In order to keep your body and mind in tip-top shape, it’s important to eat right. However, it can be challenging to receive all the nutrients and vitamins our body requires, even with a well-balanced diet. Here’s where food supplements prove useful.
1) A sufficiently high-dosed vitamin B complex
The importance of B vitamins in maintaining a healthy metabolism, brain, nervous system, and immune system is crucial.
B vitamins are essential for the proper functioning of virtually every cellular mechanism, from the Krebs cycle (the life-giving powerhouse) to DNA synthesis and epigenome maintenance.
Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B9, and B12 are all part of a vitamin B complex. Make sure there are several times the minimum required level of B vitamins. Keep in mind that a good vitamin B complex multivitamin should contain all of these B vitamins.
2) Magnesium powder, not magnesium capsules
Magnesium is a crucial mineral for hundreds of enzymes and chemical reactions, as well as for the normal contraction of muscles (including your heart), the conduction of nerve impulses, and the stabilization of DNA.
Getting enough magnesium may lower your chances of developing cardiovascular disease, dementia, and type 2 diabetes. Magnesium intake should average between 400 and 500 milligrams daily.
Because of the need for adequately large daily doses, magnesium malate powder is the only viable option. Taking 1/4 teaspoon of magnesium malate powder (about 2-2.5 grams of magnesium malate providing at least 300 mg of pure magnesium) in a glass of water is a convenient way to get your magnesium intake for the day.
3) Vitamin D3 – sufficiently highly dosed
Life expectancy can be increased by taking vitamin D. Increased vitamin D levels are connected with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, and autoimmune illnesses, better brain health, and stronger immunity.
Vitamin D researchers say you need at least 2000–4000 IU per day, whereas several governments recommend 400–800 IU.
At least 2,000 units per day is what you should take. The possibility of dangerous vitamin D buildup is quite low at these levels. Vitamin D3 is more effective than vitamin D2 so be sure to get that kind.
4) Vitamin K – as a vitamin K2 complex
Vitamin K is essential for healthy bones, as well as skin and metabolism.
Wrinkle formation can be mitigated by vitamin K. Skin wrinkling (and an increased risk of osteoporosis) are common symptoms of vitamin K insufficiency.
Vitamin K and D should be taken together. Vitamin D ensures calcium is absorbed properly, while vitamin K directs calcium to where it should be—in the bones rather than the blood vessels, where it could contribute to the hardening of the arteries.
At least 180 ug of vitamin K per day is advised; vitamin K2 (not vitamin K1) is preferred, and several forms of vitamin K2 are available, such as vitamin K2-M7, vitamin K2-M6, vitamin K2-M9, etc.
5) Calcium – without the milk
Milk contains numerous compounds that activate growth pathways, which are also strong aging pathways (such as insulin, IGF, and mTOR pathways), because nature designed milk for calves to grow quickly.
Calcium is essential for bone health, but many people don’t get enough of it because they don’t drink milk and don’t eat enough cheese (cheese is still an animal product, and many individuals cannot tolerate cheese, whether they realize it or not).
Calcium’s significance extends far beyond bone health since it is required for countless bodily functions including nerve transmission, brain function, and more.
Since consuming too much calcium at once might cause a high calcium peak in the blood, which may speed up vascular calcification, people can take calcium supplements, roughly 1,000 mg per day, divided into two doses.
6) Iodine
Too few people get enough iodine in their diets. Considering iodine’s crucial role in maintaining a healthy metabolism, immune system, and brain, this is very concerning. Thyroid disease, metabolic issues, and potentially breast cancer are all made worse by insufficient iodine intake.
For this reason, iodine addition to bread is mandated by law in many countries. However, this alone is not sufficient to achieve optimum iodine levels. Bread’s high sugar peaks are blamed for aging and age-related ailments, thus many people are avoiding them (and rightly so). Therefore, iodine deficiency is very dangerous for this population.
In this case, a daily iodine dose of about 150 micrograms (ug) in droplet form is recommended.
1) Omega-3 fatty acids
Omega-3 fatty acids aid in optimal brain and eye function, reduce inflammation and stimulate the immune system.
Getting your omega-3s from fish twice a week is the recommendation of several governments. However, that is usually not sufficient. A daily intake of at least 1,000 milligrams (mg) of pure omega-3 (DHA and EPA) is recommended in addition to the recommended four servings of fatty fish per week.
2) Vitamin A
Skin, metabolism, bone, and even stem cell preservation all benefit from vitamin A.
Many myths surround the necessity of vitamin A supplements. Carotenoids, the “vitamin A” present in vegetables like carrots, pumpkin, and kale, are the first type of vitamin A to be discussed. Vitamin A can also be found in animal products, such as liver, under the name retinoids. The body changes carotenoids into retinoids, which perform vitamin A’s various roles.
It has been suggested that carotenoids from foods like carrots, pumpkin, and kale can be transformed into retinoids, the active form of vitamin A, negating the need to supplement with retinoids (animal vitamin A).
That’s not how easy it is. Research has demonstrated that boosting retinoid levels is not as simple as delivering a large dose of carotenoids. As a side note, we don’t recommend carotenoid supplements because they’ve been linked to an increased risk of cancer (typically because they only contain one or a few forms of carotenoids, blocking the absorption of other carotenoids).
As a result, we advise taking no more than 2,500 units of retinyl palmitate per day as vitamin A.
What’s the deal with capping vitamin A at 2,500 IU? Too much vitamin A has been linked to an increased risk of osteoporosis, according to research. No need to worry though; the daily dose of vitamin A involved here is at least 10,000 units. In addition, vitamin D, which is required for proper vitamin A metabolism, was not provided.
Health supplements versus longevity (“anti-aging”) supplements
“Healthy lifespan supplements” refer to the products we’ve discussed thus far. Our bodies can’t function correctly without these nutrients, and they’re crucial to living a long, healthy life. Inadequate intake of these nutrients has been linked to an increased risk of disease and premature aging.
Given that inadequacies can reduce lifespan, they have the potential to enhance the median lifetime.
Contrarily, “longevity supplements” are also available. These supplements are superior to healthy lifespan supplements since they can prevent premature aging and increase the maximum lifespan. Fisetin, alpha-ketoglutarate, pterostilbene, NMN (nicotinamide riboside), and many others fall within this category. Their function in aging is discussed in greater detail elsewhere on this website.