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A Commonsense Guide to Supplementation

  • Writer: Mary Daniel
    Mary Daniel
  • Jun 17
  • 9 min read

Recognizing Different Perspectives on Supplements

Recognizing that when I choose to talk about supplements, as I’m doing now, you, as the reader, may have already formulated an opinion. You may have come from an earlier time when someone suggested that supplements aren’t needed if you’re healthy. Or, you may have come from an earlier time when someone suggested that a multi-vitamin is needed if you’re not getting sufficient dosages through the foods you eat. Or you may be coming from a current or past time when you had cabinets filled to the brim with supplements and can no longer recall who suggested each one, and why. And finally, you may just be someone who has done research and taken a very measured approach to supplements and deems them important to achieve your health goals. All the above are legitimate and therefore understandable ways to consider supplementation. My own perspective has certainly evolved over the years, shaped both by personal health challenges and the natural process of aging. As with any recommendations—whether from me or anyone else in your life—there is no universal answer to the question: Should I consider supplements, modify my current regimen, or eliminate them altogether? The answer ultimately comes down to how you feel when taking them, supported by research and a healthy dose of common sense.


Please consult your primary care provider if you have questions or concerns. What follows reflects my personal opinion; while I am a trained health coach, I am not a licensed medical practitioner.


Why Supplements Are Necessary in Today’s World

Here's what I think: You shouldn’t need to take supplements. But the reality is this: Modern farming practices, food processing, and even environmental factors have stripped many foods of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, making it impossible to get everything your body needs from diet alone. And this can be true even if you’re among the healthiest of eaters.


That’s why vitamin and mineral supplements aren’t just a nice option, they’re a crucial tool for maintaining and optimizing overall health. Yes, they’re often labeled as “unnecessary” in certain medical circles. But I’m going to illustrate why the right supplements are essential for preventing deficiencies and ensuring your body functions at its fullest potential.


Cutting Through Conflicting Information About Supplements

To be sure, there are plenty of conflicting reports about the benefits, effectiveness, and even safety of vitamin and mineral supplements. Unlike drug medications, which are designed to have specific, targeted effects, these nutrients are natural substances your body already uses. What’s more, one nutrient can influence many functions in your body. Because of this, the effects of specific vitamin and mineral supplementation can be harder to isolate and measure, leading to varying study results. This is one reason there’s so much contradictory information reported about them.


I believe we can cut through the noise and get a better understanding of why supplements are more important now than ever. Before we dive in, let’s take a quick step back and look at what vitamins and minerals do for you (it might be more than you think!).


The Crucial Role of Vitamins and Minerals in Your Body

Most of us have heard and know “vitamins and minerals are good for you,” but the question remains, why? These compounds are key players in countless chemical reactions in your body—millions a day. They’re involved in everything: from helping process the oxygen you breathe, to fighting off viruses, to turning food into energy.


To kick-start these reactions, your body relies on enzymes. Think of enzymes like tiny machines that speed up these reactions, helping the body break down food, build tissues, and carry out many other essential processes efficiently.


Every enzyme has a “helper”—called a cofactor or coenzyme—that assists in its function. This is where vitamins and minerals come in: They’re the helpers!


For instance, vitamin B12 acts as a coenzyme in the process of making red blood cells. So without enough vitamin B12, your body can’t produce healthy red blood cells, which can lead to fatigue and other health issues.


This is why consuming optimal levels of vitamins and minerals is so important. Which brings us to an especially important question…


Are Hidden Deficiencies Sabotaging Your Health?

In the Western world, deficiencies in calories and macronutrients—carbohydrates, fat, and protein—are rare. That’s because getting enough food isn’t a problem for most Americans. (This isn’t meant to dismiss the fact that many people face food scarcity.) But here’s the real issue: Approximately 99% of the American population is deficient in at least some essential vitamins and minerals, particularly trace minerals. Trace minerals, although needed in very small amounts, play crucial roles in many bodily functions. Over time, hidden deficiencies can lead to serious health issues beneath the surface.

