides.
Julie Michelson: Um. And then the bonus is you're getting magnesium. So, and for those that, you know, again, certain forms do certain things. So, um, I don't have motility issues. I don't take mag citrate that, you know, unless it's in a blend in a little tiny bit. Right. But, um, how about brain health? Because as a recode reticent protocol.
Julie Michelson: cognition coach. It's important to me and somebody who's had some pretty good head injuries. Um, brain health is, is important. And, and again, kind of like sleep and stress goes to hand in hand with aging well. Yeah. Um, and you [00:19:00] guys have up leveled, I think the, the game when it comes to your product and, and, and the brain health.
Julie Michelson: So tell us a little bit about that. Cause I feel like that's another yet. And the list is really long of ways that this is different and, and, you know, um, but let's talk about that a little bit.
James Schmactenberger: Well, I mean, brain health, as you know, is an area that's of a lot of importance to us. That's where our whole company started was focused on, on brain health.
James Schmactenberger: Um, and you know, our cognitive products always had, um, magnesium as one of the, the many things happening there. Um, but, you know, I think, I think where it comes to magnesium, particularly there's. There's a lot of different impacts, but probably the most significant one that comes to mind for me is that synaptic firing can't happen effectively without enough magnesium, right?
James Schmactenberger: The way that the brain synapses [00:20:00] fire, they're sending essentially electrical signals at incredibly fast rates all of the time. But in order for that to happen, there has to be the right sort of mineral composition, composition for those signals to be able to transmit from one area to another. Um, and the rate at which synaptic firing is able to occur is going to be a huge determiner of the overall quality of Brain health, but it's going to play into things like, you know, how good is someone's recall?
James Schmactenberger: Like when you're speaking, are you grasping for a word or is it right there? Um, right. When you're trying to do creative ideation, does it get fuzzy or are you able to, you know, start to quickly illuminate ideas that you're wanting to think about? And that's very much going to be. Either positively or [00:21:00] negatively impacted based on really overall mineral levels, but disproportionately magnesium to other things.
Julie Michelson: Okay. And again, to me, it's so simple. Um, I, and I, I, I am one of the people that took your original product. Twice a day back way back when, when, when it was the empty stomach, full stomach. Um, so I, I, I too have always really valued and prioritized brain health, um, especially and, and. You know, this is for listeners.
Julie Michelson: We're doing this for listeners, right? When, when my autoimmunity was out of control and my inflammation was so systemic, my brain fog was so bad. Um, and, and so that, that's how I got into this whole idea of, wow, brain health is really important. As my brain started [00:22:00] to work again, I went down the rabbit hole and that was why I, I took the, the complicated 800 capsules.
Julie Michelson: No, I'm kidding. It was, what was it like a dozen or something?
James Schmactenberger: Yeah. That, that first product was.
Julie Michelson: Yep.
James Schmactenberger: 12 capsules.
Julie Michelson: Yep.
James Schmactenberger: Um, so, you know, but again. It's always a challenge for us, right? We're, we're trying to formulate for the absolute most effective thing that could exist for us, but then to do that, we're dealing with a large number of ingredients in full functional doses, but then you have to balance that against how many capsules is someone willing to take.
James Schmactenberger: Right.
Julie Michelson: Seven. Yep. Seven. Is a good number for one product. Um, and, and I know I tell people ask me that all the time too. Well, you know, well, why is it? I'm like, because, and I do know, I remember, oh my goodness, you guys were near us back in London. So what was that? [00:23:00] 2019. Um, And I remember, which was cute, and this is where we're all different, right, when I was saying, like, stuff might not get into my cells as well as it does for somebody else.
Julie Michelson: Um, one of, one of my friends that was working at the conference with us literally, I think, took, she was like, oh, I could only take one.
James Schmactenberger: So
Julie Michelson: she, she, she would take, and it was like, wow, you know, so maybe you don't need seven. Everybody's different, but, um, that is where I think you guys just outshine everybody is.
