Wondering if your supplements are worth the money? Will they work? Or worse, will they harm? Check out the following to learn how Dr. Karin determines a good versus "bad" supplement:
Vitamin deficiencies can be the root cause of many symptoms and conditions. Even if not the root cause, if you are deficient of any vitamin, it will impair your ability to heal. Can you see how this makes you vulnerable to disease, or make any condition worse or difficult to resolve?
Did you know not all vitamins are safe?
When taking vitamins, make sure they are plant based, and not synthetic, as most synthetic vitamins are actually NOT healthy for you!!!
Your pain (or any unhealthy symptom) may be a sign that you are deficient in a mineral (like magnesium, calcium, potassium, etc) or vitamin like B2 (riboflavin). Vitamin B2 is important for nerve health. A deficiency in B2 can lead to nerve pain. The mineral magnesium is a muscle relaxer, so a deficiency can lead to pain from muscle tension.
There has been much debate over whether people should take vitamins. If you are eating a healthy, varied, and whole-foods diet, you should be able to get all of your needed vitamins through your food. Unfortunately, most of our food is grown on over farmed land, so the food produced on it is deficient of micronutrients and genetically designed to look good and have a longer shelf life (with no effect to its nutritional content or taste).
My general advice is to take a half dose of a plant based multivitamin every day or two. That way you are less likely to be deficient in anything and you avoid the risk of overdosing on anything.
If you are looking for supplements, but unsure which one to pick, check out https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/drummond
If you are taking a multivitamin, make sure the vitamins are coming from a plant source. Plants build vitamins via complex biochemical processes, producing one specific biomolecule. When vitamins are produced in a lab, an unnatural form can be produced and included in the multivitamin pill.
Vitamin E
For example, vitamin E has two forms of isomers: an L-alpha-tocopherol and a D-alpha tocopherol. Isomers are chemicals that are the same but mirror images of each other. Sometimes this doesn’t matter. For example, a cube is the same as its mirror image. But some shapes are such that the mirror image is different from the original. An example of this would be your hands. There is a left (L) and a right (D).
Vitamin E has a left and a right version. In the Figure above, notice how the carbon cyclohexane (the circle of dots on the far right side of the molecule) points forward on the D version and points back on the L version, just like if you held your hands with the thumb on the same side, one hand would be palm up and the other palm down.
Do you see how the mirror image is not the same as the original item?
Only the right-hand version, D-alpha tocopherol, works in your body. To help you understand why one works and one doesn’t, even though they look similar, think of a lock and key. If the key is just a little bit different, it won’t work. Consider the example of a high-tech lock that is opened by your unique right hand. Let’s say you can only open it by inserting your right hand palm down so it can read your fingerprints. Your left hand would not be able to open it. Even if your left hand had the exact same fingerprints as your right hand, it still wouldn’t be able to open the lock because once inserted palm down the fingerprints would be in the wrong order and the thumb would be on the wrong side.
That’s what happens with the left and right vitamin E. The right one works, but the left one doesn’t. An easy way to remember this is “L is for liar.”
Look at your vitamin labels. If it says the Vitamin E is dl-alpha-tocopherol, it has the unnatural form of Vitamin E as well as the natural version (hence the d and the l). In my opinion, you should throw this away because it may be harmful to your health. Look for a multivitamin that just has the d-alpha-tocopherol version of the Vitamin E instead.
Ester-C
Ester-C is better than ascorbic acid as it provides quick and better absorption, and is excreted less rapidly. Ester-C also Ester-c functions biologically like natural Vitamin C, providing health benefits improving your skin, joints, vision, cardiovascular wellness, antioxidant protection and immune system wellness. We carry Ester-C at Drummond Chiropractic.
Vitamin D
The natural Vitamin D form is D3. The synthetic version is D2, comes from lanelin (sheep wool) and is missing sulfate molecules. This small change leads to hardening of the arteries when taking D2 as a supplement. So talk to us, your nutritionally trained chiropractors, to help you determine if your supplements are not only good for you, but safe!
Calcium
Calcium supplements come in many forms. The main calcium to avoid is calcium carbonate. It can lead to hardening of the arteries, making one vulnerable to strokes, heart attacks and death. It can also lead to gall stones and kidney stones. Again, just because it is natural does not mean it is safe.
Your muscles need calcium and magnesium to relax. If you are deficient in these minerals, you will experience muscle cramping. Taking this blend may help your back muscles relax. Marrying it with vitamin D helps the absorption of calcium and magnesium.
Don’t take calcium at the same time you take your multivitamin because it limits the absorption of some minerals like iron. I frown on multivitamins that tout different formulas, claiming a certain formulation is specifically for postmenopausal women because it has more calcium than other vitamins. Well, guess what? You are voiding most of that calcium out the other end.
I recommend that you take a small dose of a multivitamin in the morning and your calcium at night. That way you benefit from its muscle-relaxing properties before you go to bed. It may help you relax enough to aid in your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. This property of calcium led to the old wives’ remedy of drinking a warm glass of milk before going to bed to help you fall asleep.
I advise children take a calcium, magnesium, Vitamin D blend at night if they are experiencing growing pains, as growing pains are often a sign of a deficiency in calcium, magnesium, and or Vitamin D, and supplementation often helps.
Dr. Karin has created a list of supplements she approves of. Click Here to check it out.
To learn more about determining if your vitamins and other supplements are good or bad for you, and to make sure they are worth the extra cost, check out our facebook live:
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Fat and Vitamins
We need fat to digest and absorb fat-soluble vitamins. If you are not eating enough good fat, even if you take vitamins, you may still be deficient in the fat soluble vitamins. Simply put, without good fat, we will be pooping out the vitamins instead of absorbing them!
Some diets tell us to avoid fat. I don’t avoid eating fatty foods as long as the fats they contain are healthy fats. We need healthy fat! Avocado, wild salmon, and walnuts are a few examples of tasty foods that are full of good fats. I use organic real butter because the fake butters are unnatural and unhealthy.
If you’re trying to eat healthy, don’t be misled into eating fat-free foods. These foods tend to be ultra-high in sugar and flavor-enhancing chemicals and simply aren’t good for you.
What about Cholesterol? Believe it or not, we NEED cholesterol to LIVE!
Check out this Facebook Live to learn more:
Again, if you want us to check out your supplements and confirm they are not only safe but worth the money?
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Drummond Chiropractic, LLC
More than spine specialists, we are wellness health practitioners.
565 North Walnut Street,
Bloomington, IN 47404
(812) 336 - 2423