Today I thought we would do something a little different.  The reason for this is people constantly ask me about the supplements I take and why did I choose that particular one.

Also, people worry about taking too many herbal or nutritional supplements at once (or in the same day).  The common statement I hear is: Are they all canceling each other out?

So today I thought I would go over the supplements I take and briefly why I take this particular supplement.

But before we look at this, I wanted to tell you about the process I go through in my own head, when choosing a supplement for myself, as I believe there are many things that need to be taken into consideration.

My first considerations are always:  What is the need?   And what do I want to accomplish by taking a supplement?

So my needs may be that my immunity is poor and I catch viruses easily. Or

it may be that my energy levels are not as great as they could be. Or it could be that I am not sleeping as soundly as I should. Or it could be that my digestion is sluggish and I have gas. Or it could be that I have a lot of dead lines coming up and I am feeling more pressured than usual.

So determining the Need is the 1st step.

The 2nd thing I take into consideration is the things I know about my body already and how it operates and the individual health problems I already have, or were bought into the world with.

Myself, I was not a breast fed baby and I lived on antibiotics for a large portion of my childhood, due to having bronchitis.  I had rheumatic fever when I was 4 years old. Because of these things, my immune system has always been compromised, my nutrient absorption ability is poor and my gut health needs constant work (due to all of those antibiotics).  Also, my liver is one of my main problem areas, needing extra support.

So lets say my “Need” is to help my body with reoccurring viruses and immune challenges.

So my story is that over the festive break I caught a virus and then also toxoplasmosis, the cat parasite, all within a couple of days of one  another.  So I will relate to this specifically and what I chose to help my body get over these better.

Because medically you cannot take anything for a virus (or for toxoplasmosis), I wanted to support my immune system as much as I could, to help my body fight these off faster.

Because of my medical history and because I know that 70% of my immune system is situated in my intestinal wall, I knew this was where I needed to start.   I made sure I was taking a high quality probiotic, as my gut health was very compromised with the virus.  Because of my medical history, I always take a probiotic.  But because of this illness, I increased this dramatically, as I needed the extra immune support.  At present i am taking the Inner Health Plus.

I took specific anti viral herbs and nutrients, to help my body/immune

system fight this faster.  I took my Superior Olive Leaf, because this is specifically anti viral and also anti parasitic.  You can take the ingredients in this formula separately – So Olive Leaf,  Zinc and Selenium.   Viruses use iron to replicate as well, and I noticed that my iron levels started to drop.  I could tell this because I started to get tinnitus (ringing in the ears) was light headed and became quite breathless, as well as being very fatigued.  Because of this, i took my Superior Iron, a non constipating form of iron, which also contains the co factors – B12, Folate and Vitamin C.

Because my digestion was so bad while I had these, I knew my absorption of nutrients would be poorer, so I switched my usual nutritional supplement for a powdered one that I mixed with water.  I used the Clinicians Vitamin & Mineral Boost Powder.  I added extra Vitamin C to this, to also support my immunity.  I love the Nutricom Vitamin C with Hesperidin.

As well as this, I had to make some lifestyle changes, so my body could get over this faster.  My plans of exercising over the break went down the tubes, as rest is one of the most important things you can do for your body when you are sick.  Luckily I didn’t feel like eating festive food and stuck to lots of fresh fruit and veggies and fish.

So to summarise, when I choose supplements, I think of my immediate

Clinicians zinc

needs, my medical history and also, what I want to accomplish by taking the supplement.  What I mean by this is, for example, I know zinc is vital and is deficient in our soils here in NZ.  I take zinc every day, however because I was sick with a virus and the toxo and because I know that viruses use zinc to replicate, my needs were a lot higher at this time than usual, so I dramatically increased my intake of this mineral to compensate for what was happening in my body.
Once I was over the virus, I was able to reduce this dosage again.

So we have determined our need, we have chosen our supplements and the 3rd consideration is to review these regularly.

What I mean by this is, just as in my own case, I increased my supplements to help with my specific needs and demands, but as well as this, I reviewed my progress, and then adjusted these dosages depending on my needs.  So as I got better and my symptoms reduced, I was able to adjust my dosage, just a little at a time (so as to not shock my body) until I was taking a maintenance dosage again.  HOWEVER, I kept a very close eye on how I felt, on a daily basis and what I wanted to accomplish for the day and would adjust my dosage accordingly.

For example, I have reduced my dosage, but I want to go out tonight and I

inner health plus

know I will be in the cold and I may drink alcohol.  Because of this, I am going to up the dosage of my nutrients back up to twice a day, increase my zinc, selenium, Vitamin C and my probiotic, all to make sure I do not take a backward step due to this extra output.  I will do this for a couple of days and then reduce the dosage again back down to my maintenance dosage.

Ok, so lets have a look at the supplements I take each day.  Remember that I have gone through the process already of determining my needs and as well as that I review my supplements regularly.

So I have my core products, that I take every day.  These are:

My probiotic.  I like this one because it has a lot of research behind it and it makes a huge difference to my gut health, my immunity and my skin when I am taking it.  In fact, for me, I can notice a difference in my health if I have not taken my probiotic for 2 days, so this is something I cannot do without.

My multivitamin.  We stock about 20 different multis.  Basically a multi is a B complex, with trace elements in it.  Varying strengths. So I take into consideration my needs and what my output will be.

Essential fatty acids.  Because we cannot make these in our body, we must supply them.  I notice a huge difference in my skin and joint health when I take these.

Antioxidant.  I vary these all of the time, as there are so many.  I tend to choose herbal antioxidants, as my multi covers a lot of my nutritional antioxidants.  I am taking resveratrol.

Multi minerals: I swap between my Superior Magnesium and the Mineral

superior magnesium

power, again, depending on my needs.  If my nervous system is irritated I concentrate on this high potency calcium supplement and if it is more muscle cramp and restless legs, then the Superior Mg.

And then I take supplements to target my main problem areas.

Because my liver is one of my problem areas, I always take liver support and as well as this, complete a full on liver and bowel cleanse at least once a year, if not more frequently, depending on what my digestion is like.

Just like other women, I can experience hormonally related symptoms, making me more moody and emotionally erratic.  Taking supplements that are going to have an effect on your hormones is not something you want to jump into though, without first having proper testing to determine exactly what you need, as there is a fine balance between balanced and unbalanced hormones.

I always take something to help here.  I had my hormones tested and know that I need to keep a check on my progesterone level, making sure this is adequate and that my estrogen levels, or more specifically E2 or estradiol levels do not get too high.  Because of this I take a Vitex supplement, which is an excellent hormonal regulator, naturally increasing progesterone levels.

I suffer with constipation, so this is something I constantly work on.  I evaluate what has happened with my digestion and my bowel every day and then take the appropriate supplement to make sure that tomorrow this is better.  Taking the probiotic is vital here, but I also use the herbal laxative Cascara when I need to.  I find my diet, fluid intake, exercise level and stress levels all influence my digestion, so there is a lot to consider.

So these are the main supplements I take.  I am often taking other things, that perhaps a company may have given me to evaluate/try.  I like to have first hand experience with the supplements, to know the effect in the body, so I can share this with my customers.

Choosing what is right for you and your individual needs is not easy, as there is so much to choose from.  If you are taking a swag of supplements and you are not feeling much different from these, maybe booking into see your local naturopath to evaluate these would be a good idea.   Then they can go over these and make sure that what you are taking is the best choice for you.

Alternatively you could complete our health evaluation questionnaire online, which may give you some specific ideas.