Dr. Shawn Tassone's Confessions of a Male Gynecologist | Exploring the Power of Microalgae with Dr. Isaac Berzin

Episode Description: In this episode of Confessions of a Male Gynecologist, Dr. Shawn Tassone welcomes Dr. Isaac Berzin, a renowned scientist, co-founder, and Chief Technology Officer of VAXA Technologies. Dr. Berzin shares his journey from working with NASA to becoming a leader in sustainability and biotechnology, particularly in the field of microalgae. Dr. Berzin was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People for his groundbreaking work on climate change and renewable energy.

They delve into the fascinating world of microalgae, exploring its nutritional benefits, including its potential as a sustainable, nutrient-dense alternative to conventional animal-based nutrition. Dr. Berzin explains how microalgae can serve as a rich source of bioavailable iron, Omega-3s, and B12, making it particularly beneficial for women’s health. The conversation also covers the sustainability aspects of microalgae production, with a focus on minimizing carbon footprints and water usage, and how innovative products like Orlo’s algae-based supplements can revolutionize nutrition.

Key Topics Covered:

• Dr. Isaac Berzin’s career and recognition as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People.
• The benefits of microalgae in human nutrition, particularly for women, including iron and B12 supplementation.
• The sustainability advantages of microalgae and how it contributes to a low carbon footprint.
• Insights into the development of algae-based products like ÖRLÖ’s supplements, which are designed to be both nutritious and eco-friendly.
• Dr. Berzin’s vision for the future of nutrition, combining sustainability with scientific innovation.

Guest Bio: Dr. Isaac Berzin holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology and is a co-founder and CTO of VAXA Technologies. His work has earned him international recognition for his contributions to sustainability and climate change solutions. Dr. Berzin’s research in algae and renewable energy has been transformative, and his expertise continues to drive innovation in the field of biotechnology.

Connect with Dr. Isaac Berzin:

• VAXA Technologies: https://vaxa.life

Connect with Dr. Shawn Tassone:

• Website: https://tassonemd.com
• Instagram: @ShawnTassoneMD
• Twitter: @TassoneDoc
• Facebook: America’s Holistic Gynecologist
• Get Dr. Tassone’s book: The Hormone Balance Bible available on Amazon.

Episode Highlights:

• [00:00:00] Introduction to the podcast and guest, Dr. Isaac Berzin.
• [00:01:30] Dr. Berzin discusses his inclusion in TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People list.
• [00:02:15] Dr. Berzin’s groundbreaking research at MIT and his discovery of the potential of microalgae.
• [00:04:12] Exploring the nutritional value of microalgae, including its high concentration of Omega-3s, iron, and B12.
• [00:11:19] Why women, in particular, can benefit from supplementing with microalgae-based products.
• [00:27:55] How ÖRLÖ’s algae products are sustainable and different from conventional supplements.
• [00:34:16] The future of algae production and sustainability at ÖRLÖ’s Iceland facility.

Call to Action: If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends and family, and don't forget to leave a review. To learn more about microalgae’s potential in your diet, check out ÖRLÖ’s algae-based supplements and Dr. Tassone’s social media for the latest health insights.

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Confessions of a Male Gynecologist with Dr. Shawn Tassone | Exploring the Power of Microalgae with Dr. Isaac Berzin

Complete Transcript:

[00:00:00] Dr. Shawn Tassone: I'm Dr. Shawn Tassone. Welcome to Confessions of a Male Gynecologist, a podcast dedicated to women's health and hormones and pretty much everything else you were never listened to when you went to the doctor's office.

[00:00:20] I'm board certified in OBGYN and integrative medicine, and I have a PhD in mind body medicine. I guess you could say I'm a little bit outside of the box. In this podcast, I'm going to get you the answers you probably asked five other doctors and were kind of blown off. I want you to know that I'm not only here to talk, I'm here to listen as well.

[00:00:44] Now, let's get to those confessions.

[00:00:54] Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Confessions of a Male Gynecologist. Today, I have a really interesting guest. You probably, you might be one of the more Famous people that I've had on Professor Isaac Burson, who's a co founder and chief technology officer of Vaxic Technologies. But what I think is really fascinating is that you were named one of the 100 most influential people by Time Magazine.

[00:01:18] And I want to start out with that because I can't say that I've honestly met anybody that's ever been one of the top most influential people. So what is it? What is it that got you that title?

