Alternative Medicine: What Supplements Should You Take?

The information below is not intended to replace diagnostic testing or replace actual visits to your physician. Before beginning a supplement regimen please consult with your physician.

Nutritional Information:

Water: the amount of water we need is influenced by the climate we live in, our health concerns, our diet and our activity level. About eight 8 oz cups of water is needed for the average human per day = 64 ounces (a little under 2 liters). The color of your urine should always be a very pale yellow, not a dark yellow. Pale yellow = the correct amount of fluid intake. Dark yellow = not enough fluids. ***DO NOT drink water with meals as it can dilute digestive juices. Drink water ½ an hour before meals and wait until an hour after meals. It’s best to drink water from a reliable water filter as opposed to drinking from plastic bottles. A great water filter is the Athena, which not only alkalizes the water, it also removes the free radicals (thus making the water an antioxidant) and it removes harsh chemicals including fluoride. As a matter of fact it causes you to be 5x more hydrated.

Recommended “supplements”.

First – please do no skimp on your vitamins. If you are taking “cheap” vitamins you may be doing your body more harm than good. Vitamins that are not bio-available make your organs (liver, kidneys, pancreas) work harder to process, thus putting a strain on them and you’re not absorbing the vitamins anyway. If you are not sure which brand/s to buy I have listed some below that are quite good and you can always check with the vitamin person in your local health food store as they are usually quite knowledgeable. Also don’t take too many vitamins – there was a recent case where a woman in her early 50’s was taking 85 generic Trader Joe vitamins per day and she died of renal (kidney) failure because she overloaded her system!!!! Again, before starting a supplements I highly recommend you first check in with your western doctor, nutritionist, naturopath or acupuncturist. If you are on any medication it’s very important to consult your physician before taking any vitamins or supplements as they can cause an adverse effect.

If you’re eating quite a lot of dark leafy green vegetables daily - you won’t need as many supplements.

Multivitamin (with folic acid) -- Look for mixed carotenoids in a multivitamin (one that has both retinol AND beta carotene. More than 10,000 IU per day of Vitamin A can be toxic to the body, especially for pregnant women (possible birth defects). Synthetic Beta Carotene increases the risk of lung cancer in smokers.

Vitamin D3 – this must be D3. Most people do not get enough Vitamin D and this is an important vitamin. Of course the best way to get vitamin D is 15 minutes of direct sun exposure per day but if you can’t do that I recommend that you first get tested to see what your vitamin D levels are. According to Dr. Mercola the optimal levels are 50-70 ng/ml. To treat cancer and heart disease he recommends 70-100 ng/ml. More than 100 is an excess. Too much vitamin D is also detrimental so it’s important to find your current base line and work from there. If your levels are low (below 20 or 30, I recommend to start with at least 4,000iu per day). If you do this, you MUST get tested in 4-6 months. If your levels are around 40-50 you can start with 2,000 per day and must also get tested in 4-6 months. Once you have enough in your system you can maintain at a lower dose. Since Vitamin D is oil soluble and stays in your system longer, you don’t have to take it every day. You can take a higher dose once a week or even once a month. Dr. Mercola recommends getting tested 2 times a year for 5 years.

Omega 3 fish oil – this is also very important to take for healthy joints, gut and memory. The DHA in fish oil is what your brain needs to function properly. Please get a high quality fish oil! There is a huge interest in krill oil however the whales eat krill and if we begin harvesting them as well there won’t be enough for the whales so look for Calamari oil or another type of fish – again sticking with one of the brands listed below!!

Probiotics – Personally I feel that probiotics are of utmost importance to maintain the healthy gut bacteria in your system. Especially if you have any issues with candida or have been on antibiotics in the past year. Please look for a brand that is enteric coated so that the capsules make it to your intensities before disintegrating. Or – you can eat yogurt (without sugar) or drink kefer daily instead of taking a probiotic -- if your body can handle dairy.

Vitamin E – d is a natural form; dl is NOT!! Tocopherol is easier for GI absorption and better topicially. Tocopheryl is more shelf stable.

There are 8 forms of vitamin E. Most supplements only include the alpha-tocopherol form however the gamma tocopherol has the most benefits (so supplementing with alpha will displace the gamma). Look for a mixed tocopherol and make sure the amounts are listed and it just doesn’t say “mixed” because it could be only trace amounts. I use The Pioneer brand “Comprehensive Super E” that has 300mg of gamma plus alpha, delta and beta at lower doses (all listed).

OR……………

Dr. Bruce Bonds recommends that his patients take these 4 supplements daily: These supplements are by Standard Process