Food. Rumour has it that at some point, or in some places, it contained all the nutrients our bodies require to thrive. I don't remember those days, nor do I remember stories told by anyone who does. It seems our species has long been starving or deficient, or both, and I'm ridiculously grateful for the invention of supplements. Even more so, I'm grateful to have someone in my life who is so strangely driven toward researching what's available and learning about what our bodies need. Some vitamins, contain such a high dose of so many ingredients that a body can feel overwhelmed...such as the multi we eventually couldn't take more than once a week. On 'multi day' I would eat a big breakfast, take my vits, chug a big glass of water and lay down for 20-30 minutes while my body absorbed the nutrients... I learned to do this after thinking I was going to ride out the nausea but vomited instead.
Finding valid and useful information about vitamins/supplements is challenging because many studies aren't current and you might find data from all of ten years ago. We've each been taking supplements for what seems like forever, I can remember Zeffy staring at his computer for hours researching so to learn what our bodies needed to achieve balance in a society full of heavily processed foods and artificial ingredients and of course, the preservatives. We started with the B100 complex because our bodies don't store B vitamins, for whatever reason; and they're easy to destroy with alcohol and coffee. They're synthesized for pill form but they can also be absorbed from actual foods such as liver, poultry, dairy products, seafood, leafy greens, and legumes. Before you ask, yes I've got some examples of legumes and yes I looked up the word to make sure I remembered what they were because it's a weird category name. Legumes are from the plant family Fabaceae; like lentils, peas and beans.
Gaba 750 mg daily; this is an essential supplement for us because it's a mood supporter and we will totally vouch for it's effectiveness. Periodically we run out because it's difficult to get locally and we weren't taking it for a few weeks but yesterday we finally got a new bottle and after 2 doses we both feel the impact on our bodies. Gaba is an amino acid that blocks messages sent from nerve cells to spinal cord or brain; at first I found this to be unsettling but the messages are specific. Anxiety, fear, and stress are the targeted and blocked messages. Here's an article with lots of useful tidbits, for more information visit [verywellhealth.com]
Liv.52 DS is another essential supplement because it is a powerful ally in caring for our livers, which is super important for anyone who taxes them heavily. Writing articles is an excellent way to gather information, especially since Zeffy is a stickler for providing links when possible, so I've learned a lot about our livers in just the past few hours. Sometimes this era we live in is very exciting, so much data can be found so quickly! Five minutes after using a search engine and we found multiple articles talking about what an amazing organ our liver is! Unfortunately part of this is because Zeffy was researching while I was typing and he's less likely to get side-tracked by random curiosities. We'll share the knowledge we gained about our livers in it's own post, and share a link here when we've got it.
Another favourite supplement of ours is whatever Omega 3, 6, 9 we can get into our stash. By this I mean we don't have a brand we favour and this time we've got NOW 1000 mg essential fatty acids, which is what Omega 3, 6, 9 are/is. I giggled as Zeffy was looking at the label {partly because it never gives an abundance of information, mostly it's just dose recommendation and ingredients} because apparently we got the 'vegan' version. These gel-caps are filled with a combination of flax seed, evening primrose, canola, black current and pumpkin seed oil... no fish oil. I say 'vegan' however because the gelatin used to make the capsules comes from cows. All I have to say about that is... fish burbs is real and you can't get them if thars no fish. Omega 3 and 6 aren't manufactured by the body, which is why they're so important. You can find them in a variety of foods; various types of fish, nuts, eggs, seeds, meat, and yogurt. They're super important for your heart, eyes, and brain. Omega 9 is produced by the body, so it's considered non-essential but it's still good to eat things rich in Omega 9 like olive oil versus butter because of the 'good fat vs bad fat' food battle arena.
Enjoy learning about how to better feed your mind and body! See you next time, kisses from management!
