Ad description
Three paid-for YouTube ads and one paid-for Facebook ad for Hume Health, seen in January 2026:
a. The first YouTube ad featured a video for the Hume Health Pod. The ad featured a voice-over and on-screen text which stated, “But here’s what changes everything. When you know your actual metabolic age, you can reverse it […] One customer discovered she was metabolically 62 at 44 […] “Instead of injecting Ozempic, she used Hume Health Pod to track her metabolic age daily. She rebuilt muscle, reduced visceral fat and improved her body composition. Within 4 months her metabolic age dropped to 48 […] The pod shows you exactly why your natural Ozempic isn’t working. Maybe you’re metabolically ancient. Maybe your muscle mass is too low. Maybe visceral fat is blocking hormone production. Once you know, you can fix it.”
b. The second YouTube ad featured a video for the Hume Health Pod. The ad featured on-screen text and a voice-over which stated, “They charge $200 for a DEXA scan to check your body composition, $300 for metabolic testing, $150 for inflammation panels. All tests that could catch problems early. But they price them so high that most people never get them […] That’s why we created the Hume Health Pod. We wanted to make health data accessible to everyone. Not just people who can afford hundreds of dollars of preventative testing. The Hume Health Pod comes with a 30 day moneyback guarantee, shows your metabolic age, your visceral fat levels, muscle mass distribution - all the metrics that predict chronic disease years before it happens. We've had people discover that they're pre-diabetic years before they would have been diagnosed. Caught metabolic dysfunction that would have led to heart disease, found inflammation patterns that predicted autoimmune conditions […] Now over a million people track their health daily with Body Pod. They're catching problems early, making changes, and avoiding the trap of becoming long-term lifetime patients. The healthcare system wants you checking your health once a year, at their facility, for $200. We want you checking it every day, at home. The Hume Health Pod gives you the same data as those DEXA scans. Try it, see your real metabolic age, check your visceral fat, discover what they don't want you to know about your health. If it doesn't reveal something important, get a full refund.”
c. The third YouTube ad featured a video for the Hume Health Band. The ad featured on-screen text which stated, "This band caught the stroke before I could". A woman stated, "This band saved my life. I had no warning signs. I run every morning, I eat an extremely clean diet, and my annual check-ups - always two thumbs up. Everything always looked perfect. But my Hume Band picked up irregular patterns and a rapid drop in metabolic momentum. Its AI actually flagged the data as urgent. My doctor ended up running deeper tests. Turns out my main artery was 85% blocked. I was literally just weeks away from having a stroke […] This device tracks everything: metabolic capacity, cellular stress, early illness patterns. It's like wearing an ICU monitor on your wrist. It doesn't just record, it predicts. Now my entire family wears Hume Bands. Daily metabolic scores keep us all accountable. It already helped me catch the stroke. My dad was pre-diabetic, and it actually alerted my sister with a thyroid issue. We're not just living longer, but we're living safer now. A single cardiac event costs well over $100,000. The Hume Band costs a fraction of that. So don't wait for the symptoms. Get your early warning system at humehealth.com".
d. The Facebook ad featured an image of the Hume Health Band with the text, "YOUR 2026 STROKE DETECTOR", "Medical-grade monitoring that catches vascular stress early". A caption stated, "Meet the AI-powered wearable over 1.2 million users rely on [eyes emoji] Hume Band continuously scans your biomarkers, catches health issues early, and guides you to smarter choices for a longer life. Increase energy, endurance, and resilience. Detect health issues before symptoms show. AI-driven personalized health routines. Comfortable, wearable 24/7. Click now to get 40% OFF + free shipping for a limited time only!".
Issue
Two complainants challenged whether the ads breached the Code because they:
1. made medical claims for unlicensed products;
2. discouraged people from seeking essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervisions should be sought; and
3. exaggerated the capabilities of the Hume Health Pod and the Hume Health Band.
Response
Hume Health LLC did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.
Assessment
The ASA was concerned by Hume Health LLC’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to provide a response to our enquiries and told them to do so in the future.
1. Upheld
The CAP Code stated that medicinal claims and indications may be made for a medicinal product that was authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), or under the auspices of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A medicinal claim was a claim that a product or its constituent(s) could be used with a view to make a medical diagnosis or could treat or prevent disease, including an injury, ailment or adverse condition, whether of body or mind, in human beings.
Ad (a) stated that when consumers knew their “actual metabolic age”, they could “reverse it”. It referred to a customer who, “Instead of injecting Ozempic”, used the Hume Health Pod, and stated that the Pod showed “exactly why your natural Ozempic isn’t working”. We considered that consumers would understand those claims to mean that the product could identify metabolic problems affecting health and could be used as an alternative to, or in place of, a prescription-only medicine. We therefore considered that those were medical claims.
