Five Supplement Essentials

Although there is some overlap, we can say that there are five supplement essentials namely:

• Vitamins & minerals
• Extra vitamin CWhat it does: Strengthens immune system – fights infections. Makes collagen, keeping bones, skin and joints firm and strong. Antioxidant, detoxifying pollutants and protecting against…, plus synergistic nutrients
• Antioxidants
• Essential fats
• Phospholipids

I will explain which are important, in what dose and why, later, but what is especially encouraging is the research that is streaming in regarding two critical ‘functional’ measures of health. One I have written about in my report How to lengthen your life and your telomeres, is the growing evidence of specific nutrients being associated with longer telomeres, itself a measure of life expectancy.

The other is the association of specific nutrients being associated with lower homocysteineHomocysteine is an amino acid found in the blood. Elevated levels of homocysteine have been associated with narrowing and hardening of the arteries, an increased… levels. The higher your homocysteine the worse your methylationMethylation is what occurs when the body takes one substance and turns it into another, so that it can be detoxified and excreted from the… ability which is absolutely critical for a healthy body and brain. So, if asked ‘what is the optimum intake of nutrient?’, I’d say whatever is associated with the longest telomeres, the lowest homocysteine level, the least risk for disease and best overall health, which is what we measure in the 100% Health Check.

Incidentally, when we examined the habits of the highest scorers on the 100% Health Check, 85% took supplements, two thirds took up to four different supplements a day and a third took five or more a day. Seventy per cent supplemented vitamin C as an extra, most taking between 500mg and 3g a day. I take five supplements twice a day. Here’s why and what to look out for in your daily supplement regime.

OPTIMUM VITAMINS & MINERALS

At ION we researched the optimal level of all essential vitamins and minerals and developed the Optimum Daily Amount (ODA). This is not what you need to supplement because, of course, you need to subtract what you can get from a good diet. For example, it is crazy to take an ‘RDA’ multivitamin and mineral because that would assume, if you believe that the RDA levels are enough, that you are eating nothing. For example, the RDA of calciumWhat it does: Promotes a healthy heart, clots blood, promotes healthy nerves, contracts muscles, improves skin, bone and dental health, relieves aching muscles and bones,… is 800mg, but the average person takes in 900mg from diet. So, why supplement any? The ODA is 1,000mg, or 1,200mg if you are older, and if you eat a reasonably healthy diet but with less dairy you’ll achieve 800mg from your food, so it’s worth supplementing 200 (if you’re younger) to 400mg (if you’re older).

The main shortfalls of multivitamins and minerals are the ‘big’ minerals. Few give you 200mg of calcium, and even fewer give you 150mg of magnesiumWhat it does: Strengthens bones and teeth, promotes healthy muscles by helping them to relax, also important for PMS, important for heart muscles and nervous…, which is the shortfall between ODA (500mg) and what a good diet can give you (350mg). Other minerals like chromiumWhat it does: Helps balance blood sugar, normalise hunger and reduce cravings, improves lifespan, helps protect cells, essential for heart function. Deficiency Signs: Excessive or…, molybdenumWhat it does: Helps rid the body of protein breakdown products, strengthens teeth and may help reduce the risk of tooth decay, detoxifies the body… and boron are often left out because there is no established RDA yet.

Another vitamin that is often undersupplied is vitamin DWhat it does: Helps maintain strong and healthy bones by retaining calcium. Deficiency Signs: Joint pain or stiffness, backache, tooth decay, muscle cramps, hair loss….. Scandinavain countries have doubled the basic RDA from 5 to 10mcg, but my research shows that 15mcg (600iu) is optimal, backed up with eating oily fish, eggs and getting some sun exposure, which can give you a further 15mcg. The ODA is 30mcg.

Check out the multi you are taking which should, in any event, be taken twice a day since most vitamins are water-soluble and in and out of the body within 6 hours.

EXTRA VITAMIN C & SYNERGISTIC NUTRIENTS

How much vitamin C do you really need? I explored this and wrote about it in Issue 82 of my newsletter, available to 100% Health Club members. Based on the evidence, the most conservative view would be 400mg a day although there is good reason to take in 2,000mg a day, especially if you are older.

Now, that’s way too much to put in a multi, hence the need for a stand alone vitamin C supplement of 900mg, taken twice a day. I take one with extra black elderberry, bilberry, zincWhat it does: Component of over 200 enzymes in the body, essential for growth, important for healing, controls hormones, aids ability to cope with stress… and ginger because, if you get a cold and bump up the dose, these can help.

ESSENTIAL FATS

Omega 3 and 6 fats are essential for your health for two main reasons:

1. They are essential for every single cell in your body, including your skin and your brain, the dry weight of which is 60% fatThere are many different types of fats; polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, hydrogenated, saturated and trans fat. The body requires good fats (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated) in order to…. They make ‘prostaglandins’ which are involved in a huge range of different functions in the body.
2. They cannot be made by your body so you need to obtain them through your diet. So much so that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) suggest that fish should be eaten every week (for women they recommend 2 portions of fish a week and up to 4 portions for men). However many people do not like the taste of fish and there is also the worry about heavy metal pollution like harmful mercury and PCB’s. Good quality fish oil supplements can be purified to eliminate these pollutants. I do both – eat oily fish and take essential fat supplements.

The most potent omega-6 fat is GLAGamma Linolenic Acid (GLA) is an essential fatty acid within the omega-6 family. It is found primarily in plant based oils such as evening primrose… (aim for 50mg a day). The most potent omega-3s are EPAEPA is short for Eicosapentaenoic Acid. It is an essential omega-3 fatty acid found in fish such as salmon, mackerel and herring, and is often… and DHADHA is short for Docosahexaenoic Acid. It is an essential omega-3 fatty acid found in fish such as salmon, mackerel and herring, and is often…. Aim for a combined amount of 600mg a day of these.

PHOSPHOLIPIDS AND METHYL NUTRIENTS

Your brain cell membranes are made of phospholipids (mainly phosphatidyl serine and choline), attached to omega-3 fats. These are ‘connected’ by methylation, which depends on B vitamins and methyl nutrients, the most important being tri-METHYL-glycine (TMG), giving three methyl units. These are essential nutrients for the brain so I take a brain food formula daily.

ANTIOXIDANTS

While a good multi is providing all the vitamins and minerals that act as antioxidants (vitamin A,C,E, zinc and seleniumWhat it does: Antioxidant properties help to protect against free radicals and carcinogens, reduces inflammation, stimulates immune system to fight infections, promotes a healthy heart,…) there is an exact sequence of antioxidants and their ‘loaders’. For example, vitamin EWhat it does: Acts as an antioxidant, protecting cells from damage, including against cancer. Helps body use oxygen, preventing blood clots, thrombosis, atherosclerosis. Improves wound… is reloaded (once ‘spent and oxidised) by CoQ10; vitamin C is reloaded by beta-carotene and alpha-lipoic acid; glutathione is reloaded by resveratrol (see diagram below). Some of these are not easy to get, and most multis don’t include them. Also, the older you get, or the more active you are, the more antioxidants you need – oxidation is the basis of ageing.

I take a combination of these every day as well as eating antioxidantAntioxidants are substances that protect cells within the body from damage caused by free radicals. They help to strengthen the body’s ability to fight infection… rich foods.

So, these are my five daily supplement essentials:

• Vitamins & minerals
• Extra vitamin C and synergistic nutrients
• Essential fats
• Phospholipids and methyl nutrients
• Antioxidants

You can find my range of supplements at www.holfordirect.com