[00:01:30] Isaac Berzin: I think they they just needed a name and know, ah, this came up. Well,

[00:01:34] Dr. Shawn Tassone: I didn't, I didn't use my name, so come on.

[00:01:36] I mean, you had to do something. No,

[00:01:38] Isaac Berzin: I think it's I think it's I'm okay thinking differently, you know? Mm-Hmm. So I think sometimes when you think differently, you, you get burned and sometimes you come up with amazing things. It's a package deal. And I think they meant the one, the few times that it was actually creating something of value.

[00:01:56] Dr. Shawn Tassone: Well, you've done a lot of work. I mean, you're, you have your PhD in chemical engineering and biotechnology, so you're a much smarter human than I am, but you've won a lot of awards for looking at sustainability and climate change. Why don't you Tell me, because I don't know, what was the area that you were looking at?

[00:02:15] Isaac Berzin: So actually I was a researcher at MIT at the Center for Space Research, working on a NASA sponsored project for the International Space Station, and then I stumbled upon microalgae. And we tend to think that microalgae have, they have nothing to do with life, right? So this was a introduction, first of all, to the beauty of microalgae, different shapes and colors and just, you need a microscope for that but when you do it, it's just breathtaking.

[00:02:44] The second thing is I learned about microalgae that they're Just a basket full of nutrition with no waste. Because think about this, the staple crop we use for feeding ourselves, let's say corn for example. It's embarrassing to think about what percentage of the plant material, the stems, the roots, the leaves, everything, right?

[00:03:02] That we invest fertilizers and energy and water, right? What percentage of the plant material are we actually eating? It's a single digit. So we are producing mostly garbage. It's amazing. Nevertheless, microalgae has, it's a single cell organism. They grow by cell division, world champions in photosynthesis, but it's 100 percent nutrition.

[00:03:26] So once you realize that it at least for me, it blew my mind. Okay. And and then you realize that a lot of things that we think that we're getting it from the, from animal based nutrition, for example, like Omega threes or B12, you know, they're coming from the micro world, you know, accumulate Omega three in their oil, mainly from the algae they consume up the food chain.

[00:03:50] They do not produce it. They're accumulated. So basically. Think about this. When you want to, when you want to consume algae based omega 3, you're just getting, it's not a question if you want to be a vegetarian or not, it's just getting it from the source, unless you really enjoy the mercury flavor that you might get with, but it's just something that makes sense, right?

[00:04:12] Same with vitamin B12. We think about, beef is one of the biggest food vehicles for vitamin B12. Beef. The animal, the cow, does not produce B12, it's a microorganism in their gut. Okay, so a lot of what we associate with animal based nutrition is coming from the micro world. So why just not getting it for the micro world?

[00:04:35] Okay, that's the question I was able to pose. Which, you know, some might think it's To think differently.

[00:04:44] Dr. Shawn Tassone: So the concept of microalgae, meaning like it's invisible, you can't see it with the naked eye. This is the same. Is this the same as like phytoplankton and stuff that you find in the

[00:04:55] Isaac Berzin: ocean? Yeah, phytoplankton is a mix of microorganisms.

[00:05:00] They're like microalgae and also the first level that eats the microalgae. So it's a mixed bag. Of the small things that we don't see in the ocean, right?

[00:05:10] Dr. Shawn Tassone: Yeah,

[00:05:10] Isaac Berzin: but when we talk about microalgae, I think in context of nutrition, there's only a handful of strains that are allowed for human consumption.

[00:05:19] They're on the grass list. Spirulina is one of them. Chlorella. These are known species that people might know. And a few others, but not a lot. Surprisingly, there are hundreds of thousands of strains. And out of this whole ocean of opportunities, we only use a, a handful. It's unbelievable.

[00:05:38] Dr. Shawn Tassone: So what what animals in the food chain would use microalgae as their food source?

[00:05:43] Isaac Berzin: So for example, all the marine ecosystem is based on micro. They're primary producers. They basically think about this. So what is photo photosynthesis is taking carbon in the form of CO2 of gas, converting it to organic carbon that you can eat. Right? Right. So, so everything is fed by photosynthesis in the aquaculture world.

[00:06:06] Okay. You know, and it's no big surprise because. Microalgae are aquatic species. They need, they grow in water. So it's, it makes sense. But for example, is one of the most ancient foods for, human nutrition, it's mentioned as food in a lake Chad in Africa, you know, thousands of years ago, people just using, sieve to sieve them out of the water and consume them.

