What Are The Best Supplements For Me To Take?
My clients often ask me, what are the best supplements for them to take. If I were to answer that on the spot without knowing their health and medical background, I would be a charlatan! This is very similar to the question, “What’s the best exercise for me to do?” (CLICK HERE to read the article) The answer to this question is quite complex. First and foremost, each of us is a bio/psycho/social/spiritual individual. Our personalized health needs are a result of our genetics and biology, life experiences, environment, food quality, relationships, etc. Each of these (and more) has a unique effect on our, physiologic, emotional, and psychospiritual well-being. Every person’s health system depends on a host of elements. Epigenetics goes even further into these ideas, including our capacity to transcend genetic predispositions through lifestyle improvements in the areas we mentioned above. Our nutritional needs may be based on our DNA as well as our mother’s experiences when we were in utero, adverse experiences in our childhood, as well as many more factors. There is no one size fits all approach to supplementation.
So, the short answer is that everyone needs to find out their own body’s requirements. Which levels of hormones, vitamins, blood cell counts, etc., are sufficient and which levels are insufficient. This assessment might require tests ordered by the doctor via blood, saliva, urine, hair analysis, etc. Once we find out where our nutritional strengths and deficiencies are, then we might consider supplementation.
At the same time, many of our nutritional needs can be found by enhancing our diet. Food is medicine. As Dr. Mark Hyman says, “Food is not just calories, it is information. It talks to your DNA and tells it what to do…” For instance, Vitamin C is found in many fruits and vegetables (such as: acerola cherries, guava, black currants, broccoli, kiwis, citrus, etc.) Also, to further benefit the immune system, people try to optimize their vitamin D levels during the winter. Vitamin D is absorbed by the skin when out in the sun (some gets through even on a cloudy day) and is available in many foods as well, such as: salmon, fortified dairy and vegan milks, yogurt, orange juice, tofu, eggs, and more. Vitamin D-25 Hydroxy is a typical blood test that your healthcare provider can order for you to ascertain your level.
With all of that said, some of us cannot get enough of the necessary nutrients through our diet alone. Additionally, some people are not willing to eat certain foods, or have food sensitivities or allergies. Sometimes food supplementation can be hacked through making smoothies with real, whole foods (fruits, nuts, oils, milks, protein powders, etc.). However, there is a place for taking nutrition in the form of pills and capsules, drops, tinctures, oils, sprays, etc. These are all considered nutritional supplementation. Linus Pauling said: “Optimum nutrition is the medicine of tomorrow.”
The most important part of all of this is, if you are taking supplements, get guidance from your healthcare professional. I feel very blessed to have a Functional Medicine Doctor whom I go to quite regularly throughout the year. You may recall, I had a stroke, five years ago (CLICK HERE to read about it). At that time my various blood were out of whack. Since then, with nutritional, lifestyle, and supplementation, my levels have been improving. Year by year, month by month, and sometimes even within weeks changes are visible. However, supplements must be high quality, the right dosage, and what’s right for YOU, as well as taken consistently according to your prescription. As we mentioned earlier about the sun and vitamin D. Vitamin D levels can very easily be enhanced through a good vitamin D supplement. I know, because I’ve done it (especially during COVID in Buffalo in the winters)! It’s amazing to see the obvious effects on blood tests when carefully supplementing.
Considering the above, since I was recently certified as an integrative mental health professional (CIMHP), I have been invited to have my own confidential dispensary with Fullscript (CLICK HERE to visit my dispensary). Anyone who signs up with Fullscript immediately gets a 5% discount. However, I can get your discount up to 20% if you use my invite link CLICK HERE. Once you sign up I will be able to apply the discount to you. If there are supplements that you’re interested in or already taking, and they are less expensive on Fullscript, you may want to give Fullscript a try.
Lots of success in your healing journeys.
We love hearing from you, please feel free to leave your comments below.
With Gratitude,
Rus Devorah
