I often get asked if supplements are worth taking. Are they health heroes or expensive villains? There are opinions everywhere, even experts differ – Professor Tim Spector is in the villains camp whereas Patrick Holford is a supporter.
Food First
The answer is it depends. Food first is almost always best. Nature packs symbiotic nutrients in a colourful fruit or vegetable. It combines micronutrients with fibre to help keep our guts healthy. No supplement can compete with this.
Time Damage
That said, it is true that our soil is depleted, our fruit and vegetables are less nutritious than they were. 1,2
Our diets are often not great at providing everything we need. It is easy to get into a rut with food and have the same meals week in week out without even noticing.
What is the starting point?
The efficacy of a supplement will depend on your current level. If you are deficient in a nutrient, then taking a therapeutic dose to bring your levels up can be effective. I have seen client’s mood and energy transformed by identifying a deficiency and then supplementing appropriately – definitely a health hero!
That leads to the next question which is – if you are deficient then why? What is the underlying cause. Supplementing will be a sticking plaster if you don’t take the time to understand why you are short.
Are you not taking enough in your diet?
Do you have genetic vulnerabilities that mean you don’t process a nutrient well?
Is your gut in poor health so you are unable to absorb the nutrient?
By the time women get to perimenopause they are often run down and stressed. Managing careers, social lives and often juggling family commitments can lead to depletion of many nutrients and a good blood test together with a view on current symptoms and diet can help to identify these insufficiencies and supplements can help rebalance.
Quality of supplements
Next is the fact that not all supplements are equal. Some mass-produced products can be plumped with fillers and binders that can have negative effects on gut health.
Synthetic versions of nutrients can be hard for the body to absorb and recognise so the form of a particular nutrient matters too. As with fruit and vegetables, combining a synergistic blend of nutrients can also help absorption.
Pitfalls of over supplementing
Supplementing individual nutrients can be dangerous as some can be toxic at high level including vitamin A, iron, and iodine. The body works to create a constant internal environment and some nutrients work in balance – so having a diet high in sodium can leave you low in potassium, taking too much zinc can displace copper, for example.
Interactions
Be aware that some supplements can interact with medication, so it is always best to check before taking anything whilst on medicines.
Likewise, staying on a certain supplement for a long time is rarely effective – you should take a break and ask yourself if you feel it is helping you every 8-10 weeks.
So…
In summary, taking advice before starting supplements is always a good idea. Supplements can be health heroes if they are good quality at the correct dose. Understanding your body and the way it works can mean that certain supplements may benefit you but taking them just ‘in case’ is rarely effective. Working on having a diverse, wholefood, tasty diet is worth the effort, especially in the lead up to menopause when self-care is so important.
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