Jacob Gilson, Founder and CEO of Sifts, explains the science behind the dietary fibre chitosan. According to him, recent market shifts have enabled brands to translate evolving science into practical, trustworthy consumer experiences without oversimplifying or sensationalising it.
Gilson describes the brand as a daily supplement focused on supporting the body’s handling and elimination of microplastics through digestion.
– The formula, he explains, is built around ingredients studied for their ability to interact with microplastic particles in the gut and support their excretion through normal digestive processes.
– The company was founded around the idea that microplastics are no longer merely an environmental issue; they’ve become a biological reality of modern life. While people can meaningfully reduce exposure through lifestyle choices, the particles themselves have become pervasive across the food system, water supply, and environment. Our formulation is centred around chitosan, a dietary fibre that has been studied for its ability to interact with microplastics in the gastrointestinal tract and support their natural elimination. We think of Sifts less as a ‘detox’ product and more as a new category of daily environmental exposure support grounded in science and practical reality.
Some might be critical, talking about this as fearmongering or a gimmick. Meanwhile, you also tick several boxes for the modern consumer, not the least ‘science-backed products.’ Can you take us through some of the science behind your claims?
– I think some scepticism is healthy. This is still an emerging area of science, and we try hard not to overstate what’s proven versus what’s still developing. What’s no longer debated is exposure. Microplastics have now been detected in food, bottled water, blood, arterial plaque, lung tissue, placentas, and human stool. A 2024 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found microplastics present in carotid artery plaque, with their presence associated with a significantly higher risk of heart attack, stroke, or death over follow-up. Separate research has also detected microplastics in human blood, placentas, and reproductive tissues, reinforcing the idea that these particles are not simply passing through the environment around us, but are increasingly interacting with biological systems.
Where the science is still developing, Gilson continues, is around long-term human health implications and what practical interventions may help reduce burden.
– That’s the area we’re focused on. As mentioned, our formulation is centred on chitosan, a positively charged dietary fibre derived from chitin. Mechanistically, chitosan has properties that allow it to interact electrostatically with certain negatively charged particles in the gut. There is now human research showing increased faecal excretion of several categories of microplastics following chitosan supplementation. In a 2025 emerging human study, researchers observed increased stool excretion of multiple forms of microplastics following chitosan administration. There is also preclinical research demonstrating similar effects in animal models, including work showing accelerated gastrointestinal clearance of ingested microplastics in rats.
– Importantly, we do not claim that Sifts ‘cures,’ ‘detoxes,’ or prevents disease. The scientific reality is more nuanced than that. Our view is that if microplastic exposure is becoming a persistent part of modern life, it makes sense to explore evidence-based approaches that may support the body’s normal digestive elimination processes.
– I also think consumers today are more sophisticated than many people give them credit for. They’re capable of understanding uncertainty, and they are increasingly comfortable with that uncertainty as long as companies are transparent about what is known versus what is still being studied versus where the evidence exists. I believe consumers ultimately want transparency and intellectual honesty in their products rather than marketing theatre. That’s where we believe we fit in: as a practical, science-informed daily product designed to support the body’s natural digestive elimination processes in response to a very modern exposure.
What’s the target group?
– Our early customer tends to be a highly health-conscious consumer who is already thinking carefully about food quality, water filtration, cookware, personal care products, and environmental exposures more broadly. A lot of them are people who feel they’ve optimised the obvious things already, but recognise that microplastics are difficult to completely avoid because they’ve become embedded in the modern food chain and environment. We’ve also seen strong interest from parents, wellness-focused consumers, longevity audiences, and people following emerging environmental health research closely.
– Over time, I think the category broadens considerably, because microplastic exposure is not specific to just health enthusiasts or wellness consumers—it impacts essentially everyone. As the science around microplastic exposure continues to strengthen, this likely stops being a niche wellness conversation and becomes a much more mainstream consumer health category.
What has been the most challenging when developing such a brand?
– Operating responsibly in a category where public awareness is accelerating faster than scientific consensus, says Gilson. There’s a temptation in wellness markets to jump immediately to certainty, dramatic claims, or fear-based marketing. We’ve consciously tried not to do that. The reality is that the exposure data is advancing very quickly, while the long-term health outcome data is still catching up. Navigating that responsibly requires a lot of discipline.
– Another challenge is that this is a category that doesn’t fit neatly into existing consumer frameworks. Most people intuitively understand things like probiotics, protein powder, or hydration supplements. ‘Environmental exposure support’ is new territory.
– One thing I’ve learned is that consumers increasingly value intellectual honesty. You don’t need to pretend the science is fully settled to have a serious conversation about a growing environmental issue. In many ways, this reminds me of earlier conversations around air pollution, endocrine disruptors, or even trans fats, where awareness emerged gradually before public health consensus fully crystallised.
Additionally, for Gilson, one of the biggest shifts currently happening across beauty, wellness, and consumer health is that the boundaries between categories are collapsing.
– Consumers increasingly see beauty, longevity, environmental health, nutrition, and wellness as part of the same ecosystem rather than separate verticals. Ten years ago, ‘clean beauty’ was largely about ingredient avoidance. Today, consumers are thinking much more systemically: air quality, water quality, endocrine disruption, plastics, sleep, stress, metabolism, and inflammation all exist in the same mental framework.
– I also think we’re entering an era where environmental exposure becomes one of the defining consumer health themes of the next decade. Not just microplastics, but broader questions around what constant low-level exposure to synthetic materials and industrial byproducts means for long-term human health. The brands that win will probably be the ones that can balance scientific credibility with accessibility. Consumers are becoming more scientifically literate, but they’re also exhausted by alarmism. The opportunity is in translating evolving science into practical, trustworthy consumer experiences without oversimplifying or sensationalising it.
To conclude, Gilson emphasises that this conversation shouldn’t become fatalistic. The presence of microplastics in modern life is real, but that doesn’t mean people need to panic.
– Historically, consumer awareness has often been one of the strongest forces driving improvements in public health, manufacturing standards, and product innovation. I think we’re still very early in understanding this category scientifically. But early does not mean irrelevant. It means we should approach the issue with curiosity, rigour, and proportion rather than either dismissing it outright or overstating certainty.