Although I do not take any supplements
daily, I do have a number that I have around for my family. I get the following
products from Emerson Ecologics, and they are available to any of my patients unless noted otherwise.
DAILY
My family takes a Calcium, Magnesium, Vitamin D liquid that
tastes like a bad vanilla milkshake. It keeps my boys regular, and prevents “growing
pains” that I experienced as a child and which evidently are simply magnesium deficiency.
Living in the northeast, we don't get anywhere enough vitamin D during
the winter months. The old RDA of 400IU is really miniscule compared to twenty minutes of full sunlight producing 10,000IU.
I was taught that 2,000IU was toxic, but have been unable to confirm this with any studies. Patients will the skin condition
psoriasis are regularly prescribed 50,000IU. Fosamox Plus now gives elderly women 1,000 IU in addition to whatever is
in their multivitamins. Given my own sporatic supplement taking, I periodically take 2,000 IU three times a week.
Those concerned could easily divide the bottle (1100 doses per ounce) to get 1,000 IU per drop.
Whenever we have a belly upset, we take
a probiotic, a non-disease causing yeast, sacchromyces boulardii. The majority
of probiotics (lactobacilli, bifidabacilli) give me gas because of the FOS (fruit
sugar) that is added. SBC does not, and will survive antibiotic exposure unlike
any combination of standard probiotics. The one side effect is possible constipation
(see LIQU8 above).
Moving on to tastier subjects, for the finicky young child I have found
that Nordic berries can act as both multivitamin and reward. I came to the conclusion that not all gummie vitamins were
equal when there was a flap about one of the children's gummie bears containing lead. Again, the boys don't get these
every day, but as often as they can.
Another easy sell is the strawberry flavored fish oil capsule.
Unlike grandma's cod liver oil, this has been molecularly distilled to avoid heavy metals and contaminants. It is also
independently checked for purity.
MULTIVITAMINS
Below I list my current multivitamin,
which I take once or twice a week when I remember. It used whole food which has
been processed to maintain the original vitamin structure. The benefit is that,
unlike every other multivitamin I have tried, this one does not turn your urine fluorescent yellow. That fluorescence from all those synthetic B vitamins can irritate the bladder and cause increased frequency.
Again, I don't take this daily, I take two or three (half the required dose) twice a week at most.
My wife is MUCH more consistent about taking her supplements. But
over time, we found that she was getting too much and it was making her ill. So I switched her to a good one a day based
on whole foods that have not been adulterated in the manufacturing process.
COLDS AND FLUS
For every cold and flu that attacks the sinuses, I keep a supply of "toxic
sludge" on hand. The official name is long and no one could remember it, so when a patient said the stuff tasted like
toxic sludge I kept the title. Years later, patients will still call me and ask me for "toxic sludge," so I know it
is working. Unfortunately, it is not available to patients directly because of the phytolacca content. But I have
found the individual ingredients available on sites like iherb (see iherb link on the purchasing supplements page)
if someone was skilled with herbs. Here's the proper named material:
For those who cannot tolerate the taste of toxic sludge, I recommend
black elderberry. The studies have been done on the liquid, but my boys prefer the tablets which are supposed to be
as good. I list both below.
FATIGUED
Although I usually take only the occasional multivitamin when I'm sick,
I have found that staying up all night with a two year old will lower my system down. In that case I find a combination
of licorice and ashwaghanda really supports my overall function. I have patients taste each compound before taking it,
as I find the test remarkably accurate for predicting compliance. Licorice, because it supports adrenal function, has
the capacity to raise blood pressure by as much as ten points. But it is safe even when tested on pregnant women (email
me for the study). Ashwaghanda has lots of supportive data for everything from cancer prevention to liver support.
I mix half and half and take as much as two tablespoons a day (after three days they both taste terrible and I stop).
Please only try this under a physician's supportive eye.
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