Julie Michelson: In the blends, right, like finding ways to do something better, bringing together ingredients, you know, that are synergistic and, and enhance, you know, response. So, um, that was why when I first found out you were doing a magnesium product, I was like, what? [00:24:00] Um, and, but I do think, I think a lot of people. know that certain forms of magnesium can cross the blood brain barrier and certain don't.
Julie Michelson: Um, or, you know, there are certain forms that are targeted for brain sleep. Um, but I, again, I was not even familiar with some of the forms that are, that are And you're in the qualia. So it was like, okay,
James Schmactenberger: well, you know, it's interesting too, because people, a lot of people, because magnesium is such a popular supplement, a lot of people do have some basic familiarity with, you know, this form is for this purpose.
James Schmactenberger: This form is for this purpose. Um, but interestingly. Most of what you see out in the field is purely a marketing story that doesn't have any science that validates that. Right? So like there are certain forms that are commonly promoted for, um, brain health that [00:25:00] actually have never had any studies to see definitively do they cross the blood brainin barrier?
Julie Michelson: Come on.
James Schmactenberger: Someone had a theory that it would and then made really good marketing copy around that, that then everyone just sort of bel believed and ran with. And it may or may not do that, but it's just not actually known because it was never actually studied. So that's one of the areas that we do tend to differ a lot from companies.
James Schmactenberger: We don't, we never rely on the word of mouth, well, word of mouth, but also like even the literature that comes with like a raw material, we don't rely on that because. It's often the sort of marketing spin on the actual underlying science. And so, like, part of why our R& D process is so much, maybe longer and more complicated than most people think is we actually read the entirety of every study.
James Schmactenberger: We don't rely on the abstract, [00:26:00] because the abstract is often not The same and sometimes be
Julie Michelson: misleading.
James Schmactenberger: Yes. What the underlying study data shows? Um,
Julie Michelson: interesting. Well, and I, I, that's one of the, another thing I've always loved about you guys is like for anyone listening, hop on the website. You know, you have studies there.
Julie Michelson: You, you know, you share. the data, real data. Um, and then I always have fun. I had so much fun reading the reviews for, for the product. Um, if I wasn't already familiar with you guys, I would be like, Oh, come on, it can't be that good. Um, but you know, your, your products really people feel a difference. Um, and which is, you know, is amazing.
Julie Michelson: So we're stripping most of us and myself included. I have a whole house water filter. I, you know, but I do [00:27:00] add minerals back in. Um, and so I do like my water clean and I know I need my minerals. Um, I just got myself off track. What was I going to say? What was I going to talk about there? I totally don't even remember.
Julie Michelson: Good talk. I'm sorry.
James Schmactenberger: I said, it's all good.
Julie Michelson: I didn't take I didn't take my magnesium this morning. Look at that. It's like, where did it go?
James Schmactenberger: Just going back to the brain piece for a minute. Um, you know, there are, there are a couple forms of magnesium that actually do have real problems regarding their ability to affect the brain.
James Schmactenberger: And so at least 2 of the forms that we included, um, are as a result of that, right? So one is the magnesium acetyl chlorate. Um, that one actually has studies being able to show that it gets into and is utilized by brain tissue. And then another one, and this, this one was really interesting to me when we [00:28:00] first started to dive in was, uh, magnesium aspartate.
James Schmactenberger: It's, um, Most of this, there was some cognitive studies, but most of the studies there were actually around, um, hearing and the effect that that particular form had on reducing noise related hearing loss. Which
Julie Michelson: I think is so important and, and, um, these days, as I talk to you with something in my ears, right.
Julie Michelson: And, and, you know, this, we won't get into a debate over that's not AirPods people, but, um, but in today's world, you know, the, the amount of noise exposure. People are getting where, you know, there's literally things are in your ears, making noise, probably as you're listening to this, um, I think is, is a really big shift, number [00:29:00] one, but also back to cognition, hearing is so important for cognition and preventing cognitive decline, or, you know, it's so impactful, you know, um, Uh, it's, there's definitely a correlation and, and I believe, you know, some, some good data on causation as well, uh, you know, as, so if you have something that can help with that when we're all bombarded, again, it's like stress, right?