Ad (b) stated that the Pod showed “all the metrics that predict chronic disease years before it happens”, and that users had discovered that they were “pre-diabetic years before they would have been diagnosed”, had caught “metabolic dysfunction that would have led to heart disease”, and had found “inflammation patterns that predicted autoimmune conditions”. It also stated that the product gave consumers “the same data as those DEXA scans”. We considered that consumers would understand those claims to mean that the product could identify, predict or help diagnose serious medical conditions and disease risk. We therefore considered that those were medical claims.
Ad (c) stated, “This band caught the stroke before I could”, “This band saved my life”, and that the product had flagged data as urgent before tests showed that the speaker’s “main artery was 85% blocked”. It also stated that the Hume Health Band tracked “early illness patterns”, was “like wearing an ICU monitor on your wrist”, and “doesn’t just record, it predicts”. Ad (d) described the Hume Health Band as “YOUR 2026 STROKE DETECTOR”, and referred to “Medical-grade monitoring that catches vascular stress early” and detecting “health issues before symptoms show”. We considered that consumers would understand those claims to mean that the Band could detect, predict or identify serious medical events and conditions, including stroke. We therefore considered that those were medical claims.
Hume Health LLC did not respond to our enquiries. We understood the products were not registered with the MHRA, and we had not seen evidence the products held the applicable conformity marking.
Because the ads made medical claims for products for which we had not seen evidence of the applicable conformity marking or MHRA registration, we concluded that they breached the Code.
On that point, the ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 12.1 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
2. Upheld
The CAP Code stated that marketers must not discourage essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should be sought. For example, they must not offer specific advice on, diagnosis of or treatment for such conditions unless that advice, diagnosis or treatment was conducted under the supervision of a suitably qualified health professional.
Ad (b) stated that users had discovered they were “pre-diabetic years before they would have been diagnosed”, had caught “metabolic dysfunction that would have led to heart disease”, and had found inflammation patterns that predicted autoimmune conditions”. It also stated, “The healthcare system wants you checking your health once a year, at their facility, for $200. We want you checking it every day, at home.” We considered that consumers would understand those claims to mean that the product could identify or monitor serious medical conditions outside established medical supervision. We considered that diabetes, heart disease and autoimmune conditions were conditions for which suitably qualified medical advice should be sought.
Ad (c) stated, “This band caught the stroke before I could”, “This band saved my life”, that the speaker’s “main artery was 85% blocked”, and “My dad was pre-diabetic, and it actually alerted my sister with a thyroid issue”. It also referred to the product as an “early warning system” and stated, “It doesn't just record, it predicts.” Ad (d) stated, “YOUR 2026 STROKE DETECTOR”, “Medical-grade monitoring that catches vascular stress early”, and “Detect health issues before symptoms show”. We considered that consumers would understand those claims to mean that the Hume Health Band could identify warning signs of stroke, diabetes-related conditions, thyroid issues and serious cardiovascular problems before symptoms appeared. We considered that stroke, diabetes and heart disease were conditions for which suitably qualified medical advice should be sought.
Because the ads presented the products as able to identify, flag or predict such conditions or risks outside the supervision of a suitably qualified health professional, we considered that they discouraged essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should be sought. We had seen no evidence that any advice, diagnosis or treatment referred to in the ads was conducted under the supervision of a suitably qualified health professional.
We therefore concluded that the ads breached the Code.
On that point, ads (b), (c), and (d) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 12.2 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
3. Upheld
Ad (a) stated that the Hume Health Pod could show consumers their “actual metabolic age” and “exactly why your natural Ozempic isn’t working”. Ad (b) stated that the Pod could show “your visceral fat levels” and “muscle mass distribution”, and that it gave “the same data as those DEXA scans”. Ad (c) stated that the Hume Health Band could identify “irregular patterns”, a “rapid drop in metabolic momentum”, and “metabolic capacity, cellular stress, early illness patterns” and was “like wearing an ICU monitor on your wrist”. Ad (d) stated that the Band could identify “vascular stress” and provided “medical-grade monitoring”. We considered that consumers would understand those claims to mean that the products could provide highly detailed and accurate health data, and analysis at a level comparable to clinical testing or monitoring.
We understood that the Hume Health Pod was a set of smart scales and the Hume Health Band was a wearable health tracker or smart watch. We understood that those types of products were generally used to measure and estimate metrics such as weight, body composition, movement and other general wellness or fitness data.
We had not seen any evidence to show that the Hume Health Pod or Hume Health Band could provide the level of detail or accuracy claimed in the ads. We therefore concluded that the ads exaggerated the capability of the products and were misleading.
On that point, the ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation), and 3.11 (Exaggeration).
Action
The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Hume Health LLC not to make medical claims for devices that did not hold the applicable conformity marking and were not registered with the MHRA. We also told them not to exaggerate the capabilities of their products. We referred the matter to CAP’s Compliance team.
