If you’re reading this article, chances are that you either already have a supplement regimen in place, or are at least curious about starting one.
Many people are just like you. Even if you eat healthy, there still may be nutrient gaps in your diet. Building a good foundation of basic supplements can help. Of course, what to look for in the dizzying array of choices available can feel daunting. No worries. There are a few simple things to keep in mind.
Â
Your Basics: Select a Daily Multivitamin and Mineral Formula
It’s funny. A lot of people would like to take a daily multivitamin, but just haven’t met the right one yet. A couple of rules of thumb can help your selection process.
- Your multivitamin should deliver a wide range of nutrients in effective forms at effective levels.
- Your multivitamin shouldn’t make you feel nauseous. That weird “rush” feeling and occasional queasiness that you may have experienced in the past with multivitamins could be due to trying to take them on an empty stomach, but is also very likely due to the forms of the B vitamins included in the supplement.
Many common B vitamins need to be converted into a useful form by your liver. In that process, they need to be broken down in your digestive system, and that can cause a bit of discomfort. A better option, like Clinical Essentials™ Multi-Vitamin & Minerals, provides bioavailable (a fancy term for “it absorbs and works”) B vitamins that are already in the form that the body uses. There’s no potentially cumbersome conversion process for the liver.
Additionally, Clinical Essentials delivers readily absorbed forms of minerals. If that doesn’t exactly sound exciting to you, bear in mind that vitamins can’t even begin to do their jobs without minerals around to help them out. Plus, minerals in general are responsible for supporting bone and skin structure, mental focus, metabolism, and immune support.* Everyone needs minerals. But we especially need minerals that the body can actually absorb and use easily.
Go Fish: Choosing Omega-3s the Smart Way
If you’ve heard about the importance of omega fatty acids from fish and wondered, “Are they really that big of a deal?” the answer is, “Yes, definitely.”
For many of us, any talk of “good fats” may seem a little suspicious. But when you consider that brain and nerve endings, skin, collagen, blood vessels, and the eyes, all rely on good fats for their structure and function, you begin to see why omega-3s should be in a daily regimen.*
Of course, like multivitamins, there are entire shelves of fish oil and krill oil supplements at many health food stores. Bear in mind, oils by their very nature can easily become rancid. When that happens, they aren’t doing anyone any favors health-wise. In fact, rancid oils can actually raise the risk of oxidative stress in the body, which is absolutely the last thing you want to cause.
So, a stable form is a must. That’s where Vectomega®, an omega-3 fatty acid complex from salmon, can help. Vectomega isn’t an oil at all, but it does supply important omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, along with phospholipids and peptides—something you’re not going to get from fish and krill oil sources. In addition to being stable carriers for omega-3s, phospholipids also support brain health, plus focus, concentration, and overall mental well-being.* One other advantage to Vectomega is that your daily dosage level is low and very doable: just one capsule or tablet daily is all you need. (You can boost that if you’d like, but one is just fine for your foundation.)
Get Those Good Bacteria!
Finally, you’re probably familiar with probiotics, the good bacteria mostly associated with yogurt, kombucha, and other fermented foods. Probiotic supplements are, like multivitamins and omega-3s, a crowded field. There is a popular notion that “more is better” when it comes to the counts of probiotic bacteria, but that is simply not the case. Some probiotics are better suited to supporting healthy digestion, immune function, and relieving occasional gas, bloating, and diarrhea than others. How many of those bacteria can be crammed into a capsule doesn’t really matter in that case. It’s more important that they are effective.
FloraSure® Probiotic is a great example.
It delivers 20 million live, beneficial active probiotic bacteria in every single capsule. That’s a lot, but most importantly, it’s an effective trio of Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Bifidobacterium bifidum. And if you deal with diet sensitivities, no worries—this supplement is dairy free.
Oh, and a Couple More Things…
In general, you want your supplements to come from a company that takes clinical and scientific studies seriously, as well as providing top-notch ingredients in every formula. Also, make sure that whoever you select—and clearly, I’m hoping it is Terry Naturally® brand supplements—is absolutely strict about their manufacturing processes and validates their ingredients. Not every company does this, but for the benefit of your health, you need to know that the ingredients listed on the label are in the product.
Start Building that Foundation
So, there you have it. If you’re still “supplement curious” and want to support your body and mind every day, consider these three foundational products—Clinical Essentials Multi-Vitamin & Mineral, Vectomega, and FloraSaure Probiotic—your starter kit for a great foundation!*