[00:06:30] So it has been used by humans for thousands of years. But I also learned to, to understand the shortcoming. Why didn't we have algae for breakfast, Shawn? If it's so amazing, basket full of nutrition, why didn't we have it? So we didn't have it from Sauris. First of all, it stinks. It's not nice to say, it's not a pleasant experience.

[00:06:53] The smell and the taste is horrific, but that's not because of the algae. That's because of the way we produce it. And or cultivate it and and process it. I'll give you an example. Spirulina is about 70%, 7 0 protein. It's a very highly, high protein, including all the essential amino acids, which is amazing for a non animal organism.

[00:07:18] In our source, never the less, and it grows mainly in warm places. You need about 30 centigrade to to keep it happy. So think about fish, right? When you just harvest fish, when you just, it doesn't smell, you know, when it smells, when it's in the sun for a couple of hours, same with spirulina. Okay.

[00:07:37] Once you harvest it out of the pond and you don't chill it immediately, and you don't call it immediately. It's like dairy product or meat. It's going to stink. The second thing is you grow it in open ponds. Mostly. An open pond is very slow flow. We call it laminar flow in the professional language. Very slow.

[00:07:55] And algae tend to settle. So in the bottom of this pond you have a layer of disgusting rotten algae just because this is the system that you chose to cultivate it. Okay so something needs to be done that microalgae will have no smell and no taste. That's the first interaction. Second thing, if you grow it with sunlight or outdoor conditions, there's a huge nutritional variation.

[00:08:23] Every day, the composition of the algae is different because every day, you know, sunny, it's cloudy, it's cold, it's warm, right? Algae react, they react in real time. So how can you ever make the connection between nutrition, vitamin, mineral, content and quality? And your product, which is all over the place.

[00:08:42] I think it's typical to most of the natural products, but it's an algaet accelerated because you harvest every day. Okay. So if you harvest every day this variability is inherited in, in, in the method you use, which is agriculture. So what we try to do, we try to actually. Move away from agriculture with all the problems I mentioned, taste, smell, inconsistent quality, and move it into technology.

[00:09:07] So technology is what I feel comfortable with, Shawn. So it's not a big surprise why this was my choice. And instead of doing something aboard the International Space Station, I decided to do something a bit different on this planet. And as we did that so what's your toolbox? Your toolbox is light, right?

[00:09:25] So if you separate from the sun, right now you can choose your light. You can choose the wavelength, the colors. You can choose the intensity. You can choose the. If you're an algae and, you know, if you mix the algae culture, when the algae cell passes next to the wall where the light is penetrating, the algae cell experiences high light.

[00:09:48] And then as it moves into the inner sections, it experiences lower light. So, if you're an algae, you're going to feel this high light, low light circles, which is also a huge parameter of what's going to determine your quality and composition. So, all these things. are absolutely controlled when you move from agriculture to technology.

[00:10:09] Okay.

[00:10:09] Dr. Shawn Tassone: So you mentioned two things. You mentioned spirulina and chlorophyll. I know a lot of people that use these as supplements and I think, they're probably not Super understood. I'm getting the impression that they're probably a really good source of Omega threes. And that's why the fish are probably super high and Omega threes because they eat this for what that's what they eat.

[00:10:35] But let's talk about because I have a lot of women mostly that listen to this podcast and they are fish. Trying to be healthy, trying to be more proactive in their health is something like spirulina or chlorophyll, something that we should be supplementing with or eating or how do we incorporate it and do we need to incorporate it?

[00:10:57] Isaac Berzin: Super. I'm surrounded by women. I have had two sisters and I have three daughters and I was married for 33 years. So I understand a little bit women. And I can tell you the two things that I think really are the entrance is amazing. Okay. Iron and vitamin B12. Okay. So let's talk about them.

[00:11:19] Iron is a problem because most of the non animal based iron forms are not bioavailable. So it doesn't matter how much you eat, what counts is how much is absorbed in your body. And it's an issue with a lot of plant based iron and iron deficiency. You know how you feel. You feel tired, you feel right.

[00:11:37] It's this fatigue, tiredness, lack of happiness, lack of, okay. So you're drained. Okay. And many women that's how they feel because think about life for women is you pull to million direction. It's very stressful and it drains you. So you have to have a, something that fills you up and iron deficiency.

