Supplements
One of the questions I’m asked most often by clients and friends alike is “What supplements do you take?”
People often wonder if we get all we need from our diet, which is a really good question. The answer is we should be able to, but we don’t. Getting the vitamins and minerals that we need from our food is the ideal, we absorb and process them better if they are food state, however it is really difficult to eat a diet varied enough and of high enough quality to provide us with all the minerals we need, especially trace minerals. Living in rural West Wales I like to use sheep as an example!
Sheep are obviously very common here – and graze the lush grass and free range; perfect, you might think. But all sheep farmers know they need to provide their sheep with a “lick” – it’s a solid block containing lots of trace minerals as a supplement. Without these there can be a range of health issues – especially in pregnant and lactating ewes. So I ask people – why is a free range, naturally kept sheep different to us? Why do they need supplements?
We also keep goats and horses and they all have mineral licks. Goats can get very unwell if they don’t get a good source of copper. Ironically sheep can get very unwell if they are supplemented with copper – so again they are a good demonstration of how we are all have different needs.
Magnesium is the place I start with most clients – we are usually all deficient if we aren’t taking a supplement of some kind. It’s a very important mineral to many of our internal systems (including managing anxiety and sleep) but it is very difficult to get from our diet.
Even if we had the perfect varied diet – we use up magnesium at a greater rate when we are stressed; and most of us are a little bit stressed a lot of the time! And even then, if we ate perfectly and were completely zen and happy, our soils are so depleted that our food really can’t contain enough for us to absorb.
A magnesium spray or an ionic liquid supplement are the best for us, as we absorb them very well this way. Many tablet forms are not well absorbed, especially if our guts aren’t functioning optimally. I also have epsom salts in my bath, it is a great and affordable way to get extra magnesium and it also helps us to detox to an extent. I buy mine from Elixir Gardens on eBay:
So magnesium is a great place to start for most of us. For us women, most of us require a good B complex as well. Again, a lot of over-the-counter vitamins aren’t really worth buying as they are a poor form of each vitamin, often have lots of fillers and are poorly absorbed. Your practitioner should be able to recommend a good complex for you to try.
The other thing that I suggest to most clients is a probiotic of some kind. I prefer to make my own in the form of sauerkraut, kimchi and water kefir, as you get a far higher concentration of live, good bacteria. I also offer classes where I teach people to be able to do these themselves.
Those 3 things alone can make a huge impact on your everyday health and well being. Give them a go!
Stay tuned for news of new courses – some will be online via video call, so anyone can join!
