Back to First page...

 
Surprising facts

• Statistically 1 Tomato/day has a greater effect in reducing cancer than to stop smoking
  1g of Vitamin C significantly reduces high blood pressure and it reduces the incidence, duration and severity of colds
• Deep breathing can lower the effects of flushes in menopause
• 1 carrot per day halves you risk of a stroke
• 1 drop of peppermint oil is as efficient in reducing headaches as an aspirin
• A handful of almonds per day reduces cholesterol levels as much as the most potent prescription medicine on the market and your risk of a heart attack up to 50%
• Broccoli, Brussels sprouts or cabbage or garlic and onions every day half your risk for stomach cancer
• 3 grams of omega-3 fats (eg, fish oil) per day reduce joint pain and swelling of rheumatoid arthritis, suppress the immune response in autoimmune disease, and balance high triglycerides
• Vitamin E is four times more effective at reducing the risk of a heart attack than the best available drug

… more coming soon – thanks for your patience. Make sure to visit us frequently for updates, or sign up here to receive an alert once new content is being uploaded.

 
Supplements – Yes or No

Yes! … to give you the answer right away.

A good basic regime for rsupplementation include a multivitamin, multimineral, additional immune boosters and ant-oxidants, and essential fats.

I assume you have heard the arguments and benefits for supplementation before- even though chances are you have been told by as many other sources, be it medical doctors, nutritionists or colleagues and friends, that they are a waste of money.

Fact is that our average diet is rather poor these days, and some choices do not even deserve the label “food” anymore, especially those being bought/eaten “fast”. They hardly provide anything beyond “empty calories”, even worse, they are detrimental for your health and leave your body crying for “more” food or rather “real food”.

But even a well balanced diet, with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetable, can hardly provide what our bodies need these days – with emotional stress levels going up and environmental stressors being many times higher than a few decades ago. Our need for micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, trace elements) is higher than it used to be – yet the practices used on farms to accelerate growth and size and yield higher crops, as well as the processing and adding of preservatives, coloring and flavoring, all decrease the value of the food we eat.

Even if your doctor can’t proof a deficiency of a specific vitamin or mineral, that doesn’t mean you have optimal levels!

 
What about the RDA?

The RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowances = how much of each vitamin or mineral shall be ingested per day) has been established in the 1930s and 1940s!

First: our life has changed since then!

Second: the RDA is meant to describe the minimum intake of these micronutrients to avoid deficiency illnesses derived from a poor diet, such as scurvy (lack of vitamin C) or others.
It is true that for most of the vitamins and minerals the levels as described in the RDAs can be achieved by a proper diet. But, in order to enable your body to drive all processes on the highest possible performance level, and to achieve and maintain optimal health and energy levels, you need to provide the necessary co-enzymes and co-factors in optimal levels – not in a minimum amount!

Just enough is not enough in this case!

You shouldn’t be satisfied with avoiding efficiency, as well as you shouldn’t be satisfied with an average healthstatus and fatalistic about disease that ultimately seem to be associated with aging in out society – they are NOT! Proper supplementation can:

• Enhance the immune system
• Enhance the antioxidant defense system
• Decrease the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and cancer
• Decrease the risk of arthritis, macular degeneration, and cataracts
• Decrease the risk of asthma and hayfever
• Decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and many other chronic degenerative diseases

 
Synergy of co-factors

And: many of the processes and functions I our body rely on a combination of 2 or more different co-enzymes… they work synergistically, so even if you were able to ensure your food contained the optimal amount of one specific vitamin, the effect will be suboptimal if you have lower than optimal availability of the other supporting substances. There are tons of studies available that proof the effect of a set of specific vitamins each given as a single supplement, as compared to their effect when combined. Here it comes don to “1+1 > 2” (e.g., the methylation processes, which are necessary to metabolize homocysteine and recover it to methtionine, are relying on Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, and Folic acid, where all 3 have to be present in optimal concentration.)

 
Is it safe to take supplements?

Yes! At least in the recommended dosages (see below). Most of the vitamins are water-soluble, meaning they will be passed with the urine if they can’t be used by the body – in the worst case, they are not beneficial for you, but won’t be dangerous, even up to much higher dosages and concentrations in the body, as shown by countless studies.

As for the fat soluble vitamins, they can be stored and might develop negative effects when too high levels are reached! But this can’;t happen if yu follow our supplementation scheme, and again: even for higher levels of intake, as often used in specific conditions, no harmful side effects could be observed.

 
Which supplements do you need and how much

A good basis is a daily high-potency multivitamin & multimineral formula – it is a compromise, as your individual need may not exactly been taken care of, dependent on your individual starting point such as additional underlying conditions or diseases or risk factors for those (e.g., family history, or smoking, etc), or additional needs due to exercise, for example. However, it’s a good compromise if you are not willing to take each ingredient separately, thus ending up with 2 hands full of different pills to swallow 3time a day.

The following overview is based on the recent literature and latest research results and is meant as a rough guidance to getting started:
 

MULTIVITAMIN:
Vitamin A: 7,500IU
Vitamin D3: 400IU – 800IU
Vitamin E: 100IU – 400IU
Vitamin C: 250mg – 500mg
Vitamin B1: 25mg
Vitamin B2: 25mg
Vitamin B3: 25mg
Vitamin B6: 25mg
Vitamin B12: 25mg
Folic acid: 200mcg
Biotin: 50mcg

 
Packing all the above mentioned micronutrients in one tablet is impossible – you wouldn’t be possible to swallow it anymore. So look out for products that provide these substances in a dosage of 2 – 4 tablets to be taken throughout the day.