Julie Michelson: Like we really can't get away from noise anymore. Um, you know, I have to work at a firing range to, to feel like, Oh, you know, Oh, my, my, my ears. So I, I love that you guys are, and, and that was something I learned that through you all. I didn't know that. Um, you know, I, I, again, I was familiar with certain forms of magnesium and not, not others.
Julie Michelson: Um, and I did get my thought back right away, but I didn't [00:30:00] want to interrupt you. Where I was going with it is not only do you guys have, you know, this, this amazing variety of, and not just, you know, to say you have a number, right? Like curated, specific, intentional. Forms of magnesium, but the minerals, because, you know, why, why would you also add all those minerals?
James Schmactenberger: Yeah. So, yes, we've got in this product nine distinctly different forms of magnesium. Um, right out of, I don't know if anyone knows exactly how many forms there are. I'm aware of at least 28 forms. Um, and so of that, you know, we chose the nine that had the greatest research that allowed us to Address the sort of maximum tissue types.
James Schmactenberger: Uh, but then we also are including, um, you know, 70 plus trace minerals. And that's all for that is it's sort of multifold. One is, [00:31:00] you know, in, in the world in which we live today, we'd like to think about things in sort of narrow kind of reductionist ways, right? This thing, good. It does this, you know, and though there's some truth to it.
James Schmactenberger: It's. Human biology is so much more complex than that. And like, the body doesn't just rely on magnesium. It relies on magnesium with small amounts of other minerals, right? Throughout history, the way we would have gotten our minerals through water, through food, wouldn't have just had magnesium. It always would have had a complex of trace minerals.
James Schmactenberger: And so we're essentially trying to mimic nature as best as we can. And then I
Julie Michelson: think that's brilliant.
James Schmactenberger: I mean, that's a big part of our sort of formulation or design philosophy. Right. We're the more and more that I learned about health [00:32:00] and the body as years go on. I'm just continuously more impressed by how much innate brilliance is there.
James Schmactenberger: And, you know, when, with our company, when we think about formulation, the idea of trying to make the body do something that it's not designed to makes no sense to me. What makes sense is how do we study and understand the way that the body is actually designed to function, how it's designed to interface with nature, and then how do we support and optimize it to do what it already does just better, and to do what it would naturally do when not affected by all of the stressors, chemicals, modern, yeah, living today, right?
James Schmactenberger: So how do we help? The body's natural processes adapt to the world that it's not naturally adapted to.
Julie Michelson: Yeah, well, and I think that is how we all could move toward [00:33:00] reclaiming wellness, right? There's a reason why autoimmunity is on the rise. There's a reason why chronic illness is on the rise. There's, you know, and, and so at least that's been my road.
Julie Michelson: Like the, the closer you can get to how we were designed to live. And again, Without going to live in a cave, um, you know, it's, it, it just makes so much sense right to me. Um, and, and it works and we see it work. And
James Schmactenberger: it's funny because you see things like, I think it was last year, there was some big study that came out.
James Schmactenberger: About all the benefits of forest bathing, which basically means just being out in the trees. And, you know, we had to do the large scale multi million dollar study to basically prove to ourselves that being in nature is good. Um,
Julie Michelson: right.
James Schmactenberger: But, you know, when you see it, it's like, well, [00:34:00] duh, but now we get to quantify all of the things that it's good for.
James Schmactenberger: Right. So science and research is in many ways just helping to inform our minds about what we sort of innately already know.
Julie Michelson: Right. And can feel if we, if we tune in. You know, um, I know. I'm like, well, why can't we write that as prescriptions? They do in other countries. Why can't that be the prescription?
