Did you know it’s impossible to get the nutrients necessary for cellular healing solely from our food? The soil and the seed are nothing like they were when our grandparents were children. The nutrient depletion, the pesticide and toxicity levels, the “quickening”, as I call it, of our food growing process-it all messes with the end product, and that end product goes in to our mouths and is expected to sustain us. It’s simply not possible in this day and age to get what we need only from food without simultaneously setting ourselves up with immune challenges and metal or chemical toxicities.
One common question I get in my Nutrition Response Testing practice is on how to take supplements. My answer isn’t the same for adults and children alike as we’re dealing with two different species here. Something you’ll quickly learn about my practice is that I don’t dispense a lot of supplements—I can count on one hand the number of my current clients who need more than a half dozen supplements for their protocol to sustain them, and that won’t be forever, it’s just where they are at in their healing process. We work slowly to rid the body of the challenges and toxins holding them back as we simultaneously work on dietary changes to support the body’s healing process. During that time my clients slowly begin to understand how what they eat effects their body and what they need to do to make necessary changes.
Are supplements really necessary?
Yes. If you want to accelerate the healing process, supplements are necessary. In fact, I have many clients who come to me on self subscribed paleo or autoimmune paleo diets and they still feel like crap. They feel like this because they aren’t simultaneously addressing the other needs their body has. Once we begin to move out the junk their body begins to take that sigh of relief knowing help is on the way, and it’s palpable…we can see the change in their energy level, in the color of their skin, the twinkle in their eye, their disposition-it all changes when the body is getting what it needs.
Supplementation for children
There is one of two reasons most of the women in my practice came to see me:
1) they had or have a child(ren) in need of support
2) they are in need of support themselves.
Here is what I’ve learned … it’s almost overwhelming to take everyone on at the same time. Mom’s job is already big enough and sometimes she doesn’t understand why I need to work with a parent on a program in order to take on their child(ren). We are all about getting the oxygen mask on mom first and then working with the children. There is a way for us to do it all once, though it took me a long time to figure out how to make that work for families. What works best is to start with mom and/or dad, then move on to the children as they start to see the trickle effect of the food changes mom and dad are making. What’s left behind is the work we have to do with designed clinical nutrition.
When it comes to supplementing children, I have found that it can be difficult to begin supplementing children who have never taken a vitamin in their life. If they are still little, that helps as they pretty reliably take anything mama hands them, though if they are old enough to form an opinion then we have to get creative. There are few kids in my practice who won’t take what they need, which took a lot of trial and error on my part to match what they need with what they are willing to take and how. What I’ve come up with are options that don’t taste bad and in some cases don’t have a taste at all. This in and of itself takes the level of overwhelm away from the parent doling out the supplements!
When it comes to dosing, we use Nutrition Response Testing to find out what their body is calling for and how much. Sometimes we don’t start where the body wants us to because the number may be high, in that case we’ll work our way to what’s comfortable. The bottom line is that if children don’t get the supplementation, they don’t see the change. Therefore, we work with getting the supplements in when the child is willing. We all know our kiddos to have a good (and consequently not-so-good) time of day, right? Give your children their supplements when they are up-happy-feeling great-and-willing. Don’t be attached to whether they take the full dosage we recommend or whether it ends up on the floor. It’s all a work in progress, and it will change and it will get easier. When we are attached to it, we make up all kinds of stories about how it’s not going to work or won’t work and we give up. Don’t give up. You sought out the support, so stick with it. Part of our programming is in supporting you through this with tips and tricks as needed.
Supplementation for adults
This one is simple. We are adults, suck it up and take what you’re supposed to take, when you’re supposed to take it. There is a reason we set up your dosages to be taken at particular times. There is an advantage to this. They may not taste good or smell good or go down easily, but you’re the one who wants to see and feel the change, so you’re the one who has to do the work.
How to take supplements
Assuming you’re an adult, the easiest way to take your supplements is to swallow a few of them at a time with some water. I have been through the circus of 70+supplements tablets/capsules per day, that was just a couple years ago for me, and now I’m down to about 20. Right now that’s what it takes to maintain my level of energy, good sleep and excellent health. And I’m willing to do that because anything less at this point results in less energy, restless sleep and a level of fatigue I’d rather not play with.
There may be times when I suggest actually chewing a particular supplement. You might not like it but there’s a reason I am giving the suggestion…the effect of taking it will be almost immediate versus waiting for the supplement to break down. Sometimes I will have people take a supplement right there in the office where I can go see another client, then come back, test them again and dose them right there on the spot.
Some people prefer to chew them and they do that by taking a bite of their food, and when they know they need to chew a few more times before swallowing, they throw in a few supplements-chew-chew-chew and then swallow.
There are those who don’t like to swallow capsules and instead prefer to open and empty the contents into a small glass of juice, tea or water and drink them back. This would be my least favorite method, though different strokes for different folks!
Tablets may be softly broken with the back of a spoon and stirred into soft foods or right into your dinner and taken that way.
Again, there are several ways to take your supplements; however, the most important aspect is to take them as suggested by your Nutrition Response Testing practitioner. If it’s suggested to take Antronex three times per day at particular times, then do so.
Most of what I use in my practice is available through Standard Process. I visited their farm in Wisconsin back in May, what an honor and a pleasure that was! For photos and details on how the farm is run, how they stay organic and what their standards are, CLICK HERE.
For information from Standard Process on their organic farming methods, CLICK HERE.
