I recommend everyone take the following health supplements. Our bodies require certain vitamins and minerals in order to function properly and studies have shown that modern fruits and veggies fail to provide our daily required intake of supplements like magnesium and zinc because the soil in which crops are being raised is devoid of these essential nutrients.
Multi-Vitamin
It is vital that you take a good multi-vitamin. You’re wasting your money if you buy cheap vitamins(Wal-Mart brand for example) because cheap vitamins have low bioavailability. Low bioavailability means that essentially everything you’re taking in is being flushed out through your kidneys and digestive system and you’re not actually absorbing anything.
Adults should follow the recommended guidelines on the bottle. Athletes and bodybuilders should consider taking 1.5x or 2x the dose.
The two best Multi-Vitamins that have high bioavailability and are reasonably priced are:
Vitamin D3
Vitamin D is produced by your skin when it comes in contact with sunlight. Since most of us live a sedentary indoor lifestyle we do not get nearly enough direct sunlight, which in turn causes most people to be chronically deficient in Vitamin D. Symptoms of Vitamin D deficiency include:
- Lethargy
- Depression
- Low-motivation
- Muscle weakness
Take 10,000 ius of Vitamin D3 a day for 30 days and then maintain with 5,000 ius per day after wards. Experts recommend everyone supplement with Vitamin D, even those living in warm/tropical climates.
Now Foods makes a high quality and affordable Vitamin D supplement.
Magnesium
Entire books have been written about the beneficial health effects of supplementing with magnesium. Magnesium is used in over 300 different biochemical processes within the body. Magnesium deficiency is a two-fold problem. We don’t get enough of it from our diet and many of the foods we eat actually strip mangesium from our body – like sugar, alcohol, caffeine, and salt. Magnesium deficiency can contribute to:
- Muscle cramps or twitches
- Insomnia
- Irritability
- Anxiety
- ADD
- Palpitations
- Angina
- Constipation
- Anal spasms
- Headaches
- Migraines
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic fatigue
- Asthma
- Kidney stones
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Osteoporosis
- High blood pressure
- PMS
- Menstrual cramps
- Irritable bladder
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Reflux
- Trouble swallowing
You want to supplement with chelated magnesium(chelated magnesium is absorbed better by the body). Take 400-800mg in the evening before you go to bed. My research shows that Doctor’s Best brand is the cheapest form of effective Chelated magnesium.
Fish Oil
Fish oil is high in omega-3 fatty acids. You’re probably sick of hearing that you should supplement with Omega-3 fatty acids. The reason why they come so highly recommended is because omega-3’s are anti-inflammatory. Doctors and experts are coming to the conclusion that inflammation is at the heart of almost every single chronic disease, and the simple supplementation of Omega-3’s can help reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and stroke.
In addition to general health fish oil also promotes brain health and has been shown to increase memory and brain function in adults.
Take 3-12g of fish oil per day. Ideally you’d want to take 3g morning, afternoon, evening, and post workout, but that can get expensive. 1g three times a day will still benefit your health.
Nature Made is the highest quality fish oil I’ve found at a reasonable price.