For example, you might have weaker bones, increasing your risk of osteoporosis. Or you could develop atherosclerosis—where fatty deposits, including cholesterol, build up and harden in your arteries, leading to cardiovascular disease.


On the outside, you may appear fine, but internally, your body is rusting and breaking down. Understanding and addressing these hidden deficiencies is crucial for maintaining your health and preventing long-term damage.


Understanding Optimal Nutrient Levels vs. RDAs

Optimal levels of vitamins and minerals refer to the amount of nutrients you need to achieve the best possible health outcomes, including improved physical performance, cognitive function, disease prevention, and overall well-being.


Consider this example: To avoid a deficiency that could lead to scurvy, you would only need about 7-10 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C per day. But to fully saturate your body’s tissues and provide optimal antioxidant protection, you might need around 1,000 mg (two doses of 500 mg) of vitamin C per day or more. Similarly, preventing rickets requires only 600 IU/day of vitamin D. But to achieve the best health benefits, you may need about 5,000 IU/day of vitamin D.


The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) or Adequate Intakes (AIs) set by health agencies are designed to prevent serious deficiencies. While these recommendations can help most healthy individuals get the minimum amount of nutrients needed to avoid obvious deficiency symptoms and disease, they don’t account for individual variability or specific health conditions—and they’re often far below what your body needs to thrive.


Why Are So Many People Deficient in Minerals?

How could so many people be mineral deficient when overeating is so common in the United States? Let’s look at some of the top contributors.


Reason #1: Overconsumption of Highly Refined Foods

The foods we eat today are highly refined, stripping away many essential minerals during processing. In fact, our food is about 30% less nutritious than it was in 1940. To get the same level of minerals as someone did 80 years ago, you’d need to eat 30% more food.


This drop in nutrient density is a huge reason why so many of us are experiencing mineral deficiency. It’s a classic case of being “overfed but undernourished.” And it’s likely one of the biggest contributors to chronic disease and premature death.


Consider this: The average American consumes about 134 pounds of sugar per year, plus loads of other refined foods like doughnuts, cakes, cookies, ice cream, potato chips, candy, and soda. Eating too many of these highly refined foods does more than just load you up with empty calories. Not only have they been stripped of minerals, but they also require minerals to metabolize their calories. This results in a net loss in your body’s mineral levels.


In addition, these foods cause inflammation, which makes your body work harder. More minerals are used up by enzymes trying to combat this stress, leaving fewer available for other vital functions.

Too much sugar also raises insulin levels, which can cause you to lose calcium and magnesium through urine. Over time, this can lead to insulin resistance—where your cells become “numb” to insulin. And when that happens, your body struggles to absorb important minerals like magnesium and potassium.


So, the more refined foods eaten, the more depleted your body becomes of these crucial micronutrients. This creates a ripple effect on your health. As example, they make it harder to lose weight—and a lot easier to gain it. When your body’s low on essential nutrients, it craves more food, trying to get what it needs. But no amount of processed junk will satisfy that craving because it’s lacking in those nutrients.


There’s no question that eating real, nutrient-rich food helps you feel more satisfied and reduces the urge to overeat. Getting enough vitamins and minerals improves how your body burns calories, regulates your appetite, lowers inflammation, boosts detoxification, aids digestion, balances stress hormones, and helps your cells respond better to insulin (which you want!).


Reason #2: Soil Erosion and Industrial Farming Practices

Ideally, you’d consume a diet rich in whole, unprocessed foods packed with natural nutrients and polyphenols. But here’s the catch: even before our food hits the processing stage, a lot is already missing key nutrients, thanks to industrial farming practices.


Harmful farming methods, such as intensive tillage and the overuse of herbicides and pesticides, destroy the soil microbiome. This is the vital ecosystem that helps plants pull nutrients from the soil. When that’s disrupted, the soil itself gets depleted.


And it’s a domino effect: Plants pull fewer nutrients from the soil, and then animals that eat those plants get fewer nutrients, too. Consider this: between 1940 and 1999, the amount of magnesium in vegetables dropped by 24%, in fruit by 17%, in meat by 15%, and in cheese by 26%. Add to all this the widespread use of synthetic fertilizers, which are designed to boost crop yields by adding nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to the soil.


