So trying to get a good supplement program going, as my diet is crap, and being a very very picky eater, means things are made worse by food choices. Also doctors have said to add vitamin D, and more fiber. This somewhat links to my general birthday and fitness wish list. So here’s what I’m taking and thinking of taking.
Weekdays, I eat 4 pieces of toast (bread has 2 g of fiber per slice) in the morning with Country Crock Calcium, Peanut Butter (thin amount, probably not a full serving), and sometimes honey. Then for lunch a valveeta cheese sandwich with the Country Crock and 2 slices of the valveeta. Dinner ranges from taco with chicken, cheeseburgers (sometimes with bacon), pizza (pepperoni), steak (with salad), more toast, Velveeta Shells and Cheese…
I’d probably do more spaghetti with meat sauce (Prego Mushroom for the sauce), but I just don’t get around to it like I probably should I’d also probably do fish sticks, or breaded fish fellets, but when you live in a multi unit building, one has to consider the smell.
Weekends, breakfast ranges from toast, french toast, pancakes, eggs and toast, or occasional donuts. Dinner is the same as weekdays.
So yeah, not super healthy…
What I Take
I take a multivitamin, currently Up & Up Adults’ 50+ multivitamin, as it’s fairly affordable. This is daily in the morning with breakfast. This still leaves me a bit short of the ideal calcium.
I sometimes take probiotic, currently Up & Up Digestive Health Probiotic Supplement, which Target’s version of Cultrelle Digestive Health, which seemed to be the best recommended probiotic. I generally do it daily in the morning with breakfast, though it’s not something I always have on hand, and panic if I don’t have it. In fact it can sometimes be months between buying another pack.
My fiber supplement is a Psyllium Fiber Supplement Capsule. Now the instructions say 5 capsules 4 times a day… and I generally only do 5 once a day, and then only on weekdays… if I remember, this is about 2 hours after I’ve had the morning pills as it can mess up the absorption of the stuff I take it the morning, including the prescriptions. I’ve been getting them from Target, but NOW Supplements, Psyllium Husk Caps 500 mg is the same thing, and might be easier to get? Not sure the best value there. Anyhow, my fiber intake… I eat about 4 pieces of toast in the morning with bread that has 2 g of fiber per slice. As I eat a lot of bread each day, I can’t afford the higher fiber breads I’d like to get. Then on weekdays, my lunch typically is a cheese sandwich, so there’s another 2 slices of bread. So without the fiber supplement, on the weekdays I get about 12 g of fiber, and I am supposed to be aiming for 28… now that’s just bread based fiber, but I don’t think most of my other foods have much fiber. So that’s why I added the supplement, but I probably really need to crank it up, and take more of the capsules.
What I’m Thinking of Adding
Now the final supplement I’m thinking of adding is Magnesium, in the form of a complex. BioEmblem Triple Magnesium Complex, has the 3 main forms that likely would be of help to me. Magnesium Glycinate is helpful for anxiety and depression… Magnesium Citrate helps the body absorb the magnesium, and might help with headaches and the like, but not good for those with loose bowls such as myself… Malate also helps make it easier to absorb without some of the negatives of Magnesium… This one would likely be taken at dinner and before bed.
In theory I could, (should?) add Glucomonnan an hour before each dinner with a full glass of water. More fiber, and should make it so I eat less snacks at least after dinner. Only dinner as I can’t get up early enough to take it in the morning before breakfast, and not really useful on weekday lunches. Anyhow, beyond more fiber, it reduces hunger, and decreases blood sugar, which isn’t as much of a big deal as I’m not diabetic, but still a net positive.
Potentially Cinnamon in a Ceylon type. Again, more for digestive help than blood sugar help.
The rest of these really depend on getting tested to see what I may be short and or deficient on.
Mornings. I take my antacid and then I’ll probably add my vitamin D. The one I was taking is Life Extension Bone Restore with Vitamin K2, and I’ll probably go back to that. It has vitamin D, and calcium, which I’m also missing from my diet. And while one might question impedance measurement scales, especially 2/4 point ones that most smart scales would have (let’s face it, nobody is going to have an InBody Body Composition Monitor in home), mine (a Senssun Bluetooth enabled one that apparently is no longer available so no link) also says my bone density is low… which again is believable as my vitamin D is known to be low, and I don’t do much dairy that isn’t ice cream on occasion, as I’m lactose intolerant, and having to take the lactaid every time would be a pain… and even if I did, probably still low on the calcium on the diet overall. The K2 (as MK-7, though not in this particular product)) is also helpful for calcium in the bloodstream, to keep it from hardening arteries, and the like.
Iron, which is especially important from an endurance athlete standpoint. Want this in the ferrous bisglycinate chelate form, rather than ferrous sulfate form, which is what more of the cheaper ones do.
Vitamin C if needed.
So that’s what I’m thinking. Thoughts?