Giving in to Supplements
My belief has always been that the food we consume can heal us. However, I was reminded that our food does not contain the same nutrient content as it once did as the soil our food is grown in is often nutrient deficient due to monoculture, pesticides, etc. Although I’ve drastically overhauled how I eat, it is clear something is still fucked up – could be I’m not digesting my food properly and/or not absorbing nutrients. Honestly, I’m at my wits end over here, so I have finally caved on supplements.
SUPPLEMENTS ARE NOT ALL THE SAME
The issue I’ve had with supplements is that they are so available. Seriously, we can walk into a store and find aisles of them. Who knows how these were all created or sourced. Most supplements are synthetic, which our bodies view as toxins and try to detox them ASAP – literally just wasting money. I already suspect liver issues, I don’t want to add more stress to it!
But here I am, over a year of eating local, grass-fed beef and pasture-raised chicken; eating a shit ton of vegetables, mostly from a CSA or the farmer’s market; seriously limiting the amount of gluten and dairy; and minimally eating out. And the biggest thing, was reducing A LOT of external stresses – work and exercise. But I have seen NO changes, if anything the rash on my face has gotten worse.
So in order to support my body at this stage of my life, I am taking supplements. It is important to do your research and find brands/products that use natural vs synthetic nutrients from reputable sources. Also at the end of the day, remember if you aren’t digesting, no matter what supplements you are taking, it isn’t going to help if your body isn’t able to utilize those nutrients.
SUPPLEMENTS FOR ME
There is no 1 supplement protocol that works for everyone. Everyone is different – different symptoms stemming from different root causes. With the help of a fellow NTP, we tested a variety of supplements to see which ones would best support my body foundationally. These are the supplements that my body told us it needs:
- For digestion, zinc and digestive bitters. Bitters help switch your autonomic nervous system into a parasympathetic / the rest and digest state and initiate the digestion process by activating your salivary glands and digestive juices. If you are stressed, digestion is off! It won’t matter what you eat – donuts or broccoli – you are throwing money out the window. Zinc is required to make hydrochloric acid (HCl) / stomach acid – regardless of how relaxed I am, I won’t be able to make HCl while I am deficient in zinc. HCl is required to start the breakdown of protein – and I consume A LOT of meat!
- I have leaky gut (most people do) so I’m taking a supplement to help repair the intestinal lining. The supplement has multiple ingredients but overall it contains l-glutamine and d-glucosamine sulfate which provide the building blocks for connective tissue to repair my gut.
- For my liver, we found that magnesium, molybdenum, and antioxidants supported it best. Magnesium is a cofactor for over 500 functions within the body, including the metabolism of essential fatty acids, relaxes muscles (needs to be in balance with calcium, calcium contracts muscles), tissue repair, and critical for ATP production (energy) – all of which are critical for an “athlete”. Molybdenum is required for detoxification of sulfur (which I suspect I have excess of) and the broad spectrum antioxidant helps prevent free radical damage from pollution, synthetic building materials, and intense physical training – HELLO house reno and workouts!
- Lastly, I am taking phosphatydlserine to support my over active adrenals. Almost on a daily basis I find that my body is outputting elevated levels of cortisol – bouncing legs / shoulders shrugged up to my ears while working at my desk, body visibly shaking during the work day, and clenching my jaw. Phosphatydlserine helps lower cortisol levels.
There are 2 more supplements I am taking, but these were my decisions (we didn’t test them on my body). Since I am avoiding eggs which are such a nutrient powerhouse, I am taking a beef liver supplement as a sort of substitute. I do try to eat liver once a week, but honestly I’m not good at actually doing it. Then there is a pre-natal – I’ll admit, I felt pressured into taking this one and I succumbed. However, I was reminded that it is basically a multi-vitamin for women. Also, if anyone is reading this and thinking YES! … RELAX still not happening anytime soon!
A WEEK FOOD
This week the hardwood floors were being finished – a million times YES!!!! That meant Kingston and I were kicked out of the house last weekend (Friday night thru halftime of the Super Bowl on Sunday) and again during the week (Wednesday night through Saturday afternoon). It also meant no meal prep at home. Fortunately, I was able to high jack my parent’s oven on Sunday and roasted Japanese sweet potatoes, butternut squash and acorn squash. I also pre-cooked my breakfast sausage for the week and my mom made me ghee! She yells at me for buying $12 jars when ghee/clarified butter can be made for less than half that.
Dinners this week were random and thrown together based on what I had purchased on whim at the grocery store with no plan defined. Here are the meals I made this week, all of them took less than 20 minutes to make!
Monday – Tuna bowls: Bought 2 tuna steaks totaling about a pound, cubed and mixed with toasted sesame oil, coconut aminos, and lime juice. While that marinated, I sautéed zucchini noodles and cauliflower rice with coconut oil, garlic powder, ground ginger, turmeric, and salt and pepper. Once it was all plated, I added some roasted sea weed that I cut up and some shredded carrots. It was delicious! Plus, we didn’t eat all the tuna so I quickly sautéed the leftovers for breakfast the following morning.
Tuesday – Acorn squash bowls: This was amazing! I sautéed a pound of ground beef, an medium apple, and a medium onion chopped up. Once that was cooked, I dumped some frozen broccoli rabe into the skillet. I then added the pre-roasted acorn squash to the electric skillet, cut side of the half down and covered it for about 10 minutes. The finished product was topped off with some walnuts and hemp seeds. Again, we didn’t eat all the filling (ground beef, apple, onions, and broccoli rabe), so I had the leftovers for breakfast the following morning.
Slow-cooked a whole chicken: A whole chicken is a given every week. I cooked it in the crock pot over night on Tuesday because we didn’t have any meat for lunch on Wednesday. This gave us lunch on Wednesday, but also left plenty for Zach while I was gone.
Wednesday – Tacos with all the choices: Tacos are on the menu EVERY week, but the toppings are always mixed up based on what we have available. This week was ground turkey with choices of shredded red cabbage (tossed with EVOO and apple cider vinegar), avocado, salsa, and cheese (not for me).
Thursday – Restaurant: We went to an Italian restaurant to celebrate my dad’s birthday. I had scoped out the menu before going so I knew what I was going to have, but once we got there I changed my mind once seeing the specials. To start I got the pear, prosciutto, arugula salad with balsamic and without the goat cheese – it was so good. Then for my entrée I got the ribeye served with bacon butter, oyster mushrooms and fingerling potatoes. It was huge so it was also my lunch the following day. WIN!
Friday – Salmon: I was left to fend for myself while my family abandoned me for dinner. I was instructed to cook the salmon before it went bad So I baked all 4 portions in the oven for 15 minutes. While that cooked, I sautéed riced cauliflower in ghee, cut up a small zucchini and added it to the cauliflower. Everyone is sick and I read something this week that said thyme helps so added some dried thyme and some Primal Palate Adobo spice blend. I finished the meal off with a quarter of an avocado.
Honestly, this kitchen reno is getting expensive, and I’m not talking about the cost of materials – trying to keep 2 hungry AF adults fed is what I’m referring to! Due to the lack of space in our “kitchen” and all the dust, dirt, and construction, I have been buying pre-cut items and lot of frozen food. The pre-cut stuff is ridiculously overpriced, you can easily do this stuff at home, but given the circumstances it is what it is right now. I will say it has allowed us to make dinners rather quickly and we have A LOT less to clean up – so there is an upside to the convenience of it.