[00:11:55] I think it's typical. The second one is vitamin B12. And again, the same phenomena, vitamin B12, if something is lacking, so I would say let's look at it vice versa. Vitamin B12 and iron belong to the very small group of vitamins and minerals, that if you can show that in your food, in the food product, you have more than 20 percent of the daily value, you can have FDA and EFSA approved nutritional and functional claims.

[00:12:24] For example, if you have more than 20 percent of the iron, you can say, A source of iron. Iron supports the reduces tiredness and fatigue. If you have B12, for example, you can say source of B12, B12 supports healthy immune system. The B12 supports a healthy energy metabolism.

[00:12:44] Okay. So by, by this allowed claim, you understand the functionality of these vitamins and minerals that are especially important for women. Okay. And again, if you have a source, And now the malgaec thing about iron in spirulina, which is which blew my mind. It's 6. 5 times more bioavailable than iron that you find in beef.

[00:13:08] Okay, it's a world of a difference if you compare it to plant based iron. So it's an amazing source of iron but if you want results on B12 or on, on iron, you want to have a source that you can, that you know the composition. It doesn't change all over the place. And here comes the issue with Spiron.

[00:13:28] So SPI is a wonderful protein source. That's how it's looked at many times. But on the B12 level, it acts as anti nutrient. And I will explain in spirulina most of this, most of the B12 is in the form of something that called pseudo spi. It's, it is psdo B12. It's a form that is measured as B12.

[00:13:48] But our body cannot absorb it. Nevertheless, it competes on the receptors of B12. So in effect, it's an anti nutrient. It diminishes your body's ability to absorb. And here comes the malgaec. Okay. And it was a surprise for me. And I've worked with algae for 20 years and I was still was caught by surprise.

[00:14:08] When you change the growth condition shown mainly the light conditions that are described. Intensity, light and dark cycles, etc. You activate metabolic pathways that prefer the active form. So if in regular spirulina the ratio of pseudo to active is 10 to 1, we also have 10 to 1, but vice versa. 10 active to 1 pseudo.

[00:14:33] So all of the sudden, the Icelandic spirulina that we use in Orlo, is a bomb of vitamin B12. And you feel the difference immediately. So we measure both forms and the number we use when we describe the amount of B12 is the net value. So it's the active minus the pseudo form. So it's the most it's the best way to describe the nutritional value that you will get.

[00:14:59] So I think, especially for women, these kinds of things are game changers. Bioavailable iron B12 is like, Oh my God. And I remember if you're nursing a mom, you're going to be drained from these tremendously. Okay. And on the other, if you have deficiency, the baby will have deficiency. And there was a big paper about a deficiency, especially in African countries because of malnutrition.

[00:15:25] You can see what, what's happening with B12 deficiency with kids. It's, it influences their mental and physical development, including the development of the gut system. It's horrific. They're basically crippled for life from lack of vitamin that their mother doesn't, is lacking. As well. So if you think about vulnerable populations, and, I had a personal experience.

[00:15:48] One of, one of my daughters was a vegan for many, many years. And when she came to the doctor, he looked at the blood test and he said, from everything I learned in medical school, you should be dead now with these kind of levels of the, I don't know how you're even alive. And but I've seen what a nutritional change does for her.

[00:16:05] She's like a different person. It affects her whole life, the ability to maintain relationship, to study to keep focus, everything. So I've experienced it. It's a process. It takes time. It's not a B12 shot that you get and you have a spike in your body, your body has a limited way rate of absorption.

[00:16:25] So you have to have a bioavailable source, but you need at least three months. the difference. It's not a overnight game changer, but it is a major game changer. I can tell you that today she's married, she's working, she's happy. I didn't find happiness in her in the time of B12 deficiency.

[00:16:43] Dr. Shawn Tassone: So is it possible to, I mean, you talked about, the vitamins and the protein with spirulina for women, do you find that it helps with, everybody's interested in blood sugars and inflammation, antioxidants and things like that? Does it have additional benefits in those areas?

[00:17:03] Isaac Berzin: Yes I started my, my, my discussion with you to tell you how much I looked at spirit at algae, mainly spirulina as a basket of nutrition, the amount of it has 56. vitamins and minerals and an essential, not an essential meaning. For example, the essential amino acid, the building blocks of protein that our bodies cannot produce them ourselves.

