5 Nutrition Supplements For The New Year
A 3 minute read
Do nutrition supplements confuse you? Read on to learn my 5 most recommended nutrition supplements.
Spend you supplement budget wisely; focus on my commonly recommended nutrition supplements for the new year.
Food always comes first, but nutrition supplements have a place in most of my client’s health and wellness regimens. Most of us like supplements and feel better about our health when we take them. If choosing among the millions of supplements available overwhelms and confuses you, read on for the 5 supplements I most commonly recommend to my clients.
Do you have a kitchen drawer full of nutrition supplements?
If you said yes, you are not alone. Many new clients are already on nutrition supplements collected over the years based on the well-meaning advice of online forums, health food stores, trainers, friends and family. Often they don’t know why they are taking them.
All new clients tell me what nutrition supplements they are taking and WHY. Then I assess their actual intake of nutrients and compare it to their requirements based on their health concerns, goals, and what medications they are taking(some medications can change nutrient requirements) . You can do this yourself with any of the nutrient calculators online, just be sure it is looking at all nutrients (vitamins and minerals) not just macro-nutrients. My favorite is food tracker Chronometer (paid version)
I always assess nutrient-nutrient interactions and drug-nutrient interactions before I choose a supplement for my clients.
I never profit from the sale of the supplements I recommend. I choose to pass this on to my clients which shows up as a discount on supplements ordered through my online dispensary.
The 5 nutrition supplements I recommend most often are:
Multivitamin/mineral:
Most clients take a broad-spectrum multivitamin with minerals. I choose a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement based on a client’s individual needs, situation and budget. This is a base supplement and the one all additional supplements are stacked on. It is never advisable to randomly take a single vitamin or mineral without a good base multi-vitamin/mineral supplement.
How I choose a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement:
Are all the minerals there? Are they chelated?
Is there iron? Does my client need iron or not?
Are the vitamins and minerals in the appropriate form? (a health focused genetic test is very helpful).
How many pills are needed for the full dose?
Can my client swallow pills or do they need a liquid or powder?
How is gut health, will the gut tolerate a full dose?
What is the budget?
Additional minerals:
You likely know about calcium supplements, but most clients need extra calcium, magnesium, boron, silica, and vanadium and chromium Minerals should be in their most absorbable form.
Omega 3 fatty acids:
Omega 3 fatty acids are highly beneficial fats that come from fish, especially sardines, mackerel and salmon. Most health specialist agree that it is cardio-protective to have adequate serum levels of Omega 3 fatty acids.
You can do your own test over at Omega Quant to find out if your levels are in the recommended range. I can also supply this test to you if you are a client.
Omega 3 should be purchased from a trusted reputable source because it should be batch tested for heavy metal contamination and packaged in a dark bottle (which prevents oxidation). High quality fish oil does not smell bad.
Vitamin D
There is no surprise here because Vitamin D receives a lot of attention in the press. I find many clients are taking Vitamin D and have no idea what their blood levels are. I ask all clients to check their vitamin D levels with their yearly lab work and I adjust their dose accordingly. It is never advisable to take vitamin D without knowing your blood levels. The amount of vitamin D needed to maintain safe levels varies widely from client to client. I like to recommend vitamin D be taken with the other fat soluble vitamins, especially appropriate forms of vitamin K.
Protein:
Sometimes clients do not eat enough protein. And while I always recommend a generous serving of protein be eaten first at every meal, some clients just can’t eat enough to build and/or maintain bone and muscle. There are protein powders that make excellent shakes and can be used to fill the gap between requirements and reality. There are even protein powders for vegetarians and vegans, a group that often falls short on protein intake. Make sure you choose a complete protein powder. Collagen is not a complete protein.
How my clients purchase nutrition supplements
I never send someone to the nutrition supplement aisle wherever they happen to shop. Clients can purchase high quality supplements through my online store at Fullscript or Doctor’s Supplement Store. I take choosing supplements for my clients and formulating an individual recommendation very seriously. This makes it easy to shop with confidence knowing that I have read the labels, so you don’t have to.
Once you start a supplement you should have its use evaluated yearly by the provider that prescribed it.
In Conclusion:
The 5 nutrition supplements listed above are ones I commonly recommend to my clients. The nutrition supplements you take should be individualized for you taking into consideration your health status, budget, medications and ability to swallow pills.
Want some help deciding on which nutrition supplements you should be taking? Book a free discovery call here.
