Supplements
Vitamins and supplements are a very vast topic, it would be utopic to analize many of them, let aside all. What I will describe here are certain guidelines I follow.
Supplements are very popular and may be useful through the active ingredients they supply, but there are so many questions about them. There are no regulations in the supplements industry, not to add that they don’t come cheap, or if really cheap, the quality may be very poor.
Looking at the food labels, it appears that everything is enriched with vitamins. I used to believe that maybe that’s why we may not need supplements. But as Dr. Hyman said, “the food supply is so impoverished from all the processing, that’s why it needs to be enriched.” Therefore we do need some supplements. Even with a properly balanced, healthy diet we cannot obtain all the nutrients we need from foods, especially as we age.
Certain diseases deplete specific nutrients (B12, vitamin A, or E). Most of us are depleted of vitamin D without taking supplements. Other important components of our metabolism and natural detox mechanisms, such as coenzyme Q10, NAD, glutathione, and many more get depleted as we age anyway. Luckily for many of these, our body has the capacity to recycle and reuse them, but the processed foods, toxins, environment and stress are overwhelming sooner or later.
I’m definitely not in favor of the synthetically produced vitamins and supplements, as they can carry chemicals left-over from the production process. The naturally extracted ones are somewhat of a concern as well. How are they obtained? Starting from how they are extracted (for some, using chemical solvents), processed, and stored, plus the possible additives and preservatives to increase their shelf-life make the research for quality supplements very tedious.
Many supplements can be unreliable about the amount of the active ingredient in each capsule. For others, the chemical structure is not the active one. For instance, coenzyme Q 10, should be in the chemical structure trans, as opposed to the cis form—which is not as useful. The same is true for another supplement, resveratrol.
Even when obtained in a healthy way from natural resources, taking too much can cause damage to important organs (usually liver or kidneys). Let’s not forget that many of the vitamins and trace minerals act as catalysts in many metabolic reactions. This means we only need very small amounts to be present, another reason we don’t need to binge on supplements.
Too much of the antioxidants at high dose become pro-oxidants, therefore have effects opposite to what we’re trying to accomplish by taking them. One example are beta-carotenes, precursors of vitamin A in our body: at high doses they can promote development of lung cancers in smokers. Another example is that high daily doses of vitamin C can lead to kidney stones.
For the vitamins and mineral supplements that have established daily requirements, if we read the labels, some brands have the daily dose as 275% of daily requirements (almost 3 times more), while others have 22,000%. Taking these huge doses daily cannot be healthy, especially with fat-soluble vitamins that can cause liver toxicity.
At this point I was able to decide on a brand of good quality multivitamin that includes also the trace minerals. I picked Garden of Life/my kind organics. As the name says, they obtain their products from organic resources, don’t have non-sense additives, and the dosage per tablet is close to the daily requirements. For these vitamins, they don’t use vegetable capsules, which is something I explained why I’ve not been in favor of using.
To this I add Natural Factor liquid drops of vitamin D3 (4000 U daily)—I’ve been taking these for years. I opted for them instead of the soft gels, because they’re unlikely to have emulsifiers or mixing agents, often used for the fatty supplements to be introduced in the soft gels. These drops taste like olive oil.
Come to think of it, lately I’ve been slacking in omega-3 supplements (a teaspoon of Carlson liquid, fish oil, unflavored—tastes like the oil in a sardine can), but I did eat more omega-3 rich fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel). According to many sources, Nordic Naturals is another reliable brand.
When taking fish oil supplements, we have to be careful because some have additional vitamin A and D. When unaccounted for and mixed with other supplements especially over a prolonged period, they can cause liver damage.
My approach is to rely on good quality foods, because these can benefit us through the complex mixture of micro and macronutrients Mother Nature “engineered” for us, and use more targeted supplements, but none in excess.
I’m going to research other supplements I think I need and disclose them in my articles, just in case readers feel is something they want to use, but I’m not endorsing any brands. Since not two persons being alike and everybody having different needs, what works for me may not be suitable for somebody else.
There is a lot of information to research, especially from famous specialists in the Functional Medicine field. The brands on each of their sites are different. They do provide many articles and videos with general information about useful supplements to be taken on a daily basis, but some details amongst them are a bit conflicting.
I would really want to get a clear answer from at least one of them: What supplements are YOU taking and what particular brands are they? Afterwards, I can decide what would best serve my needs.
