Finding a New Primary Care Doctor

A Big Thanks To Leslie at Wellparents.com for this great advice Thanks to Leslie at Read more

The Rollercoaster of Life

Grandma: "I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn't like Read more

Sheltering at Home/Covid 19

Never in the last two decades of my career as a physician would I have imagined that we would be using the same mask to see patients all day and then sterilizing/recycling them at the end of the day. Read more

Turmeric Health Benefits

Have you ever wondered what the paste is applied to the bride and groom's faces and arms in Indian weddings?  It's actually the spice turmeric.  Turmeric is the ingredient in curry that gives it a vibrant yellow color.  Actually, Read more

COVID 19 Precautions

With the scare of COVID here in the USA now, I wanted to post a little info about boosting immunity to prevent contracting the virus. Here are some important facts about Covid-19 It is spread by contact with Read more

Natural Tips for Avoiding Colds

This cold and flu season is still upon us and unfortunately, many patients are still being plagued by these nasty viral symptoms.  Here are a few tips to try if you feel like you are coming down with something. Of Read more

Sherry's Story

Sherry has a great story.  She has been diabetic for years and she has made some massive changes!   "I have been on a lifestyle change. It has been a year following a ketogenic food plan.  When I started this journey Read more

Pharmacy to Farmacy

Many of you may know Erin-- the fabulous Pharm D that worked in our office a few years back.  Erin is a phenomenal gal and we embarked on the journey  into natural medicine around the same time.  As we both Read more

magnesium

When Should I Take My Supplements?

If you are like me — you are just starting to realize why it is important to add supplements to your diet.  Even if we are eating a clean, healthy and unprocessed diet;  the mineral content of the soil that our food is grown in just isn’t equivalent to that of our predecessors.  I won’t even begin to touch on the topics of pesticides, GMO’s, contaminated water supplies etc.  Let’s face it — most of the food / water/ products that we put in our bodies simply aren’t healthy anymore.  So I do think we need to augment our nutrition these days with some good quality supplements.

You can refer back to previous posts that will explain which supplements I think are important for most people and why—

But here is another big question—- WHEN should we take these supplements and WHY?

So here is the low down!

Multivitamins

Take these with the main meal of the day!

Multivitamins contain the major fat soluble vitamins A,D, E, and K– and should ideally be taken with a meal that contains some fat.

They also contain B and C vitamins which can notoriously cause some mild nausea or acid sensitivity when they aren’t taken with food.

The only exception is a B12 vitamin which is better absorbed on an empty stomach — however, I usually recommend using a sublingual formula of B12 which is placed under the tongue — so it doesn’t matter if it is taken with or without food

Fish Oil

Fish oil can cause some GI upset.  That is why it is best to take it with your main meal of the day.  Another little tip to remember is that if you are prone to getting “Fish Burps” or gas from taking fish oil, you can keep it in the freezer and take the supplement frozen.  Remember, it is almost better not to take fish oil at all if you aren’t getting a high quality supplement.  You want to avoid any fish oil that is generated in a farmed setting or that could potentially have high amounts of mercury.  I recommend using something like Blue Ice Fermented Cod Liver Oil or Carlson’s fish oil.  Reputable supplement companies such as Metagenics, Pure Encapsulations, and Thorne are also safe bets.

Magnesium

Magnesium (see Magnesium- the unloved mineral) is quite beneficial as a supplement as it is necessary for many processes in the body and it helps stabilize calcium in the body.  I like magnesium glycinate.  It is quite bioavailable and doesn’t tend to cause diarrhea like magnesium sulfate or citrate.  Taking magnesium before bed is helpful because it also assists with sleep and muscle relaxation.  There is also a good supplement called “Natural Calm” which is a drink you can do before bed.  They make magnesium sprays that you can use topically or you can take  a bath with 1-2 cups of epsom salts dissolved in it if you don’t like taking the oral supplement.

