P7 | Study Your Supplements
P7 | Study Your Supplements
Why supplements
By now, you should know that much of what you’ve been told about health and diabetes is humbug. That’s putting it gently. Supplements are no exception. There are those who say you can get all your nutrients out of food. Yes, but only if you live like a hunter-gatherer. The rest of us cannot depend on food alone to provide all we need to survive the 21st century. Some will say a multivitamin is enough. Wrong. Some will take a whole range of supplements “just in case”. Wrong again. Some trust in their government’s RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) or RDI (Recommended Daily Intake). Wrong again.
So, what is the truth? And what’s a pretty diabetic like you – or a person struggling with symptoms of insulin resistance –gonna do when faced with hundreds of competing products?
At FIRE Diabetes HQ, we follow the science. Based on hard science. We recommend a few basic micronutrients and supplements. These all play an important role to help reverse insulin-resistance and to restore your body’s metabolism.
BUT LISTEN… You have to read this document carefully to the end. Don’t just latch onto a name of a supplement and then go looking for it at your health store or pharmacy. You need the right nutrient in the right dosage and the right format. Few supplements available in retail will provide the right dosage and format.
On Day 19 and 20 of our journey, we will discuss the role of micronutrients and supplements in great detail. You will then understand why we recommend certain items. For now, we list the recommended nutrients below, without much detail.
However, we’re giving you all the information, so you can buy it from whomever you wish. We’re just trying to make it easier (and cheaper) for you.
Supplements can be expensive. It is also difficult to find them all in one place, which can be frustrating. What is more expensive, however, is buying the wrong supplement.
Dosage is important. Note the correct dosages below. To reverse insulin-resistance, much larger doses of the supplements are needed than is commonly prescribed. See these supplements as medicines (as “God’s medicine”, if you wish). When you’re ill, you need more of something good that is the case when you’re healthy. Once you’re healthy, you need less of it again. Does this make sense?
Format is important, too. For example, many magnesium supplements are sold as tablets. Nobody will tell you that magnesium is better absorbed from capsules than from tablets. That is just one example.
Sometimes, it is important to take supplements on an empty stomach, or on a full stomach, or with fatty food. Vitamin D, for example, is best absorbed when taken together with some fatty food.
We’ve divided the list of nutrients into two sections: (1) “Foods with benefit” and (2) “Essential micronutrients and supplements”. We’ve also ranked them in order of importance. If your budget is limited, start at the top and work your way down till the money runs out. We recommend that you stay on these nutrients for at least six months.
To make it easier for you, we’ve compiled a supplier list for South Africa and the United States. Click on the links provided to source these nutrients (best quality for best price). We’re saving you hours and hours of time, tons of frustration and loads of doubts and questions.
Please don’t ask us if Product X is OK to use. When in doubt, ask the seller if their product will supply the dosages we list below.
Doc Frank’s online store, Integrow Health (www.integrow.co.za) strives to offer most or all of the essential supplements to South African participants. The reason for this is to make it easier for you to find it all in one place. He even developed our FIRE Power Basic, allowing you to take most of your essential supplements with one scoop of powder mixed in a glass of water.