Supplements 101
I get many questions about whether it is necessary to take supplements even if you’re eating a whole foods diet, and how to know which supplements to take and at what doses.
Ideally, we could meet all of our vitamin and mineral requirements from food alone, but there are several factors that make this more challenging in today’s world. I am going to share my thoughts on my personal supplementation strategy.
It is extremely, extremely important to work with YOUR doctor on your supplement regimen. You cannot follow anyone else’s regimen and expect it to work for your body. In fact, doing that can be dangerous: many supplements can interact with medications and cause problems, and may not be right for your biology.
Do not start or change supplements without consulting your doctor.
3 reasons why I supplement despite eating a whole-food diet
Our food is nutrient-depleted due to industrial agriculture and ultra-processed foods
Our modern diet is nutrient-depleted due to industrial agriculture, long food transit times (the average piece of food travels 1500 miles from soil to plate, where it loses nutrients to decay), and ultra-processed foods (which are stripped of nutrients).
As many as half of all Americans are deficient in at least some critical micronutrients. This is partly because of soil depletion (which robs our food of nutrients) and partly because our diets lack diversity, with 80-90% of Americans not eating the recommended amounts of vegetables and fruits, and about 60% of our daily calories coming from ultra-processed foods.
Only 1% of US farmland acreage is currently certified organic, and just about 1.5% of farmland is estimated to be implementing regenerative practices that facilitate nutrient-rich crops and meats.
When food grown from regenerative soil is compared to conventionally grown non-organic food, the vitamin and mineral differences are stark. In one study, regeneratively grown food had, on average, 34% more vitamin K, 15% more vitamin E, 14% more vitamin B1, 17% more B2, 15% more carotenoids, 20% more total phenolic, 11% more calcium, 16% more phosphorus, 23% more zinc… the list goes on and on!
While I aim to get as much of my food as possible from farms at the farmers market who I know use regenerative practices like cover crops, composting, minimal tilling, and more, I also know that we are facing an uphill battle getting the nutrients from food that our cells NEED to function, and supplementing can be an insurance policy.
Improving fertility outcomes and overall well-being!
According to a 2022 paper called Evidence-based recommendations for an optimal prenatal supplement for women in the US: vitamins and related nutrients, “insufficient vitamin intake is associated with a wide range of pregnancy complications including anemia, C-section, depression, gestational diabetes, hypertension, infertility, preeclampsia, and premature rupture of membranes, and infant health problems including asthma, autism, low birth weight, congenital heart defects, intellectual development, intrauterine growth restriction, miscarriage, neural tube defects, orofacial defects, and preterm birth.” Women who take supplements before and during pregnancy have better birth outcomes for themselves and their infants.
On top of vitamins and minerals, supporting the body with antioxidants like CoenzymeQ10 (CoQ10) may help preserve egg quality, since a female’s eggs (oocytes) can be damaged by excess oxidative stress. CoQ10 is a micronutrient that is required for transferring electrons in the mitochondria’s electron transport chain (ETC), while also embedding in the cell membrane to offer antioxidant protection. After eggs are released from the ovary at ovulation, they undergo rapid “aging” and degradation as they make their way to the uterus, with many changes occurring to mitochondrial activity and mitochondria structure. CoQ10, which serves as a mitochondrial cofactor and improves mitochondrial function, significantly improves egg aging after ovulation. It reduces levels of oxidative stress and DNA damage and inhibits cell death pathways, thereby preserving egg (oocyte) quality.
A study of pregnant women shows that 90% of pregnant women do not receive adequate nutrients during pregnancy from food alone.
Male-factor infertility accounts for 50% of all infertility cases (!!!), and research shows that much of the reason men are having infertility issues is due to excess oxidative stress and free radicals negatively affecting sperm. Therefore, it’s not too much of a surprise that research has shown that subfertile men who supplement with antioxidants have been shown to have DOUBLE the rates of ability to get their partner pregnant than those who don’t supplement. It is astonishing to me that it is not front-page news that all men planning to have children should be eating antioxidant rich foods and supplementing with antioxidants like coenzymeQ10, N-acetylcysteine, and others.
The current Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for vitamins and minerals are far too low to support pregnancy. Many of these RDAs were established in World War 2 to prevent deficiency diseases like rickets and scurvy, but not designed to provide optimal nutrient levels for intense periods of biologic activity and depletion like preconception, pregnancy, and postpartum. We need to be getting more nutrients through our diet, and possibly through added supplements, than we are.
There’s also data to suggest that nutrient deficiencies may be related to postpartum depression risk (for instance, omega-3 and vitamin D status). This is important because postpartum depression is becoming an epidemic, with rates increasing 7x between 2000 and 2015 according to the CDC, and up 105% according to the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology! This is a TRAVESTY - we are letting mothers and families down. I imagine this stark rise may be due to a mix of nutritional, environmental, toxin-related, and cultural factors that have diminished the community for mothers, and that propagates a lack of respect and support for mothers in American society.
The RDAs for pregnant women are generally MUCH lower than what the data supports for optimal vitamin and mineral intake.
The CDC, World Health Organization, and American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) ALL recommend taking a prenatal vitamin.
Maternal vitamin status is related to many aspects of infant/child health
The profound importance of vitamins and minerals on all aspects of our cellular health
Micronutrients like vitamins and minerals are key parts of the trillions of chemical reactions happening per second in our bodies that ultimately all bubble up into our lives. If the chemical reactions in our cells aren’t running smoothly, our health and longevity will not be good.
Each of our roughly 40 trillion cells can contain a thousand or more mitochondria, each with innumerable proteins embedded into their membranes that act as tiny molecular machines to create ATP, the currency of energy we use to power our lives.
Those protein machines to function correctly require adequate levels of specific micronutrients, which we get from food and supplements. These vitamins, minerals, trace metals, and antioxidants are crucial links in chain reactions that regulate every part of your body’s metabolism.
Remember learning about the mitochondria in high school biology, which makes ATP to power all the chemical reactions in our body? At the last step of ATP production is the electron transport chain (ETC), visualized above as an illustration. This image shows all the different vitamins required for this series of steps to occur, including vitamin E, selenium, vitamin B7, vitamin C, and more!
Vitamins and minerals also matter outside of the mitochondria for optimal metabolic health. For example, magnesium helps enable glucose transporter proteins (like GLUT4) to bring glucose into cells. It’s also necessary for the protein enzymes that process Vitamin D, which is related to insulin production. And it promotes a biochemical process called autophosphorylation, which ultimately impacts insulin sensitivity.
Determining supplement needs and doses: TESTING HELPS
In determining what doses and types of supplements I’m going to take, I look to specific labwork to help guide me. This is a “test, not guess” strategy.
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At Innate Nutrition®, we offer a range of treatments designed to complement and enhance techniques like dietary supplements, detoxification solutions, IV Hydration and Detox Therapies, ensuring that you are healthy, radiant, and ready for any beauty trend. Here’s why you should choose us for your MedSpa needs:
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At Innate Nutrition®, we are proud to offer supplements as part of our suite of advanced holistic treatments. Choose Innate Nutrition® for personalized, cutting-edge treatments that keep you looking your best.
Whether you're looking for a quick beauty fix or a complete skincare transformation, we’re here to meet all your MedSpa needs. Trust us to bring out the best in your skin—because at Innate Esthetics®, beauty starts from within.
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