We all heard of the word “supplements”. Pros and cons are a long list on this topic, studies that supports the benefits are as many as those that oppose it. But what does actually supplement or supplementation mean? How do you think should we see supplements or supplementation as?
Well to my opinion - as I always stress it out to my patients - the very word “supplement” clearly denotes "in addition to", rather than something that stands on its own. The whole idea of supplementation is meaningless without accounting for what is being supplemented. That means, you can’t eat junk food and rely on multivitamins for your source of nutrients. Like you can’t take statin and allow yourself to eat plaque forming and arteries clogging meals. Those idea of supplementation is that you compliment what you already do best – you take multivitamin because you can’t be very sure anymore if your healthy meal actually supports your body needs of micronutrients, you take flaxseed or other fiber source because you are not sure that your food give you enough 30 grams of fiber you need per day, you take protein meal because you need your muscle to recover after your exercise. You SUPPLEMENT, instead of SUBSTITUTE. So, also to my opinion, perhaps one of the reasons supplementation is a big debate and dispute is because we have often treated supplements as substitutes, and that is certainly a mistake.
While I believe the case is strong for judicious use of nutrient supplements, I also am aware that there is no evidence at all that any combination of supplements can do more to health than what diet and lifestyle can do. So in my practice, where I believe that one does not fits all and that every patient has their own quirk that makes them unique, I will always take a lengthy time to explain to every of my patients what diet and lifestyle suits their uniqueness and what supplements – if any – that will support them to their journey of wellness. The ease of taking a pill can never replace the benefits of eating well, being physically active, getting enough sleep, managing stress, and so on.
I will also make them aware and understand that there is another matter called nutriceutical supplements, where the supplements taken are supposedly aimed for a specific therapeutic effect in which dose, type and instructions will be different. For example, your needs of vitamin C when it is aimed for fighting a viral infection is in much higher dose than it is for everyday body function. When you are suffering from achy joints, then your curcumin supplementation would be in the form of tetrahydrocurcuminoid and dosed differently again than it is for everyday wellness support, niacin in a multivitamin is a B vitamin supplement; high-dose niacin used to bring down triglycerides is a nutriceutical, and so on.
Choosing brands for supplements is another tricky issue, as the sources of the ingredients plays the key role of whether you are supplementing towards wellness or diseases, just as everytime we eat food, depending of what we eat and where the food came from, we either fight diseases or feeding them.
So to conclude this, I hope I have somehow help you to decide whether to supplement or not, and convince you to chose brand of your supplements carefully, but above all, please be very sure, that even the best chosen supplements – whether it is a nutrient supplements or a nutriceutical supplements - are supposed to be in addition to, or supplementing to, not instead of, healthful dietary pattern, exercise, sleep, being social, and so on.
When it comes to lifestyle as medicine, there simply is no substitute.
Start today – make lifestyle your medicine!
dr. Sarah Akbari@TheHouse
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