51-derful: Supplementing A Healthy Diet

I’ve posted about my move to a healthier lifestyle with my eating habits.  But we all know that life sometimes gets in the way and you don’t eat exactly the best way for yourself.  Because of that, I take a variety of dietary supplements to make up the lack in my meals.  

I start off with a good women’s multi vitamin with a high B and D doses.  It meets almost every dosage level I want.

The high B is because of the great benefits and the fact that deficiency is fairly common.  A word of warning with taking vitamin B… especially if you take a separate supplement.  The instructions will warn you to “take with food”.  DON’T ignore that!!  Last year I forgot to take my vitamins at meal time.  A few hours later I remembered and thought it was close enough to my last meal.

Bad thought…

A few hours later… these vitamins I’d been taking for a while… turned on me.  It started with nausea and turned into pain.  It felt like I had burned my stomach.  There was a point where I thought I’d be heading to the urgent care center!  And it took days before the tender feeling went away.

Also, B6 increases neurotransmitter activity and can cause some vivid dreaming… so take it early in the day!  You don’t want a restless night’s sleep.

Vitamin D helps ensure strong bones by increasing the rate that minerals such as calcium and magnesium are deposited into bones. It’s also crucial for the absorption of calcium from food.  At 51, it’s time to make sure my dense strong bones stay that way.

I take a vitamin C supplement largely because it helps combat colds.  With the babies in my life… I need all the help in that area I can get.  Preschools are germ factories!!!

Next supplement is my Omega 3-6-9 complex for the cardiac benefits.  Again… being 51…

I take Magnesium for its calming effect on nerves and muscles.  It makes it easier to wind down for sleep.

For my tired ole bones, I take Glucosamine with chondroitin.  Himself has been taking this for a long time and it helps him.  (Twenty two years of jumping out of airplanes is hard on the body!)  I can tell the benefit in the knees coming up and down our stairs.

Finally, I take Coenzyme Q10. It is needed for basic cell function. CoQ10 levels decrease with age… again, that darn 51…

There is one more ‘supplement’ in my arsenal.  It comes in a bowl rather than a pill.  Most mornings I have a high fiber cereal.  Usually about 18-ish grams serving.  (Make sure you build up to a high fiber regimen!!)

These additions to my diet are proving themselves helpful.  I have more energy and feel all-around better when I keep up with them.