However, this focus on just a few nutrients can lead to an imbalance, causing a decline in other essential minerals like magnesium, zinc, iron, and iodine in the crops. As a result, the fruits, veggies, and animal products you’re eating today just don’t have the same nutrient punch they did a few decades ago.


If you’re not eating foods that are grown regeneratively or organically, chances are you’ll need to supplement to fill in the gaps.


Reason #3: Heavy Metals in the Food Supply

Heavy metals like lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, and aluminum (although aluminum is technically a toxin, rather than a heavy metal) have made their way into our food supply, thanks to industrial pollution. Once they’re in your system, they compete with essential minerals for absorption and enzyme binding, effectively pushing out the good stuff your body needs to function properly. One of the best defenses against heavy metal toxicity? A diet rich in essential minerals.


For example, selenium is a potent detoxifier that can help neutralize some of mercury’s harmful effects. So if you eat a lot of fish, like tuna, a diet rich in selenium can help you counteract some of the mercury intake from seafood. (However, it’s important to remember that while selenium offers protection, it doesn’t eliminate the risks entirely; you still want to be mindful about your intake and avoid fish with high mercury levels!)


Supplement Recommendations for Common Health Challenges

The table below is a good foundation for exploring and expanding awareness about supplementation. While mine is not an exhaustive list, I think you’ll find it helpful. For a deeper dive, read Dr. Mark Hyman’s supplement list here. Dr. Hyman is a medical doctor who researches and writes about the benefits of functional medicine. This type of medicine practitioner seeks to identify and address the root causes of disease, and views the body as one integrated system, not a collection of independent organs divided up by medical specialties. It treats the whole system, not just the symptoms. Functional medicine is the path I’ve been on for years and I incorporate what I’ve learned into my coaching practice. One final recommendation is to consider the SuppCo supplement tracker app, a well-regarded phone app, where users can optimize supplement routines and save money. The app's features, such as the Stack Analysis tool and the TrustScore brand rating system, are particularly helpful. 


Thank you for reading, but mostly for making your health a priority.



Health Challenge

Potential Helpful Supplements

Joint Pain / Arthritis

Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM, Omega-3 fatty acids (Fish Oil), Turmeric (Curcumin), Vitamin D

Anxiety / Stress

Magnesium, Ashwagandha, L-theanine, Rhodiola rosea, GABA, B-complex vitamins

Depression / Low Mood

Omega-3s (EPA/DHA), Vitamin D, B-complex (esp. B6, B12, Folate), SAM-e, 5-HTP

Poor Sleep / Insomnia

Melatonin, Magnesium, Valerian root, L-theanine, GABA, Glycine

High Blood Pressure

Magnesium, CoQ10, Potassium, Omega-3 fatty acids, Garlic extract

High Cholesterol

Omega-3s, Niacin (Vitamin B3), Plant sterols/stanols, Red yeast rice, Soluble fiber (e.g., psyllium)

Low Energy / Fatigue

B12, Iron (if deficient), CoQ10, Rhodiola, Ashwagandha, Maca, Vitamin D

Immune Support

Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc, Elderberry, Echinacea, Probiotics

Digestive Issues / IBS

Probiotics, Peppermint oil, Digestive enzymes, L-glutamine, Slippery elm

Poor Memory / Focus

Omega-3s, Ginkgo biloba, Bacopa monnieri, Lion's Mane mushroom, B-complex

Diabetes / Blood Sugar

Chromium, Berberine, Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA), Cinnamon extract, Magnesium

PMS / Hormonal Imbalance

Vitex (Chaste Tree), Magnesium, B6, Evening primrose oil, Calcium

Bone Health / Osteoporosis

Calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Magnesium, Boron

Skin Health / Acne

Zinc, Vitamin A, Omega-3s, Probiotics, Vitamin E

Eye Health

Lutein, Zeaxanthin, Vitamin A, Zinc, Omega-3s, Bilberry


 
 
 

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