The internet promises a thousand and one miracles of healing if you’ll just take this or that supplement. Unfortunately, this marketing works. Otherwise they wouldn’t keep spending their money on the ads. Now don’t get me wrong. You should just dump your supplement bottles in the trash without further deliberation. There is a role for guided supplementation for those with chronic or acute illnesses which is backed by research. My point is not to lump everything into the waste of money category. What we must remember is that eating your cake (and other unhealthy foods) day in and day out will not be fixed by a few capsules of herbs or vitamins, themselves almost an afterthought.
In trying to educate my readers on some beneficial nutraceutical (vitamins, minerals, non-essential nutrients, herbals, etc.) I normally focus on one at a time my readers know which therapy might help them for a particular issue. These supplements are helpful, though I always want them to discuss the actual implementation of that therapy with me or their medical provider. Today I’m taking a different angle. Today, I emphasize the situations where supplements are not enough, where supplements are lacking a necessary foundation.
That necessary foundation is a lifestyle of healthy food choices (and other healthy choices). This means avoiding clearly inflammatory foods: high sugar, artificial coloring, inflammatory fats, and more. It means taking the idea of food as medicine seriously. Eating more varieties of whole foods like fruits and veggies will set up the supplements we do take with a good foundation, sometimes even avoiding the need for supplementation. Without this foundation, the supplements attempt to build good health on shifting sands. In other words, no amount of vitamins and anti-oxidants will cover over the effects of a daily dose of a greasy grain-fed cheeseburger (with extra trans fat) accompanied by fast food fries soaked in heat-damaged seed oils. I hope you get this picture grilled into your brain.
To be short and appropriately sweet, before you search the internet for which miracle supplement (500% success rate, no refunds) you should purchase next, consider what you are eating daily. Without attention to that digestive intake, you are not heading towards a healthier more abundant life by simply depending on 10 capsules a day of internet promises. This is why we include nutrition visits throughout our programs here at Sanctuary. We know that your daily food choices are one of the most essential parts of your healing journey, and we have seen first-hand how this has helped our patients progress and excel to the optimal forms of themselves. Put the cake aside, eat for health, and you can likely save money on the supplement side dish.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
