Many people lead healthy lifestyles, yet some individuals still have deficiencies. Why?

Is Your Body Saying YES to the Supplements you are Taking?
Are You WASTING Your $$$?

I have been practicing pharmacy for many years. College in the 60s if that gives you a clue. When I was in school we had no classes in nutrition and no education of the importance of vitamins and minerals (cofactors) in the everyday split second metabolic reactions that occur in our bodies. These metabolic reactions create who we are. They affect our whole being.
When your physician tells you that you are making expensive PEE when you take supplements, ASK him to show you the evidence. Because what I have learned is that many of our chronic diseases, auto-immune reactions, fatigue and adrenal symptoms, chronic mental and emotional symptoms and on and on occur due to deficiencies in certain cofactors. Why is this? Well there are many reasons.

  1. It could be the product. I am not going into this but believe me there can be great variances in products from company to company.
  2. Are you absorbing your supplements? What I mean is when you swallow that pill or liquid supplement it goes down the gullet but does it keep on going. Absorption issues are very, very complex. For example, do you take a PPI (ondansetron) this will give you a deficiency in B12. Are you older? Our gut becomes less functional with age.
  3. Are you taking medications? The list is too long to print here. BUT you need to know that many, many prescription drugs cause nutrient (cofactor) deficiencies.
    So you pass all the above, you have a very good product, you have great absorption and you are on no medication that would cause a deficiency. Well there is another factor.
  4. Are your cells able to take in (adsorb) the supplements? Yes this is an issue.Believe it or not you cannot assume that just because you swallow a vitamin and mineral it is going to cross the gut wall, get into the blood stream, travel through the capillaries and jump into the plasma and cross the cell membrane to impact a cell response.
EXAMPLE: I have a patient whom I have put on high dose vitamin D. I want her levels very high due to a specific issue, breast cancer (Vitamin D is an essential piece in therapy.). Her serum level was at the top or just above the top of the range and I was pleased. BUT I did a total micronutrient test (MNT) on the patient and much to my surprise her vitamin D level INSIDE of her cells was negligible. This was very alarming because what good was the vitamin D going to do for the patient if it is just floating around in the bloodstream.

NOTE: The above example is a true statement. So think about it. Practitioners draw blood to check your vitamin B12, folic acid, magnesium and so on. Get the point. Serum level may be good but is the cofactor in your cells where it needs to be?

So to review, below is why your supplements may not be treating your deficiencies. And again these are the reasons.
  • Biochemical individuality – Because each of us is metabolically and biochemically unique, the micronutrient requirements for one person may be quite different than the requirements of another.
  • Absorption – Although you may eat a balanced diet, if you do not absorb vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and/or other essential micronutrients properly, you can have deficiencies.
  • Chronic illness – Health conditions such as arthritis, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, fatigue and multiple sclerosis, to name a few, can be affected directly or indirectly by micronutrient deficiencies.
  • Aging – Our micronutrient requirements at age 30 are quite different from our requirements at age 40, 50 and beyond. Absorption difficulties, especially of vitamin B12, quite commonly occur as we age.
  • Lifestyle – Excessive physical activity, prescription drugs, smoking, alcohol and sedentary habits all impact micronutrient demands.
So you may be asking, how do I know if what I am taking is working. This is so confusing and there are so many conflicting news releases about supplements. I understand this.
What you need to know is everything that I recommend is evidence based AND I test. Yes, I test.

I use a company called SpectraCell. SpectraCell is a recognized testing laboratory. They have been in business for 20 years. What sets them apart from the standard nutrient tests is that they have created a patented test that will tell the patient if they are nutrient sufficient or deficient within their cells.

This is important for all the above said reasons.

SpectraCell Micronutrient Testing provides the most comprehensive nutritional analysis available for measuring the following components:

VITAMINS
  • Vitamin A
  • Vitamin B1
  • Vitamin B2
  • Vitamin B3
  • Vitamin B6
  • Vitamin B12
  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin D
  • Vitamin K
  • Biotin
  • Folate
  • Pantothenate
MINERALS
  • Calcium
  • Magnesium
  • Manganese
  • Zinc
  • Copper
  • Amino Acids
  • Asparagine
  • Glutamine
  • Serine
ANTIOXIDANTS
  • Alpha Lipoic Acid
  • Coenzyme Q10
  • Cysteine
  • Glutathione
  • Selenium
  • Vitamin E
CARBOHYDRATE METABOLISM
  • Chromium
  • Fructose Sensitivity
  • Glucose-Insulin Metabolism
FATTY ACIDS
  • Oleic Acid
METABOLITES
  • Choline
  • Inositol
  • Carnitine