We all know that one person who clings to the newest supplements and every bit of health advice they can get. Whether it’s green powder, whey protein or exotic wild-african black seed oil grown high up in the mountains of Ethiopia, there’s always someone who seems to be clutching at straws when it comes to their health. I know because that person was me!
When I first caught onto the health food movement, I must admit, I became quite a pain to be around. Judgement toward my friends and family was returned with ridicule and alienation. I soon became the lone nut dancing on the hill.
That was over six years ago, and although mainstream culture is definitely starting to dance with me, I now bring a different awareness to the predicament of being a wellness wayfarer.
This brings me to the purpose of this article. I’ve spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours researching and buying products from one of the most profitable and charlatan-filled industries around: The Supplement Industry. Using my own journey to health I want to shine a light on some important choices that need to be made when choosing a supplement.
When we buy supplements it’s often by the recommendation of a friend, family member or health practitioner (i.e. naturopath). The hope is that it fixes whatever we perceive to be wrong with us. Whether it’s fat loss, muscle gain, better sleep, less allergies, improved fertility or eliminating acne, there should be a tangible, measurable result from taking a supplement. If you are dealing with stress and looking for a supplement to boost your immune system, check out quercetin australia.
Hereby lies the first problem: Most people don’t know what they’re trying to fix.
When I first arrived at 5EW, my face, neck and chest were covered in hives, an allergic skin condition. While I had other issues going on, this was my main problem. Over the six months prior, I’d received advice from dozens of people giving an array of strategies, ranging from rubbing egg yolks and coconut oil on the affected area, to receiving two years worth of experimental immunisations costing $1,800.
What’s a man to do!?!
Luckily, soon after getting the job at 5EW, I sat down with Fitness Director Dave O’Brien with my blood results in hand. He confidently told me I had leaky gut and needed to do a strict three month protocol to fix it. By week five, my allergies were completely gone and I had newfound energy I never knew possible.
My point is this, I thought I had a skin or immune condition but I really had a sieve for an intestinal tract. You must know the root cause of the problem if you truly want to fix it. Herbal allergy-relief tablets or anti-histamines would’ve eliminated my symptom, but not my problem. Five years down the track I’d be much worse off had I taken the advice of the immunologist, charging $600 per 30 minute visit.
Once we accurately diagnose the problem, the next step is to decide what’ll fix it. At 5th Element Wellness, we support the use of nutrient therapies a lot more than herbal. While herbal therapies do have their place, it’s become clear that they operate, similarly to pharmaceuticals, like a band-aid. Nutrients include minerals, vitamins and other essentials like amino acids and fatty acids (in this case, glutamine and cod liver oil). Given adequate levels, these allow the body to heal itself.
At 5th Element Wellness we support the use of nutrient therapies over herbal.
Type of supplements is one thing, but the dosage makes the poison (and the cure). While on the protocol, for three weeks I consumed four heaped tablespoons of L-Glutamine per day. L-Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in your body. It really uses it! A naturopath I saw, only a few weeks before my consult with Dave, recommended I take 1 level teaspoon each morning. By weight, that’s more than 15 times less than what was actually required to heal my intestinal lining!
The same issue is common with other nutrients like vitamin D and zinc. While toxicity can certainly be an issue, the reality is that most people are far too deficient in these essential nutrients for toxicity to occur.
When appropriately used, herbs can play an incredibly powerful role in healing the body, but unfortunately, they’re probably the most over-prescribed and over-recommended supplement on the market. We’re all looking for that one thing to cure X. To the uneducated buyer, an exotic herb from far-off lands sounds like the perfect thing. I know. I myself am a recovering herb-junkie. My morning breakfast smoothie probably cost more than gold at one point.
That being said, a solid leaky gut protocol will have specific, potent herbs to reduce histamine response and inflammation – such as curcumin and boswellia – as well as strong antimicrobials to kill pathogenic bacteria. Caution: use stool tests with antimicrobial specificity to get the best idea of how to tackle your bacterial issue.
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After we’ve decided the supplements and dosage that’ll fix your problem, we then need to determine which brand or specific product to buy. Selecting natural, organic and/or blessed by a tibetan monk may not always be possible when it comes to supplements, so it’s imperative to know a few solid brands.
At 5EW we use a combination of 180 Nutrition, Poliquin Group, Fusion and Thorne Research for the majority of our supplements. While practitioner-supplied products are most expensive, they’re almost always of a much higher standard. It’s best to steer clear of any chemist brands, and while your naturopath’s products (Metagenics) may be good quality, there are comparable products online for half the price.
What’s the difference between good and bad supplements?
There’s a company called LabDoor that independently test big name products on the market. As the supplement industry is pretty much the Wild Wild West, this initiative is a huge benefit to the consumer (you!). They test supplements to see if their ingredients match up to the label. In just one example, they found a hugely popular protein powder had 3,400% more sodium in it than the product claimed. While bodybuilders think their newfound mass is muscle, it’s likely all water due to their excessive salt consumption.
Equal to the addition of filler ingredients is the problem of minimal active ingredients. Many shady supplement brands that have expensive ingredients may claim they have enough zinc & horny goat weed to make you a real man again. These often do nothing more than perpetuate the experience of man-boobs and impotence due to a lifetime of unhealthy habits.
Equal to the addition of filler ingredients in supplements is the problem of minimal active ingredients.
There are many articles out there claiming to know the best practice for supplementation, but the unfortunate thing is most of these are attempting to sell their own products. My only intention is to educate you on this complex topic.
If you’re taking a questionable supplement regularly, this could have poor health implications down the track. For example, there’s an enormous parade of practitioners touting the benefits of folic acid to prevent birth defects in newborn children. Unfortunately, a growing percentage of mothers and fathers have a genetic mutation whereby they cannot convert folic acid into the active form of folate (5-methyltetrahydrafolate). This mistake may not only have no effect on birth defects, it may actually make it more difficult for you to get folate out of foods! And there are many other cases like this in the supplement world.
I hope I’ve cleared up some of the confusion regarding this insane industry and you can navigate the murky waters with more clarity.
If you do need advice and want to know what supplements are right for your individual body chemistry, get in touch and we’ll be happy to help.
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