I don’t know about you, but I have a boatload of supplements at my house. They are all over the kitchen counter. They have entire cupboards for themselves. They have even spread into the dining room. That of course does not count the entire bedroom that has been converted to powdered herbal extract formulations. Obviously I have gone way overboard, but in my defense, I have been playing with these critters for a long time and have a lot of trial and error stuff lying around.
So the big question is, what is the most important stuff to take? I could just take supplements all day and not have room in my stomach for any actual food. But supposing I don’t want to spend all day taking these things, what are the essentials for the average person? Yes, if you have certain conditions, you might need certain supplements that typical people might not consider to be essential. But here we want to look at the average Joe or Jane – what do they need most?
Number one – everyone needs a good multiple vitamin and mineral supplement. We are talking about an ‘everything including the kitchen sink’ type multiple. Especially important is to make sure it has enough zinc, chromium, and trace minerals in amino acid chelate forms, not the poorly absorbed oxides, carbonates, or sulfides. Most multiples have lots of the B vitamins as they are cheap, but look for bioavailable forms like folate in the tetra-hydrofolate form. No multiple has enough calcium or magnesium – those will have to be added separately.
Number two –fish oil. Why does anyone take supplements in the first place? Generally it is for health reasons. What is the single biggest driver of poor health in this day and age? The answer is inflammation. Historically the answer might have been malnutrition – not getting the specific nutrients you need to function properly. We cover this need with supplement number one for the micronutrients like vitamins and trace minerals. But these days in this country we by far have more trouble from the consequences of over-consumption and the consumption of the wrong foods all producing inflammation and chronic disease.
One of the most fundamental inflammation causing dietary mistakes we have been making for the last 60 years is the over-consumption of omega 6 seed oils. These oils are very inflammatory and have to be balanced with omega 3 oils to fight this inflammation. The most biologically active omega 3 oils are EPA and DHA found primarily in fish and certain algae. Less active omega 3 oils like alpha linolenic acid (ALA) are found in certain seeds like chia, perilla, and flax.
To fight inflammation effectively you need to consume at least 6-7 grams of EPA + DHA daily. Typical fish oil is about 15% EPA + DHA. Doing the math tells us that typical 1000mg fish oil capsules only have 150 mg of what we are after, so that means we need at least 40 of the giant size 1000mg capsules a day. Fortunately there are molecularly distilled fish oils that are almost all EPA and DHA, so we only need 2 tsp per day to get an anti-inflammatory effect. To get this from fresh salmon would require eating 12 ounces a day. For other fish and seafood see this chart:
Government Omega 3 fish list
Number three: Curcumin/turmeric extract and/or
resveratrol. There are many inflammatory pathways in the body. Fish oil addresses one big group, while curcumin and resveratrol address other major pathways. Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric, but it is only 7% of the turmeric. Plus it is very poorly absorbed, 1-2%. So taking the turmeric herb is basically worthless unless you are consuming many ounces each day. Absorption of curcumin can be enhanced in various ways like with boi-peperine or micelle encapsulation. With such preparations doses as little as ½ gram will fight inflammation.
Number four: Vitamin D. D is not actually a vitamin at all, but a hormone our body makes but that has to be activated by sunlight. D is the main hormone for regulating our immune system. Since modern humans wear clothes and stay indoors much of the day, we do not get the sun exposure we need to form this hormone. As a result our immune system is going crazy creating all sorts of diseases in the process. The most active form of D is called D3 and it is also the most relevant to our immune system. The D2 they put in milk is less active and more for preventing rickets.
To calm down an overactive immune system, we need about 4000 iu of D3 per day. The government has been saying 400 iu for the last 40 years, but a math error made 40 years ago and just recently discovered has shown that all the original research actually pointed to a daily need of 4000 iu per day, not 400 iu.
Number five: Magnesium and Calcium. These two minerals are absolutely vital to the health and functioning of the body and are significantly lacking in our modern diet. Why? Because we don’t eat enough vegetables. Magnesium is what is in chlorophyll that makes it green. But this is a macronutrient, meaning that you need a lot of it – about 400mg of elemental magnesium per day. That translates to several tablets per day. Magnesium supports the calming down and digesting side of your nervous system, so I like to take it at night.
Calcium supports the get up and go side of the nervous system as well as building bones. It too is found in plants as well as raw dairy and animal products. Notice I said raw dairy – that is right, as soon as our milk is pasteurized the calcium becomes unavailable for us to absorb. So no, you do not get calcium from drinking most milk. Calcium levels in the blood have to be very carefully regulated so big doses of calcium all at once – like a couple calcium pills – are not good. Your body has to chase it out of the blood and put it somewhere. Unfortunately this often means into soft tissues like those around your joints, or anywhere inflammation is happening. In joints this is called arthritis. So take your calcium in small amounts throughout the day. We have been doing this with calcium gummies.
There are a million other supplements that we can take for specific reasons, but these are the ones almost everyone needs in combination with a healthy diet of lots of the right vegetables, pastured or wild animal, fowl, and fish, and small amounts of fruit.