Julie Michelson: Forest bathing for you. Um, but yeah, I just think, and, and with our food system so depleted and, and again, even for those of us that eat well, even I, I, I don't go as far as, which I, Give me a year or two and I might, um, we grow a lot of food all summer and you know, I haven't gotten my soil tested. I'm amending it all the time and I'm, I'm, you know, um, not spraying stuff on it, but, and I'm rotating even in my garden.
Julie Michelson: I [00:35:00] don't plant the same thing in the same place every year. Um, but. I am somebody who believes in people if I try not to take my supplements out in public, unless we're like at one of the conferences that we see each other, because, you know, nobody would even blink. But when people see how many supplements I take, they're like, wow, you know, that's.
Julie Michelson: It's crazy. And I'm like, well, you know what? I feel great and I'd rather take this large quantity of supplements and feel great than be on the 10 prescriptions I used to be on and feel as bad as I felt, you know? And so it's, and I'm not saying everybody has, I'm just, these are just. tools, like you said, to help us do what we're designed to do naturally.
Julie Michelson: Um, and I, I, it is one of the ways [00:36:00] that you guys are different and the amount of time, energy, money you, you spend it to make your formulas, you know, truly the best you can make them is what makes them work so well. So we, you
James Schmactenberger: know, I, I started down this path probably similar to, you know, reasons that you and any other people get into the realm of functional medicine is, you know, started off with health conditions, um, you know, and in my case, a lot of them oriented around, um, GI issues, massive amounts of.
James Schmactenberger: Um, but then when I started getting into, okay, what do I do about this for one, it was so complicated to understand, especially when I was dealing with brain fog, it was virtually impossible.
Julie Michelson: Right.
James Schmactenberger: Um, and then even to the extent that I could force myself through and study and be like, okay, this, this [00:37:00] particular ingredient or supplement is going to be good for me.
James Schmactenberger: And I would take it and I wouldn't feel any better
Julie Michelson: because you probably weren't even absorbing it.
James Schmactenberger: Right. And, you know, and I had so many experiences where I spent all kinds of money, did all kinds of things that in theory were supposed to make me feel better, and they didn't. And you know, that, I mean, not only is it frustrating, but it can be kind of devastating, right?
James Schmactenberger: Like when you're, sure.
Julie Michelson: Cause you're pinning your hopes, you know. Time and time again, yeah.
James Schmactenberger: And so one of my goals was how do we, how do we build an organization that has the right scientists, the right different kinds of disciplines, the right expertise in the right combination, where we can do the really hard research that most people, even if they want to, aren't going to have the bandwidth or the underlying.
James Schmactenberger: Um, background round to make supplementation [00:38:00] effective, but also easy, right? Where if you want to research, you can go as deep down that rabbit hole as you want to on our website, we'll, you know, publish all kinds of stuff, but you don't necessarily have to, you can just say, you know, I want. my brain to work better, or my GI, or whatever it is.
James Schmactenberger: And we've put the cycles in to build something that will actually work.
Julie Michelson: Yeah, which is amazing. And, and for listeners, I do usually start with story, but since it was your third time on, I did not. So episode 63 is where James shares his journey that led him into, into this functional medicine world. Um, so let's talk a little bit about, I promised I was going to get you out on time.
Julie Michelson: We'll see if I can keep to my word here. Um, you guys did a pilot study. Cause again, and that's one of the things that I think that makes you all. Just above the rest. So share what what you saw in the pilot. And do you have a second study going now to [00:39:00]
James Schmactenberger: make that
Julie Michelson: up?
James Schmactenberger: Um, we're preparing another study on right now.
James Schmactenberger: But yeah, we do. So you know, one of the things that we do that is sort of unique is we once we formulate a product, we put all of them through a pilot study. before we decide to put it into manufacturing. And there we're looking at, um, you know, like safety and tolerability, make sure people don't have a negative reaction, but then also does it do the thing that it was intended to do?