[00:17:25] We have to have it from an external source. So including those, so all the essential vitamins and minerals, and sometimes The other interesting thing, sometimes you need things to work in concert. Okay. And as as a doctor of nutrition, you're not shocked and surprised. So it's a very nice basket of nutrition that that you can, that you could use.

[00:17:48] And again, I think the limiting factor for example, antioxidants. So it has it has a beautiful antioxidants. In that. So it's built in. It's not that I'm taking a bunch of synthetic things and I'm putting it together. No, it's just a basket off. And the thing is, why don't you have spoon every morning?

[00:18:05] Because it's disgusting. That's the answer, right? But if it's not disgusting, then it's fun. Okay. So I'll tell you what we did. We actually, so beyond cultivating the algae, we also have a biorefinery process facility. And the only solvent we use is water by design. There's no, you can pick up the algae from anywhere and you can eat them and nothing is toxic.

[00:18:31] It's basically physical separations and water. That's it. But what came out of it is, for example, we have a water soluble part, which is blue. How many things are blue in nature? Okay. So we use this blue in one of our, All the products in the gummies and it's out of this world and it's coming with all the B12 and nutritional values, but it's a nutritious celebration.

[00:18:53] You can have blue yogurt and you can go crazy, right? On the other hand you can look at the green part of the algae. What we do is, people sometimes in some Applications they do not appreciate green. For example, if you put in the bread, you don't really appreciate great green dots in your bread.

[00:19:13] It looks moldy, right? So what we did, we actually pasteurized it, maintained the nutritional value. But then when you put it in bread, you will not be able to tell me which bread is pure bread.

[00:19:27] Dr. Shawn Tassone: And

[00:19:28] Isaac Berzin: it's on the market in Iceland, by the way, there's a high end bakery that has bread and that's one of their.

[00:19:34] So it opens a window to so many possibilities. One of the difficulties we had was to choose which products we're going to integrate it in. And so here is, here's how you win or work. We don't expect you shown to chew on algae. Okay. But I don't

[00:19:53] Dr. Shawn Tassone: want to.

[00:19:54] Isaac Berzin: You don't want to, of course you don't want to, but, but you don't chew, but you but you don't chew on wheat.

[00:19:58] You want to have your, uh, your, uh, baguette, right? Yeah, it's fine. Okay. You can make amazing foods out of them and it can be a nutritional celebration, work with several chefs like in Iceland and the things they make with it. It just beautiful, tasty, smells great. And, and you can choose if you're conservative or you are more.

[00:20:18] Adventurous person. You can choose how it looks, but none of it has weird taste. And I think that's the game changer. I don't think people, with all the, you know, superfood and everything, great. Absolutely. Yes. But in the end of the day, if it's disgusting, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna persist to, with this

[00:20:38] Dr. Shawn Tassone: makes sense.

[00:20:39] I'm curious if there are any side effects from spirulina?

[00:20:45] Isaac Berzin: Not that I'm aware of. But I can tell you that like many things in life. Side effects can also come from the growth condition, the growth environment, right? So if, for example so in previous lives, I built and operated one of the largest open pond algae cultivation facilities in the world.

[00:21:06] It was physically located in Texas, still is, and every morning it's an adventure, wild boar jumping in the water, then you find a dead bird that was there for a week, right? So many times when you talk about allergies or, it's not necessarily from the algae, it's from the things that happen there in, so for example, if you have a tomato field, you can also have a dead bird in a tomato field, but you don't, you eat the tomato separate from the dead bird.

[00:21:32] In aquatic systems, the dead bird is in the water for a week, right? So it's kind of disgusting, but so that's one, one dimension, the growth condition. The second thing that causes people to pause is a, some people just not to get any nutritional value. You have to eat a lot of that. And in our case, because the nutritional value is so high, You need very little.

[00:21:55] So again, when you need very little to gain a tangible nutritional, and again, nutritional claims is a beautiful way, Shawn, not because I care about the claim if you can support the claim, that means you have tangible nutritional value. It's on blah, blah, because you know that my problem with all this was superfood.

[00:22:15] It's blah, blah. It's not measurable. I'm an engineer and it's something that I can measure and I can stand behind it scientifically. And these nutritional claims and functional claims are beautiful because You can only say it if you have a minimum amount of the key ingredient in your food. So my point is now it's a new, it's a new language.

