A strong foundation in nutrition supports every cell, structure and function in a naturally perfect way and is the key to maintaining health, wellness and longevity.
A Nutrition class at Harvard was assigned the task of designing a diet with great variety and high quality nutrition that included all the required vitamins and minerals for a 2500-3000 calorie diet. No one in the class could complete the task and found it impossible if your daily caloric intake was even lower. The professor made his point that the nutrient depletion in our soil along with the over-processing of our foods has led to our need for a high quality multivitamin and mineral. Other factors which lead to nutrient depletion are drugs, stress, digestive disorders, food sensitivities, chronic inflammation and chemicals (among many others). These all block the absorption or deplete our nutrients even if they are obtained from our diet.
Patients commonly ask what they should take as a basic foundation. So as a general rule, because we are all biochemically individually unique, and can vary greatly due to age, diet and lifestyle choices, my first recommendation is a pharmaceutical grade multivitamin and mineral. We REQUIRE certain vitamins and minerals to run pathways in our body such as energy production, digestion, muscle contraction, hormone transport, cardiovascular function, cell protection, skin renewal, kidney filtration and on and on and on……! Therefore if your diet doesn’t include a high quality multi you are most likely deficient in nutrients, just as the Harvard Nutrition class found, we can’t get these from our food choices alone anymore.
RECOMMENDATION #1
My most economical multivitamin is Pure Encapsulations ONE. Only one a day. (Requirements for 18 years of age and over)
The next multi I like is Intramax Liquid, (more expensive but highly excellent quality and you can half the dose for children, also great for those who hate taking pills.
As some final options I also really like Standard Process Catalyn & Nutriwest Core Level Health Reserve as another way to support a strong foundation. Ask your Doc which multi they would recommend for you.
*If you need Calcium & Magnesium then you will need to get it separate from this supplement.
RECOMMENDATION #2
Omegagenics Fish Oil by Metagenics, dosage depends on diet, inflammation markers and lifestyle choices along with your fatty acid profile. Each capsule is 1000mg EPA/DHA, this is the antiinflammatory heart and brain protective aspects of fish oil. Lowering your inflammatory risk factors lowers your risk of heart disease, colon cancer and dementia/alzheimer’s among many other issues. Dr. Barry Sears of The Zone states that over 90% of all diseases today are due to high inflammation in the body.
RECOMMENDATION #3
Designs for Health Vitamin D3 Supreme (with K1, K2), dosage depends on current blood levels. If you are within normal range you already get 1000IU in the Pure Encapsulations Multi listed above which is adequate. If you have low or low normal levels you will need to supplement one a day of the D3 Supreme. It is very important your D3 have K2 in it. This prevents calcification of arterial tissues. Because D and K are fat soluble vitamins you can take them with your Omega fish oil for high absorption. Some researchers state that if the population of the United States had optimum Vitamin D levels we could eradicate over 85% of all cancers. Many of the patients I test have extremely low levels of Vitamin D.
Option #2 on Omegas: Biogenesis Liquid Lemon Emulsion (tastes like liquid lemon starbursts and mixes well in protein shakes).
BONUS RECOMMENDATION:
Solutions for Health Protein Shake: One of our best sellers for many years. Great tasting but also a medical grade food shake which supplies your vitamins and minerals along with amino acids (these are the building blocks of all our cells), probiotics and digestive enzymes. This is a grass fed whey protein and excellent quality shake. Great to substitute once a day if you are looking to shed a few pounds. Throw in some spinach, kale, strawberries, blueberries or broccoli to increase your servings per day and hide the ones you don’t like.
These conclude my basic foundational nutrition recommendations. More to come on specific nutritional support.
TESTING
**Our office offers a GENOVA NUTREVAL Test that can tell you if you are deficient in any multivitamins or minerals along with fatty acids, amino acids, detox pathways, heavy metal toxicity, gut bacteria imbalance, antioxidants, digestive enzymes or probiotics and brain neurotransmitter imbalance. These are considered functional medicine testing and are very comprehensive in order to get to the root cause of health issues.
