Func Med Nation - A podcast for Functional and Integrative Medicine practitioners. · Dr. Steven Noseworthy

031 | The Power of Xylitol and Being Sued by the FTC for ”misleading information” - A conversation with Nate Jones (founder of Xlear Inc.)

·1 hr 37 min·5 clips

The FTC sued Xlear over claims about nasal sprays and COVID, even after CDC guidance supported saline irrigation.

1. Func Med Nation and Inflammation Nation share an episode on Xlear, xylitol, and the FTC lawsuit against Nate Jones. 2. Dr. Steve Noseworthy hosts Nate Jones, the founder and president of Xlear, and he says the company sells xylitol-based nasal sprays, rinses, toothpastes, and mints. 3. The episode asks what xylitol does, why Xlear uses it, and why the FTC case matters beyond one company. 4. Nate says his father, a retired rural medical doctor, began using xylitol solutions in 1998 to address recurrent ear infections in children. 5. He says Nate and friends founded Xlear in 2000 and brought the first commercial xylitol saline nasal spray to market. 6. Steve notes that Xlear products are sold at CVS, Walgreens, Sprouts, Amazon, and clear.com. 7. Nate says the FTC sued Xlear for “false and misleading statements” about nasal sprays and COVID. 8. He says CDC webpage guidance before 2020 recommended salt water and saline irrigations for respiratory coronavirus infections. 9. Nate cites a Vanderbilt University study funded by NIH in 2020 that gave 60 people over age 65 salt water and reported that all were better in under a week. 10. He says industry groups shared that data and the FTC sent warning letters telling them not to share it. 11. Nate says xylitol is a five-carbon sugar and that studies since the 1990s show it blocks bacteria from adhering to tissue. 12. He cites dental research in which children chewing xylitol gum had 42% fewer respiratory infections. 13. He points to an early 2020 University of Tennessee study that found xylitol and iota carrageenan blocked SARS-CoV-2 from adhering to tissue. 14. Nate says a study from Argentina using iota carrageenan reported a 79.8% reduction in transmission among hospital workers. 15. He says a UK xylitol spray study in India reported a 62% reduction in transmission above saline, while saline itself reduced transmission by 15% to 20%. 16. He says Xlear asked the FDA in June 2020 to run a COVID study with a pulmonologist in Miami, but the agency would not allow a non-drug product to do a drug-action study. 17. Nate and Steve discuss the FTC’s “Pfizer factors,” the FDA, and the 1970s shift toward requiring substantiation for health claims. 18. They also discuss the Supreme Court’s Chevron deference and Nate says the end of that doctrine matters because the judge in Xlear’s case will not defer to the agency’s interpretation. 19. Listeners interested in supplement regulation, xylitol, and nasal hygiene will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting a light, non-technical conversation about general wellness may skip the legal detail.

As heard by us

A grounded xylitol discussion that keeps the biology in view.

This episode treats xylitol as more than a dentistry talking point. Nate Jones brings the founder angle from Clear, but the stronger thread is the mechanism: how xylitol is used, what it changes in the mouth, and why that might matter for cavities and upper-respiratory issues.

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Why you'd press play

Xylitol, dental research, and the Clear origin story.

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