A lot of people think that given today’s nutritionally poor food, combined with mineral depleted soils, that it isn’t possible to meet all of your nutritional needs through food alone. The truth is that we most certainly can get all the nutrients we need in our diet, but you have to be willing to go out of your way to consume plenty of seafood, seaweeds, dark leafy greens, organ meats and fermented foods – things that in America and many parts of the western world aren’t exactly common place.
Luckily we live in a time and place where we can easily buy a few supplements to fill in the gaps. Of course, this doesn’t mean we should eat foods that completely lack nutrition – one should still maintain a healthy diet, exercise regimen and practice stress reduction if you want to look and feel great.
So without further ado, here are a few supplements almost everyone should be taking.
Vitamin D – Boost immune function, improve cognition, improve hormonal status and bone health, fight off depression
Vitamin D is not just a vitamin, but an important hormone that has a plethora of uses within the body – it helps the body absorb and utilize calcium, magnesium and zinc, boosts the immune system, and affects more than 2000 genes! This means that if you aren’t getting adequate Vitamin D, you’re not functioning properly at the genetic level, which can lead to many problems down the road.
Vitamin D is also an important neurosteroid, up-regulating amounts of Nerve Growth Factor within the brain and central nervous system, which helps to repair damaged neurons and even to grow new ones. This has implications for learning, memory and even depression, as there is a strong correlation between low levels of neurotrophic factors (of which NGF is but one) and depression. It’s estimated that 1 billion people are deficient in Vitamin D, and it seems to be that the lower the levels of Vitamin D, the worse the depression.
How much Vitamin D do we really need? Recent research is suggesting that the current RDA of Vitamin D – 600 IU for ages 1-70, and 800 IU for 70 and up – is far too low. It’s best to shoot for blood levels of around 50 ng/dl of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, something you’ll have to get your doctor to test for. Aim to ingest 2000 IUs of Vitamin D on days you aren’t getting sun exposure. I personally use this brand, as it gives well over a year’s supply and is mixed with the next supplement on the list, Vitamin K2. Vitamin D also needs to be balanced with Vitamin A – as I stated in my post for vegans and vegetarians, vegetables are unfortunately a poor source of true Vitamin A, so if you aren’t willing to consume plenty of liver, cod liver oil, or eggs from pasture raised hens, I’d use this Vitamin A supplement if you aren’t vegan, and this one if you are, one pill every other day.
Bottom Line – Vitamin D may improve your mood, decrease the likelihood of you getting sick, improve the expression of positive genes while silencing ones that can cause disease, and even help you remain mentally sharp.
Vitamin K2 – Essential for Bone Health, Prevention of Calcium Deposits in Soft Tissues and Improving Hormone Status
Vitamin K1 is ample in the diet, and most people know that it plays an important role in blood clotting. Few people have heard about Vitamin K2 however, and it’s much harder to come by in the diet, only being present in fermented foods or foods coming from grass fed animals.
Vitamin K2 is a critical factor in the process of calcium utilization – more precisely, it makes sure that the calcium you do consume goes where it’s supposed to – mainly in the bones, and not in the arteries, kidneys (kidney stones) or other organs.
Therefore Vitamin K2 is crucial in preventing atherosclerosis, or the hardening of the arteries. Studies have shown an inverse relationship between Vitamin K2 levels and atherosclerosis. It may further prevent cancer, improves insulin sensitivity, and improve prostate health.
As stated earlier, Vitamin K2 is solely a product of fermentation – without bacteria, there would be no K2. The best source is a Japanese dish called natto, a rather stinky smelling food made out of fermented soybeans.
Other sources include certain aged cheeses from grass fed animals, especially gouda, as well as other dairy products from grass fed animals, especially fermented ones such as yogurt, lassi and kefir, eggs from free ranging hens, and organ meats from healthy, free range animals. All of the K2 present in these animal foods are produced by the healthy bacteria in the animals’ guts, which finally make their way into the organs, eggs, meat and milk of the animal. Most fermented vegetable dishes contain K2 as well – sauerkraut, kim chi, unpasteurized pickles and miso should all have some K2, and be sure to consume them with some fat as K2 is a fat-soluble vitamin.
