Dear Friends,
You sometimes hear the question… are dietary supplements really necessary?
I think the answer is a resounding yes, but they’re especially important for key nutrients that most of us fail to get enough of each day from diet alone.
And this is often true even if you are eating a healthy diet.
So today I’m going to give you my 7 top nutrients that commonly require supplements to bridge or make up for diet shortfalls. These nutrients are all crucial for healthy aging and living.
This list doesn’t include supplements formulated for specific health concerns like bone health, joint health, sleep support and others – all of which may be relevant to you depending on your needs.
#1 - The Omega-3s DHA and EPA
Typically our diets are abundant in omega-6 fatty acids but come up short on omega-3s.
Omega-6s are important too, but when the ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s that we consume is too high, it can cause problems for many parts of our health.
A good way to help achieve a better balance is by taking a quality omega-3 supplement rich in DHA and EPA.
Many folks find it useful to monitor omega-3 blood levels to help determine if their supplement dose is adequate. You can do this with a simple home blood test.
This test measures your Omega-3 Index, which looks at the total fats in your blood (specifically fats in red blood cell membranes) and quantifies the percentage of those fats that are EPA and DHA, the key omega-3 fatty acids.
The typical percentage for the average American is between 5% and 6%, with the ideal range being between 8% and 12%, according to research.
This can help support your heart, brain, immune, joint, bone, vision health and more.
Choosing a Good Omega-3 Supplement
In terms of a supplement, we think our TrueOmega-3 products is an ideal option.
In addition to being a pure and potent fish oil high in DHA and EPA, the fish oil in TrueOmega-3 is sourced from one of the most sustainable fisheries in the world - which is the Alaskan Bering Sea.
TrueOmega-3 has another unique feature that separates it from other omega-3 fish oil supplements. It contains the AquaCelle delivery system, which enhances the absorption and bioavailability of the DHA and EPA in the bloodstream by up to 6.0x.
You can picture how this can help you increase your Omega-3 Index reading more efficiently (and help you keep it there) much better than regular omega-3 fish oil supplements without the AquaCelle enhancement.
This also makes TrueOmega-3 a better value for the wallet too.
#2 - Vitamin K2 and Vitamin D3
In case you don’t know, vitamin K2 and vitamin D3 work together in the body in some important areas like for cardiovascular and bone health and immune system function.
It’s difficult to get adequate amounts of these vitamins from diet alone or in the case of vitamin D, from sunlight exposure. The best dietary source of vitamin K2 is fermented foods, which typically aren’t a big part of American diets.
The importance of maintaining optimal vitamin D levels for heathy aging is more well known, but the benefits of vitamin K2 were mostly just discovered in the last 20 years.
What’s more, researchers feel they’ve just scratched the surface in understanding the importance of vitamin K2 in the body.
Since they’re both challenging to get from diet and they work together in the body, we combine vitamin K2 and vitamin D3 in our TrueK2D3 supplement.
This is a plant-based supplement with the K2 being derived from chickpea and the D3 from organic algae. Each TrueK2D3 capsule contains 90mcg of vitamin K2 and 62.5mcg (or 2,500 IU) of vitamin D3.
You should take at least 1 capsule daily. However, many clients (and me as well) find taking 2 daily is the better way to go to keep vitamin D levels in an optimal range and match the amount of K2 found to work well in research for cardiovascular and bone health.
#3 – The Super Vitamin E
The regular vitamin E is alpha tocopherol – and it’s a very important and essential antioxidant, but in recent years more powerful members of the vitamin E family have been studied. These nutrients are called tocotrienols.
While many Americans fail to get enough of the regular alpha tocopherol form of vitamin E from diet, tocotrienols are even more scarce in the foods we eat.
The reason we feel so strongly about tocotrienols is that research has found they offer benefits not found by taking the regular vitamin E (alpha tocopherol) alone. This is especially true for brain, heart, and liver health – 3 of the most important organs in our bodies.
The good news is nature provides a natural source of all 4 of the powerful tocotrienols (alpha, beta, delta and gamma) along with alpha-tocopherol.
This creates what we call a Super Vitamin E complex, which you’ll find in our TrueE supplement. The natural source of this vitamin E complex is sustainably sourced red palm oil.
TrueE also contains a delivery system that can enhance the absorption of the powerful tocotrienols by up to 250% - for greater potency.
#4 – Lutein, Zeaxanthin and Meso-zeaxanthin
You may know lutein for its key role in protecting vision health as we age, but it also helps support many aspects of cognitive function too.
This isn’t too surprising given that the eyes and brain are connected and work together.
