The Top 5 Supplements Everyone Should Consider
The following list is our current Top 5 basic supplements that we believe EVERYONE could benefit from taking regularly, no matter your health or fitness level. These are not the only supplements that we take (we have mentioned many others in previous posts), but we think these 5 are a great starting point and a bare-bones minimum for every human.
1 —
Magnesium
The importance of Magnesium (Mg) for the human body is so great that there is no way to fit it into a single blog post. It is found in more than 300 enzymes, and there are magnesium binding sites on more than 3500 human proteins. Here are just a few of the benefits: optimized mitochondrial function, improved heart health, proper nerve function, mental and physical relaxation, better brain function, improved sleep, glutathione production, and better metabolic function. There’s hardly a system in your body that magnesium does not touch in some way. Add to that the near constant exposure to electro-magnetic frequencies (EMF’s) though 5G, LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc…, which magnesium helps your body deal with by its natural calcium channel-blocking effects, and you can see why we believe that you need to supplement with Magnesium every day.
Our favorites (we take them all):
2 —
Vitamin D3/K2
I just spoke about Vitamin D in my post on sunlight (link to blog 16), and yes, the best way to make Vitamin D is through exposing your skin to the sun. Your skin will use cholesterol to build and activate Vitamin D through a complex pathway that requires UVB light. Vitamin D is so important that many consider it to be the “master hormone” of the human body. Most of us live in climates that will require us to take Vitamin D3 as a supplement at least part of the year, perhaps almost every day depending on your individual measured levels. Most people need 2500-5000 IU of Vitamin D3 a day, more if your levels are severely low (less than 30 ng/mL). You want your levels to fall between 60-80 ng/mL. Taking Vitamin D3 increases your need for Vitamin K2, as these two compounds work synergistically together. Vitamin K2 is another crucial fat-soluble vitamin that is vital for your cardiovascular health. It is found in beef liver and other organs. K2 is required for D3 utilization in the cell, which is why they are found together in the best supplements.
3 —
Beef organs/Liver
Not only do we eat grass-fed beef organs regularly (cooked but also sometimes raw), but we also take them in desiccated form as supplements. This is what we use as our daily “multivitamin” and we utilize both desiccated beef organs (a combination of liver, heart, kidney, pancreas and spleen) and straight-up desiccated beef liver. Grass-fed beef liver is naturally high in crucial vitamins such as Vitamin A (the bioavailable animal version called retinol), B12, choline, copper, folate, CoQ10 and hyaluronic acid, just to name a few. The beef organs combo will supply you with all that plus selenium, enzymes, heme-iron and so much more. Plus, what better way to support your own organs then to eat those same organs from highly nutritious, happy and well-treated animals? There simply isn’t one. These two supplements go leagues beyond a mere synthesized plant-based multi that you can barely absorb, and may also contain plant-defense toxins as well.
4 —
Creatine
Creatine is a peptide, which is a small chain of amino acids. It has an amazing array of benefits, including but not limited to, mental acuity and cognitive function (with almost nootropic-like effects), staving off muscle loss (especially as you age), balancing hormones, stabilizing glucose, repairing and building muscles, improving heart health, increasing bone density, and much more. Where is creatine found? The best source is in muscle meat. But unless you are eating 2 lbs of meat or more per day, you need to supplement to get the recommended 5 g a day.
5 —
ION* Gut Support
Originally called Restore, ION* Gut Support is a product that we found many years ago, discovered and patented by Dr. Zach Bush. It completely transformed our gut health, and we have taken it ever since. What does ION* Gut Support do? You can find out more here, but in simple terms it helps seal the gut barrier. It provides redox signaling molecules that help your gut biome (the little creatures living there that you need to stay healthy) communicate and thrive, protecting the lining of your gut from invaders, and allowing your gut biome to diversify. And because your gut and your brain are so intricately linked, this product will benefit your mind as well. Ever since taking this product, we have discovered that we rarely need to take probiotics. Dosing with a regular amount of fermented foods, such as raw yogurt and kefir, and exposing ourselves to dirt, fresh air and forests (and oceans!) keeps our guts happy and strong.