Hi [First and happy Feel-Good Monday!
This is where we share our favorite tips, tricks, secrets, and ways to "think like a healthy person" so that you can find your own delicious path to healthy living.
"Feel-Good Mondays" are meant to help us get back into that place of feeling energized, nourished, and ready to take inspired action for the week ahead.
I was super excited to join my friends at New York City’s F Squared Physical Therapy studio last week, leading a workshop about supplements. We engaged in conversation about the benefits (and harms) of supplementation and addressed the big question:
Does everyone need to be taking vitamins to be their healthiest?
In short, the answer to that question is: Nope.
But, it’s pretty complicated, because many of us (myself included!) need to supplement with at least some vitamins, minerals, and nutrients to truly feel our best.
As Dr Mark Hyman says, if we were breathing in unpolluted air, drinking only pure, clean water, sleeping 8 or 9 hours a night, moving our bodies every day, and were free from chronic stressors and exposures to environmental toxins, then we probably wouldn’t need much — or any — help in the vitamin and supplement department.
Unfortunately, most of us don’t live that way anymore. And specific health issues and/or your genetic background can lead to a higher need for nutrients than food alone can provide.
These days, more than 92 percent of Americans are deficient in at least one vitamin or mineral. A USDA survey showed that 37 percent of Americans don't get enough vitamin C, 70 percent don't get enough vitamin E, almost 75 percent don't get enough zinc, and 40 percent don't get enough iron.
When we’re operating from a place of nutrient-deficit, we simply can’t feel like our best selves.
In our private practice, we tend to shy away from multivitamins because we’re much more concerned with finding out the specific nutrients that your individual body needs. (No need to take anything you don’t really need!) We use hand-picked supplements in our practice to target specific health issues (diabetes, high blood pressure, hormonal imbalance, thyroid issues, heart disease, fertility, weight loss, digestive wellness, energy concerns).
There is no replacement for whole, fresh, real food.
No capsule can ever take the place of eating a diet rich in the right foods that your body needs to thrive.
But supplements can be so useful to fill in some of the gaps when we need extra support, especially for specific periods of time when the body needs all the help it can get.
Our practice customizes supplement recommendations based on our individual work with our clients. But here's a great, generalized supplement article from Dr Mark Hyman on basic supplement suggestions that work well for many people: Do You Need Supplements? from Dr Mark Hyman on basic supplement suggestions that work well for many people:
If you would like customized support around supplementation (to understand which vitamins your body may need a boost in) and overall wellbeing, please reach out to us.
We’ll review your current diet, lifestyle, overall health and health goals, and your blood work to understand your specific needs and create a plan that will get you results.
Here’s to your healthiest summer!
Love,
