Supplements: What to take and why
“What’s the deal with supplements? Those aren’t natural!”
Well, yes and no. Part of living the paleo lifestyle is understanding that our world is NOT Grok‘s world. We eat plants grown in nutrient-depleted soil. We don’t usually eat an entire animal, including organs and bones. And when was the last time you ate some dirt or nibbled on tree bark? Supplementation is a way to obtain all the nutrients we are missing out on due to our current lifestyle. Here’s list of supplements, in some order of importance:
Magnesium
Magnesium is easily the most important supplement you can take. Fortunately, it’s also the cheapest. I could devote a whole post to just this supplement; Dr. Eades devoted a whole chapter in Protein Power Life Plan to it. Magnesium lowers blood pressure, reduces anxiety, acts as a muscle relaxant, and a calcium-channel blocker, among other things. It will end a migraine almost immediately and, for girls, will help relieve PMS symptoms, particularly cramping. When I started having panic attacks, magnesium was the first supplement that provided me any discernible relief. I still take small doses almost every day, but I’ll take extra if I’m feeling particularly stressed or anxious. After a hard workout at the gym, it provides noticeable relief from soreness. Toxic doses of magnesium are essentially unheard of, making it exceptionally safe.
Most magnesium supplements are sold in the form of “magnesium oxide”, which the body does not process well at all. It is important not to purchase magnesium in the form of “magnesium oxide”. Instead, purchase magnesium citrate, magnesium malate, or magnesium aspartate. 200-400mg/day is a good normal daily dose, but you can very safely double or even triple that if you’re looking for acute management of muscle pain/cramping, anxiety, or insomnia. A month-supply of magnesium runs for under $5 at health food stores. The kind you find at grocery store pharmacies or GNC will generally NOT be the right type, so be aware of that. My favorite brand is NOW Magnesium Citrate.
Another form of magnesium is found in the supplement ZMA, which is simply zinc combined with magnesium aspartate. It has been shown to be effective at improving sleep and increasing testosterone levels. It is probably the magnesium – not the zinc – in this supplement that has the beneficial effect, but zinc is a beneficial nutrient as well so may be worth supplementing with. NOW ZMA is a fine source of magnesium.
Fish (or Krill) Oil
Anyone avoiding the products of agriculture will decrease the amount of omega-6 fatty acids present in their diet but supplementing with fish or krill oil can compensate for eating corn and grain-fed meats or nuts with low omega-3:omega-6 ratios. The essential fatty acids found in these supplements prevent blood clotting, reduce inflammation, improve insulin sensitivity, and provide a source of healthy fat calories. Polyunsaturated fatty acids, however, are extremely unstable and prone to oxidation. If you buy fish oil capsules, you should break one open every so often and see if it smells strongly fishy. If it does, toss the bottle and find a better brand next time. People often report that taking fish oil gives them “fishy” tasting burps. This is a sign of a poor quality product. To avoid this problem buy only cold-pressed, stabilized fish oil from reputable names. Just like raw fish, if you can smell a strong “fishy” scent, it’s bad. Cod liver oil seems to be more stable – because of vitamin A and D contained within – so purchasing a lemon-flavored brand like Nordic Naturals may be a good option for most. This is my preferred fish oil supplement in the winter, when a lack of sun requires extra vitamin D supplementation. I take NOW Ultra Omega in the summer, Nordic Naturals Cod Liver Oil in the winter, and occasionally I take Jarrow Krill oil . My staple fish oils are Biotest’s FlameOut and NOW SuperEPA I should add that 3-6 grams per day is a good dose for fish oil. Don’t buy fish oil capsules that have less than 1 gram (1,000mg) per pill, otherwise you’ll need to take a handful to get the dose you need!
Probiotic
For proper digestion, you need healthy bacteria in your intestines to be in proper balance with potentially bad bacteria. You can get the “good guys” from kefir, greek yogurt, or other fermented dairy products, or you can supplement with a probiotic. Make sure you get one that is coated to ensure intestinal delivery. I had my appendix removed – the singular event that woke me up to the need for dietary changes – so this supplement is crucial for me. The appendix, once thought to be vestigial, actually serves to regulate the intestinal bacteria. Even for those of you who still have your appendixes (appendices?) a probiotic can help restore intestinal balance after a life of poor eating or a course of antibiotics. I take the Trader Joe’s brand probiotic.
Digestive Enzymes
Supplementing with digestive enzymes can help your body to breakdown food and absorb nutrients better, as well as repair intestinal damage done by consuming wheat, grains, legumes, and other allergenic foods. Robb Wolf is a huge fan of enzymes in conjunction with a paleo diet. These aren’t too expensive and are a great choice if you have digestive problems, are prone to heart burn, or are just embarking on a gluten-free diet and are looking to repair the damage caused by your old diet. As usual, I like the NOW brand Digestive Enzymes.
