Getting The Most Out Of Your Supplements
Are you wanting to take supplements to optimise your health, but don’t know where to begin? Or maybe you’ve tried supplements in the past, but they haven’t really worked for you? Supplements can play a vital role in improving your overall health and well-being, but to get the most out of them, there are some important things to know.
What are supplements and how do they work?
Supplements are products that are designed to support and enhance your health and well-being. They work to restore balance by filling in nutritional gaps, treating deficiencies or altering the biochemical pathways in your body. There are many different types of supplements, containing things like vitamins (eg. vitamin D), minerals (eg. iron), amino acids (eg. l-carnitine), fatty acids (eg. DHA), prebiotics (eg. GOS), probiotics (eg. S.boulardii), phytochemicals (eg. curcumin) and herbs (eg. passionflower).
Why would we need supplements?
In an ideal world, we would get everything we need from food. However, in reality, our food isn’t as nutrient-dense as it once was due to soil depletion, loss of nutrients during storage and transportation, and modern food processing methods. In addition, most people aren’t eating a perfectly balanced diet that meets their body’s nutritional needs. We are also exposed to things like stress, toxins, medications and alcohol that can deplete essential vitamins and minerals from our body. Many people also experience poor digestive health, which can impair the absorption of nutrients and increase nutrient needs. We’re also learning more about genetic variations that impact some peoples ability to utilise nutrients like folate, B12, vitamin D and vitamin A, which can cause biochemical imbalances and deficiencies. In addition, if you’re experiencing any kind of health condition or imbalance in your body, you’ll likely need extra herbal and nutritional support to target the underlying cause. So based on all of these factors, supplementation can be an important tool for helping you achieve optimal health.
Start with the foundations
While supplements can be incredibly helpful, they aren’t a replacement for a healthy diet and lifestyle. Make sure you’re eating a diet that emphasises vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, quality protein and healthy fats. Whole foods contain a complex array of vitamins, minerals, fibre, and beneficial phytochemicals that work synergistically to support your health. Limit processed and refined foods, added sugars, food additives and trans fats. Find ways to incorporate more nutrients into your diet, such as including a handful of leafy greens with each meal, sprinkling hemp seeds onto meals, opting for wholegrains over refined grains (ie. brown rice or quinoa instead of white rice); and having smoothies. Also focus on: staying hydrated, getting quality sleep, managing your stress levels, regular exercise and reducing toxin exposure. Having strong foundations in place is not only essential for your long-term health, but will ensure that you get the most out of your supplements as well.
Choosing the right supplements
There is an art and science to choosing the right supplements, which is why it can be beneficial to work with a naturopath who has undergone years of formal training in this area. A one-size-fits-all approach never really works, so it’s important to understand your body’s individual needs and be wary of clever marketing tactics and promises of quick fixes. Ideally, supplements should form part of a holistic framework that targets the root cause of your health concern. Whilst seeing a practitioner seems like the more expensive option in the short term, guessing what’s going on and being reliant on lots of different supplements is much more expensive in the long term. By identifying and addressing the cause we can often take a less is more approach.
Quality matters
Not all supplements are created equal and it’s important to watch out for low-quality products, especially when buying from the chemist, supermarket or online. Naturopaths prescribe practitioner-only brands which in general are designed for maximum impact, contain higher quality ingredients, well-researched formulations, more bioavailable nutrients and minimal excipients.
Bioavailability: The form of a nutrient in a supplement can impact its absorption. For example, magnesium glycinate is typically better absorbed than magnesium oxide. Similarly, there are nutrients that are less bioavailable for the body to use. For example, folic acid is a synthetic form of folate that needs to be converted into an active form in the body. Many people have genetic variations that impair this conversion, so supplementing with an active form of folate is a much more bioavailable option. Similarly, cyanocobalamin is a commonly used synthetic form of vitamin B12, while methylcobalamin is a natural, biologically active form of vitamin B12 that is better absorbed and utilized by the body.
Dose: The dose of a supplement is also an important factor in its efficacy. Too little of a nutrient may not have a therapeutic effect, while too much can be harmful. The optimal dose of a supplement will vary depending on your individual circumstances and higher doses are usually required to treat a deficiency or condition.
Excipients: There is more to a supplement than just the active ingredients. Excipients are the ‘inactive’ ingredients added into products to help with things like texture, colour, binding, absorption and taste. Excipients don’t need to be listed on the label, so most people are unaware they are even in there. Why is this important to know? Because a lot of products, especially cheaper ones can contain things like artificial colours, flavours and sweeteners, parabens, petroleum-derived ingredients and even endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The good news is that there is a database called the ARTG where you can search for any Australian supplement and bring up a list of the excipients. I recommend doing this for all your supplements so you know exactly what’s in them.
Be careful when buying supplements online
The regulation of supplements differs between countries and it’s important to be aware of this when buying supplements online. In the US for example, supplements are treated as food products rather than therapeutic medicines, so their quality and efficacy are not always guaranteed [1]. A recent study analysed thirty different immune supplements purchased from Amazon.com. Of that thirty, thirteen had ingredients listed on the label that weren’t detected in the product and nine had substances detected that weren’t listed on the label [2]. Another US study analysed three heavily advertised memory supplements, two of which either contained much less than or none of the active ingredients listed on the label [3].
In Australia, supplements are treated as therapeutic medicines and are evaluated by the TGA for their safety, quality and efficacy before being sold here. The TGA will also regularly monitor products to ensure they contain the ingredients and dosages listed on the label [4]. When buying supplements online it’s important to do your research, know where your supplements are coming from and when in doubt, opt for Australian TGA-approved supplements (they will contain an AUST-L number on the label and come up when searched in the ARTG database).
Healing takes time
Supplements work a bit differently to pharmaceuticals, in that their effects are more subtle and build over time. Most people are used to taking medications and feeling the effects instantly, which means when they take supplements and don’t get this immediate result, they can feel like they aren’t working. This might make you forget to take them or stop taking them altogether. If you’re on a supplement protocol tailored to you, then it’s important to stick with it and allow it time to work. Patience and consistency are key.
Overall, herb and nutritional supplements can work incredibly well to restore balance to your body. However, to get the most out of them, make sure you’re taking high-quality products specifically tailored to you, be consistent with taking them even if you don’t notice an immediate difference, and don’t forget about the very important foundations that are essential for long-term health.
If you have any questions or would love some help choosing the right supplements for you, please get in touch.
References:
1. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/fda-101-dietary-supplements
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9366544/
3. https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/696047.pdf
4. https://www.tga.gov.au/news/blog/how-are-vitamins-regulated-australia