Ideally you should take these tablets 3 times a day to ensure steady blood levels throughout the day, however, taking them in the morning and again early evening is also a good alternative.
The bulkiest nutrients are vitamin C, calcium and magnesium – so you may choose a formulation that has lower levels of these and take additional of these separately.

Especially Vitamin C is well worth stocking up on, it can prevent or reduce the effect of a common cold, but is also proven to reduce the risk of or fight existing cancer, and it’s a potent anti-oxidant:

Vitamin C: total daily supplementation 1 – 3 g (in times of extra need, eg when signs of a cold show, you can take 500mg – 1g every hour, until the symptoms fade – maximum intake per day should 10mg)
Calcium: total daily supplementation 800 – 1500mg (dependant on food sources)
Magnesium: total daily supplementation 400 – 750 mg (stick to the 2;1 ratio of Ca : Mg)

Recent research leaves no single doubt anymore that anti-oxidants slow down the aging process and can prevent or reduce the incidence of many chronic diseases

ANTI OXIDANTS
Vitamin A, C and E, probably iron, copper and manganese – all mentioned in above multi’s.
In addition, the amino acids glutathione or cysteine, and phytonutrients, such as bilberry or grapeseed extract.

Bioflavanoid Complex (the more, the better), eg: Rutin, Quercitin, Broccoli, Green Tea, Cruciferous, Bilberry, Grape Seed Extract or Bromelain
Alpha-lipoic acid: 15 to 30 mg
CoQ10: 20 to 30 mg
Glutathione: 10 to 20 mg
or as its precusor: N-acetyl L-cysteine 50 to 75 mg

Additional Essential Nutrients needed to improve homocysteine levels and brain function:
Choline: 100 to 200 mg
Trimethylglycine: 200 to 500 mg
Inositol: 150mg to 250 mg

ESSENTIAL FATS:
Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats, providing EPA, DHA and GLA, best derived from
Flaxseed oil: 3 x 1,000mg (use cold-pressed oil for dressings, don’t heat it, or take capsules)
or fish oil: 3 x 1,000mg (capsules, best to be filtered oil to remove heavy metal toxins)
Evening primrose for GLA.

 
How to buy supplements

Criteria to check the products offered in your local health store or online are:

• Completeness (to ensure synergy)
• Potency (to ensure optimal levels)
• Mineral forms (chelated form)
• Bioactivity of Vitamin E (d-alpha-Tocopherol)
• Ideally additional Gamma Tocopherol
• Potential toxicity

Only buy products that clearly label all ingredients and dosages and all additives – don’t use products with any artificial sweeteners, colors or flavors or added preservatives, or sugar (most pills don’t, while many liquid products or shake powders do!)

Nutritional companies are not required by law to follow the standards for the pharmaceutical industry – to me that is a minimum requirement and still doesn’t necessarily mean you have a good products in your hands…. But, if a company doesn’t follow GMP and USP, I wouldn’t dare to touch it, leave alone swallow it! Usually companies that do apply these processes are proud on doing so and will state it either directly on their product or prominently on their webpage – if you can’t find the information, contact them and ask… if they can’t give a clear answer, you have your answer.

(GMP = Good Manufacturing Practice)
(USP = US Pharmacopeia)

In general, a company that is marketing it’s products on the international market usually is adhering to higher standards, Australia, Canada and West Europe are somehow stricter with guidelines than the US is, for example.

 
What else you need to know

10 more tips for you

1. Take your vitamins and minerals with your meal (plus/minus 15 minutes)..
2. Take most of your supplements in the morning, with your breakfast (never skip breakfast!).
3. Do not take individual minerals unless you are also taking a general multimineral.
4. Do not take individual B vitamins unless you are also taking a general B complex, perhaps in a multivitamin.
5. If you are taking two or more B complex or vitamin C tablets, spread those over the day and take one at each meal.
6. Don't take B vitamins or additional Chromium supplements late at night if you have difficulties with sleeping.
7. To help you sleep, you can take your extra minerals, especially calcium and magnesium, in the evening.
8. If you are anemic (iron-deficient) make sure to take extra iron with vitamin C. (“low” iron is no reason to take additional supplement beyond your multi, unless your blood cells ar enot affected severely)
9. Always take zinc as copper in the ratio of 10 : 1. If you supplement zinc over a longer time, add copper. Vice versa, if you are diagnosed to be copper-deficient, take copper only with ten times as much zinc.
10. Additional amino acid supplements are best taken on an empty stomach or with carbohydrates, e.g., some fruit.

 
Most important — Take your supplements daily!
Irregular supplementation does not work.

There are different strategies you can apply to make your daily supplement taking a habit.

As your vitamins and minerals are best kept fresh in the frisge, you may want to place them near the products you are most likely to consume in the morning. Alternatively, “pre-pack” your morning supplements in a small ziploc bag and stick it to, let’s say the milk container or any other visible place – if nothing else works and you usually have breakfast on the go or in the office and are prone to forget about your supplements, pack them into your bag the evening before.

If you plan to spread the supplements over the day, the same strategy (pre-packing) may be applied. You can also buy a pill dose at your local pharmacy.

First page...