Simple Stupid Guide to Supplements:
Ready to make an immediate and lasting impact on your health routine, declutter your cabinet, or gain confidence in the supplements you take?
This guide is to help you think like an expert:
- If you feel like you bought a bargain brand, there is a good chance you are doing more harm than good
- Here’s why: Not all supplements are equal, there are different forms of the same vitamin and minerals. Some contain additives that also do the body harm like magnesium stearate (DNA damage).
- Start taking the essentials before venturing off into some wild stuff. Are you taking what your body needs (magnesium, copper, B vitamin complex)? There are supplements for what is tough to get in our diet and are commonly deficient in most people. Check out a list of common deficiencies to see what can benefit you.
- For a personal approach: invest in a blood serum and/or hair analysis. This will give you a reference as to what your body is lacking. Although it is not always a 100% true reflection on what you need to supplement.
- Does the supplement claim miraculous things? Chances are it’s not true. Even if it is, you should not be taking it every day. For example, cordyceps is best used for 2-3 weeks at a time. Wisdom suggests it should be used exclusively for people who are ill and are greatly fatigued. Not by people who want to quit coffee.
- Check the DV (daily recommended value). This dose is the minimum required to avoid deficiency, not the dose to maximize health benefits. Magnesium is a great example of this. However, others like vitamin A can be overdosed and cause damage.
Choose high quality, essential nutrients, take the proper does, and minimize the use of extreme non-essential supplements.
Let this article serve as a guide for the questions you must research when selecting supplements.
Cheers to your health. It is the most rewarding of pursuits.