Don’t like fermented foods? You should really work on developing your palate, but in the mean time don’t hesitate to use the Vitamin D/K2 supplement listed above – I make sure to consume plenty of fermented foods but choose to supplement as well. Scientists are still debating how much K2 we should be getting, but a good recommendation is anywhere from 200 to 1,000 micrograms a day – two drops of the Thorne Vitamin D/K2 supplement is 200 micrograms.
Bottom Line – Vitamin K2 helps prevent osteoporosis, prevents atherosclerosis, improves insulin sensitivity and may even improve prostate health
Magnesium – Important for Bone Mineralization, a Healthy Relaxation Response, Improved Hormonal Status and Improves Drive and Motivation
Ahh, magnesium.. Easily one of most crucial minerals to get, yet so few of us are – only 25% or so of Americans are getting adequate amounts of magnesium.
“Magnesium is involved in over 300 biochemical reactions in your body. It affects everything from your heartbeat to your muscles to your hormones,” – Dr. Danine Fruge, Associate Medical Director at the Pritikin Longevity Center in Miami, Florida.
Feeling stressed? Rundown? Are you overweight? Achey, especially after workouts? Do you have restless leg syndrome, or worry about osteoporosis? Having difficulty focusing or staying motivated? You may be one of many who are deficient in magnesium.
Magnesium is another critical nutrient for bone health – magnesium is required to activate Vitamin D into its active form, to allow calcium to find it’s way to the bones. In fact magnesium is required for all of the enzymes involved in Vitamin D metabolism.
Feeling stressed? “Mg deficiency, even when mild, increases susceptibility to various types of neurologic and psychological stressors in rodents, healthy human subjects and diverse groups of patients. Repletion of deficiency reverses this increased stress sensitivity, and pharmacologic loading of Mg salts orally or parenterally induces resistance to neuropsychologic stressors.” In English, this means having adequate levels of magnesium buffers you to feelings of stress. Magnesium is crucial to the relaxation response, helping your muscles and nervous system to relax.
Magnesium has been shown to increase learning and memory, especially the form Magnesium-L-Threonate.
Turns out that dopamine, that wonderful little neurotransmitter that is involved in motivation and feeling pleasure, is a magnesium-dependent molecule :
“Dopamine has been called the ‘pleasure neurotransmitter’ and evidence shows that dopamine is a magnesium-dependent neurotransmitter. It is possible that low levels of magnesium trigger low levels in dopamine in the brain.”
Magnesium also improves hormone status, at least in middle aged men. This study concludes :
In a cohort of older men, magnesium levels are strongly and independently associated with the anabolic hormones testosterone and IGF-1.
This is great news, as we’ve seen national levels of testosterone plummet, likely due to xenoestrogens in the environment, and is also beneficial because these hormones decline with age. Please note that magnesium supplementation brought these hormones back into a healthy range. Magnesium is not a steroid and won’t make any of you ladies grow a beard.
Soda, caffeine, alcohol, refined grains and sugary foods, as well as stress, intense exercise and sweating all increase the need for magnesium.
The Recommended Daily Amount is around 400 mg, but remember, you may need more depending on how much you exercise, how stressed you are or how poor your diet is.
Magnesium is found most abundantly in pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate and raw cacao, bone broth and dark leafy green vegetables. At the center of every molecule of chlorophyl in plants is a magnesium ion, so the greener the plant, the more magnesium-rich it is.
It can still be difficult to ingest adequate amounts daily, especially if you’re stressed or exercising regularly, and for this reason it’s wise to supplement with magnesium in addition to eating magnesium-rich foods. Magnesium citrate is a great choice that is cheap and has the added benefit of helping improve digestion. Two rounded teaspoons is just short of 400 mg – I’d suggest consuming two teaspoons in times of stress or if you don’t have a healthy diet, or one teaspoon if you eat plenty of magnesium rich foods.
Bottom Line – Magnesium improves bone health, reduces stress, calms the brain and improves alertness, improves the functioning of the motivation and pleasure molecule dopamine, improves hormonal status, can help with constipation and may even improve learning and memory.
Stay tuned for the rest of the list of supplements everyone should probably be using, leave a comment if you have any questions, and contact me to learn more about how to fit all this together and taking it to the next level.