I was asked to share my list of supplements…..before I do, please, do your homework?  Supplements are added to a diet to aid in gaining optimal health.  People complain that there are so many contradictions, that’s easy, people are so different from each other.  What helps one person is useless for someone else.  I can enjoy eggs, my sister is allergic to them.  Bell peppers are all the rage loaded with antioxidants and they make me sick….really sick.  Supplements are also useless if my diet is chocolate, cookies, and cake.  I need to monitor my diet constantly….I don’t care for vegetables so it is always a challenge to get enough because I don’t want to eat them.  Water is vital to good health.  I also learned the hard way that too much water causes swelling in the legs and other health problems.  So there is this delicate dance between too much and not enough.  Most people are dehydrated and don’t realize it.  https://www.myfitnesspal.com/ was helpful to teach me what proportions look like for food intake.  I am not using it now because it drives me buggy to keep a food journal.  I do recommend the page and I get their news letter with suggested recipes.  As I age, I am encountering more health problems.  A trip to the hospital revealed that my thyroid quit working.  The doctor asked me if I noticed.  I asked her what the symptoms were….tiredness.  I looked at her, “How would that change for me?”  I’ve been tired for years.  Proper levels of medication makes a world of difference.  I had no idea I could feel so much better.  Sleep is another vital component before considering supplements.  There are some supplements that help people sleep.  There are also some supplements that keep me awake.  Exercise is a must for anyone with PTSD….I’ve tried to function without it….bad news all the way around.  Again….do your homework.

Currently I use multiple vitamins gummy style formulated for those over 50.  I take them in the afternoon so they don’t interfere with my thyroid medication I take in the morning.  I also take an Omega fish oil supplement, it really does help lower my cholesterol….specially since the new government health regulations took my cholesterol medicine away.  I use additional vitamin B12 which is powerful in relieving stress symptoms but I take them every other day alternating them with iron.  I switch iron brands when my daughter challenged me to go red40 free.  (Red40 is a legal red food dye that can bother some people….I am one of those people.)  My largest source of red40 was in my iron pill so I switched to an iron pill that is white but still does the job.  I enjoy using essential oils.  Plus my favorite is coconut water.  My husband read up on the benefits of coconut water and challenged me to try it for one month.  Weeks went by and I wasn’t noticing anything different.  However, in week three I ran up stairs to make copies.  At the top of the stairs I stopped….I can’t run upstairs.  Every step is agony in the knees…..since when could I run upstairs?  I’m talking about 6 years of knee pain.  I figured that I was slated for knee replacements sometime in my future.  A half a cup of coconut water each day, usually with chocolate milk, keeps the old joints nimble.  Every once in a while I’ll forget to drink it for a few days and my knees are soon moaning and complaining.  That is about it.  I’ve taken adrenal support from time to time but never noticed a significant difference.  I am still looking for a decent calcium supplement that isn’t more sugar than calcium. I am still working on when combination works for me.

I learned to do my homework when I watched two tragedies where people didn’t do their homework.  One person tried to use supplements and alternative medicine to fight cancer, she lost, someone else raised her kids.  Another person thought a little of a supplement was good then a lot should be great…no….a lot was a poison…..killed him in six weeks.  Do you notice a theme here…..Do your homework.  I learned that ginseng helped with being more awake, it wasn’t until I became like Attila the Hun that I found out a side effect, that most articles didn’t mention, was aggression, so not ok.  Also be willing to experiment a little.  If I hadn’t tried the coconut water I wouldn’t be enjoying the level activity that I am now.  There is lots of research available, however, with the internet you have to consider the source.  Is the web page getting paid to advertise the product?  Follow the money works for more than crime shows.  Do you know someone else that tried it?  Can you find more than one source with similar information?  Is it a source you trust?  There are many avenues to healing the body.  I’ve read books on light therapy, aroma therapy, color therapy, acupressure, acupuncture, massage, water therapy, and many more, I learned that there are many avenues to healing the body.  There is also prayer.  I use this often especially during research time.  More than once my prayers were answered by the book next to the one I was looking for and felt inspired to pick up.  I believe in using all the resources available.  First and foremost, do your homework.