SUPPLEMENTS: To Take or Not To Take
The Hot Topic Should you take supplements or should you avoid supplements? There is no “one good answer” or “one size fits all answer” here. Let’s break it down. What Are Supplements? Supplements or Vitamins are capsules, gummies, liquids, sublinguals, or topicals that are utilized by humans to add nutrients to their diet. Vitamins are a type of supplement. Supplements as a whole add nutrients but should not be used to replace nutrients in our diet and through our food. What Is the Point? So, what is the point of vitamins and supplements if we are eating whole foods and getting nutrition through our meal plan? Who should take vitamins and supplements? What kind of vitamins and supplements should we actually take? Do we need certain supplements? As we mentioned briefly above, supplements add nutrients to the dietary component of your health but should never replace dietary options. We should not be taking fiber supplements and omitting vegetables throughout our diet and say that our fiber needs are met. Whole foods provide a multitude of nutrients to our body other than these specific vitamins. Supplements and additional vitamins should be used to improve our values and augment our meal plan. Individuals with a leaky gut or gut permeability and may not absorb nutrients efficiently from their diet. Individuals who have had abdominal surgery, bypass, or diseases that reduce the ability to absorb nutrients. Individuals who do not have a balanced diet, thus they lack important nutrients. Individuals with diagnoses such as Type II Diabetes which reduce their ability to absorb certain vitamins to the correct areas of the body. Vitamin and nutrient levels should be evaluated via blood prior to starting supplements and vitamins. Some Vitamin levels can get to toxic levels if we take too much or if we take them and don’t need them. In addition, some vitamins and supplements can actually interfere with certain medications that you may be taking. Some common vitamin levels that can be checked via blood to see if you need additional help would be Vitamin B12, RBC Magnesium, Vitamin D, Folate, and Ferritin. You may have other lab values checked like Cholesterol Panel, Cortisol, Blood Sugar evaluation, Inflammatory Markers, Histamine Level for Allergies, and more that can suggest supplement use.
Wait, What? Yes, Supplements can be used to improve your lab values, inflammation, pain, sleep, energy, and more. What isn’t discussed enough, though — is that supplements can also be used to help improve values like your cholesterol, inflammation, thyroid function, blood sugar control, sleep, stress response, mood, and more. Supplements are actually not Food-Drug Administration approved. This doesn’t mean that they aren’t safe, though you need to find the right brands. There are many brands who actually have their ingredients studied, tested, and approved by second party research labs to ensure their safety. Supplements are going to be most effective when they are used in conjunction with the proper food intake.
Where Do I begin? If you find through blood testing or through other
recommendations from medical providers that vitamins and supplements are necessary, choosing the right one(s) is vital. First: 1. Do you have a quality brand of supplement and vitamin that you are going to consider? Have you had the proper blood testing to get a baseline of your levels? 2. Do you truly know how much you should be taking as far as the dosages of individual supplements? 3. Have you discussed with your provider or a functional medicine provider to make sure none of the supplements interfere with your current medications or medical history? 4. Is your meal plan going to allow the supplements to work to their maximum effect? Second: 1. Always make sure you have the proper follow up to make sure your doses of supplements are working for you and are at a maintainable level for your body. 2. Do you have someone that can help you to review your meal plan to make sure it is maximizing the effects of your supplements and vitamins for your goals? Our goals do change, our body changes, our needs change — this needs to be evaluated, re-evaluated, and re- evaluated again. 3. If any medications are added or changed, your supplements and vitamins should be re-evaluated as well! –Jenni Berman PA-C, CPT, CNS, CICI OWNER, BERMAN HEALTH AND WELLNESS
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