[00:22:36] Okay, I'm not talking about the superfood, blah, blah. No, I'm talking about tangible things. And the beauty here, the amount that you need in order to support them is little. So it's not going to be too expensive because you don't need much. It's not going to be Green or whatever, because you don't put much.

[00:22:52] So a lot of things happen with just don't need this huge amount. And I think that's a beautiful way to go.

[00:23:01] Dr. Shawn Tassone: So do you, like, if you started taking spirulina, would you notice changes? Could you, are there discernible effects that you would feel over time?

[00:23:12] Isaac Berzin: Yes. And again, I think that it, so first of all, absolutely.

[00:23:16] Yes. Spirulina is one of the well studied, al in Alga Kingdom, it's one of the well-studied vehicles for nutrition. But again, in order to feel those, you have to have consistent quality. Then you can feel something. If the quality changes all the time, it's very hard for you to connect the consumption with the results.

[00:23:33] So again, one of the thing that people that, so on the oral website we ask people to share their user experiences from the way that you consume it. And then over time, what kind of and what we what we get from people is amazing. And I think everybody is a bit different.

[00:23:52] So but again, because we're trying to look at everything in a very scientific way, I'll give an example what we did. Omega 3 is great but it's, again, the only question is what is absorbed in your body? And sometimes it's very misleading. Why? Because you take an omega 3 pill, there's a spike of increase of omega 3 in your blood, and then it goes down.

[00:24:15] And question, okay, went up, went down, how much was absorbed? Okay, that's the key question. So, we decided to use something different, not blood levels, but it's something you measure in blood, it's called omega 3 index. What's an omega 3 index? It's basically it's the percentage of omega 3s in the envelope of your cell, of your blood cells.

[00:24:37] So it's an indication that talks about absorption as well. It's indicative of absorption. And it's one, it's a single number. Okay. So it's very, so what we did, we asked people to buy a two kits. One is a kit that you put, you send it to an external lab. So it's omega three kids, omega three in the kids.

[00:24:55] And you start the day zero, you put one blood a stain and you send it. So you have your baseline. And then after three months, you measure your own progress. It's called tested by you because every one of us. Shawn is a bit different. The biome is different, right? Your age is different. Your metabolism is different.

[00:25:12] So you want to be able to tailor it to yourself. And this was so a more than 90 percent of the users all felt significant increase in their index, which was beautiful. But again, then you have, then you can actually even adjust the dosage, right? There's a range of omega three index that is considered the healthier or Something that so you can decide, okay, I want to accelerate now.

[00:25:35] I want just maintain. So you can play with it. It's rationalizing your whole nutrition. So I think in many ways, it's the same, it's the same. Everybody's different, even the same person, different, like think about the woman when she's nursing or when she's in menopause or when she's in her twenties, it's all different.

[00:25:55] So you have to be able to use things differently or different amount or different dosage. But again, Shawn, if it, if the composition is all over the place, how will you ever, how will you ever make this connection between the consumption and the benefits? But, with the people we said that talking about uh, Their hair looked better.

[00:26:16] Their skin looked better. Energy level went up. There was, usually, people say that they have less tendency to get sick and etc. So, Again, for me, it makes sense because I know the allowed FDA claims, which are based on huge science of connecting a specific vitamin or mineral to a, you know, energy metabolism, immune system, functionality, et cetera.

[00:26:42] So for me, it's not a big surprise, but it's nice to hear it from people that this was their experience and it's it's almost like, I wouldn't say medicinal food, but something that you can connect food and health. Okay. It's, for me, it's beautiful. You're not only, food and not hungry, it's food and health.

[00:27:00] Yeah. So I think it's a new value proposition. Again, it's all coming from technology, but in the end, as the end user, you just need to understand how this miracle happens. So you feel comfortable and it would make sense for you. But in the end, the user experience and the benefits are different.

[00:27:17] So people ask me, spirulina, it's good for you or bad for you. And once it depends, depends how it was cultivated, there are spirulina that are full of heavy metal. It's toxic. It's like a, it's like a heavy metal bomb. Don't, don't touch it. And there are spirulina that are amazing. So it depends.

[00:27:34] It depends.

[00:27:36] Dr. Shawn Tassone: Okay, so how does this product, and we'll kind of close out on this, how does the product with Orlo, because my people know Orlo because I've talked about their algae oil for quite some time how does the process with Orlo differ from some of these other products you're talking about?

