Supplements
Notes on various supplements. Also see the nutrition page.
Traditional supplements
These are "supplements" that have been around for a long time and so can be deemed safe. Note that, traditionally, there has been no real distinction between supplements and food as medicine. A good diet should already provide most necessary minerals, vitamins, amino acids and so on.
- Organ meats – nature's multivitamin
- Black seed oil – anti-inflammatory; research
- Olive oil – antioxidant, anti-inflammatory
- Cod liver (oil) – vitamin D, anti-inflammatory
- Magnesium/potassium/sodium chloride – electrolytes
- Pine pollen – testosterone, multivitamin
- Pine needles – vitamin A and vitamin C
- Bull testicles – testosterone
- Royal jelly – B vitamins, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory
Synthetic supplements
Lab-made supplements. The ones listed are probably safe, but proceed with caution.
- Magnesium glycinate
- L-theanine – taken with magnesium glycinate in equal amounts
- Boron – 3 to 5 mg daily, or 10 mg 3 days a week
- Taurine
- Inositol
- Creatine
- Glutamine - good if you suffer from IBS
Magnesium
One of the most important minerals to supplement.
- Aim for 11 mg elemental magnesium per kg of bodyweight
- Magnesium glycinate pills
- Magnesium chloride (hexahydrate), sometimes called bittern or nigari salt
- Contains 12% elemental magnesium by weight.
- Orally: 5-10 g dissolved in water per day (spread out).
- Topically: dissolve 100-200 g in 0.5L spray bottle, apply on skin.
- May have a laxative effect; build up the dosage slowly
Vitamin C
Avoid – see here. Instead, get vitamin C from fruit and liver, not as ascorbic acid or citric acid.
Vitamin D
Avoid – supplementation increases calcium, depletes magnesium, potassium and retinol. Instead, get vitamin D from sunlight and seafood, eggs and cod liver (oil).
- The Truth About Vitamin D (PDF)
- If you just go outside regularly, and eat foods high in vitamin D, you get enough vitamin D, even over the winter.
- Vitamin D suppresses the immune system, and oral supplementation may cause toxicity and other adverse health effects.
- The amount of cholesterol in your skin is important when it comes to synthesizing vitamin D from the sun.
- Vitamin D testing methodology is flawed
- Why Vitamin D is Not Enough (PDF)
- Vitamin D, the Sunshine Supplement, has Shadowy Boney Behind It
- Vitamin D supplements are immunosuppressive, which is why you might feel better on it if you have any sort of autoimmune disease or allergy (which most people do) - problem is that you're allowing for the disease/allergy to progress uninhibited. Link.
- Vitamin D from sun is not the same as from supplementation, the latter being toxic. Megadosing vitamin D is madness and even "normaldosing" it is unnecessary. Link.
- High-dose vitamin D supplementation may harm bone health
- You need magnesium, not Vitamin D supplements. Link.
Omega-3
Avoid - capsules / fish oil easily turns rancid. Instead, get omega-3 (DHA/EPA) from seafood and bivalves, preferably wild caught.
Iron
Avoid - all supplements and plant sources of iron have low bioavailability, and thus accumulates in your blood to a greater extent than heme iron. Get your iron from meat instead. Also see the section about iron in the modern dangers page.