"Super" supplements

[Gardenarian]

I was reading about something called SeroVital - a supplement that is supposed to increase your production of human growth hormone. This is from their site:

"To me, anything that may reduce wrinkles, tighten saggy skin, decrease body fat, increase lean muscle mass, strengthen bones, and boost mood, while giving you plenty of energy and improving sex drive, is a no-brainer. However, make no mistake about it, the “established” medical community (and of course, they know everything) would say its benefits are largely anecdotal, with research that’s preliminary. But there’s no denying that something that has a chance of making you look and feel decades, not years, but DECADES, younger, is... at the very least... irresistible. Frankly, I’m ready to try it.
How about you?" (It was advertised in the Costco magazine.)

I used to try these things out once in a while (usually things for chronic pain - nothing worked) but have become extremely skeptical.

Do you ever try these things? Think any of them are worthwhile? I've heard good things about some of the arthritis supplements. (I think it's glucosamine? chondroitin?) My doctor recommended ginko biloba for my hearing, but it did nothing.

[kib]

For a long time I was convinced that Big Pharma was controlling the whole healing "industry" in an unconscionable way, but I eventually expanded that idea to include a lot of what, when it comes down to it, is snake oil. A lot of things have "medical promise" but if you need a quarter cup of something to effect a result, a capsule is just a useless waste of money. So yes, I've dabbled, and no, I've never found any OTC supplement that actually performed the miracles it touted.

[catherine]

I've jumped on a few bandwagons, like the Acai drink and Melaleuca. Now I just believe in simple food, simple living. (Well, I did just buy a jar of those gummy vitamins which are awesome--I never realized how much I dislike taking pills, but I don't mind taking my vitamins when they come in the form of little gummies!)

I recently watched a really great series about a woman who compared a person undergoing an Eastern medicine regimen to Western one, which was really interesting. (It was called Taking Back the Years by Hillary Pryor--here's the link, but you might have to be a Gaiam TV subscriber to watch: http://www.gaiamtv.com/tv/taking-back-years) I personally feel like it's futile to spend time trying to stop the aging process, via HGH, or calorie restriction, or whatever. Fortunately I do not have any health problems (knock on wood), and I'm comfortable with my sags and wrinkles.

[Bartleby]

I have found probiotics to be transformative, rejuvenating, almost miraculous. Makes me feel 20 years younger. The one I am familiar with is Phillips Colon Health.

B

[cdttmm]

I've never bothered with the more exotic supplements. But a good daily multi-vitamin and an herbal supplement that is a blend of stuff that is supposed to be good for immune function support have seemed to make a difference for me. A regular iron supplement, prescribed by my doctor, when my iron levels dropped super low for some unknown reason was also extremely helpful. Aside from that, I take fish oil supplements, recommended by my doctor, but I think they help simply due to the placebo effect. :~)

[iris lilies]

Do you ever try these things? Think any of them are worthwhile? I've heard good things about some of the arthritis supplements. (I think it's glucosamine? chondroitin?) My doctor recommended ginko biloba for my hearing, but it did nothing.

glucosamine/ chondroitin isn't in the same categoty as remedies for saggy skin and etc. It's a scientifically proven treatment for arthritis pain, in veterinary use anyway. I believe it actually builds connective tissue, if I remember correctly. It's worked well for a couple of our dogs and their little doggie psyches are not subject to the placebo effect.

[lessisbest]

PROBIOTICS: From consuming homemade kefir, fermented foods and making/consuming Rejuvelac (using sprouted quinoa for a gluten-free version).

INCREASE NUTRITION: By sprouting grains/seeds/beans before consuming them. I consume a lot of sprouts (your little garden-in-a-jar) and micro-greens I grow at home once I don't have fresh produce from the garden.

WHEATGRASS JUICE (and other grains): I grow my own wheatgrass and juice it. When you cut the grass before it's 8-inches tall, it is gluten-free.

SUPPLEMENT: Ambrotose, a powdered glyconutritional supplement for immune support. We no longer get the glyconutritionals we once did in our diets years ago, so we supplement these essential nutrients. They feed you at the cellular level. If you have sick and starving cells, you will have a sick and starving body.

I avoid multi-vitamins because they cause stomach distress due to the chemical vitamins and inorganic minerals used to make them. I have to avoid foods that are highly fortified with vitamins/minerals (Total cereal is a good example) for the same reason. We're designed to consume food-form vitamins from whole foods. Take vitamin C as an example... Generally, the term vitamin C refers to ascorbic acid, which is the reduced form of the vitamin. It's actually an isolated fraction. The vitamin C in an orange is much more complex than just the antioxidant wrapper (ascorbic acid) of the complex vitamin.