[00:27:55] Isaac Berzin: Yeah.

[00:27:55] So first of all, we don't ask you to chew algae. Okay. We, we, uh, we, we offer you cool products, which are tasty. The first experience that you get to taste it the gummies are tasty. The bars are tasty. The second thing it's interesting because for example your women vitality and mix is a blue green.

[00:28:13] It's a very unusual color. It's like, wow. Amazing. Okay. And so first of all, The difference of what it's a celebration. The different number two, every product that we have is carrying a nutritional claim, okay, which is very unique. You don't find a spinner based product with any claims, zero claims.

[00:28:34] They can tell you buzzwords, superfood, blah, blah, blah. I don't even hear these words. They mean nothing to me. Okay. I want to have tangible things. So that's the second thing. And again, it's a combination of the way to produce the experience. And I want to add one more dimension.

[00:28:48] And for me, it's important. And if someone tells me it's not important for him, I'll respect that. I measure sustainability, Shawn. And sustainability for me, it's not, it's not empty word. It's not a buzzword. I measure it in three dimensions. The carbon footprint, the water loss and the land, the fertile land, because these are finite resources that we need to treat wisely, respectfully.

[00:29:15] And for example, if you grow spirulina in an open pond, the evaporation rate. is horrific. It's about two meters of water per year. So imalgaene you have a pond, you have to do two meters by the area and you see the volume of water that it's the worst camel in the world. I don't think you can do anything worse in terms of water consumption than growing a, and some algae farms are Situated because you need a warm climate was we talked about this in areas even in the United States where we have shortage of water in areas of shortage of water.

[00:29:50] It's like almost like sin for me. Okay, like not a good crop for this place. Okay, so I look at this. The second thing is a lot of a carbon footprint is coming mostly from the energy that you put in. So if you use energy, the energy is put in. Production is associated with carbon emissions and it's not wanting to cultivate the algae also to dry it.

[00:30:11] For example, drying is energy and energy creates a CO2 emissions. So for me, the fact that we're in Iceland is again is using clean energy, maybe the cleanest energy in the world, geothermal energy, but also the heat, the geothermal heat. So. We can do things with living a very small carbon footprint that orders of magnitude than anyone else.

[00:30:33] And because it's vertical farming, We have a lot of light to algae area, but it's all vertical. So the footprint is 1 percent of the pond that I described before for production of the same amount of spirulina. So for me, these are also important parameters. I want to know that the fact that I'm enjoying myself and doing something better for my health and I'm not damalgaeng something that, so it comes from me.

[00:30:59] It's all one package. It's, science based and that's why we call it impact nutrition. Impact has double meaning. Impact is impact on you. It's impactful. It creates something to you. But impact is also a buzzword that talks about your carbon emission. The global impact, the impact on our environment.

[00:31:18] So impact nutrition, again, it's not food, it's nutrition because I have numbers, I have nutritional claims. So that's why impact nutrition, I think captures maybe what we're trying to do it in the best possible way.

[00:31:30] Dr. Shawn Tassone: So I think, the interesting thing here is I like the idea that it's sustainable.

[00:31:35] I think actually does the, does Orlo have, I mean, a negative carbon footprint?

[00:31:40] Isaac Berzin: So there was a independent study by leading European organization. I mentioned some of them. The Matisse, the national food lab of Iceland DTI is a Danish technology Institute and Cambridge university. And they explored the carbon footprint of our production facility.

[00:31:59] It's a peer reviewed published paper. And they concluded that the algae production phase. Is carbon negative and Shawn, I don't know of any other agricultural carbon negative. It's crazy. So how do you get the carbon negative? So that the amount of carbon the algae absorbs or fixes or, or it's right.

[00:32:17] Turning it from CO2 gas into organic. Carbon is bigger than the amount of CO2 that emits because of the energy that you use or the fertilizer you use. That's how you become carbon negative. So, if you take into account the other processes of producing the final products, then I can say it's carbon neutral.

[00:32:36] So all in all, it's a carbon neutral again, it's an insignificant, a mark on the environment which is very different than anything else we do, by the way, we also operate in Iceland in an area that is a zone, a zero zone, zero waste zone. So we're not allowed to release any waste, not solids or liquids.

