I was wrong. Why I started taking supplements.

Salmon with Pistachio Salsa & Ginger Cream
Salmon with Pistachio Salsa & Ginger Cream recipe here.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #00adef;”] T[/dropcap]his time last year I was in a very bad way.

I was suffering from debilitating insomnia.

There were some nights I didn’t sleep at all.

And to make matters worse, I had been reading about the importance of sleep.

So I knew exactly how damaging my poor sleep was.

Which gave me extra anxiety about my insomnia.

No fun!

But there is a happy ending.

My insomnia is gone.

One of the solutions was I started taking magnesium.

Prior to that I’d always believed that if I focused on eating a well balanced diet I didn’t need supplements.

That they were a waste of money.

But my magnesium miracle cure got thinking.

Maybe there’s a place for supplements to further enhance health?

And so the experiments began.

Long story short I’m now happy taking some supplements.

Here’s what I’m currently using.

My current supplement list

1. Magnesium

At the Low Carb Canberra conference last year there was a lot of discussion that magnesium supplements are helpful for people following a low carb approach. Waking up with leg cramps and a fast beating heart got me to order some magnesium.

My Thorne Magnesium Citrate / Magnesium Malamate supplement completely stopped the cramps and unusual heart rate. So no plans to stop this one!

There are many different forms of magnesium supplements so be prepared to experiment until you find the right one.

2. Vitamin C

After reading Dave Asprey’s longevity book ‘Super Human’ and learning about the link between Vitamin C and collagen production, I decided to start taking high doses of Vitamin C (3g/day) out of vanity!

A recent podcast by Rhonda Patrick on Vitamin C confirmed a plethora of other reasons to take it.

3. Fish Oil

From brain health to reducing inflammation there is a lot of evidence supporting the benefits of fish oil.

While I eat fish at least 3 times a week, I’ve decided to boost my intake further with supplements.

If you are planning to take fish oil supplements look for IFOS certified supplements to guarantee quality.

4. Zinc

Zinc has been linked with improving glucose regulation in diabetics which got me interested.

I’ve also read that Australian soils are zinc deficient. After taking it for a few weeks I noticed an increase in libido. So planning to continue :)

5. Resveratrol and NAD+ Boosters

I started taking both these anti-ageing supplements last year after reading Lifespan by David Sinclair. Sinclair is a professor of the biology of aging at Harvard Medical School and he personally takes both resveratrol and NMN so I thought it worth playing around with. I have noticed a reduction in hot flashes since starting these.

6. Vitamin D

During the Summer I don’t take Vitamin D and make sure I’m in the sun most days. This Winter I’m taking a supplement and planning to get my levels tested.

What about you?

Do you have any supplements you swear by? Do you think it’s all a waste of money?

Let me know in the comments below.

More about health

And have fun in the kitchen!

With love
Jules x

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NOTE: The information contained on this website does not negate the personal responsibility of the reader for their own health and safety. Please contact your healthcare or medical professional for individually tailored advice. The author is not liable for injuries or damages to any person or property as a result of following the information contained on this website.

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26 Comments

  • If you add Vitamin K2 and take it with the Vitamin D it will aid in absorbtion.

    • I did think about K2 Matthew but decided I was taking enough! Will do some more research though – thx for the suggestion

  • As one who suffers from insomnia – not uncommon among post-menopausal women – I think I may start taking magnesium again. I take fish oil, which is helpful for both depression and cholesterol levels. My doctor told me to take Vitamin D, so I do, and I do it all year long. Given the restrictions caused by the corona virus, and our triple digit heat, we are not getting outside as much. I am also interested in possibly taking zinc for blood sugar. I’ll have to look into that. It’s one I may not need if I can get my stress levels under control. Hopefully that will happen soon because we have finished with our current construction project (new floors and walls all painted) and are in the process of restoring our stuff to its old locations – but going through it to sort out un-needed stuff.

    • Sorry to hear you also have insomnia Susan – definitely worth a try with the magnesium. Sleep is so important!

  • Yeah, I make up capsules of magnesium glycinate and potassium citrate. They cure my cramps and thus are a great value, not a waste of money. I buy my supplements from NOW on Amazon. I take most of what you take, plus I make up nutrient dense snacks – like chicken liver pate, and bone broths made from chicken feet and bones.

  • I’ve begun to take magnesium as well to help with insomnia-related issues. Resveratrol is an interesting one though, thanks for the recommended reading.

  • My doctor prescribes high-dosage Vit D twice a year, as prevention against heart disease (so he says), but I prefer to take it daily, with K2. I tell myself it also helps against Covid-19 (according to some news articles.)
    I suffered from amnesia for years after working shifts, until I “decided” not to fight it and to not let it worry me anymore. I was not easy, but it had been going on for so long, I just couldn’t let it drive my life! The mental shift has really helped.
    I will look into magnesium again against cramps instead of suffering whenever I want to trim my toenails!

  • when I went vegan I decided I don’t need supplements because I’m eating healthy
    but when I become weaker and sick I let my blood test and since then I take vitamin D3 because here in Germany is not enough sun to build it by myself and I read vitamin K2 helps D3 to work
    although I read that it’s better to take vitamin B12
    and i take magnesium against cramps and insomnia
    when I read more about diet and health issues I started to take vitamin C and a vitamin B complex
    omega 3 was the next – here I take alga oil – because I read that fish gets omega 3 bei the algae and so I take alga oil capsules
    I always hated to take medication and I am not very happy for taking so much supplements ( my daughter said yesterday that I don’t have to eat something because I must be full by my supplements ;) ) but since I take them I didn’t had a cold and I’m not afraid of corona
    since I take vitamin d3 I can stay in the sun without sunburn and I had to stay out of the sun my whole life
    my parents both died in high age ( 92 / 91 ) and both suffered their last twenty years from growing limitations and I try to do my very best not to end like them
    and of course I try to eat healthy and make some sports
    lg. birgit

  • Apparently at minimum, we should all be taking COQ10 and magnesium for heart health, especially if you take statins. https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/12/17/stephen-sinatra-on-cholesterol-statins-coq10-ubiquinol.aspx

    especially women over 60 and my cardiologist didn’t tell me this!
    I didn’t tell her all the supplements I was taking… just the magnesium and she said in a sarcastic tone, ‘so how is that working for you’? Considering magnesium is essential for every cell in the body and like many minerals is depleted in our soils from industrial agriculture…I thought she would have the answer to that question.

  • I’ve had years of difficulty sleeping following chemo from cancer treatment in 2005. The usual natural sleep helpers haven’t helped at all and I will not use sleeping pills. The issues that keep me from staying asleep are minor restless legs and an active brain that fills with anxious thoughts when I should be sleeping. I’ve been taking magnesium glycinate these past few weeks and it has really helped! I still have a restless night here and there, but they are not as common.

  • I am glad that you changed your view of supplements. I think that our food supply is lacking, no matter how healthy we try to eat. I take a lot of supplements, some of them to counteract effects of an estrogen blocker that I take to prevent a breast cancer recurrence, Calcium and vitamin E. I take megadoses of D with k2, I have it measured twice/year and it is barely in the acceptable range. I agree with all that you are taking except ‘NMN’, it has been found to grow cancer cells. It may be fine for people with no history of cancer but needs to be avoided by any who do. I would add CoQ10 and I do take a good multi-vitamin. I also take AREDS 2 for vision because I was diagnosed with the beginnings of macular degeneration.

  • How many of the Thorne Magnesum caps do you take each night? I’ve tried so many magnesium forms (plus dozens and dozens of other supplements for insomnia). Ugh.

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