Episode 118: How AI Found What 15 Years of Dermatologists Couldn't | OK Capsule's Dr. Andrew Brandeis

Dr. Jeremy Koenig sits down with Dr. Andrew Brandeis, CMO and co-founder of OK Capsule, for a wide-ranging conversation about the real reason personalized supplements fail: it's not the science, it's the logistics. Andrew shares his journey from naturopathic physician working alongside MDs in San Francisco urgent care to building a manufacturing-as-a-service platform that pre-sorts and drop-ships personalized daily vitamin packets for supplement brands worldwide. The two dig into supplement quality scandals, the psychology of adherence, and how AI — specifically Claude — is quietly becoming a diagnostic thought partner for both doctors and patients. Andrew even tells the story of how an AI chat uncovered the real root cause of his decade-plus psoriasis flare-ups after dermatologists came up empty. The episode closes with a look at OK Capsule's new MCP integration (basically an AI-native API that turns weeks-long tech integrations into a single click), plus a teaser for Andrew's upcoming satirical novel on how blockbuster drugs actually get made — through marketing, not medicine.Key Takeaways💊 Supplements only work if three things line up: the right formula for the right condition, verified label-accurate quality, and actual consistent adherence — most plans fail on that third one🏭 OK Capsule isn't a supplement brand — it's an API/MCP-driven platform that lets other supplement brands offer personalized, private-labeled daily packs at scale📉 Independent testing has repeatedly found a shocking number of Amazon supplement products don't actually match their label claims — brand trust exists for a reason🤖 AI tools like Claude are becoming a "second opinion" layer for both patients and physicians — pulling years of labs, wearables, and raw genetic data into one context window no human doctor could hold in their head🧬 Andrew's real-life psoriasis case: 15 years of dermatologists saying "it's genetic, here's a steroid cream" — until an AI-assisted deep dive into his raw 23andMe data flagged a specific immune overreaction to a common skin yeast, and treating that actually resolved it🔌 MCP (Model Context Protocol) is being called "the new API" — reducing what used to be weeks of engineering integration work down to a single click for AI-to-AI systems📊 Function Health and its wave of copycats nailed the "here are your results" part of personalization — but most stop short of actually delivering a physical product or solution, which is the gap OK Capsule fills👨‍👩‍👧 A fascinating tangent on where this is all headed: "family LLMs" that hold context across a household's health history, habits, and dinner-table conversations📚 Andrew's satirical novel Pillars: Science and Other Profitable Lies (out early 2027) pulls back the curtain on how pharmaceutical "blockbusters" are really built — through marketing narratives, not necessarily medical superiority🎯 Big picture theme: stop waiting for better information and start building better infrastructure — make the healthy choice the easy choice, and behavior change follows automaticallyChapters List: 00:47 Transitioning Roles: From CEO to CMO 05:50 The Journey to OK Capsule: Foundational Insights 09:34 Building a Platform for Personalized Supplements 13:04 Navigating Quality and Compliance in Supplements 16:06 AI in Healthcare: Opportunities and Challenges 19:00 The Rise of Personalized Health Solutions 21:30 Innovations in AI and Health Integration 25:29 The Impact of MCP on Health Management 28:47 Personalized Supplements and Health Outcomes 32:40 AI as an Augmentation Tool for Doctors 39:02 The Future of Personalized Health and Family Dynamics 41:41 Closing Thoughts and Future Directions  LINKS:https://www.drjeremykoenig.com/https://www.instagram.com/drjeremykoenig/https://www.youtube.com/@drjeremykoenigHere's the link for this week's episode: https://drjeremykoenig.substack.com/.