Dietary supplements - How to get started?

[León]

Hello everybody,
I'm posting this because I need some orientation about dietary supplements. I've been working with the Spanish group some time ago so I trust your help. I know your knowledge is colected through hard work and experiencing and supported by scientific data.

Some weeks ago I was in a hospital. All of the sudden my intestine stop to work and I was there with a lot of pain and my belly looked like a soccer ball. The doctors said that there was an occlusion and they wanted to operate.The pain was so intense that I agree with them. But waiting for the operation, and after several hours, I experienced a spontaneous recovery. The doctors didn't know what had happened and I need to do some medical tests to find the reason of this.

Now, I'm fine. Normally I'm a very healthy person so that event was very strange and "shocking" to me but at the same time that helps me to be more conscious about my body, to take a better care of it. I'm leaving wheat and diary, and eating more fruits, veggies and fats. Eating more fats is not a problem for me because I have a natural tendency to eat it and I find it very tasty. Before to know about paleo diet and ketogenic diet, I thinked that this tendency was not so right, like a little "dirty".

I was starting to read some threads about dietary supplements but there is a looootttt of information and go through all of them will take a long time and I want to start taking these supplements as soon as posible. So, I need some help and orientation. I don't want to spend a lot of money and I prefer to start with the "basic supplements".

I know that magnesium is one of the big one but I would like to know about the standard dose.

I also know about the importance of vitamin C and maybe a dose of 2g per day is good to start?

Omega 3, 2g per day?

I started to consume Spirulin 5g per day.

I don't sleep very well. I was reading the post "Lights out" and the tips to have a good sleep... like sleep in total darkness. But I think melatonin will help me in the beggining... 1g it's ok?

I'm living in France and for what I was reading a good place to order some of this supplements is this:
_http://www.myprotein.com/
But maybe you have another suggestion.
So, please whatever references you can give me about this subject (like, other fundamental supplements, marks, and the hour of the day to take them) will be very welcomed. Thanks.

 

[herondancer]

Hi Leon,

Great that you made a recovery and avoided the surgery. Who knows what would have developed if you'd gone through with it?

Almost all of your questions about supplementation, diet etc. are addressed in the threads on this board. The two most important ones are "Life Without Bread" and Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation? . It's important to read both threads completely. Yes, they are long and will take some concentration, but the data there is invaluable. Everyone is unique in their health issues, and it is up to you to analyise your particular situation and apply the information to yourself. No free lunch unfortunately :)

Even if you just start applying the most basic principles (no gluten, no dairy, no sugar, which includes fruit, sorry :( ) you will be putting yourself on a better path. The Ketogenic thread will help you refine that.

Good luck! Keep us posted on how you are doing.

 

[SeekinTruth]

In addition to the very important points that herondancer made, I just wanted to point out that you wrote 1g melatonin. Surely you meant 1mg? Because I can't imagine what would happen if someone took 1g of it. Just want to make sure it was just a typographical error.

 

[Trajan]

One company that I order from is Livesuperfoods.com they sell their own products as well as products from a myriad of other companies. One thing I really like about them is that (as far as I can tell) everything that they carry seems to be legitimate with no cheap fillers or toxic ingredients. If your just looking for a multivitamin they have some options available to you but they also have a lot of other products, some of it much more obscure but it may pique your interest and prove to be something that you find beneficial.

In the Weston A. Price school of thought you can also try radiant life catalog or Dr. Rons. I have ordered from all three companies and have had nothing but good experiences however I am not sure on their shipping policy for your location so that is something that you will need to investigate yourself.

 

[León]

Thanks everybody for your answers!
I will go through both threads that you recommended me, herondancer.
Yes Seekingtruth? I meant 1mg. Sorry for the confusion.

I will keep posting updates.

 

[León]

I've gone through hours and hours of reading and it seems like a long journey is waiting for me... but it is definitely worthy and I am enjoying it. I started to read the thread "Life without bread" and I ordered the book of the same title. I read the "Ascorbic acid" and "The magnesium miracle" threads and a lot of more smaller threads that I crossed on the way.

I'm also following with the diet improvement, leaving behind the food that is not good for the body and eating mainly meat and fats. The benefits of doing these changes are already being manifested (I feel with more energy and with the mind more clear during the day) and they are taking place in a very natural way, without too much effort on my part. I think this is so because of my intense experience in the hospital. It's interesting to see how often our biggest shifts in life occur after a shocking experience and we find ourselves going through a lot of changes that it seems to have a deeper origin that a mere intelectual process.

I know that as I continue with the recommend readings I will be sure about the steps to make but I would like to start taking some supplements that I feel I really need in the beginning of the healing process.

I will start ordering two of those supplements that (up to now) I read are basics: vitamin C and magnesium.

I live in France and I've been doing a lot of researching about websites to order (price, shipping, quality, etc) and I think I will chose this for Vitamin C:
http://www.iherb.com/NutriBiotic-Ascorbic-Acid-Crystalline-Powder-2-2-lbs-1-kg/30240
Vitamine C powder 1kg: 30 dollars plus shipping cost 4 dollars.

And for the magnesium, I found in myprotein:
http://fr.myprotein.com/nutrition-sportive/citrate-de-magnesium/10530171.html
Citrate magnesium powder 500g: 24 dollars.

I already ordered melatonin sublingual. I really need it because I work more than 12 hours a day but only 4 days a weeks. So during these working days I have the sleep cycle dephased and I am not able to sleep more than 7 hours.

So, how I go? Some suggestion or advise? Is there also another suplemment that I really need to consider including in the beggining?

This morning I was thinking about these diet changes and the need to be prepare for the transition, as the Cs mentioned in the last transcription. I am seeing that this improvement in diet leads one to eat less and in a more "basic" or "essential" way in order to reach an optimal physiological sate and at the same time the food craving starts to dissapear... so I was thinking this craving to food (and I'm not talking about enjoying, I'm talking about that strong desire) is in same way an attachment to the physical body and the dissapearing of the craving implies not only a feedom from the attachment to food but also from the physical body. I don't know... just speculations :)

 

[Gaby]

I already ordered melatonin sublingual. I really need it because I work more than 12 hours a day but only 4 days a weeks. So during these working days I have the sleep cycle dephased and I am not able to sleep more than 7 hours.

So, how I go? Some suggestion or advise? Is there also another suplemment that I really need to consider including in the beggining?

Sleeping in total darkness can help you a lot, even when you don't have normal or stable sleeping cycles. Basically, your room has to be pitch dark as artificial lights can disrupt hormone levels even if you are not able to see it directly with your eyes. That is, wearing a sleeping eye-mask doesn't count. More info on this thread:

Are You Getting Enough Sleep? Sleeping properly?
http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,21286.msg221825.html#msg221825

Enjoy your healing journey!

 

[León]

Thanks Psyche! It feels good to know that you are there "monitoring" my progress.

 

[hedgehog]

I have never heard about Omega 3 or Spirulin. Are they better than phentermine? I used to take that pills, but i stopped 'cause of side effects.


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Mod edit: link removed

 

[herondancer]

Hi hedgehog,

Welcome to the forum. It's customary to introduce yourself on the Newbies board. Just a bit about yourself and how you found the forum. You can read a few posts to see how others have done it.

Re omega3 and spirulina. If you put those terms in the search box on the upper right of the page, you should find lots of info.

Here's two to get you started:

http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,30214.msg391925.html#msg391925
http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/board,32.0.html

Happy reading :)