Well, lets see.
Where to start. . .
Once upon a time, there was a Canadian guy living in the UK.
He was about 27 Years old because he got married that year and he was 27.
While this guy was in the UK, he was friends with guys like this:
Pictured: Dennis Oakes - Middleweight Mr Britain and friend of Dorian Yates (6 times Mr Olympia also from Britain)
This guy was like the younger guys father when he lived in the uk.
If you haven't guessed yet, I was that young guy and Dennis always got me the best supplements while I was there.
Me and my brother while he was over for a visit in the UK. Circa 2003 while I was running and gutting TopBODY gymnasium in Gorleston ('Gole-stun') Thanks for the passports dad (from Bristol, UK) In the background, you can't see my little sister having her appendix out. It got sore on the plane and they operated a few hrs later. We decided it was better to go and pose by the new smart car so I could look bigger no doubt.
What vitamins should I get?
One that I ordered for the gym with Dennis the Menace's permission was Solgar Multi-vitamin.
Pictured: Solgar Multi for Women. Suitable for you Veggies as well!
It is not cheap.
It comes in a dark glass bottle.
It has fewer binders and fillers.
It is well formulated as Multi-vitamins go.
Some others ( a lot of them) are total complete garbage.
Just like you can buy a total complete garbage amino product, whey isolate, DHEA, DHA etc. etc.
Do I take a multivitamin now?
No, but I take a few different things that I feel are much more beneficial to the average person.
They are:
Greens supplements - they have many of the micro and phytonutrients we need to be healthy.
Greens give you a pile of stuff other than that too!
Lets just say that unless you live on a farm like this:
Pictured: Organic farm (do THEY even have soil that has anything in it?)
Then, I would recommend you start to do some supplementation at least with a quality greens supplement.
I use Progressive greens and also epi-greens which is a fermented product.
Other INDISPENSABLE supplements for most people living in the city/non-rural areas
- DHA (from fish source, veggie sources don't work...wrong chem configuration (n-1 instead of the correct n-2) Herring, Cod, trout and other cold water fatty fish are amazing. Krill is better and I consider Herring Gold (roe/eggs from herring from Norway) to be the ultimate in supplement form for DHA as it comes with a built in anti-oxidant (Astaxanthin) as does the krill oil.
- DHEA - for those men over 40, this is a must. 50mg is a typical doseage to start with.
- For women, 7-keto DHEA is taken in stead as they need it in this form so they don't get virilization effects.
- Magnesium - This is super important to have enough of!
- Potassium - you need 5grams of this stuff a day for optimal performance!
- Iodine ( I use a kelp based one from Organika)
- Vitamin-c COMPLEX (best source is Camu-Camu berry powder for me) Regular vitamins like Ascorbic acid *(sold as vitamin-C) are sometimes named like the real thing. Vitamin C from sources like Camu camu berry are a SEVEN component compound! Thats right. Throw that ascorbic acid out unless you are using it to acidify a basic solution you are taking ( I used to mix it with Borax a bit as well to help with flouride chelation)
BUT, there is always a but.
You need to do tests first to see if what you are doing is working!
The KING/QUEEN of tests out there for overall health is....dum dum dum dummm!
An HS-CRP.
What is an HS-CRP you say?
That is a Highly Sensitive C-Reactive Protein test.
What does that test for?
Inflammation.
And it's a really really sensitive test.
Way more sensitive than that crappy ol CRP test I was having people go and get so long ago, I have to dust off the shelf on that memory!
Just live your life as usual for one month.
Then go and get all your bloodwork done (just the hs-crp if that is all you can afford)
THEN, AFTER the test- Start taking your Multivitamin as directed.
And/Or whatever other supplement/s you think are good for you at the moment.
Take it/them every day - don't miss most people treat supplements like drugs. Most of them don't work that way.
Supps are like working out - consistency is what makes them work.
After 30 days, go back and get the HS-CRP test done again.
If you started to take say the DHEA as well, get a DHEA test along with the HS-CRP (it's a hormone so you can get it tested see?)
Did your inflammation go down in a major way?
It did?!?
Wild.
So, if you started to take ONLY the multivitamin, you know that that is what worked!
Keep taking it.
What if I took more than one thing that first month (ie. I started the DHEA at 50mg/day as well as the multivitamin?
Ok, this is my favorite type of "hack" - the REVERSE hack
Whats a "hack"?
Biohacking: self experimentation using scientific method to change the human physiology/psychology via > personal years of experience: 32
Gorsh mickey, is he teaching us #biohacking methods?
Yes Goofy, I am!
Ok, so whats this "reverse hack" I am speaking of?
Funny I was talking to a good friend who works in the supplement industry and is an experimenter himself, regarding this very subject and why we both like doing the "reverse hack"
The Reverse hack is where you don't add in one thing at a time but a whole pile of things and then, one at a time, you remove them each month and that way, you can see which ones work in combination and which ones don't fit in the "mix" if you do it right, it saves you a lot of time and money.
So, just like everything else in life, you have to persist and be consistent.
You can't get sloppy and then miss 5 days of multivitamin if its improving your biology.
Next, if you did get the DHEA test on the second round if you are a male reader, check to see if it is in the normal range.
It's a bit on the low side?
Ok, up your dosage to 100mg a day OR, if you are a real #hacker like me, you take the capsules apart or crush up the original tabs and split one into 2 doses.
That way you can go up to 75mg per day instead of 100 as that may be too much.
Think of it this way: most of my tests here in Canada are free.
The ones I have to pay for, I carefully weigh out which things I am going to be testing each time so I don't waist money!
So, multivitamins are good IF YOU NEED ONE.
How to find out?
GET HACKING!
CF - 2017