Supplements I Take For Digestion/Immunity/Clearer Skin

Open up my hand around lunch and you'll think I just robbed a pharmacy. But no, it's all natural. I grew up with my parents being all about suppies, meditation, and nutrition, so it's become a huge part of my life that I don't really think about anymore.

I'm someone that can sometimes eat an entire pizza and be fine, and then other times eat a tiny piece of cheddar, and be smited with constipation, stomach aches, and gas. NOT TO MENTION MY SKIN TROUBLES. But there's several things that I do to manage my symptoms, and supplementation is a huge part of that. Behold! The breakdown of my daily skin and digestion supplements, in the order in which I take them:

The Daily Routine. Morning to Night, Left to Right.

Morning: Sometime between 8AM or 11AM, depending on how much of a degenerate I was the night before. I wake up, meditate if I have time, and then go right to the bathroom to scrape my tongue and brush my teeth. When my mouth is no longer coated in beige mucus sand aka last night's karma being detoxed during my sleep, I go right to the kitchen to chug a giant glass of water, along with a shot of apple cider vinegar (around 1 TBSP, I eyeball it).

I've been having bad heartburn for the first time in my life, and several people told me that ACV can knock that down right quick. I think having it before my coffee has been helpful as well, because coffee can be so acidic. There are a million health claims about ACV out there, and while there's some potential that it's beneficial for anything from weight loss, to heart health, to the lymphatic system and joints, the main reason I use it is because it helped my heartburn go away, almost immediately. Here's a quick article about the hype/benefit potential, and I think that if you combine it with other remedies, it can help jumpstart your progress.

After I chug a glass of water/ quick shot of ACV (I take one in the evening too), I reach for two PB8; my favorite probiotic I've ever found. My dad recommended it to me, after I had a really bad bout of strep throat FOUR TIMES my freshman year. I am super prone to throat infections with my GINORMOUS tonsils (most doctors say WOW when they look down my throat) and would maybe consider getting them removed if that ever happened again. After I did several rounds of antibiotics (hello yeast infection and unhappy gut), I really needed to up my probiotics. I've found that taking daily probs helps me with candida issues (I had a year with almost constant yeast infections), as well as my ongoing struggles with constipation. There's also studies that suggest a link between our gut health/ emotional health. Most doctors recommend a good probiotic, and this is the one that works the best for me (in comparison with more expensive options, cheaper options, and ones with less and more bacteria). I don't pretend to be an expert on this, so I always suggest doing a lot of research; but they DO say that "90% Of Disease Starts In The Gut," who knows!

Here's an interesting scientific article on the link between our gut health and mental health (also discusses breastfeeding and early infant diet in terms of intestinal development. Very interesting).

Lunchtime:

Lunchtime is when I generally eat my first meal of the day, and take the majority of my supplements. I find it a little easier on my stomach, and it's nice to knock all my mid-day nutrition out at once.

I take between 1500mg and 2000mg of Vitamin C every day. This is definitely the upper end of the suggested daily dosage, although I have heard conflicting opinions from doctors that are more involved in natural medicine. I've noticed major benefits in my immunity and also my skin health when I this amount, so I continue to do so. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that is generally accepted as a great preventative supplement for many illnesses and other maladies.

Next comes Zinc Picolinate. I got started on this a few years ago when I went to see a Naturopathic Doctor for my horrible hormonal acne. I've read much anecdotal and some scientific evidence about it's benefit, but I didn't find much about why my doctor insisted that the most absorbable form of zinc (there's a few) is Zinc Picolinate. However, because I've found that it works, and that when I stop taking it my acne gets worse, I continue on, although I wish I had more research to back up my opinion.

Then we have the peppermint gels! Although I've never been diagnosed (I've always managed my symptoms naturally and only ever been diagnosed with constipation), I think I have mild IBS. I've always had challenges with my digestion (even as a young girl), but I've been able to manage it well with a (mostly) healthy diet, and supplements. Peppermint is one of the best treatments for soothing the digestive tract, so much so that many internists will prescribe prescription strength peppermint pills to their patients with IBS. It helps to soothe your digestive tract, and many naturopathic doctors recommend ginger to help aid digestion as well, which is another ingredient in this supplement.

Turmeric. If you saw my Turmeric Saute Recipe, you may have read about some of the incredible benefits of curcumin. It's very powerful antioxidant/ and may also be anti-inflammatory. I don't take this every day, but if I'm traveling/ run down/ getting sick, I swear by it. I always feel that it speeds up my recovery from any illness or exhaustion from traveling. I've also heard additional anecdotal evidence that it can help joint health and pain, although I would need to read more research on that.

Bedtime

Before bed, I swear by two supplements: Magnesium and Fiber. They keep me regular, they help me sleep, and they fill me up (as I sometimes feel like eating a lot before bed even though I indulge in large dinners, which some say can be hard on the tum). Magnesium is one of the 7 macronutrients that we really really need, with many benefits, INCLUDING reduced PMS and reduced anxiety.

I've always suffered from insomnia and mild anxiety, and these days, if I'm not having a terrible day emotionally (which throws me all out of whack), I can pretty much guarantee I'll get a good 8 hours of sleep (or more, if I can, hehe) if I stop drinking coffee by noon, exercise, and take my magnesium before bed. I'll take it and then watch a few minutes of TV while it starts to kick in, and I love the relaxation and sleepy feeling that comes over me. I highly, highly recommend it, especially for all my crazy stressed New Yorkers!

Please put any questions below, thank you for reading!