The Ins and Outs of Supplements
If you spend any time online these days, I’m sure you’ve noticed the constant marketing for health and wellness products on your feed. It’s relentless and companies have become very good and convincing us we need this powder or that supplement. But is it worth the money? How are we supposed to know if it is a quality product or just hype? Is it going to be the magic fix you’re hoping for? Well, read on. I’m going to break it down for you.
One size does not fit all
I treat every one of my patients as individuals, because they are! Everyone has different genetics, childhoods, different exposures and experiences throughout life. Everyone eats different foods, absorbs and uses nutrients differently, has different stress and activity levels, etc. So it’s important to understand that we all have slightly different needs when it comes to vitamins and supplements. What works for one person may not work for you.
There are a few nutrients that I have found to be helpful for most people such as vitamin D, but even then I tend to like to send some lab tests to confirm. A multivitamin can be a nice safety net for many patients and I do recommend them often. I take one myself as well. But quality matters and you tend to get what you pay for! So running out for a huge jar of Costco brand vitamins is probably not doing you any favors.
Liquids, Capsules, Tablets, and Gummies. Oh my!
Supplements come in all sorts of delivery methods and they are NOT created equal. When thinking about the best choice for you, there are a few factors to consider. First, and most importantly, is purity and ease of absorption. Liquids and powders are generally going to be the easiest to absorb. In some cases, tinctures or drops are meant to be absorbed right in the mouth and are a good choice for quick acting agents (like for pain or sleep), some vitamins (like B12), and some hormones. They can also often be added to smoothies or other liquids to cut down on the number of pills you are taking. This is also a great option for those who have trouble swallowing pills and capsules.
The next best option are capsules and are the most common form for a reason. This delivery system makes it easy to pack in a bunch of stuff without needing to worry about taste. It also requires very few fillers or additives so they can easily be made free from allergens.
Tablets come next in the line of desirable supplement forms. In order to press something into tablet form, it requires a good amount of fillers and additives which are now interfering with purity. Many people are sensitive to these fillers causing reactions. Tablets are also more work for the body to digest and absorb, another factor making them less desirable.
Last in the list of quality options is (don’t hate me!) gummies. While they have been marketed as magical candy drops for everything from multivitamins to fish oil to fiber, they really are just that. Candy. The primary ingredient is sugar in some form and the amount of nutrients able to be put into a single gummy is generally pretty small. Now that doesn’t mean that they can’t be a viable option in some circumstances such as kids who are unable to swallow capsules, but they should be a last resort in my opinion.
Know your brands
Vitamin and supplement companies are not regulated by the FDA so they do not have to conform to the same standards that pharmaceutical companies do. This is a good thing and a bad thing. It allows people to have more control over their own health without requiring a provider to write a prescription and be charged crazy amounts of money by big pharma. But it also means that many companies do not have high quality standards and, in some cases, are downright untruthful about their products. So choosing a high quality and trustworthy brand is important. Any company worth their salt should be transparent with their manufacturing process and third party testing for quality. This is particularly important for certain nutrients such as fish oil because contamination and oxidation can easily occur. Elemental Wellness only uses high quality brands that can be trusted and they are generally not the brand you will find advertised on social media! This does not mean every ad you see is shady, but I do recommend a healthy amount of skepticism.
How much should I take?
When it comes to dosing, there is no clear answer. It’s worth noting that the recommendations on the manufacturer's packaging is going to be considered a safe dose. But with many of my patients, a higher dose (sometimes a much higher dose) is needed to achieve the desired outcome. I will often start patients on a loading dose which is a higher than normal dose for the purpose of boosting levels quickly. The duration of this may be for a day or 2. This is meant to be for a short period of time and it is important to follow your provider's instructions carefully. Then there is the concept of a therapeutic dose versus a maintenance dose. Again, a higher dose may need to be taken for a period of time to achieve an outcome. It is not a normal dose and will be quite different from the package instructions. Oftentimes this dose is adjusted over time depending on the person and situation. It may then be stopped altogether or adjusted to a lower maintenance dose. This refers to the dose meant to be taken long term, once some healing has occurred. A good example of this is B vitamins for someone with a known MTHFR gene mutation. But this can be a complicated process that takes knowledge and expertise which is why it is important to use most supplements under the care of a qualified provider.
When should I take them?
I get this question all the time and it’s easy to get bogged down in trying to schedule supplements, especially if you are taking several for therapeutic effects. While there are specific instructions for a few select things, for the most part I have found that people are overcomplicating and overthinking it. Just take your supplements! Morning or night, with or without food. I don’t really care. What works for you? Did you take it on an empty stomach and it made you nauseous? Then take it with food. Did you forget to take something in the morning? Then take it at night. While it is important to try to take them as instructed, it’s more important to just take them.
Supplement Holidays
Not all supplements (or medications for that matter) are meant to be taken long term and, in fact, most are not. Most are meant to achieve a particular outcome and then be tapered off. But for whatever reason, many of us do benefit from long term use of certain nutrients. Why? Well, that is a topic for another day but a big reason is the way we have destroyed our agricultural system and the loss of nutrients in our food as a result. But even for those things that are taken regularly it tends to be a good idea to take a ‘supplement holiday’ every now and then. This means taking a short break from taking something. This can actually allow it to work better in many cases and gives you an opportunity to assure it is still having a positive effect. There are many ways to take a holiday such as taking a break for 1-2 weeks every couple times per year. Another way to skip 1 day a week or one weekend a month. I recommend discussing with your Functional Medicine provider if a supplement holiday is appropriate for you.
Supplements can be a very useful tool to promote healing and optimizing your health. But they are just one of many and often not the most important intervention. Lifestyle factors such as diet, stress management, and sleep are arguably far more impactful. But if you are going to take vitamins and supplements, it can help to understand a few basic things about them. Talk to your Functional Medicine provider to know what is right for you and if you don’t have one, Elemental Wellness is here to help!
