Thursday, March 28, 2013

What Vitamins Do You Need?

Everyday I get asked the question, "what vitamins do I need?"  That is a difficult question to answer without a thorough evaluation.  It's important to note that Chiropractors get 4 times the amount of nutritional education as Medical Doctors.  So, with a typical patient, I will have them fill out a very thorough questionnaire regarding symptoms they feel regularly.  It gets into bowl and bladder function as well as energy and digestive issues.  Then I do an exam checking their PH levels, mineral deficiencies, calcium absorption and organ sensitivities.  From all of that information I can determine a specific recommendation.  I also have a nutritionist that handles some of the nutrition recommendations.  For the average person that just wants a little insight and info, here are the four major vitamin or supplement needs.

1.  Multivitamin:
There is much debate over this topic.  The RDA values have put a lot of confusion into the public eye as to how much of each vitamin is necessary.  Under those recommendations, you should be taking a Mega Dose product where you get 100% of everything.  The problem with megadose vitamins is that they are synthetically created in a Labratory and your body cannot recognize them as well as Whole Food vitamins.  Whole Food Vitamins are made of crushed up food instead of how most products are made chemically.  It doesn't take a Rocket Scientist to know that a vitamin made from real food will probably absorb and work better than something made from a Lab.  With that being said, there are several Whole Food Multivatimins on the market, my favorite is Catalyn from Standard Process.  The RDA numbers don't mean anything if you only absorb a small portion of the product.

2.  Probiotic
It is critical for intestinal and immune system health to take a probiotic with enough strains of different healthy bacterias to get the job done.  I will elaborate on this product in a later blog.

3.  Fish Oil
If you want a fully functioning brain for the rest of your life, I highly recommend you start taking Fish Oil.

4.  Vitamin D
Most of us lack enough Vitamin D.  Although you can get it from the sun, we usually do not get enough.  D3 or Colecalciferol is the preferred version.

I hope you have found this helpful.  I will elaborate on these products in the future.  This does not substitute only supplements healthy foods in your diet.  Stay Healthy San Diego.