James Schmactenberger: Um, right. Each study is a different structure because they all have different purposes. Um, And if in the, you know, product won't actually go to market if it hasn't been able to successfully go through a pilot study and do what it was supposed to do very well. Um, in this case, we, you know, we were doing a, what we refer to as like a magnesium deficiency questionnaire, right?
James Schmactenberger: So it's having, before people started the study, [00:40:00] they. You know, take it and that'd be looking at baseline results around things related to stress levels, sleep quality, muscle function, right? Um, and then do the products and for a period of time and then take it all again and look at where do all these things change.
James Schmactenberger: Um, and I, I don't remember the results offhand that they all are on our website, but it was, It was substantial, the difference that we were seeing, at least in the areas that we had an opportunity to study so far, right? So that initial study did look at things around sleep, um, stress, and GI, and all of them got dramatically better, like 40, 50, 60 percent improvements in like a month.
Julie Michelson: Which is amazing, really. And even as I was reading the reviews for the product, um, You know, the, the, which is, which is great. It's one thing [00:41:00] to take somebody who's magnesium deficient and, you know, maybe doesn't even know it and put them on a magnesium product or a really good one. And they really noticed something, but there were so many comments from people that are like finally a magnesium product where I can feel the difference.
Julie Michelson: And, and that speaks volumes because, you know, as somebody who plays around with a lot of stuff. Again, it's the, oh, when you, when you can do it better, you know, um, and it, and so the, it, it's real, like what you, what you guys do, you do so well, um, and, and, you know, it's, it's just fun to. learn from you all and, and get to benefit from your products.
Julie Michelson: I love the order too, that you guys have, have rolled your products out because, um, it has served my journey very well. [00:42:00] This is starting with the original. Yeah. So thanks. Starting, you know, with the original brain product is which I, as my brain was coming back online, we'll say, um. Clearly it still has the occasional glitch, but, um, yeah, I, I just, every, every, I've yet to try anything you guys have made and be like, Oh, couldn't really tell.
James Schmactenberger: That's that's the goal, right? And that's where those prelaunch studies come into play a lot of times is. You know, we don't actually want to launch something if it's not going to work for the vast majority of people. Now, it's not possible to make something that will work for everyone but our aim is usually to create something that will work for, you know, 90 plus percent of the population.
James Schmactenberger: And then if for some reason it doesn't, because human physiology is so wildly different, there are instances where a product isn't the right fit for somebody. [00:43:00] That's where, you know, it became important to me that people don't have to pay for it. Um, right. So we've, as a company,
Julie Michelson: integrity, yeah.
James Schmactenberger: A money back guarantee.
James Schmactenberger: And it's You know, I remember when I was young, I heard the story that in, um, I don't even know if it's true or not, but that in certain parts of China, that the medical system operated super differently where, um, you would pay your doctor whenever you were healthy, but you wouldn't pay them when you were sick because it meant they weren't doing their job well.
Julie Michelson: Wouldn't that be amazing if we adopted that approach here?
James Schmactenberger: I love it. And, you know, and to an extent, it's like, that's kind of what I'm trying to mimic where it's like, if the product works for you, then awesome pay for it. That makes our work. It funds research. If it doesn't work for you, then we'll give you your money back.
James Schmactenberger: And hopefully something else that we make will work for you, but we don't actually want you to end up stuck with paying for a [00:44:00] product that didn't make an impact.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Wow. Well, which is why, and, and literally everybody I've ever. Either met in person or had contact with, uh, on your team. Um, you just, you really have built a special, a special corporation.
Julie Michelson: Like the, just everyone is, is. It's just the word integrity is what keeps, you know, coming up. But also, I mean, bend over backwards, positive, just really good people. And so when you can find good humans that also do their job really well, I actually need to get some HR advice from you.
Julie Michelson: So what is next for Qualia?
James Schmactenberger: So much. Um, well, I mean, one product that we have launching really soon, probably by the time this airs is our joint health formula. So that's, that's coming up real soon. Um, [00:45:00] and, you know, again, you know, quite, quite an innovative approach to addressing COVID 19. You know, multiple different reasons that people will tend to have joint challenges.
