6 SUPPLEMENTS NOT TO TAKE

WHAT TO DO INSTEAD : 

The right supplements can be game changing. Probiotics and digestive enzymes have a solid track record for digestive health, magnesium might help with constipation, and vitamin D may be very useful for people who can't get a lot of sun.

But not all supplements are that great.

1. CALCIUM : 

Why shouldn't take it :

Calcium supplements aren't great for bone strength , don't effectively prevent or treat osteoporosis , and may raise the risk of cardiovascular disease. If they don't help and they might hurt, why would you take one.

What to do instead : If you don't have any existing bone problems , the good news is that you can get all the calcium you need from food , and no , there's no dairy required.

Dark green leafy vegetables are great for calcium with the exception of spinach , which doesn't provide the calcium is a bio available form .

If you have a pre existing bone disease you may take prescribed calcium + magnesium which may be better than straight calcium.

2. A MULTIVITAMIN : 

Why you shouldn't take it : It's more likely to be useless or even dangerous than helpful.

A multivitamin is a combination of several different vitamins and minerals. For any given nutrient , you either need that nutrient in supplement form, or you don't need it.

If you don't need it, at best your multivitamin is giving you expensive urine. At worst, it could be actively dangerous.

For example, taking unnecessary supplement iron can increase inflammation, especially in men. Most people do not need to supplement with most of the nutrients in a multivitamin.

The vast majority of the stuff is there will be useless to you at best. Even if you don't need it, chances are very low that the multivitamin is providing it in the optimal amount and form. Multivitamins often use the cheapest forms of various nutrients, which are often less absorbable . If you really do need a particular nutrient , you'd be better off getting it from an individual supplement , not a multi.

What to do instead : Eat real food.

 3.ALMOST ANYTHING MARKETED FOR WEIGHT LOSS :

Why you shouldn't take it : The FDA has identified three categories of supplements that are particularly likely to be contaminated or down right fraudulent. 

• They are effective but way too dangerous to be worth it
• Ineffective and therefore a total waste of money (e.g. green coffee bean extract, raspberry ketones, etc)
• Bottle full of grass that means you are actually getting is some random thing like grass or other plants.

What to do instead : Eat right, be patient, and accept that weight loss is a long process of habit and lifestyle change, not a miraculous transformation that you can buy at drugstore.

Basic behavior changes like getting enough sleep or reducing stress have much bigger effects on weight than supplements or superfoods. 

4. ANYTHING MARKETED FOR SEX : 

Why you shouldn't take it : Unfortunately , sex supplements are more or less the same story as weight loss supplements. Even if you were getting what you paid for , it probably wouldn't be effective, and the pills you actually buy are very likely to be fraudulent or contaminated anyway.

What to do instead : If you have a medically relevant sexual problem, there are doctors who can help with that.

5. LOW QUALITY FISH OIL : 

Why shouldn't you take it : It's probably been subjected to careless treatment that destroy the beneficial fats.

Fish oil needs to be protected from heat and light, or the beneficial fats won;t actually get to your intact. High quality fish oil is kept in an opaque bottle and refrigerated until you pull it off the shelf, which protects the fats just fine. But low quality fish oil just gets thrown out on a room temperature shelf, often in a clear bottle with clear caps inside.

This damage the fragile fats inside. Fish oil that hasn't been stored properly is worse than no fish oil at all !

What to do instead : Either take a high quality fish oil or just eat fish and seafood regularly and forget about supplements completely.

6. LOW QUALITY PROBIOTICS 

Why you shouldn't take them : High quality probiotics can make a world of difference in so many different types of gut dysfunction , they are fantastic but just like the fish oil , probiotics need a lot of babying.

 Storage at room temperature kills the bacteria in the probiotic supplement. Cheap probiotics often have lower bacterial counts than the number advertised on the label, probably because a lot of the bacteria have died out while they were sitting around on the shelf for months and months at room temperature.

What to do instead : Eat probiotic foods! They are cheaper and easy to make at home and you can guarantee the quality of treatment from start to finish . Alternatively take the high quality supplement.