[pinkytoe]

I am bothered by the sourcing of all these various supplement ingredients - multis included. Currently, I don't take anything and try not to be swayed by marketing.

[Gardenarian]

I have read that Germany has the strictest regulations for purity and testing of vitamins.

[lessisbest]

I have read that Germany has the strictest regulations for purity and testing of vitamins.

That's an interesting side note.... but so is this information about Germany. When our daughter lived in Germany for 4-1/2 years (her hubby is an Army Officer), they were warned by the Army to use some kind of water purifier because of the pharmaceutical drugs found in the drinking water, so we sent them a 1-gallon distiller to use for their drinking water. We have the same problem with "drugs" in the drinking water here in the U.S. because our water treatment systems don't remove them - they treat bacteria. With more people on prescriptions than ever before, and they discharge a percentage of them in their urine, and the method of choice to get rid of Rx drugs is to flush them down the toilet on it's way to our water treatment plant, we've got a lot of sources. I believe chemical dumping into rivers by manufacturers in Germany was the cause of their problem. I've kept a file folder for years entitled "Drugs in the Drinking Water", and have added news articles to it for nearly 20-years.

We've used distilled water, and in the summer we use a Berkey to purify our drinking water, and have for the last 28-years. We've had two friends who had drug interactions, but they didn't take the drugs their Rx reacted with -- the problem drugs were from city water. When they used distilled water for drinking and cooking, the problem went away. Who knew????

[Dhiana]

I second IL's comment regarding the Glucosamine/Chondroitin supplements. Some supplements have been tested to be scientifically sound. Just do your homework and also realize your mileage may vary.

[awakenedsoul]

Hi Gardenarian,
I make yogi tea each day. It really provides a lot of benefits. It's black peppercorns, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardomon, cloves, and water. I'd forgotten what a boost it gives me! If you google each herb, you'll see why. So many benefits...
I also take glucosomine, fish oil, Wobenzym, and Gotu Kola.
Oh, the other thing that makes a huge difference for me is to make a daily salad with fresh garlic, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar.
There's a book called Energy Secrets that you might like. I forget the name of the author. She's Russian...
Oh, and cold showers or baths. Yogi Bhajan said that if people took cold showers every day, they wouldn't need doctors...
I've been swimming instead.

[creaker]

I think it's worthwhile to try out a few things - keeping in mind that most of these are a gentle "nudge" as opposed to like swinging a baseball bat. I'm skeptical of the ones that sound like swinging a baseball bat.

Often removing the right thing can be much more effective than adding something - but they can't bottle and sell that.

My favorites are coffee and beer - but they're usually not categorized as "supplements". Chamomile tea with a little honey. I've tried a round or two of glucosamine/chondroitin without much effect, but it did seem to help my ex's newfs when they got older. I want to incorporate more probiotics, but I don't intake much dairy. Kombucha, kimchi, pickles, I'd like to find more.

[kib]

I think it's worthwhile to try out a few things - keeping in mind that most of these are a gentle "nudge" as opposed to like swinging a baseball bat. I'm skeptical of the ones that sound like swinging a baseball bat.

Often removing the right thing can be much more effective than adding something - but they can't bottle and sell that.

My favorites are coffee and beer - but they're usually not categorized as "supplements". Chamomile tea with a little honey. I've tried a round or two of glucosamine/chondroitin without much effect, but it did seem to help my ex's newfs when they got older. I want to incorporate more probiotics, but I don't intake much dairy. Kombucha, kimchi, pickles, I'd like to find more.
I think I'm oblivious to nudging, which might be why I consider all of it more or less useless. Took glu/chon for a year and didn't see any notable difference. I didn't notice a difference with probiotics either, but I think I have amazing gut flora already, I freak out when I'm given antibiotics because I don't want to kill the "zoo", so I'd just say it's not going to take you beyond a healthy baseline.

I will second coffee and beer, however!