James Schmactenberger: Um, so that, that one's coming up real soon. And then, you know, we're, we're very focused on the longevity side of things right now. Um, and you know, for us, we think of longevity, maybe A little bit more complex or nuanced than many, like it's not just how long do you live, but
Julie Michelson: how well
James Schmactenberger: healthy, how vibrantly do you live, which can we extend the, the highly functioning, happy version, not extend bedridden.
James Schmactenberger: So, so longevity for us is both a combination of how you feel now and what is its long term impact on health. Um, but yeah, we're in, we're in deep research around, um, stem cells. [00:46:00] We're, um, working on some concepts around How we can address all 12 hallmarks of aging, um, right. A number of our products right now address several of the most common hallmarks, but, and, and, and they already do address all of them to some extent, but we're looking at some of the, you know, other hallmarks that are really hard to address that the market isn't currently doing.
James Schmactenberger: Is there something that we can really meaningfully impact there?
Julie Michelson: Ooh, fun. I'm excited. I'm so and that is, again, the like, even with the NAD plus, right, like hitting all of the redundancy pathways or, um, I'm excited to hear about the joint support. I haven't tried it. I didn't know it was coming out, but obviously I work with a lot of people who could use.
Julie Michelson: some joint support, and it becomes the same thing like the magnesium. They've heard of this, or they've tried that, and they may not be hitting the things [00:47:00] driving, driving the pain. So, um, That's, that's really, and then for me personally, you know, I can't wait to see what's, what's coming up on the longevity part, because, um, I, that is the fun part of what we get to do, you know, and what's been so fun with my journey is, It's like, okay, go from, you know, being almost debilitated to feeling better, you know, and it's like, okay, let's reverse that, fix this.
Julie Michelson: And then it's the up level, up level. And I have no desire to live a long time, not functionally, you know, like that's not of interest for me. So, um, So, yeah, I'm glad that you're putting your team to work because I can't wait to see what's coming down the path. It's amazing.
James Schmactenberger: I'm always surprised and delighted by what the research team comes up
Julie Michelson: with.
Julie Michelson:[00:48:00] That's, it's fantastic. It is, uh, it's good stuff. So I cannot, I am a little bit, you know, full disclosure in case listeners, Don't already know I'm a little bit of a qualia junkie. Um, And um, you know, I obviously big big fan of you and the products. Um, qualia life is at the best place everywhere to find what you guys are up to.
James Schmactenberger: Yeah. Quality of life. com. Okay. Um, I think it's quality of life on pretty much all the social everywhere.
Julie Michelson: I think. Okay. Um, and then for, for listeners that are really, you know, smart and down to try the magnesium product, just use my last name, which is always spelled wrong, M I C H E L S O N to get a 15 percent discount on a quality of magnesium product.
Julie Michelson: It is definitely worth a try. If you want one that you can. feel. [00:49:00] And again, with that longevity focus, right? Like, like this is also a longevity. Everything you guys do, you know, is about living better. And again, I'm not using longevity as in, you know, the length of years on the planet, but having that good life for a long time.
Julie Michelson: Um, So I appreciate you and, and, and your team and everything you guys are coming up with. I am really grateful that you educated us today and spent a little time.
James Schmactenberger: Awesome. Well, thank you for having me on. It's always great to see you.
Julie Michelson: You as well for everyone listening. Remember you can get the show notes, transcripts, and links at inspired living.
Julie Michelson: show. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I'll see you next week.
​[00:50:00]
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James Schmachtenberger
James Schmachtenberger is a successful serial entrepreneur, with a lifelong focus on using business and innovation to effect large-scale change for the benefit of humanity. James is the co-founder and the CEO of Qualia Life, a company focused on making groundbreaking products for health and well-being through complex systems science. His areas of expertise include nootropics, anti-aging and regenerative medicine, sleep and fast-paced entrepreneurialism.
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