host posted on June 05, 2008 13:24
Kyle Drew
I live in Oklahoma City, and one of the great things about that is that I can shop at a place called The Health Food Center. I’ve purchased my supplements and foods there for as long as I can remember. For the past five years, I’ve hosted The Health Food Center’s radio show, SuperHealth, and it was through this show that I met Doug.
One of the fun things that happens when I’m at the Health Food Center is that I get involved in conversations with folks about health and supplements. These impromptu moments are some of the more important times I have with people, simply because they feel like they can just ask anything without an audience listening.
Besides the popular, “What’s Doug really like?” question, (Answer: Exactly like you see him on TV!), the usual questions I answer are regarding supplements. People will come to me with 4 different protein bars, for example, and ask me which one I like the best. Or they’ll ask me to compare digestive enzyme products or protein powders or fibers or…. anything! Frankly, I LOVE doing this. I’m a huge fan of supplements, and it’s a good idea to compare products. Because I do the Health Food Center’s radio show, and we interview representatives from a lot of different companies, I get to try a lot of different products. If you were to look in my pantry, you’d see dozens of half-used bottles of supplements because I try them, and then comment about them on the radio show. I have my core favorites, but since I’m a supplement guinea pig, I’m trying new things every month.
I have some loose principles I’ve developed over the years, and when I’m comparing products for folks, I try to share some of these. There’s no way I could write down all of them in a single article, but here are a few supplement principles that may be helpful for you.
In Most Cases, Opt For Capsules and Powders. In almost every instance, capsules and powders are absorbed more rapidly than hard tablets. Most tablets have binders like carnauba wax to hold all the ingredients together. Sometimes, they’re held together so tightly that they won’t break up in the stomach at all! NOTE: Certain products, like proteolytic enzymes, are put together in tablets or hard capsules in order to survive the stomach acid and release into the intestines. Others, such as “time-released” products also have a purpose for being in tablet form. But in most products, it’s nice to have the quick absorption qualities of capsules or powders.
Look At The Serving Size!! If you’re buying an individual nutrient, make sure you know how many capsules to take in order to get the amount you need. For example, if you need 1000 mg of calcium, and you read on the label that there’s 1000 mg of calcium, make sure you see how many capsules you need to take in order to get the full 1000 mg. It may be 1000 mg per capsule, or it could be 1000 mg per four capsules. This sounds so basic, yet I see people missing this. They think they’re taking the right amounts of something, only to find out that they are only taking one capsule, and they should have been taking several more! Check the label to make sure you know how many capsules to take in order to get the desired amounts.
Get Past the Marketing, and Read the Actual Ingredients. This sounds like I’m repeating an earlier principle, but bear with me. Someone showed me a product this week that was called “Formula 1 Weight Management Drink.” OK, so it’s a meal replacement shake. Good. Reading the label, though, showed that the first ingredient was soy, (I’m no fan of soy.) The second ingredient was fructose, (which is just sugar). The third ingredient was corn, (if you watch Doug’s show, you’ll know that corn is nearly always contaminated with mycotoxins, according to the research). At that point, I didn’t need to know what the rest of the ingredients were. The three most abundant ingredients were things I try to avoid, not supplement with! This is SO common. Please avoid being sucked in by the marketing, and read the actual ingredients.
Is This a Therapeutic Dose?? A few years ago, a popular multivitamin advertised that they now had lutein in their product. Lutein is a great nutrient for the eyes and it was getting a lot of press. Yet, when you looked at the label, it has such an abysmally small dose so as to be virtually ineffective. Ask someone what the right dose should be for therapeutic value, and make sure your supplement has somewhere close to that amount.
You’re Probably Not Getting Enough Fiber. Some research suggests that, even though we’re supposed to get anywhere from 25 to 45 grams of fiber each day, most of us get only about 5 to 10 grams. Last week, someone showed me a fiber product, (a tablet), that had a third of a gram of fiber per serving. If you took the suggested number of servings each day, you’d get a mere two grams of extra fiber. Two grams! That’s nothing! I’m just not afraid of getting plenty of fiber each day. At first, you’ll need to start slowly, but eventually you can work your way up to a good fiber supplement, (probably a powder), that you can put in your smoothies or drink by itself, and ensure that you’re getting the proper amount of fiber each day.
Dietary Supplements Are Not Dietary Substitutes. Here’s the biggest mistake of all: Using supplements as substitutes for eating well. You can’t do it. You can’t eat donuts and pizza and soft drinks and sugary cereals all day every day and expect a supplement to undo the damage. In traveling with Doug all over the country and answering questions people pose, one of the most common scenarios is that a person says they’re “taking everything they’re supposed to take,” and yet not getting any better. We always ask the question, “How’s your diet?” That’s when heads drop and people sheepishly reply, “Well it’s not too good.” I don’t care if you take a different antifungal supplement every hour on the hour, if you’re eating foods that encourage the growth of yeast and fungus throughout the day, your symptoms will not go away. Period. You may get a little initial relief, but you won’t eradicate the problem. Fungi are hearty. You have to starve them and kill them. There are supplements available today that we couldn’t have dreamed of ten years ago. Yet those, and even prescription antifungals, are no match for a diet that constantly re-introduces mycotoxins and excessive sugar into the body.
I encourage everyone to take good supplements every single day. Do yourself a favor and help augment their benefits by sticking to Doug’s Phase One Diet, (and eventually, his Phase Two Diet after symptoms subside). Make sure to get some exercise, too. This is a simple, but unbeatable, strategy for a lifetime of great health and energy.