Seizing the Years with Devon Gholam: The Ingredient Gangster

There was a moment during our recording where Devon paused, reflecting on the "post-truth" era of science we’re all navigating. She looked at me and said, "I think I need to be a little more wacky to get attention on the things that actually matter". If there was ever a time when authenticity can win and stand out amongst the crowd of AI content, it’s now. 

That’s Devon in a nutshell. She’s not just a scientist; she’s actually more of a translator. And she’s pretty entertaining and educational to follow over on LinkedIn as well.

Devon Gholam, PhD, is an editor at SupplySide Supplement Journal and a veteran food scientist with two decades in the functional food and ingredient space. Professionally, she’s the one identifying the next big clinical trials and reporting on industry shifts. Personally, she’s known to her LinkedIn community by a much more colourful title: The Ingredient Gangster. I’m serious! I thought my Dad’s handle, CreatineOG, was bold, but Devon might just top that on personal brand building.

It started as a dare from a friend, literally like a social experiment to see if a sensational title could beat the "wellness influencers" at their own game. It worked. But beneath the street cred is a woman deeply committed to making rigorous science feel cool and, more importantly, accessible.

"If I can explain a concept so my non-scientist mother can grasp the gist, I’ve done my job," she told me.

What I loved about our conversation was Devon's radical transparency. She didn't just talk about ingredients from a lab perspective; she talked about them from the perspective of her own 40-something body. When Devon hit perimenopause, she didn't realise it at first. Like so many of us, she attributed the brain fog and fatigue to being a busy professional woman. It wasn't until her first hot flash that the Ingredient Gangster realised she was facing a diagnosis of exclusion.

"We get gaslit at the doctors a lot," Devon noted, reflecting on how women's symptoms are often dismissed as purely mental health issues. (I couldn't help but share my own story here… being sent to a therapist for a summer when what I actually had was Hashimoto's).

Devon’s current "godsend" protocol? Hormone replacement therapy, ashwagandha for anxiety, and 5 grams of creatine daily. She’s definitely not gatekeeping her tips, so take notes, ladies.

"I have noticed a difference taking creatine. It does help with brain fog. It does help with my energy levels," she shared.

We spent a long time talking about the creatine freight train (that was my language during the interview, perhaps I was being a bit dramatic!) and how it's crossing paths with the GLP-1 era. Devon is open about her own GLP-1 journey for weight management, having successfully kept off 40 pounds. I was super keen to ask her more about it, respectfully.

As a food scientist, she’s acutely aware of the risks of rapid weight loss… specifically the loss of muscle mass. This is where the narrative of creatine is shifting most dramatically. It’s no longer just for ripped guys in the gym; it's becoming a critical tool for healthy ageing and muscle preservation during weight loss.

"Creatine can help... slow it down and help us retain that muscle as we age," Devon explained. "It keeps us moving; that’s going to help with our longevity".

The future of creatine, according to Devon, is all about diversification. While she expects to see more chemical formats like creatine hydrochloride, the real hurdle is the Ready-to-Drink (RTD) space. And if you ask me, she’s totally right.

Sidenote: Creatine loves water in the human body, and the two go hand in hand, but it doesn't like living in water, let’s say, in a can or bottle on a shelf in the store for more than a few hours, let alone 18-24 months. It degrades into creatinine (which is useless to your body) rapidly when sitting on a shelf. At this point, I also brought up that consumers are becoming incredibly savvy about this, often calling out brands on social media to ask exactly how they’re keeping their liquid formulas stable.

"Consumers are starting to see around the fluff... they want actual substantiation," she said.

We ended our conversation where we began on the topic of the importance of community and kindness. The first video of Devon’s that I actually saw was one of her doing push-ups at 6:30 AM during an industry event, which Jenerise partnered with back in 2025, XPO FIT. She revealed she wasn’t actually there because she’s a morning person, but because she wanted to support a friend and take a moment for self-care. It certainly put her on my radar, that’s for sure.

"Everyone’s on their own journey," we wrapped up with. "Let’s just all be kind and be respectful... and do right by people because we're helping people to live better".

Thank you, Devon, for sharing your story.

If you’d like to be featured or know someone who should be, email rachael@jenerise.com.

We all rise together,

Rachael Jennings | Co-Founder + CBO, Jenerise