Supplements or Superfoods: A Personal Story

Past:
I first started taking the standard synthetic multivitamins found in most drug and grocery stores. I took these standard preparations for most of my life. I felt that these vitamins were “insurance” against my less than ideal diet. As for my diet, I was a vegetarian for six years. But most of my life, I consumed the Standard American Diet (SAD) with a low fat focus.

In 2001, I fell sick after the birth of my first child. I tried all the normal medications recommended by the medical profession. These drugs helped with symptoms of my disorder but never seemed to treat the root cause. I started thinking about diet and nutrition. I upgraded my multivitamins to the kind found in health food stores.

In 2003, after the birth of my second child, I went on Weight Watchers. The diet is an eat anything you want but be low fat program. I lost over 40 pounds on Weight Watchers. I was still on all my medications. I frequently got sick and I was extremely tired all the time. I was taking a standard multivitamin found in health food stores.

In 2004, I decided to update my multivitamin supplements. I chose the “best supplements in the world” produced by Life Extension Foundation. They have an extensive program which focuses on longevity and using nutraceuticals for treatment of common chronic disorders. If you would like to see Life Extension’s program read: Top 10 Steps for Achieving Ultimate Health. I did most of this program which is not cheap. I was spending about $2500 a year or $6.85 a day on supplements. I used their program for about three years.

In 2005, I learned about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I took the Weight Watchers program and removed foods not allowed on the SCD. I saw an immediate improvement in my condition. I started withdrawing from all my asthma and allergy medications. I was on the full nutraceutical program produced by Life Extension Foundation.

In 2007, I learned about the Weston A Price Foundation. I learned about nutrient dense foods and why it was important to get your nutrients from whole foods. It was my first introduction to the idea that traditional fats were safer than modern vegetable oils. It took me months of research to finally consider that saturated fats might not be as dangerous as I once thought.

This was a big breakthrough for me. I even read books on Atkin’s low-carbohydrate diets, something that in my Weight Watchers days I would never even consider. Using the protocol from Life Without Bread by Wolfgang Lutz, I went high-fat and low-carbohydrate with the SCD. I stopped all nutraceuticals from Life Extension Foundation.

In 2008, I stopped my anti-convulsion medication for epilepsy. I have been drug and seizure free for a year. I am now pharmaceutical free. I do not suffer from allergies, asthma, sinus infections, yeast infections, hormone imbalances, osteoarthritis or epilepsy.

Present:
1. I eat a diet comprised of nourishing traditional foods. This includes: bone broths; meat and fat from pastured animals; raw or fermented pastured dairy; lacto-fermented vegetables; and local seasonal vegetable and fruits. I eat some raw animal products numerous times each week. I follow a low-carbohydrate version of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. My personal macro-nutrient ratios are: 65-70% fat, 15-20% protein, and about 10-15% carbohydrate. My personal carbohydrate load is 40-60gm per day and I can safely go to 90gm if very active.
2. I take the following supplements daily: 1tsp fermented cod liver oil, and 1tsp high vitamin butter oil and Swedish Bitters before each meal.
3. I eat the following superfoods. (I am a very small woman. Larger women or men would have to eat more to maintain their weight.)
2-3 whole pastured eggs, daily (preferably pastured and/or organic)
1-3c raw whole milk, 1c homemade whole yoghurt, 1/4c heavy no-additive cream or 1/4c raw cheese, daily (preferably raw, pastured and/or organic)
1-3T unsalted no-additive butter, daily (preferably raw, pastured and/or organic)
1-3T virgin coconut oil, seasonal (organic)
1-3T pastured pork lard, seasonal (pastured and/or organic)
1tsp unrefined celtic sea salt or other quality mineral salts, daily (wildcraft)
1/2-1c liver, 1-2 times weekly (pastured and/or organic)
1c wild salmon, shellfish and/or fish eggs, 2-3 times weekly, seasonal (wildcraft)
4. I use special superfoods for personal use. (I do not use these special superfoods regularly. The last four, I use very rarely.)
raw honey, pollen and propolis (enzymes and immunity)
variety of herbs (seasonal tonic)
traditional homeopathic remedy
Custom Probiotics (gut dysbiosis)
Serrapeptase (colds/sinus infections)
Lugol’s iodine solution (thyroid and endocrine system)
omega 3 oil (joint pain)
rhodiola (adaptogen)

Updated June 21, 2013: Just an update on Serrapeptase. The company I got it from has moved from tablets to capsules. Unfortunately, they use ?rice flour? for a flow agent in the capsules. I react to the tiny amounts of rice flour in the supplement so now the supplement does not work for me. I have found another solution, ionic silver. I didn?t get sick or develop a sinus infection this winter. I used the Sovereign Silver nasal spray if I felt a bit ?stuffy?, but there are other good brands available or you can make your own at home. I have only used ionic silver externally so I have no experience with internal use. From my experience, ionic silver is also great for cuts, scraps and wart removal.

Supplements or Superfoods

In our fast paced world, eating nutritious food can seem impossible. The medical profession will often recommend a daily vitamin and mineral supplement as “insurance” against poor eating habits. It seems so easy to just take a pill a day, and forget about the whole problem. When a person starts thinking like this, it’s not much of a leap to believe that taking extra supplements will protect against a really poor diet. But how well does this practice really work? If you would like to learn more about the Nutraceutical Industry read Dietary Supplements: What the Industry does not want you to Know by Dr. Ron Schmid.

The Weston A Price Foundation believes we should get all of our nutritional needs met by whole foods in a nutrient dense diet. Looking at the quality of our diet, and the quality of the food sources within our diet, should always be a first step.

The Weston A Price Foundation is not big on supplements unless you’re under the care of a health professional. But the use of food based supplements, known as super-foods, is supported.

If you are looking at supplementation, start with a high quality diet of unprocessed whole foods from a quality local source. Then, if you are looking for “insurance” consider a program of super-foods. Weston A Price Foundation has a standard supplement guideline for healthy people eating a nutrient dense diet:
1. fermented cod liver oil and/or fermented skate liver oil
2. high vitamin butter oil
3. variety of super-foods depending on personal needs (Here is Sally Fallon’s Guide to Superfoods.)

If you would like to read some essays on this simple program please read the following essays:
1. Cod Liver Oil
2. Guide to Superfoods
3. Vitamin A Knavery