So many ?s about supplements

[lynchyk]

How do you know what you're deficient in so you know what you need?

How do you ladies learn so much about the different types and which brand/type are good?

I've seen so many threads lately about supplements and there's alot I feel I could benefit from but I don't just want to go spend tons of $ on stuff Idon't know much about and then find out I bought all garbage anyway.

Right now I take Carlson CLO, kelp and magnesium citrate.

I'd like to start a probiotic but don't know which type I need. I'd also like to take something for immunity booster but there's so many things I dont' know where to start. I always hear of people needing different B's, but again there are so many.

I'm far from being completely TF. I do have grass fed beef and pork. I have a good source of eggs. Have raw milk occasionally but I'm out right now so I need to get more. Usually when I have raw milk I make yogurt from it. So I've substituted good stuff in for my old bad stuff but I still haven't eliminated alot of the processed foods yet (mostly snack stuff). I know improving the diet will make it so I don't need a ton of supplements but since I'm still so far from that I feel like I need some supplements.

Is there some questionarre out there where I could answer and get a general idea of my deficiencies or do I need to get lab work done? My dr pretty much said he couldn't justify a big battery of tests even though I have been dealing with pretty extreme fatigue the last few years (alot of problems have been ruled out but still haven't found the cause even though sleep studeis showed my night sleep was sufficient but my daytime study said I was chronically sleepy, but not considered narcalepsy).

Thanks for any input.

Kelly

[quietserena]

TF stance is that really all you need is good food. What a lot of us end up doing is supplementing for a time while the supplies are rebuilt and then go back to just good food.

For the probiotic, you could take kefir, or water kefir, fermented veggies or kombucha, rejuvelac, there are a lot of probiotic foods.

For vitamin B, eating liver several times a week. I end up using a b-complex supplement because I don't have access to good liver at the moment but as soon as I get it, I'll go back to eating liver.

Soaking grains and legumes will help you get more iron and magnesium out of foods but if you're severely deficient you might need to supplement for a time. There's a liquid trace minerals supplement out there that seems to be really good. ConcenTrace is the brand name and I just add a few drops into my water when I have it.

Basically the way you figure out deficiencies is either by testing (and several threads out there have this info) or looking at symptoms of deficiencies and seeing whether your symptoms match up. It's a lot of trial and error.

Books whose titles I have on my 'to read' list are The Mood Cure, and Mental and Elemental Nutrients, a Physicians Guide. The second one is out of print but you can get it under $5 places.

HTH!

[countrymom]

I am going to check out those books too!

I've wondered this myself----about tesing--the trial & error process---wondering too if there is a questionare online to provide loose direction--(I'll search & see!)

I have thought lately about looking into programs-- a holistic testing/ lab/ screening place---there is one in Cambridge/ Boston--The Marino center---It combines alternative medicine w/ traditional----

My guess is that it's expensive-- I don't know enough about it--but I do know someone who went there & she found out things that she'd never have learned with "regular" , routine health care. (ranging the mercury in her fillings--to food allergies she was unaware of to having to take an amino acid ? or some kind of supplement-- I don't remember----for an issue with her heart that was discovered)

I'd love to have a full screening done--to find out if I have deficiencies---what to supplement with. Not that I am looking for something wrong---but if I am lacking in something, why not balance it? There are a lot of little complaints & issues I have, that alone, aren't enough to warrent attention--but if they're connected & there is a bigger picture & explanation & thus a solution for them, I'd love to know!

[tanyalynn]

I've done some of the treat-myself approach with supplements, and now I'm working with a healthcare provider (mine is an acupuncturist). For me, I think that working with a professional has definitely been worth it, both strictly monetarily and in terms of results. I found it hard to figure out everything on my own--I figured out some stuff, and made myself feel better (those symptoms), but I didn't have the knowledge base to figure it all out, and so still had other stuff messed up.

A few appointments with a professional seem pricey, but getting faster results and avoiding buying stuff that isn't helpful offsets the cost quite a bit. It's not really a TF approach, but I think a lot of folks here have ended up here at least in part because they were searching for answers to their (often significant) health problems. So the extra help from supplements to make up for years of problems building seems very worth it to me.

But (and I didn't do enough of this at first), feel free to talk to several healthcare providers and find one who really seems to get what's going on with you and that you feel a rapport with and a respect for.