Supplements - do you need them?

I’ve been guilty of throwing money at supplements in the past – looking for a quick fix for my symptoms when actually what was needed was to remove what was damaging me (alcohol, sugar, unhappy relationships, a business that filled me with dread), eat better, support my gut health, manage my stress levels and take time out to relax so I could sleep well at night.

I eventually conceded that there is only so much that supplements can do – I also had to put the work in.

Occasionally I see clients who are taking up to 15 different supplements, sometimes 3 or 4 different ones to support the same symptom. Sometimes, for a symptom that they are still experiencing even though they’ve been taking the supplements for months at a time.

Often it’s because they have read about them in an article or on a menopause forum, or on Instagram, or a friend has has recommended them.

Supplements are meant to supplement real food.

So, here are some supplement considerations:

1.       What works for one person doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to work for you. We are individuals, with different genetic make-ups who have grown up in and live in different environments, who experience different stressors, and who therefore have different nutritional requirements.

2.       You can have too much of a good thing. Nutrients aren’t meant to be taken in isolation for too long and some may end up doing you more harm than good. Just because they are touted as ‘natural’, doesn’t mean they do no harm (and many are actually synthetic).

3.       Supplements can interact with medications. Taking multiple drugs and/or supplements can increase risks for side effects and adverse interactions. Even herbal supplements from natural sources can have potent active ingredients and have potentially dangerous interactions with medications, other supplements, and certain foods. This is why your nutritional therapist / functional medicine practitioner will ask for a comprehensive list of your medications and supplements prior to a consultation.

4.       General rule of thumb is that the cheaper the supplement, the less beneficial they usually are, with next-to-useless levels of nutrients and nasty fillers. Make sure that what you are putting in your body is of good quality.

5.       You can’t out-supplement a bad diet. Only real food will fix a bad diet. Food supplements are just that – supplementary. Supplements are not a quick fix – we need to move away from this concept of a ‘pill for an ill’, and put the work in.

6.       If your gut health isn’t great, it may mean that you aren’t absorbing much of that supplement. Additionally, our gut microbiome synthesises various vitamins that we may be popping in pill form so on any health journey, supporting gut health should be your first priority.

And from a personal perspective, understanding who makes and sells the products is very important to me. Our health is dependent on the health of our environment, and the supplement industry has a massive impact on global resources.  Increasingly, Big Pharma like Pfizer, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer and others are making or selling supplements. Nestlé is also a big player, with Nestlé Health Science (NHSc) ‘committed to redefining the management of health…[with] an extensive portfolio of science-based consumer health, medical nutrition and supplement brands’.

If you look hard enough though, there are a few small ethical supplement companies (who represent a tiny amount of the total sales in the UK nutritional supplement market which is expected to reach USD 15 billion by 2023) whose ingredients are organic where possible and sourced as locally as possible, who use environmentally-friendly packaging, and who are committed to sustainability. If this is a concern of yours, ask a professional to advise you which brands to use.

So, should you even be taking them?

Yes, if blood tests or functional tests identify that you have a deficiency or insufficiency your GP may prescribe supplements, or your nutritional therapist may recommend some. But it is important to understand and address the root cause of your deficiency or insufficiency – is it due to low dietary intake, is it malabsorption of nutrients, is it genetic, is it your environment?  

Individualised supplement protocols can be extremely helpful for some conditions. When you work with a registered nutritional therapist or functional health practitioner, we may recommend tailored, evidence-based supplement protocols to optimise nutrient levels to support functional imbalances that may be driving ill health.

Crucially though, we will also work on improving your diet and supporting your gut health to ensure that you are eating, digesting and absorbing the nutrients that you need for optimum physical and mental health from food sources – just the way we humans are meant to.

We will also discuss lifestyle adjustments to help you manage stress because stress depletes many nutrients.  And of course, alcohol and sugar and other addictive substances also deplete nutrients, so we will support you to reduce or eliminate these.

Supplementation has an impact – on our health, on our wallets, and on the environment.

Your supplement protocol should be reviewed regularly. Have a look through your supplement stash and consider whether they are all necessary –

• Have you noticed any changes in your health status since you’ve been taking them?

• What difference have they made? 

• Check the labels to establish what’s in them – are the nutrient levels beneficial, what are the fillers, what is the source of the nutrient?

• Have you checked whether they interact with any of your medications?

Blood tests will help you understand whether you have any deficiencies or insufficiencies, and functional tests like DNA testing, an Organic Acids Test or Hair Minerals Analysis can give you further insight into your specific needs. If you feel any of these might be helpful for you, please arrange a call with me below.