Liqui-Kelp
: I take this for the iodine on a chiropractor's recommendation. She is a friend from out of town who did not know about the medical tests I was going through at the same time because I'd told nobody. The same week the doctor said he was concerned about my thyroid and my heart, she gave me an adjustment and said, "You need to pay attention to your thyroid and your heart- and try and take some iodine drops.Cal-mag-zinc
: This is for restless legs, and I think it works. The bottle I am using now came from Trader Joe's.Turmeric
- this is for inflammation, recommended by a friend who is an amateur herbologist. She suggested it over a year ago, and several times since, and I ignored her until about three months ago. It really does help with aching joints.Krill Oil
: My doctor actually prescribed these, although my insurance wn't pay for them. The krill oil was a compromise because I won't consider lipitor for high cholesterol, and in fact, told the doctor I did not believe in the lipid hypothesis. There are a lot of different versions and companies and amounts out there, and you just have to do your own research and decide what fits your goals best.A multi-vitamin- I look for what's on sale at the co-op.
When doing low-carb I also take:
Natrol L-Carnitine
And.... this borders on a bit too personal, but.... the original Atkins included many supplements that were really quite good, full of ingredients well known to those who frequent natural foods stores. they don't sell them any more, which is a shame. One of the things they used to recommend was a gentle, gentle pill which helped with regularity, which you really need when on induction. There was Atkins AM and Atkins PM.
You can replace this with any 'cleanse' type pill, but some are harsher than others and some are just laxatives. Adding two tablespoons a day of flax seed to your diet should also help.
Or, you can splurge as I did, and take Zand Candida Quick Cleanse
.I like the ingredients in this one:
Caprylic Acid (as Calcium Caprylate) 300 mg, Garlic Bulb Standardized Extract (3:1) 200 mg, Goldenseal Root 50 mg, Oregano Leaf Concentrated Extract (10:1) 50 mg, Turmeric Seed Concentrated Extract (10:1) 50 mg, Cinnamon Bark 20 mg, Cloves Bud 20 mg, FOS (Fructo-oligosaccharides) 100 mg, Cabbage Leaf 30 mg, Oat Seed Fiber 30 mg, Coptis Root 50 mg, Dong Quai Root 20 mg, Gentian Root 20 mg, Ginger Root 20 mg, Nettles Leaf 20 mg, Parsley Leaf 20 mg, Thyme Leaf 20 mg.
Updated to add this note: I've decided that this along with the Turmeric I am using is overkill. A word to the wise.
I take one at night when I go to bed.
I used to take a glucosomine and chondriten supplement, but I didn't replace it when I ran out, and unlike the turmeric and cal-mag-zinc, I didn't notice a distinct difference, so still haven't replaced it.
I order these from online, from my co=op. from Amazon, at the local health food store when on sale (I get a 20 percent discount as well, wherever, I can find good quality at reasonable rices, preferably using paypal.
If I lose enough weight I hope to eliminate some of them.
What about you? Are there any particular vitamins or minerals you take? Why?
Vitamin D. Four and a half years ago, I started to have problems with fatigue, muscle/joint aching, dry eyes, etc. It got to the point that I couldn't even write out a check because my finger joints couldn't grip that long, and where I napped at least a couple hours every day, except when I spent half the day in bed. It took over a year, but we found I was severely deficient in Vitamin D, a level of 16.5 with the lab recommended minimum being 32. I spent a month getting 1 hr sunshine a day and supplementing. My levels shot up to 85, and the majority of my symptoms were gone.
ReplyDeleteI also take a glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM supplement, as well as fish oil. The Vitamin D crisis did seem to trigger the beginnings of fibromyalgia. I have low level muscle/joint issues, especially in my finger joints, with more severe flare-ups. Last spring, the baseline had worsened and flare-ups were worse and more frequent. I started the supplement and noticed a huge difference in 2 months. In the 9 months, my muscles/joints have been better than they have at any point in the entire previous 3 years since the Vitamin D levels got back in line.
I will have to look into the tumeric to consider with the residual muscle/joint issues. Of course, I haven't the pregnant/nursing thing to consider. How long did it take you to notice it was working?
We take vitamin D3 with higher doses in the winter and lower to none in summer. The none is for the kids who have no problem getting outdoors & getting theirs naturally. The low is for me - there are just days when I only get outside in the evenings. D3 gets added back into our routine when we notice the days getting shorter. There just seems to come a day when a child will make a comment about how early night arrives and that is my big reminder. The opposite statement for summer. I added this to our routine after reading about it's benefits and doing some research. My original college major was biology and I excelled in the genetics class enough that the professor offered me a graduate level position - I say so you can understand that research papers are interesting to me though the really deep material is starting to get over my head. But the vitamin D research shows our recommended daily allowance is much too low and needs to be drastically increased. The use of sunscreen and the scared-of-the-sun teachings are causing other health problems that were thought to be third world. And, people diagnosed with cancer in winter have a much lower survival rate than those diagnosed in summer & there's serious support for the theory that it is due to D3.