Lutein is another nutrient we struggle to get enough of from diet alone each day.
Research suggests we should get at least 8mg of lutein daily to support vision health – but most Americans come up short of this amount.
This is also true of lutein’s two antioxidant partners – zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin. These 3 nutrients combine to produce the yellow-colored macula pigment in the back part of your eyes.
This pigment helps shield against the oxidation damage caused by the harmful blue light waves that negatively affect vision health.
Since all 3 of these nutrients are a challenge to get from diet, we recommend taking a supplement made with Lutemax 2020. Made from marigold flowers, Lutemax 2020 is a natural source of lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin.
Better yet, research shows it offers multiple vision benefits, along with supporting cognitive performance and helping your body cope with stress better.
Lutemax 2020 is a key component of our TrueVision formula, which also includes a saffron extract for additional vision health support.
#5 - Probiotics
Probiotics help more than digestion and immune system function. We now know the health of your gut can affect the health of many key body functions.
Choosing premium quality matters for all the nutrients we’re discussing, but it’s especially true for probiotic supplements.
You may have noticed there are 2 types of probiotics found in supplements, the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium organisms. They are commonly found in our intestines and importantly, found to be beneficial as supplements.
These are live bacteria that you need to keep alive until they reach your intestines.
In short, there are 3 features of probiotic supplements containing Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium that you have to insist on – these are not optional.
First, the supplement packaging must be able to protect the live probiotics from elements that kill them like moisture and heat.
Second, once you take the supplement, the probiotic bacteria must survive the journey to the intestines and arrive alive.
Third, the probiotic strains must be able to bind to the intestines and colonize - and provide health benefits.
Sounds simple enough, but most probiotic supplements fail to meet all these criteria.
One I know for sure that does is our TrueLife PB probiotic and prebiotic blend, which is why it’s one of NatureCity’s most popular products.
Another Probiotic Supplement Option
A second class of probiotics is called spore forming or soil-based organisms.
They aren’t as prominent in the human gut as the lactobacillus and bifidobacterium probiotics, but they have a major advantage…
Spore forming probiotics are much more resilient and can be used in many more supplement applications than the live lactobacillus and bifidobacterium organisms.
I mentioned these probiotics are soil-based organisms, and that probably helps explain why they’re not found in greater numbers in the human gut because we clean and sanitize food before we eat it.
It’s also suggested that some modern farming techniques and pesticides have resulted in less of these beneficial organisms in the soil too.
You do not want to choose just any spore forming probiotics to supplement. Choose probiotics that have been studied to provide benefits to humans.
We include 2 of the best regarded and most widely studied of these probiotics in our recently introduced TrueDYB drink powder, which is a comprehensive gut health supplement.
#6 - Magnesium
Magnesium is often overlooked, but it’s essential to good health, playing a role in over 300 physiological processes in the body.
From muscle function and stress support to maintaining energy levels and promoting healthy bones, heart health and much more, your body depends on getting adequate magnesium.
However, according to data from the USDA, about 75% of Americans fail to reach the recommended daily intake of 400mg of magnesium.
A good magnesium supplement helps bridge this nutritional gap.
Supplements contain several different types of magnesium - we suggest choosing a magnesium that’s both chelated and soluble.
Without getting into all the technical details, this helps your body best absorb and use the magnesium, without causing unwanted effects like gastrointestinal distress.
We believe that the supplement option that best meets these criteria is called magnesium bisglycinate chelate.
It may sound like a mouthful, but it’s essentially magnesium bonded to the amino acid glycine.
The most convenient way we’ve found to take magnesium bisglycinate chelate is with a drink powder, which is what we offer in our TrueMagnesium product.
#7 – Tie Between Vitamin C and B Vitamins
I think we can all agree that vitamin C and the B vitamins are essential to good health and long-term wellness, so we don’t need to belabor that topic.
One of the reasons I declared #7 a tie, is because the need to supplement vitamin C and/or the B vitamins is truly based on personal need.
If like many folks, you believe you come up short on both based on dietary intake, then taking a plant based multivitamin like our TrueMulti supplement is a good idea.
If you’re trying to stretch your supplement dollar a bit and think you get enough vitamin C or B vitamins, then you can choose either the plant based TrueC or TrueB to bridge any shortfall.
We try to give you several options, so you can customize a supplement choice that best suits your needs.
So that’s my top 7 essential nutrients to supplement. If you’re curious, the runners-up for the list were fiber and CoQ10 (should have made it a top 10!)
I hope you found this useful.
Yours for Good Health,
Carl Pradelli
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