[00:32:56] So out of necessity, we learn how to recycle things, how to be efficient with our resources. It's, it was a very good exercise for us. So I think even on that level, we have no waste streams. We have no, it's something that only when you see it and we are going to open a visiting center next year because we want to share how it's hard to explain.

[00:33:18] It's so different than anything else that we think about food production. You can actually come to a place and you can see what energy turns into food like light, right in front of her eyes. And it reminded me when you read the Bible, the first thing that God says, Okay, what is his first sentence?

[00:33:37] Let there be light. Let there be light, yeah. That's the first thing he says. Why? Because light is life. Light is what's making photosynthesis work, and everything stems from photosynthesis. So when you come to this facility, you see how light supports photosynthesis, creating food. Just in front of your eyes, in this Okay, immediately.

[00:33:57] And it's mind boggling. Really.

[00:34:00] Dr. Shawn Tassone: I mean, it sounds fascinating. I'd love to. I'd love to go out there. I've heard that the facility they're building is got glass roof so you can see the northern lights. And yes, I mean, the whole concept just sounds amazing to witness it.

[00:34:16] Isaac Berzin: You know, I have to tell you, someone asked me why would you do a Northern Light Observatory in, in, in Algi product line?

[00:34:22] What's the connection? So the two connections, first of all this kind of production facility is very Icelandic because of the clean energy we use and the clean water. So it's, Northern Light fits into the Icelandic theme, but actually everything we do is with nature. We're not fooling nature.

[00:34:39] We're not genetic engineering nature. We're respecting nature with everything we do. So why not respecting this beautiful show that is called Northern Lights? Absolutely, yes. It's all in the same theme.

[00:34:53] Dr. Shawn Tassone: Well, Dr. Berzin I'm really happy you came on. I think I'm gonna be talking about the Orlo products here in the next couple of weeks as they start to roll out.

[00:35:02] And I think that I have some of the gummies. They do taste good. They're, apple lime flavored. And I didn't think they were as horrible as I thought. I've had like, you know, wheatgrass. I think everybody's thinking it's going to taste like that, you know, but it doesn't.

[00:35:16] Isaac Berzin: Of course. It happened to me before.

[00:35:19] I actually, The inspiration was I tasted an attempt from a different company to, to create a spirulina gummies and I'm an algae enthusiast. Oh my God. Yes, let's have it. I had to spit it and it's even rude because I said that it's sewage horrible. Yeah so this we have to do something about it as you cannot be perceived as yuck, right?

[00:35:43] I just perceive it. Yeah, amazing. Yummy. So I hope that's the direction but I'll tell you what we do appreciate Shawn is feedback from people because yeah, it's part of we're not doing it on our own It's a movement. It's the interactions are important. We need to hear people see what's important here ideas About additional product we should think of a and it's a collaboration and we're all on the same page.

[00:36:08] We want to create something different. So, we appreciate the feedback.

[00:36:14] Dr. Shawn Tassone: Well, great. I really appreciate it. Everybody will, uh, you will be learning more about Orlo. Dr. Berzin, I thank you so much for coming on and sharing your knowledge, which you are a vast wealth of. And hopefully, one of these days I'll get to meet you, maybe out there at the new facility.

[00:36:29] That would be awesome.

[00:36:31] Isaac Berzin: I'll invite you to a blue gin and tonic. How about that?

[00:36:33] Dr. Shawn Tassone: Oh, that'd be actually, that'd be cool. I heard they make blue pizza crust too, which would be kind of interesting to, to see. But yeah. The possibilities are endless and Hey, if it makes things better, I think I even heard they make blue beer, um, which is so yeah, we can know

[00:36:49] Isaac Berzin: blue, blue is the primary color.

[00:36:50] So if you mix it with other colors, you get crazy colors. So blue is just the beginning, John. Yeah.

[00:36:56] Dr. Shawn Tassone: Great. Well, thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate it. Have a great time there in Italy. He's in Italy, so you can all be jealous and, um, we'll talk later. Hopefully. Thank you so much. Take care.

[00:37:11] Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social media or leave a rating and review. To catch all the latest from me, you can follow me on Instagram at ShawnTassoneMD or on Twitter at TassoneDoc and on Facebook at America's Holistic Gynecologist.

[00:37:30] If you're really interested in your hormones and you want to do a deep dive, get my book, The Hormone Balance Bible on Amazon or other major retailers. Thanks. And I'll see you next time.