Probiotics

Probiotics include helpful bacteria to re-colonize the gut micro biome after taking prescription antibiotics.  I believe they are helpful to take on a daily basis if you don’t consume a lot of fermented foods (kimchi, sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir, kombucha)  It is always best to get good bacteria from foods but taking a quality probiotic with at least 7 different strains of bacteria including lactobacillus and bifidobacterium species can certainly be beneficial (see Probiotics).  I suggest taking these on an empty stomach and at night.  Preferably 2-3 hours after your final meal of the day.

The website Fullscript – is my new go to supplement spot.  Since we can’t always guarantee the what we order from Amazon is going to be stored correctly and is the quality manufacturers that we like — I now order everything from Fullscript-  You can click the link below to go directly to the site and see all my favorites.

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Purchase products through our Fullscript virtual dispensary.
Posted on by Angela in Body, Diet, Nutrition, Supplements 1 Comment

Magnesium-the unloved mineral

Do you remember watching Wild Kingdom as a kid?  Did you happen to notice that the animals attacking their prey would immediately eat the organ meats.  I never really thought about why until I listened to Morley Robbins explain the importance of magnesium.  Magnesium is the Rodney Dangerfield of the mineral world.  It gets “No Respect”  I have been so remiss in not learning the importance of this underutilized mineral.  Magnesium is a mineral found in oysters, must, seeds, almonds, cashews, pumpkin, pistachios, kelp and organ meats.  You can also get it from wheat grass.  The strange thing about magnesium is that nobody really talks about its importance.  We speak ad nauseam about calcium and vitamin D–but magnesium is the missing component in this triad.  It turns out that we may be enduring an epidemic of magnesium deficiency.

First a little history, our ancestors lived in a very magnesium rich environment.  It was in the water, food, root vegetables and organ meats that we consumed.  Around 100 years ago, the environment flipped.  It became a calcium rich, magnesium poor environment.  It became much more acidic with toxins.   We started refining salt from its natural form (sea salt) which contained a natural balance of magnesium and sodium. Sugar cane started being refined which removes all the magnesium.  So now, living in a calcium rich environment we have developed problems lack of the stabilizing magnesium particle.  Calcium that isn’t regulated by magnesium causes massive inflammation.  Hence (spoiler alert) the inflammation forms free radicals and oxidative stress which progresses to chronic disease states –with heart disease being very significant due to calcium deposits on the arteries.

 

Uses of magnesium:

Stabilization of bones–magnesium gives bones resilience

Regulates calcium in the body

Vital for support for muscles in body (remember the heart is a muscle)

 

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Here is a link to a great tutorial on how to make magnesium lotion—check it out!

http://creativechristianmama.com/how-to-make-magnesium-oil-lotion/

 

 

Posted on by Angela in disease, Mind, Uncategorized 5 Comments

What Supplements Should I Take?

Many of you have been in for your annual physical this last year and have been instructed to start the following supplements.  You also got a boatload of homework assignments and reading material about healthy eating.  (Sorry about that–I treat insomnia too!) After some trial and error, a lot of research, and some penny-pinching–these are the supplements in my medicine cabinet right now.  Please leave comments on this post on any of these you have tried and any others you would recommend.  We are all in this together!!

Blue Ice Royal

Butter oil/Fermented Cod Liver Oil Blend (add omega 3 fatty acids)

Ortho Molecular Products

Vitamin K2 with D3  (for hormonal and bone health)

For more info on Vitamin K2 –check HERE

Magnesium Glycinate (stabilize the calcium in your body)

For more info on Magnesium check HERE

Probiotics (Re-colonize your gut with good bacteria)

VSL #3

OR

For more info on probiotics check HERE

 

There you go;  I practice what I preach and take these every day.  They are expensive and when I think I can’t afford them;  I try and remember that cancer can’t be cheap!

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Posted on by Angela in Body, Diet, Nutrition, Supplements 5 Comments

Magnesium Monologue

Another big thanks to our dear friend Dr. Chris!  Good stuff as usual!  Visit his site at http://www.yourpersonalwellness.com

Posted on by Angela in Diet, Nutrition, Whole Food Leave a comment