Miami’s David Beckham has a new health routine — and it starts with a powder
.jpg "David Beckham is pictured here drinking the all-in-one supplement powder of IM8, a company he co-founded last year.")
David Beckham is best known for his soccer stardom and his celebrity status.
Will he now be known as a nutrition guru?
Beckham, about to turn 50, is embracing a new project: co-owner of a nutritional supplement company. He took to a Miami Beach theater stage this past week to talk up a powder that he says will change lives.
Trouble sleeping? Need more energy? Seeking a nutrition boost?
“There’s a lot going on in our lives,” the retired soccer star and father of four said Monday on the stage of Faena Theatre in Miami Beach.
Beckham said he was inspired to take on the role by his own confusion.
“I wanted to bring something that simplified the supplement world. ... I used to go into stores and I was so confused by walls and walls of different products,” Beckham told a crowd of social influencers and wellness advocates.
He also wanted a product that would “taste good” and provide an “instant impact.”
As marketing pitchman, Beckham played up the powder but was not made available for questions or to be photographed by the Miami Herald at the Miami Beach event.
Last year, the Inter Miami co-owner founded IM8, a nutrition company, along with biotech company Prenetics CEO Danny Yeung. IM8 says its new all-in-one supplement powder can replace 16 daily supplements and is packed with 92 nutrient-rich ingredients that can help improve energy, digestion and immunity.
Some of the company’s “scientific advisory board” members vouched for the new product, which can be added to water, smoothies and mocktails, and is certified for use by professional athletes. The board is made up of experts who specialize in gut health, cardiovascular, cancer care, nutrient and aging, including some from the Mayo Clinic, Yale, NASA and the University of Florida.
IM8 has also sent ingredients from its patent-pending cell rejuvenation technology in specially designed science cubes to the International Space Station as part of an experiment with the University of Oxford to study accelerated aging and longevity.
As bartenders served mock mojitos and other non-alcoholic drinks infused with IM8’s supplement to the influencers and advocates, Beckham told them that he and his fashion designer wife, Victoria Beckham, use IM8 in their daily lives.
Beckham’s personal trainer and IM8 ambassador Bobby Rich and bodybuilder and free-diver Tavi Castro, also known as “The Real Aquaman” for his underwater videos, spoke about the supplement. Actress, mental health advocate and former Peloton instructor Kendall Toole, who moderated the chat with Beckham, has also recently started taking the supplement.
.jpg "IM8 Vibrante Miami - Bobby Rich (2).jpg")
People often turn to vitamins, minerals, herbs and other dietary supplements to help address nutrient deficiencies. Others take them to help improve or maintain their overall health. Supplements don’t replace, but can complement a healthy diet. And there’s a lot of supplements available for purchase online and at supermarkets and pharmacies.
“The reason why I wanted to go into the wellness and health space was because I wanted to make a difference,” Beckham said.
Unlike medicine, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn’t have the authority to approve dietary supplements for safety and effectiveness before the products are sold to the public. That responsibility falls on the company. Like with medicine, the FDA says dietary supplements can have benefits and risks, such as how the product may interact with certain medications, and recommends people speak with their doctor before taking any.
“The human body is both complicated and complex,” and people need to figure out what their body needs to “find balance,” Dr. Jeremy London, a board certified cardiovascular surgeon who is part of IM8’s eight-member scientific advisory board, told the Miami Herald.
London, who posts heart health and wellness videos to more than a million Instagram followers, said he decided to be part of IM8’s board because it “checks so many boxes,” including third party testing and transparency on what, and how much, ingredients are in its products.
IM8’s flagship product, the powder mix sold as IM8’s “Daily Ultimate Essentials,” is “NSF Certified for Sport.” The program, overseen by NSF, the largest independent third-party testing lab in the U.S., tested the product for more than 280 banned substances to ensure compliance with anti-doping regulations of major athletic organizations, including the NFL and NBA, as well as for heavy metals, pesticides, contaminants and label accuracy, according to IM8.
IM8 officially launched in November. Besides its all-in-one daily mix, the company also sells a healthy aging pill. The pill supplement uses patent-pending technology to target “the key hallmarks of aging,” support “cognitive sharpness and heart strength,” and enhance cellular health, according to the company’s website. Together, they’re known as the Beckham Stack. More products are expected to be released later this year and in 2026.
Tips to help improve health
Gut health and its relationship with brain and heart health was a key topic in Miami Beach, with London and two other IM8 scientific advisory board members: Dr. Amy Shah, a double-board certified physician specializing in integrative medicine and nutrition and host of wellness podcast “Save Yourself,” and James DiNicolantonio, a cardiovascular research scientist and author who serves as IM8’s chief nutrition officer.
“What you’re putting into your body really matters. ... There are studies where you can just change the gut and that changes the entire brain,” Shah said. “So personality, ADHD, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia, all can be induced by just changing the gut bacteria, or cure by just changing the gut bacteria.”
DiNicolantonio, who has a pharmacy degree, said food is about 30% to 40% less nutrient dense compared to 50 years ago because of chemical fertilizers and quick harvests. Most packaged food is also ultra processed, known to increase a person’s risk for cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, and diabetes.
“Ultra processed food is a huge problem in our society,” and creates a lot of inflammation in the body, Shah said.
While the three experts touted the benefits of IM8’s ingredients and how it can help “counteract the negative effects of an unhealthy diet,” they also gave some general tips to live healthier:
▪ Follow the 30-30-3 framework. “Eat 30 grams of protein in the morning, 30 grams of fiber throughout the day and three servings of probiotic foods every day,” said Shah.
▪ Take a walk outside in the sun for 10 to 15 minutes. And make sure to dim or turn off your lights at night. Night lights, a hallway light that stays on, light that comes in through the window can disturb your sleep. Sleep issues can raise your risk for certain conditions, including diabetes and heart problems.
▪ Move. Incorporate mindfulness like journaling, meditation or prayer into your life. And find ways to strengthen muscles. People lose almost 1% of muscle mass every year after the age of 30, “so if you’re not building muscle, you are losing it,” said DiNicolantonio. This means that besides cardio, people need to also incorporate resistance training to strengthen their bones and muscles to reduce their risk of fall-related injuries as they age, the experts say.
London also told the Miami Herald after the panel that besides monitoring what they eat, and trying to eat a mostly whole foods diet, people should avoid alcohol-based mouthwashes that kill good bacteria and may cause high blood pressure. They also need to prioritize sleeping well.
“Don’t be scared of failure. What you should be scared of is staying the same,” London said.
David Beckham on IM8 and wellness
“Wellness is not just one thing. It’s not just what you eat or what you drink. It’s how you live your daily life, whether it’s going for a walk, going for a run, working out, taking the dog for a walk, doing things with the kids and with the family, so that kind of thing, it fits into my daily life,” Beckham said.
For the past year, Beckham says he’s mixed his supplement into water every day, and since then, “his energy is off the chart” and he’s sleeping better. He and his wife mix it into water with ice pre-workout. His kids mix it into smoothies.
He also has some advice:
“You‘ve just got to take a breath. Sometimes you just have to take a breath in life. We’ve all got so much going on, whether it’s family or business or just life in general, sometimes you just have to take a breath and take a moment, because it’s important.”
This story was originally published April 9, 2025 at 12:28 PM.
