Austin Perlmutter
Austin Perlmutter is a researcher and science communicator working in the fields of brain health, nutrition, and wellness. His published research investigates the relationship between the gut and the mind, including the effects of psychedelic healing practices on the microbiome. His work also covers the impact of polyphenol supplementation on immune aging markers and the immunological connections between COVID-19 and depression.
36 claims checked on air: 3 context 1 contradicted 1 overstated 26 supported 5 unverified
What they said on air - context
Muscles are the primary source of heat in the human body.
"Your muscles are attached to bones by tendons. They're the primary source of your body's heat, and you have three major types of muscles." (said at 0:04:39)
The claim is roughly accurate but requires physiological context. Under resting, thermoneutral conditions (basal metabolic rate), internal organs (such as the liver, brain, heart, and kidneys) produce the majority (approximately 60–70%) of core body heat, while resting skeletal muscle contributes roughly 20–30%. However, during physical activity, exercise, cold exposure, or shivering thermogenesis, skeletal muscle becomes the predominant source of heat production in the human body, generating up to 80–90% of total metabolic heat.
SSRIs have a side effect rate of approximately 50% and a withdrawal/discontinuation effect rate of approximately 50%.
"the side effect rates are 50%, and the withdrawal effects are 50%" (said at 0:37:11)
The speaker's estimates of approximately 50% for both side effect and withdrawal/discontinuation rates are roughly consistent with unadjusted incidence figures reported in systematic reviews, but require qualification regarding placebo-subtracted rates and symptom severity.
For antidepressant withdrawal/discontinuation symptoms, systematic reviews and meta-analyses report overall unadjusted incidence rates between 31% and 56%. Specifically, a 2025 meta-analysis found a pooled withdrawal incidence of 42.9% overall and 45.6% for SSRIs, while a 2019 review reported a weighted average incidence of 56%. However, when accounting for placebo responses (nocebo effects and non-specific symptoms), a 2024 meta-analysis estimated that the net drug-attributable incidence of discontinuation symptoms is approximately 15%.
For side effects, a 2023 network meta-analysis of SSRIs and SNRIs found that 80.2% of patients in medication groups reported at least one adverse event (compared to 71.2% in placebo groups). Thus, while crude incidence rates in clinical studies align with ~50% estimates, clinical interpretation requires distinguishing total reported symptom rates from net drug-attributable effects.
- supports: A systematic review into the incidence, severity and duration of antidepressant withdrawal… (Addictive behaviors 2019) · cited 394x in the literature
"Withdrawal incidence rates from 14 studies ranged from 27% to 86% with a weighted average of 56%." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - supports: Incidence of adverse events and comparative tolerability of selective serotonin reuptake i… (Psychological medicine 2023) · cited 28x in the literature
"Participants in medication groups presented higher rates of adverse events (80.22%, 95% CI 76.13-83.76) when compared to placebo groups (71.21%, 67.00-75.09)." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - context: Incidence of antidepressant discontinuation symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysi… (The lancet. Psychiatry 2024) · cited 96x in the literature
"Incidence of at least one antidepressant discontinuation symptom was 0·31 (95% CI 0·27-0·35) in 62 study groups after discontinuation of antidepressants, and 0·17 (0·14-0·21) in 22 study groups after discontinuation of placebo... Considering non-specific effects, as evidenced in placebo groups, the incidence of antidepressant discontinuation symptoms is approximately 15%" (abstract, results and conclusions, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - supports: Incidence and risk factors of antidepressant withdrawal symptoms: a meta-analysis and syst… (Molecular psychiatry 2025) · cited 32x in the literature
"The pooled incidence of AWS from all available studies was 42.9%, from 11 RCTs was 44.4%... The incidence in selective serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors was the lowest (29.7%), followed by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (45.6%) and tricyclic antidepressants (59.7%), without significant differences (p = 0.221)." (abstract, results)
pubmedfull study (doi)
Approximately 6% of the body's total creatine stores are located in the brain.
"and creatine is primarily stored in your muscles. There's a little bit, around 6%, stored in your brain." (said at 0:45:55)
The speaker correctly identifies that creatine is predominantly stored in skeletal muscle with a small fraction in the brain. However, established physiological literature indicates that approximately 95% of total body creatine is stored in skeletal muscle, while the remaining ~5% is distributed across several tissues with high metabolic demand, including the brain, heart, kidneys, and testes. Therefore, the brain alone does not store ~6% of total body creatine, but rather represents a fraction of the non-muscular ~5% pool.
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