ReplyDeleteIn England they are finding that many children suffer from rickets & the soft bones not yet in the rickets stage. This is a huge problem as infants are being taken to the emergency room or to the Dr's and being diagnosed as abused. There are parents who have been sent to prison for "abuse" that when specialists are brought in have discovered that these children really had soft bones/rickets and their poor parents are innocent of some pretty horrible charges. Some health professionals are trying to campaign to bring this to public attention with mixed results. Everyone likes the better health for children but there is strong resistance to the idea that parents could be innocent due to a vitamin. Poor parents are left with broken hearts over dead children, abuse charges, and ruined lives just because of a fear of sunshine.
Does it work? We are at our fine arts studio four days a week and I teach three classes of preschoolers so there is plenty of opportunity to get all the icky germs that are going around. We seem to have totally missed about half the plagues that have gone through the kids in the area and when we have caught something it has been in a much milder form or has had a shorter duration. I believe it does work and there are two things that I need to do differently: one is to be diligent to get everyone's to them everyday and to give everyone the correct amount. The labels on the bottle have the recommended dosage which is too low & I knew that but had also forgotten the formula for the correct dosage.
Other for the kids: multivitamin and vitamin C
For me: multivitamin, vitamin C, a cal/mag/zinc combination, and cayenne. My blood pressure in the beginning of high blood pressure & I do not want to be attached to a pill. I did some research and like everything else the definition of when to be worried has changed so I have time to try losing some weight and alternatives. The cayenne - well even in a capsule there's a learning curve.
Heh - sometimes I rattle!
ReplyDeleteCalcium citrate with D plus 2000 D3 to ward off osteoporosis, also to help blood sugar.
Magnesium - all else apart it works well as a regulator.
Fenugreek extract; cinnamon/mulberry/gymnema;
green tea extract;
chromium picolinate
all for blood sugar
Cucurmin & boswellia anti-inflammatory and reputed to ward off Alzheimers (also use turmeric in cooking)
Fish oil
Have tried glucosamine etc but given up for the moment.
We just started floradix calcium magnesium liquid, and it works fantastically...although we have to half the dose and take it twice a day. We are doing vit d drops as a fam now to help with teeth and good health overall. I am going to start taking codliver oil/butter oil capsules for my teeth and just gen health again.... We shall see, I've heard great things. You should check out the paleo/primal "diet"...for us it's a life style though lol.. it's helping Ari gain weight and my hubby and I are losing weight....crazy how it's working. www.wellnessmama.com is where I started getting info on it, after I cut Ari's grains and wanted to do research on if it would hurt her any. She was having issues pooping and grains were stopping her up. Hope you guys are healthy and well!
ReplyDeleteI drink tumeric tea for joint inflamation. I use this recipe:
ReplyDeletehttp://amy-newnostalgia.blogspot.com/2011/12/turmeric-chai-tea-for-your-at-home.html
~coffeemamma
I'm glad to know the cal-mag-zinc works for you. I've been dealing with intermittent bouts of RLS ever since my first pregnancy. I avoid taking zinc, though, because I can taste it in my mouth, even after small dosages. :(
ReplyDeleteA friend and I are researching sea kelp for our goats and possibly for ourselves and families. :)
I changed my diet drastically almost 2 years ago because of inflammation in my back, hands, and knees. I quit grains and within days the pain in my joints was gone. The back issue took longer to resolve, but it's more related to poor sitting posture than to inflammation. All of my digestive woes (heartburn, bloating) went away with the grain, too.
Around the time I quit grain I added in Vitamin D3 gel caps (4000mg/day), Carlson brand fish oil (I'd use the fermented stuff if I could afford it), and Vitamin C tabs (1000mg/day).
Just recently I've added tumeric tea using the recipe at Mark's Daily Apple except I add black pepper instead of cayenne. I don't know if you can use the coconut milk in the induction phase, DHM, but I wonder if this drink is something you would like later on.
For additional anti-inflammatory benefits I've been trying to drink a lot of bone broth this winter. When I make chicken stock (almost weekly), I add in chicken feet for the Glucosamine they contain. I had considered taking a pill for the Glucosamine but figured a "whole food" approach would be worth a try in this case since I make the stock anyway.
I'm always looking for ways to get hot beverages into my diet since quitting coffee/caffeine. I miss coffee terribly and hot broth and tumeric tea are NOT the same, but hey, they're hot and therefore soothing in their own way.
Additional bonus of all this supplementation: I haven't had a cold or the flu in two winter seasons now. My children and husband take the supplements I take, only at different dosages. No colds or flu for them either.
I was just looking at the number of supplements lined up on the bathroom counter. Right now it is:
ReplyDeleteVitex
Vit D- trying it to see if it helps. if not then a b-12 will be next.
St John's Wort- it really did help
Fish oil
Oregano oil right now for a sore throat
ecchinacea because I can't seem to ditch this cold
Multivitamin