Do you take dietary supplements? If so, how did you end up selecting the products you take? Maybe you read an article or they were recommended by salesperson or even friend. Many people take supplements in an effort to improve their health; unfortunately most don’t actually know what they are deficient in. In some cases, taking a supplement can create an imbalance in your body’s delicate biochemistry…when this happens, you are not increasing health but working against it.

Are you harming your health?

I see people in my Naperville office on a daily basis who are taking dietary supplements because “everyone needs more of ______ (nutrient).” You have probably heard that if you are woman you should be taking calcium or iron. This is not true at all, especially when it comes to iron; taking extra iron when it is not needed can lead to increased oxidative stress and inflammation in the body. You also don’t want to load your body with lots of extra calcium if you have an underlying magnesium deficiency. Calcium and magnesium work best when they are in a balanced ratio to one another. Many people are deficient in magnesium and far fewer are deficient in calcium. Another example is zinc and copper; like calcium and magnesium they keep each other in balance. Many people are low in zinc but taking it as supplement can potentially deplete your copper levels. This is the case with many vital nutrients; they work together in a balanced fashion and taking nutrients your body does not need can cause problems.

Is this supplement necessary?

Many people end up taking supplements for a problem they don’t actually have or they are taking the wrong supplement for their problem. One common example are the supplements for inflammation. Some people are absolutely sure they have excessive inflammation in their body and so they take all sorts of herbs and nutrients that are supposed to help eliminate this problem. How do you know if you are actually inflamed? We run tests on our patients that can help us determine if excessive inflammation is present and to what degree. If a person is actually in a heightened state of inflammation, then a functional medicine approach should be employed. This is because the source of the inflammation should identified and addressed, not just taking nutritional products with anti-inflammatory properties.

We also find that many people are taking a product that does not address the root cause of the problem. This could include the whole group of digestion aids. For example, digestion can be compromised by low levels of zinc; the body needs zinc to produce sufficient stomach acid. So, the root problem for a digestion issue may be an underlying zinc deficiency not a deficiency of digestion supplements. This could also be applied to digestion enzyme formulas. We get many of our digestive enzymes from the pancreas, as well as the small intestine. Taking a functional medicine approach to digestion issues can help determine if long-term digestive enzymes are actually required or if the small intestine is in need of repair and support. Again, what is the real cause of the problem here? Taking digestive enzymes may be covering up a health problem in the gut. Don’t get me wrong here, I am not against taking digestion enhancing supplements; but I am interested in finding the root cause of the problem and giving the body the nutrients and support its own natural function… I also see this issue with people suffering from fatigue.

I often see people that are fatigued who take supplements for their thyroid and adrenal glands and load up on  iron and the B vitamins…again, having no idea WHY they are fatigued! There are so many potential medical causes for fatigue and objective laboratory testing can help determine what is actually going wrong and out of balance in your body.

Why is testing important?

As you can see, taking dietary supplements can actually create a health imbalance or possibly cover up a health problem that needs to be addressed. This is why testing for nutrient needs can be very beneficial. Not only because it can help determine what you should be taking but also how much of it you need. It’s good to know if you actually need more vitamin C but it’s great if you can also determine how much your body needs to function properly! We are all unique beings and our bodies have their own specific challenges and nutritional requirements. While it is true that many people do suffer with nutritional deficiencies and dietary supplements are incredibly helpful when used properly; identifying what you need, under the guidance of someone who has years of experience working with dietary supplements can be the difference between success or wasted time, effort and finances.

There is no single test that that can tell you everything you need to know about your nutritional status, however a doctor who specializes in integrative medicine can help narrow down which test(s) would be most beneficial for you.

Dietary supplements can be very helpful when used properly…however, I am going to add the following disclaimer…well you know why…because the FDA is quite certain that nutritional supplements don’t have much to do with illness or disease…so here it goes…

This approach is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate, or prevent any disease. Why is this? The FDA enforces its position that these words can only be used with drugs. This approach does not use drugs, it manages nutritional deficiency. Under FDA guidelines nutritional deficiency management cannot be said to treat, cure, mitigate or prevent disease.

Ok, with that being said, if you are interested in getting some help with your nutritional support please feel free to contact our office.

If you would like more information about nutritional testing and counseling or functional medicine or Dr. Sexton go to www.napervilleintegratedwelness.com

Do your own research, inform yourself and ask lots of questions. When collecting information you MUST consider the source. There is no shortage of false, misleading, outdated, profit-driven and utterly biased information in healthcare today; even from the most respected sources.