To Supplement or Not To Supplement?

I'm sure I will knock over some sacred cows with this one.  People tend to fall on one side of the supplement fence or the other.  There are those who believe you can get all the nutrition you need by eating clean, healthy foods.  Others believe you can only achieve optimal health by adding supplements to a clean, healthy diet.

So where do I fall in the ongoing debate?

In a perfect world, I absolutely think you could get all the nutrition you need from food alone.  However, even with the best intentions, most of us don't eat right all the time.  We have our slips -- usually more often than we like to think.  That messes with our ability to get all the nutrition our bodies need to operate at optimum levels.  I also think that our industrial farming practices over the last 100 years haven't done the mineral levels in our soils any favors.  And if the mineral levels of our soil is depleted, how will those minerals get into our vegies?  I'm not a big fan of the chemical fertilizer route, myself.

I also believe that because most Americans have spent a good portion of our lives eating highly sugared, highly processed foods, we don't just need average nutrition.  We need super nutrition.  Many of us have put ourselves into a hole nutritionally.  We don't start thinking about nutrition until we start seeing physical problems crop up.  Many of us live in a nutritionally depleted state.  We need a little extra boost to fill up that hole.

That's where supplements enter the picture.  But all supplements are not created equal.  Synthetically created vitamins and minerals aren't really recognized by our bodies in the same way that naturally occurring ones are.  I have personal experience with this.  I have purchased the vitamins and minerals available at the local grocery or mega stores.  When I took them, I sometimes felt slightly better or more energetic, but usually I couldn't tell much difference.  But when I switched to a naturally derived, foods based source, the difference was phenomenal.  My body began to heal.  It was amazing.  Once I saw the difference, I have never looked back.

I don't think it is generally best to supplement heavily with single vitamins.  Foods don't come like that.  Foods come as vitamin packages for a reason.  Vitamins work best in conjunction with other vitamins. When you over-supplement with a single vitamin you can create problems for yourself.  For instance, for a while there was a vitamin E craze.  Everyone was taking Vitamin E.  The problem is that too much vitamin E hinders your blood's ability to clot.  There were some stories about people who needed surgery and ended up bleeding way more than they should have -- all because they got out of balance.  If you see that you are deficient in a B vitamin, take a B vitamin complex rather than a single B vitamin.  The B vitamins work synergistically with each other.  If you are deficient in one, you are probably deficient in several.  They work together and can be easily thrown out of balance by just taking one.

I have a list of supplements that I consider essential building blocks.  I might add something else from time to time if I feel I need to, but only for a season.  These are the ones I stick with.  I am not super brand specific (although I really like the ones I'm currently taking), but I make sure they are from a reputable source and are naturally derived, not synthetic.

So here's my Essentials List:

Multi-Vitamins/Minerals  I'm using SuperMom by Beeyoutiful. -- because I'm super and I'm a mom.  JK -- we always joke about the name but it is a great supplement with a lot of greens and such added in.

Omega 3  I'm currently taking Cod Liver Oil because it also has vitamins A and D3 and is good for the thyroid.  I ran out of my fish oil and have Krill Oil on order.  It is an Omega 3 that has lots of additional benefits as well.  Make sure you get your oils from a good source.  They go rancid very easily and can do more harm than good when they are.

Calcium/Magnesium  Most people who take calcium don't realize you need magnesium for the calcium to do any good (you also need Vitamin D3, Zinc, etc).  Many people are actually deficient in magnesium.  I currently take Bone Ami by Beeyoutiful, although Natural Calm plus Calcium by Natural Vitality is also good.  The Bone Ami tablets are like swallowing a chalky horse pill, but Beeyoutiful also has a liquid form, and Natural Calm is a drink mix.

Probiotics  I am currently using Tummy Tuneup by Beeyoutiful.  The immune system starts in the colon.  Good bacteria (probiotics) process the food you eat and fight the yuck you are exposed to.  If your colon isn't working well, your immune system isn't working well.  You need a healthy colony of good bacteria in your colon for it to work well.  If you have ever taken an antibiotic then you need to replenish with a probiotic.  Antibiotics kill all bacteria, not just the bad ones.  And if you have eaten the Standard American Diet, you probably need to re-establish your good bacteria colony, because it certainly doesn't.  A word of warning, however:  If your good bacteria is running low, you may have an overgrowth of Candida (yeast) -- look it up.  You might be amazed.  If you do, when you start taking probiotics you are probably going to feel like you have the flu.  That is the Candida die off.  You will likely feel worse before you feel better.  There is a whole lot more to say about probiotics, but we wouldn't want this post to get too long, now would we?

That's it.  I also take an all-natural, stevia sweetened Protein Powder as part of my workout recovery.  I don't like the chemical ingredients in most protein powders, but this one is natural.  It is 100% Natural Whey Protein by Body Strong (Natural Chocolate flavor).  We get it from All Star Health.  Ideally, I would get all my protein from my diet, but I found I just wasn't getting enough.  After only 2 days using the protein powder, I felt energetic and wonderful.  Eventually I would like to find better ways to meet my protein needs through food alone, though.  That's more of a time issue on my part.

Even though I believe God created the foods on the Earth to meet our needs nutritionally, I have found that supplementation helps me fill in the gaps I miss.  I feel stronger and more energetic with good, natural supplements added to a healthy, whole foods diet.

Have a great day!

Angela