Satori Radio Podcast | Blog

Episode 29 – The Truth Behind Dietary Supplements.

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Back when I was in graduate school, I dedicated my academic research in the area of Food Politics and The Construction Of Risk In The Media. I wanted to pursue a deeper understanding of how people form their conclusions on risk as it involves their health and wellbeing.  

Also, I used to work in hospitals as a nurse, and one of my favourite hangouts at one time in my life was the health food store. Learning about the benefits of nutrition, and supplementation, have always been a passion and interest of mine, because our modern day diet not only lacks in nutrients, but has great capacity to destroy our health instead of nurture it.

I likely share in this favourite hangout spot & common passion with you, my fellow health care provider, and you might even have similar products stocked in your house & clinic too.  

In this episode, you’ll learn about:

>> The good, the bad and the ugly truth behind dietary supplements
>> What you might consider if you’re trying to improve your health & longevity.
>> The backstory behind why I promote the supplements I do.
>> My own graduate research in health discourses in the media.
>> Common side-effects of taking supplements.
>> Rachel Carson offers us a good reminder of what has happened to our environment under the control of TNCs.
>> What’s happening with fish oils & contaminants?
>> There are great benefits to supplementing with the right pro-biotic.

Furthermore, our dietary choices are consistently overloaded with substances that have no business in our bodies. Thus, it’s crucial to protect the body with Health supplements, particularly in times of stress so you can detox and prevent further stress and illness.

Read The Podcast Notes:

For those who don’t share in this passion of health supplements, I’m here to remind you that there are great benefits to understanding the ins & outs of the nutritional supplement world. Knowledge is power!

Sometimes when you’re not feeling right, you might just need a boost in the form of a supplement or two (or three) to help reset your body so it recovers more easily in between all this stress called ‘work & life’.

If you are working long hours and you’re stressing your adrenals out, and getting very little recovery-time, in between, keep reading….

The Backstory Behind Why I Promote The Top Supplement Brand

I use the knowledge that I share with you today from what I picked-up through my own personal experiences, starting as young as high school, as well as my professional experiences.

Once I became a chiropractic student, after years of already working in the nursing profession, I became acquainted with a brand called Seroyal/Genestra/Douglas Laboratories.

I was at a conference, and Genestra occupied a booth at the conference, promoting their products. I bought several supplements from their product line and started noticing a difference in my health and energy. Liquid B instantly gave me a boost.

I not only started consuming their products, but became a promoter of their product line and sell it today. The teachings I offer on nutrition and supplementation are provided with up-to-date and somewhat biased information on this brand because I use them daily.

Genestra has been around for over 27 years, and its parent organization Seroyal has been around for over 28 years. What I love the most about this brand is they have in-house expert medical advisors and they also run continuing education programs at regular intervals to keep their health practitioners up to speed on the latest research in supplementation and their side effects.

What Does My Graduate Research Have To Do With This?

My graduate research on risk analysis and risk discourses in the media, related to GMOs, has prepared me to evaluate “risk” in a different way from how most people evaluate risk.

I share this expertise with you here as I review the Good, The Bad and The Ugly of taking supplements because I know that it isn’t enough, in this post-modern world, to just buy a product off-the-shelf….and be able to trust in it. On the contrary!

The days of trusting what you buy off-the-shelf will never be here again. Our ecosystem has been invaded with heavy metals, GMOs, as well as harmful herbicides and pesticides. If you need a reminder of what Rachel Carson went through, have a read of the introduction of Silent Spring. There you’ll be reminded about why you should think twice about how our environment affects our health.

Why should you question what goes into your body, and its impact on your health & wellness regime?

Because there might be some pretty severe side-effects of taking something without adequately doing your research about how it will affect your body, and the absorption of other supplements.

I like to use a basic example of what we see in the body building industry. Some folks will take high amounts of protein, and try to ingest them all in one sitting. Yet, the body can’t actually absorb as much as they’re taking in. What happens to the rest of the unabsorbed product? It’s excreted in the urine. But it’s the next question that most people don’t consider…what’s happening to your organs with all the extra?

Well….we don’t really know. That’s the point I’m making. Regardless of how much education you hold, there’s a ton of incorrect information provided to consumers on a daily basis.

What Are The Side-Effects Of Taking Supplements?

Some of the common implications of taking dietary supplements tend to be minimal if you’re taking the right dosage, and if taking them according to the manufacturer’s directions.

For example, iron or Ferrous Fumarate, is very useful if you’re suffering from symptoms of an iron deficiency or anemia, and your blood values are showing a decrease in ferritin. Iron supplementation can get complicated and it must be prescribed by your physician or nurse practitioner.

However, the side effect of taking an iron supplement is it changes the colour of your bowel movements. But, there is also a key factor in the absorption of Ferrous Fumarate that if you saw your doctor, or Nurse Practitioner, or Naturopathic Doctor, they would tell you that you have to take it with an acidic drink. And if you have caffeine around the same time as you take your iron pill, you risk the chance of having a decreased absorption rate. The doc may not tell you that last point however.

That information came from my own research because a member of Team Sato919725 was struggling with low ferritin from donating blood every 54 days. He was very tired all of a sudden, despite having a diet high in red meat. He’s a champion indeed for donating so often but he needed iron!!!! Hence why it’s important to talk to your prescribing physician or nurse practitioner about the right supplements so that you’re taking them in accordance to manufacturer guidelines.

