My Thoughts On Supplements

Much is said and written about the Greedy Big Pharma and the people that promote their products and most of it ain't good. How about the Goody Two Shoes Supplement companies and their brain washed minions ?
Granted--most supplements will not hurt you, but it's questionable if they will truly help you. I have symptoms from several medical conditions that are irritating, uncomfortable and cannot be cured, but no real pain as of yet. I have tried a number of different supplements over the past few years to alleviate or lessen those symptoms. I am of proper weight and have no cholesterol or blood pressure problems and eat a very good diet with all the essential vitamins that supplements supposedly have.

 

My Dad turned me on to Red Yeast Rice, a natural statin, about twenty years ago. I cut my trigs in half, in a month. My MD, at the time, had his nurse call me to let me know that he would never doubt me, again. He suggests RYR to his patients, now.

Glucosamine definitely keeps my arthritis at bay. Without it, my fingers can barely bend without pain.

When my Dad was "diagnosed" with prostate cancer, I had a feeling that was nonsense. I told him to start taking Turmeric. Six months later, his urologist was scratching his head wondering where the tumor had gone. He told my Dad to keep doing what he was doing.

I take other supplements, but have no "difference between day and night" experiences with those.

The costs of supplements are rocketing up, these days. I spend about $600/yr. on them. I have zero doubt about their effectiveness. I'm a believer!

 

For someone who has a decent diet and lives a sedentary life then I can’t see the need for most supplements. In my book, vitamin C is a no contest as far as the greater need and D3 isn’t far behind but again, if the person isn’t very active then it doesn’t take much to stay reasonably well.

That said, I do not live a sedentary life and in most ways, a very unusual life for someone my age so what I take are highly needed. It’s a given that there are times when I do not need as much as other times but instead of having to restart a loading process I stay consistent with my intake.
Do note: There is no such diet that I or any other person who is concerned with building clean muscle mass can go on that would have enough nutrients that would properly feed all the necessary parameters that my body needs.

 

Why do you believe much is said and written about greedy companies ? (drug companies, food industry, supplements, cosmetics, doctors, hospitals, schools at all levels, politicians, hollywood/ churches/ / broadcasting/ computers/ phones/ etcv etc etc )

 

There are a lot of supplements out there that will not be noticeable but are highly needed as we grow older.
As an example, Boron is a trace mineral found in some meats and veggies like broccoli but the problem is, the soil is so worn out that a person would have to eat some major pounds of broccoli to get enough boron to do any good.
What’s it good for? Mental acuity / clarity and it is a major player in building bone mass. It also helps regulate the production of estrogen and testosterone.
It’s a given that as we grow older we lose a considerable amount of bone mass so by taking a boron supplement the loss is not only curtailed but reversed.
Now, when a doctor finds a loss of bone mass or osteoporosis, out comes the prescription pad and the patient starts medicating when the chances are, all that is truly needed is a natural substitute that costs so little and does so much,

Granted, there are a lot of products out there that are only needed by a specific group of people but are touted as being great for all. I mean, telling the public that they need not exercise but instead, take a supplement to lose weight and build muscle is absurd. But still, when folks don’t bother to do the research they buy products that they either do not need or do not work as advertised.

 

That’s where the rubber meets the road John. Great comment.
When I write, “do the research” I mean to leave no stone unturned. When I get my blood tested every 6 months, I have them do a hormone panel and like my wife, get a read out so I can look at ALL the results. When they ask if I want a bone density test, yup, do it. I want to know.

Now, things like melatonin go unchallenged because as we age our pituitary gland slows down on the production of it and all but stops after about 50 years old. We need it so I take 10mg a night and sleep well. It’s a lot cheaper than a lot of market supplements that have side effects included and all I am doing is replacing what my body should be producing naturally.

It’s harsh but the folks who do not do the research deserve what they get. I know. When I first started bodybuilding I snatched everything that I could afford to make working out more productive. Then, one by one I started doing what I should have done to begin with (research) and found out that half of what I was using didn’t mean beans or I wasn’t using them properly but it took a lot of study.
Now, I know what I need to know about my body chemistry, how things work and what my body needs to accomplish the goals I am shooting for.
And, as a side note, I know and do what my body needs in order to give my body more than a fighting chance to ward off disease.

 

I don't know a problem that the body is not trying to repair . There is things like a cataract that if catch early can be reversed but later needs surgery. Supplements are necessary, you supplement plants called fertilizer, look at any pet food and see how many minerals are added even farmers put out a salt block [mineral block] for their animals. If you think people are so special eating foods that do not have the nourishment that the foods 100 years ago had. Than you will have problems that the medical system says they can not cure.

 

We take supplements. My wife takes RYR every morning. We both take B12, D3, K2 and Krll Oil every morning. Every-other day, we take a digestive supplement at night. My wife takes Turmeric every morning, but I don't anymore. It doesn't get along with the Omeprazole I take first thing in the morning for stomach acid. If I don't take my Omeprazole in the morning, and have a cup or two of coffee, I'm pretty guaranteed that I'll be chewing up a few Tums during the day.

We both take a "Senior" type multivitamin daily, along with the above supplements............and they all seem to work. Whatever "work" means. LOL

 

If you don't know what works then why take them?

 

Possibly true. For now.

Would you like a way to "measure" / test the effects of food, drink, supplement, and so on ?

 

A lot of people die taking medicine that is known to cause severe problems ..... instead of taking food source items that have no known bad effects...

Why take the medicines that cause suffering and death ?

 

Some of the members apparently do "research" (at least one other one noted today) to find out what they can.

Everyone who "researches" antacids , as far as I am aware for over twenty years, stops taking them. (and does better doing so - as found by their own "research" or self- testing) ...