Just as there is a distinct science to making effective supplements, there is a science to taking them. People often complain that supplements don’t work, or even get digestive problems and nausea when taking them. Nine times out of ten the problem is not the supplement, but how it’s being taken. Taking supplements properly can improve one’s quality of life by actually having the nutrients do what they are supposed to do and most of the supplements on the market that are worth your time and energy are not cheap; proper use insures your are getting the full value of money well spent.
Now, if like most people you start your day with a cup of coffee, don’t take ANY supplements until at least one hour after you’ve finished it. You see, coffee is very acidic in the best of circumstances; organic, slow roasted-whatever (I shudder at the numbers of people who drink coffee that’s been sitting in a pot for hours, slowly burning to death). Coffee can “sear” through most of the nutrients in the supplement and likely damage the rest.
Absorbability is a huge issue in supplement formulation, as companies try to outdo one another with claims that one form of a nutrient is more absorbable than other. This is a major hullabaloo with calcium in particular; but whatever form of calcium you choose to take ALWAYS take it with food. For my full take on the sordid world of calcium please read my article entitled “Hearts and Bones”.
As my pint sized, brilliant and fantastic teacher used to say “Minerals ride around the body in protein taxis”, so always take a mineral supplement with a meal, with the majority of it at lunch and dinner as your body needs calcium and magnesium to sleep properly. Another tip; don’t take all of your pills at once. If you are supposed to take 4 a day, take two with lunch and two with dinner. Especially in the case of calcium; if you take too much at once, it floods your blood and can cause cramping and possibly leech calcium from your body to facilitate its absorption.
Multivitamins should also ALWAYS be taken with meals. Your body is in digest mode and can is ready to assimilate the extra nutrients. If people take multi’s on an empty stomach they often get nauseous, this is usually from the flood of B vitamins coursing through your veins unchecked, as most multi’s have huge amounts of B vitamins, because, well, they’re good for everything…
If you have troublesome digestion the supplements you would take to remedy your situation would be taken on an empty stomach to prep the system for proper digestion. Probiotics (or beneficial bacteria) should always be taken on an empty stomach so that they will proliferate throughout your digestive system and not get digested with your food. Digestive enzymes and bitters should be taken 20 minutes or so before you eat to gear up those gastric juices for efficient meal assimilation, after all you are what you eat!
Other supplements that should be taken on an empty stomach are Proteolytic enzymes like my good friend Bromelain, which are for “eating” scar tissue from an injury or fibrin in atherosclerosis sufferers. Taken on an empty stomach they focus on the areas where they are needed and not on digesting your food.
More important than all of these tidbits is that you take your supplement AS DIRECTED. There are these nice guidelines on the bottle that tell you when and how to use the product properly. So put your ego and fear aside and heed the darn directions!
A quick review:
• Don’t take supplements within an hour of drinking Coffee
• With meals: multivitamins and minerals, essential fatty acids and most supplements (use as directed!!!)
• Empty stomach: probiotics, digestive and proteolytic enzymes, bitters, as well as most “weight loss” products.
• Don’t take your pills all at once-spread them out throughout the course of the day. (And through a meal, take a bite, take a pill, take another few bites, take a sip of water, take another pill etc etc)
• Always read the label before using and use as directed!
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