Let me point out that you do need to do your own research before and after seeing your health care provider, to ask the appropriate questions that relate to your lifestyle. Other common reactions related to taking a supplement might be directly due to the quality, or lack thereof, of the supplement you’re taking. In this case, I’m talking about fish oils.

Fish Oils Are A Hot Topic

I recently read an article https://www.curejoy.com/content/side-effects-of-fish-oil/. It occurred to me that the opening introduction to this article said there was a cancer risk from taking fish oils as well as skin rashes. Other common side effects of taking fish oils are belching, bad breath, heartburn, nausea, rash, loose stools and nosebleeds. Again, I would suggest researching the quality of fish oils that you’re buying and keeping on track with the proper dosage. If you’re still not comfortable with the dosage, you can reduce it and only give take it every so often.

Personally, I’ve never once had these side effects from taking the Super EFA capsules, and my daughter’s been taking the berry DHA without any of these side effects. But, I am especially cautious with fish oils and children. The research says they’re needed, but I’m always extra cautious… and often times, I do go on a the lighter side of the recommended dosage.

Back to the article, I do question the validity of this article because fish oils are Essential Fatty Acids, and in high quality, are meant to help with skin disorders. They’re ‘essential’ because our bodies don’t produce these fatty acids. If the EFAs are not a high quality brand such as Seroyal, who batch-test their fish oils for common contaminants, you might very well be at risk of higher doses of mercury. There are also different types of Fish Oils that if taken in the wrong proportions can affect you. EPA & DHA render a total Omerga 3-Fatty Acid ratio.

In a high quality brand, such as Seroyal, they’ll back-up their product with proper research to support that ratio. Another good reason to see a Naturopathic Doctor or Nutrition Specialist in this brand to help you make informed decisions.

A Little Info On Batch Testing:

Genestra/Seroyal do 3rd party batch testing which means they hire an Independent service to ensure the quality of their fish oils surpasses international quality standards for: heavy metals (mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium); pesticides; various chlorinated phenolic products (PCBs); dioxins and furans; PCDDs and PDCFs. For more details on this, click here.

What’s “The Ugly” Side of Supplementation?

Well, as I just informed you about batch-testing…the ugly and dangerous side of taking supplements relates to the quality, FDA or non-FDA approval, and non-batch tested vitamins. If you’re not informed about what you’re taking, where it was manufactured, how it was manufactured, and how much you’re supposed to take, along with when to take your supplements, then you could be putting your health, and the health of your loved ones, at risk.

Here’s an example of probiotics being great for babies. I am not advocating that you prescribe this exact health product to your baby. I simply want you to do your research as it relates to the health benefits of keeping your gut clean. There may be many other factors leading to your baby being predisposed to a skin condition such as eczema. There might be a lack in other areas of your baby’s diet.

As well, there may even be an environmental toxin that your baby is exposed to that might seem innocent to you (scented laundry detergent and sun screen) but is making your baby react. In this case, the probiotic may or may not help treat the eczema, but the probiotic will definitely help your child’s gut.

And P.S. everyone deserves good gut health!

What’s So Good About Taking Probiotics?

I always have a probiotic on hand for managing my own proper gut health. I take HMF Forte, which provides 20 billion CFUs per day. Because I manage gut health as a regular part of my routine, I don’t need to go any stronger than that and I’m in the maintenance phase of managing a healthy routine.

The ugly truth is that a supplement is not the absolute #1 thing in your wellness routine, but rather is an adjunct. Furthermore, you might be dealing with issues of feeling unfulfilled, or unsatisfied with life overall. I address this in episode 27, here.  However, if I knew I was going in for surgery, I’d highly suggest loading-up on HMF Intensive, that provides 500 billion CFU per dose.

Why do you need that much? You want to have a heavy dose of probiotic to help counteract the negative effects of antibiotic therapy that you’ll get (and that everyone gets before surgery). The probiotic supplements the normal intestinal microbiota that occurs from the antibiotic. The high CFU dose of HMF Intensive also helps improve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) within six weeks which is a pretty big deal when you consider the cost of having such a debilitating illness.

Using supplements are helpful overall. I can’t stress enough the importance of the following supplements. These are the only supplements I keep on hand and use them in regular ways. I don’t always take a full dose of EFAs, but I take them. I also do an annual detox, where I spend a little more time focusing on my kidneys and liver, and drink a lot of purified water.

Which Supplements Do I Take On A Consistent Basis?

I tend to keep a number of high quality products in the cupboard and I circulate between them. I won’t take Vitamin C every day but during the late summer, early fall, and pre-flu season, I start to consider the change-of-season habits that many North Americans experience. I am against getting the flu shot because I see no need for it, if you have enough armour in health & wellness routine.

I personally don’t go “full-throttle” on taking the Chlorophyll, but if I feel a little sniffle coming on, I make sure to take these super anti-oxidants for at least 5 days in a row to release what’s not needed. I also meditate daily which keeps my body and mind strong.  I also do everything I can to wake-up on a mission each day, to not waste time managing emotions that are not in my highest good.

Supplements To Take On A Daily Basis:

Liquid Chlorophyll,

HMF Replete Probiotic.

Multivitamin for Women

Multivitamin for Men

Self-Mastery Cards. Today’s card was Transformation

Melatonin spray

Best-Rest Formula:

Struggling to create a Wellness Routine, and need to shift some daily habits?  Download my free 5-Day Audio Program now.

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