Iodine
Both sides of my family have had thyroid issues, so I have been especially wary lately of iodine loss (from sweating and not eating much salt) and thyroid health. This is a frequent topic of discussion on Heart Scan blog and one that I’ve only recently been investigating. You can have your thyroid levels tested at the doctor’s office or purchase an at home blood test. Dr. Davis discusses the importance of iodine in thyroid health in Help Keep your family Goiter free and Goiter, Goiter Everywhere. My thyroid levels have always been borderline low and my body temperature is always low so I’ve been paying attention to this recently. I started supplementing with NOW Thyroid energy which contains Iodine, Tyrosine, and a few thyroid hormone precursors. I also bought kelp flakes and iodized light salt (potassium, sodium, and iodine) to use as seasoning. If you have some of the symptoms of hypothyroid (low body temperature, sluggishness, hair/eyebrow loss or thinning, brain fog) that seem to get worse in the summer, this may be worth investigating.
This is by no means a definitive list of supplements. Dr. Eades list several supplements to take for specific purposes in Protein Power Life Plan and Mark Sisson recommends a few supplements as well. I didn’t include whey protein as I’ll dedicate a post to whey powder soon.
I’d say just be careful with iodine supplementation because it can throw off you thyroid’s ability to naturally regulate T4 production from tyrosine and iodine. If you eat grassfed butter, a little kelp, and lots of celtic sea salt, you should get enough iodine for your body (Iodized salt has too much iodine). I have had borderline low thyroid as well for a couple years now. However, low carb diest do lower TSH which can account for lower thyroid production and I’m not so convinced that we should have such a high, grain-driven metabolism. After all, in some senses, the faster the metabolism, the more accelerated the body’s oxidative stress, and hence, the closer to death. (Careful also on eating to much potassium as this stresses the adrenal gland greatly to release more aldosterone to retain homeostatic sodium/blood pressure levels). I get a lot of this information from places like the Weston Price Foundation, people like Dr. Thomas Cowan, Sally Fallon, Mary Enig, and Natasha Cambell McBride. Also, there’s a semi-body builder/trainer named Randy Roach who wrote book called Muscle Smoke and Mirrors about the history of bodybuilding; he is way into primal eating, including a lot of raw meat/eggs, and I think you’d be really interested in his book.
Those are all good points. It gets tricky when you take into account region (and climate) as well as exercise levels, as sweating seems to create a huge loss of iodine. I live in the south, I keep my house warm because AC costs an arm and a leg, and I exercise frequently, meaning I sweat a lot.
Iodized salt apparently loses its iodine content very quickly due to the volatility of iodine, so that may be something to consider. This is all very new to me, so I appreciate you listing those resources. I’ll make sure and check them out!
I know Dr. Eades recommends supplementing with Potassium, as it seems to be lacking in some low-carb diets. I’ll have to look at the different research that has been done.
Where do you go to buy your supplements? I typically get stuff at Whole Foods but they can be pretty expensive.
Is there any particular storage method I should use for these supplements? I keep fish oil in the fridge to keep it from oxidizing.
Whole foods – ouch! Nice place, but it’s expensive. Check out http://www.bulknutrition.com or http://www.bodybuilding.com. In this article, I’ve linked to the supplement purchase pages at the sites I normally buy from.
There is a decently-priced supplement shop in Ansley Mall called “Discount Nutrition” that is good if you need something in a hurry or you want to browse. It’s not as cheap as ordering online, but they carry NOW supplements and are much cheaper than GNC. I prefer NOW supplements because they tend to be cheaper, and all of their supplements are free of gluten, dairy, additives, etc.
Fish oil and probiotics should probably go in the fridge, but everything else seems to do OK at room temperature.
Hey keenan!
I’ll definietly start buying fish oil, etc on line.
i thought of another question for you. Can these all be taken together? or should they be taken at separate times during the day?
thanks!
Krista,
I take 200mg magnesium (1 tablet), 2 NOW Thyroid Energy tables, and a probiotic in the morning, while fasted.
I take 1-2 digestive enzyme tablets with my first meal, and I take 1-2 fish oil capsules with each meal. Fish oil seems to work best when taken with food (based on studies showing post-prandial triglyceride levels and cardiovascular function). I take 3-6 grams per day.
I take another 400-600 magnesium before bed, as it tends to have a strong relaxing effect at higher doses.
I will also take rhodiola during particularly stressful days and a valerian/GABA/taurine supplement by NOW called “True Calm” some nights before bed. I don’t take these everyday, only when I feel like they might help me. I also take a Trader Joe’s multivitamin a few days a week, and I need to update this post to mention multivitamins