Shelley Pagitt

I am more of a believer in making good daily food choices to sustain our bodies than in popping multiple supplements to alleviate negative health symptoms. It comes down to choosing traditional foods that have been eaten for generations (prior to the mid 1900′s), that are grown and raised without chemical or pharmaceutical additives in the most natural ways possible.
That being said, I also realize that most of us were born and raised after this time and the ways that we have learned or chosen to eat have not always kept within this framework. So, I do think there is a place for supplements. The advertisers would make you think that you need to take a handful of supplements every day. I disagree. I think that each of us has a unique biological make-up and (constitution is another word for this) and that we do not ALL need EVERY supplement even if it claims to be the next ‘magic pill’ for all your health woes.
I do however, think that we are all nutritional, biologically deficient in a few nutrients and that these five suggestions will help to sustain your body, mind and emotional health.

#1-A food-based, MULTI-VITAMIN/MINERAL is important for children, teens and adults to take every day for health maintenance. Food based supplements are easier to digest and the nutrients are more bio-available. (Sorry Centrum, you don’t count). A multi-vitamin will contain optimum amounts of all the major vitamins including B-Complex which many people need more of. Including the major or essential minerals of calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, sodium, chloride and potassium as well as some trace minerals (zinc, selenium, iodine, copper, manganese, molybdenum, etc) is a good idea in that minerals are the building block to vitamins.
I like taking a multi once per day and it is a good idea to take it with food as the b-complex may upset your stomach a little bit. This can be in tablet or capsule form or liquid. Rainbow Light is a good brand but my favorite is Trace Laboratories Multi Vitamin Mineral Liquid. When my teenagers got mono I insisted that they take the liquid multi twice per day. I was also making them super-food smoothies, miso broth, herbal tea, and other good-for-you potions but, they were back to school in a few days which is really rare with a mono/strep throat combination. I credit much of this to the liquid multi.