The marketing promises happy ever after, but is it just clever branding? When you’re feeling low, dealing a Chronic illness, Long COVID, or struggling with fatigue, brain fog, loss of vitality, and frequent illness, the temptation is to grab a supplement from the pharmacy or health food shop.
But do they really help?
Honestly?
Probably not. If you’ve been unwell for a while, your body may not be absorbing effectively. And what’s worse – cheap supplements can be filled with fillers that may even be doing you harm, adding stress to your liver and worsening your wellbeing.
I do use supplements with my clients, but only after getting a full set of blood tests to identify what’s needed. This ensures the right dosage and effectiveness.
We often turn to supplements for recovery after an illness. However, finding them readily available at pharmacies, health food shops, and even supermarkets does NOT mean that they are harmless.
!!Please don’t pop pills blindly!!
When consumed indiscriminately, supplements can cause imbalances and trigger chain reactions within your body. Especially if you get low-cost packs that can be full of filler material like talcum powder!
Some supplement combinations cancel each other out!
Let’s talk about Zinc! Zinc is an amazing element often included in multivitamin supplements. Zinc activates over 200 different enzymes and plays a crucial role in various bodily functions. So its reputation as an immunity booster is well deserved.
But is your body taking it in and putting it to work? Are you absorbing it?
Several factors can affect zinc absorption. High sugar intake, low stomach acid, gut inflammation, and allergies can all interfere with how well your body absorbs zinc. But also – Taking too much calcium can impair zinc absorption.
Zinc competes with calcium and iron for absorption in the body. So if you’re also taking these supplements take them WELL AWAY from zinc, at a different time of day.
This is just one example of how blindly taking supplements without the right guidance can end up being an expensive waste of time!
If you’d like to know more about how Functional Medicine can support your approach to recovery and prevention, tap through to book a free discovery call with me here.