[awakenedsoul]

Gardenarian,
Another thing I've started doing daily is making and drinking bone broths. That way I won't need to spend money on glucosomine and chondroitin. Yesterday I used leftover bones from the grass fed baby back ribs I bought at our organic co op. I added a couple tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar to the water and let the bones sit in that for an hour. The vinegar pulls out the minerals from the bones. I cooked it on the simmer burner of my vintage stove for four hours. Drank a few mugs of that; it was a very healing tonic! The dogs love it, too!
This morning I've got a chicken carcass with vegetables simmering on the back burner of my stove. I'll use it to make a cream of broccoli soup. I added some whole peppercorns and garden herbs, too. (Bay leaf, parsley, sage, oregano, basil, garlic, and rosemary.) I notice that any aches or pains just disappear when I have that broth. It's like a natural pain killer. I like what it does for the skin, too...

[lessisbest]

awakenedsoul-
I never thought about bone broth as a dietary supplement, but it sure is. I freeze it in cubes for easy use. Instead of gravy I'll make a pan sauce with some cubes of bone broth (melted) and a little butter to thicken and enrich it, add herbs and seasonings to taste. If I don't add some bone broth somewhere in my meals, I'll be sure to add some bovine gelatin to some cocoa, hot tea or a smoothie in the morning.

Have you ever read "Broth Is Beautiful" at the Weston A. Price Foundation site? http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/broth-is-beautiful/

[awakenedsoul]

lessisbest,
I know. I was just thinking, "Why am I buying glucosomine and chondroitin at Costco when I can just make broth?" I really like having a mug of it with my meals. It's so nourishing. It's also a way to eat less meat and poultry. That helps me to spend less money and to spare more animals. I'll check out your link. Thanks!

[Gardenarian]

My dh and dd both drink a lot of broth and make soup, but I'm a vegetarian.
I've been questioning my commitment to vegetarianism, as I still eat dairy and the ethical arguments are sketchy...but there is something in me that revolts at eating meat (though I loved it as a kid, and would happily catch, gut and fry up fish.)

Most supplements, including glucosamine and chondroitin, went through a period of being looked down upon by the medical establishment. At my work in libraries all these years I've seen a lot of scholarly journals do an about-face on any number of topics - garlic, ginko biloba, fish oil, - oh, and the whole "butter and eggs will give you heart disease" legend. I remember in the 80s we were told to eat lots of complex carbohydrates (like pasta and bread (!)) and to avoid all fats.

So I'm not really believing what the media or advertisements are telling me, but I do appreciate people sharing their personal experience. I think I have quite a healthy diet but have many health problems anyhow.

[cx3]

I try to take a vitamin D containing 1000IU when I can remember.I've read nothing but good things about vitamin D. My son is nearly 12yrs. past a BMT and has been on vitamin D since that time ( plus a multi vitamin and vitamin C). He rarely gets sick. Less often sick than his parents or brother.That's enough proof for me that there is something to supplementation.

[Blackdog Lin]

I have been taking a fish oil supplement for 3 years, along with other vitamins. I believe in them. But DH would never agree to any sort of supplement regimen. He didn't believe in them.

Last year his doctor discussed his latest blood-test results with him while I was in the room, and casually mentioned that a fish oil supplement might help with DH's very high triglycerides level. DH would have ignored the mention, but since I heard it.....the next day I insisted he join me in a daily fish oil pill, saying it couldn't hurt and very well might help.

Eight months later, new blood work, and DH's triglycerides have gone from something like 390 to something like 220. I mean, a dramatic improvement. Gotta be the fish oil, since I'd made no other changes in our diets. His last blood work a couple months ago showed the same improvement. Looks like it's down to stay.

The kicker: I just had my blood work done for the first time in 3 years, and guess what my triglyceride level is? WAY too high. And I'm going well, shoot, I've been taking the damn fish oil for years. Why isn't it working for me like it is for DH?

I guess blood chemistry is such an individual thing.....

[Rogar]

One thing to consider with supplements is that many or most of them have benefits only as long as you are taking them. Unlike, say a regime of antibiotics, where you take them and then are cured and done. For some of them, that can be expensive over the long run. I'd probably also be leery of anything that somewhat directly manipulates hormonal levels. I just don't think we know enough about the potential risks, but I may be uneducatedly over cautious.

For many years I've started the day with a protein shake with greens and maybe fruit. I've generally added or bought the pre-mixed shakes that have probiotics, digestive enzymes, and mineral supplements. I've just started taking tumeric and have taken fish oil for a long time. That is about the most logical course for supplements to me, and it also seems like a relatively natural approach. I usually have plenty of energy, am healthy, and feel good. I don't know how much the supplements help, but there seems to be some established science behind each rather than just a new trend. They are also within reason dollar wise.