For a while I also subscribed to Consumer Labs web site but it didn't take me long to realise it was a scam set up designed to make money for the site owners without actually providing information that would be helpful to the consumer.
This website article on Consumerlabs explains how it works
I do think it's important that before people take any supplements they understand why they may or may not need them and also do the research to understand what form is best for them and how much of that supplement is likely to be effective.
I do not believe that simply going to the local health food shop, spending a lot of money on supplements will guarantee any improvement in health.
The only way supplements may help is to help correct any current micro nutrient deficiency state.
We all have sufficient common sense to use one of the many online calculators for calcium and/or magnesium intake.
We can all find where our water comes from and ask our water provider how much calcium/magnesium it contains so we should all be able to work out if our DAILY INTAKE matches the
RDA for our age sex calcium
and for
magnesium
I think we all have sufficient common sense to know that food sources of both will be better utilized by the body. But what if there is a difference between what the RDA for calcium or magnesium is and our current consumption.
Sure the first and major effort should be by increasing our food sources. Brazil nuts almonds are relatively easy to source but There may be some people who despite their best efforts end up not consuming the RDA for either calcium or magnesium.
There seems to me to be very little point in people working out the MINIMUM amount of micro-nutrients humans require to prevent short latency conditions developing if we then just ignore that micro nutrient deficiency state. Bear in mind I've used the word Minimum deliberately as there is for magnesium very good reason to believe the "official" minimum should be higher as also applies to the "official RDA" for vitamin D3.
I owe a debt of gratitude to
Ashton Embry for his list of supplements which I believe should be the starting point.
While I don't dispute his calcium requirement is appropriate most people should source MOST of that from food/water and limit to 600mg/daily (stroke risk) calcium from supplements.
The list includes No flush Niacin (B3): 2 g I'd suggest that given the provision of Quercetin: 400 mg further down the list most people will find (after a period of gradual build up for acclimatization) that taking normal (the type the produces a flush) about 20mins
after Quercetin and on a full stomach the flush will not be noticed. I take quercetin, 20mins before bedtime and the niacin when in bed and I don't know if I flush or not because by the time it happens (if it does) I'm fast asleep.
For UK readers if they get a £25 Postal Vitamin d 25(OH)D TEST from CityAssays this will tell them their current levels. In order to enable full absorption of calcium from dietary sources the minimum vitamin D level should be 100nmol/l and some people still find levels up to 110nmol/l are required for maximum calcium uptake. (remember the RDA's are set to get the average person to a minimum standard and are not the levels to get EVERYONE to OPTIMAL levels.
The maximum anti inflammatory action of vitamin D is achieved at 125nmol/l 50ng/ml and if you are breast feeding and think human milk should be a vitamin d replete food for your baby then you need to ensure 25(OH)D is around 60ng/ml 150nmol/l.
We all have to understand how MODERN FOODS and MODERN LIFESTYLES have deviated from those our ancestors experienced while our DNA was evolving. Human skin is set to produce 10,000iu minimum vitamin D given FULL BODY sun exposure but mostly we expose face/hands only (less than 10%) and we have this exposed all the time both indoors and out. UVB levels (that turns 7 dehydrocholesterol into cholecalciferol) are generally most advantageous about midday and for the rest of the day UVA is turning cholecalciferol into suprasterols the body doesn't use so degrading vitamin d levels (particularly for people who mainly get sunlight filtered through glass windows/windscreens/plastic roofs) Our skies are polluted with particles and ozone from cars/planes and these block UVB from reaching ground level and so generally human vitamin d status is lower than at any time in human history. Diet can at best only supply 10% of our daily vitamin D requirement so most people will find effective strength D3 (1000iu per 25lbs weight) as the safest and best option.
Do be aware that the form of Vitamin D2 supplied by most doctors/health professionals is the plant form Ergocalciferol and this speeds up the catabolism of vitamin D (the rate your body junks vitamin d) so within a few years makes vitamin D deficiency worse for some people. Cholecalciferol Vitamin D3 is readily available by post in the UK Amazon or Big Vits do a years supply of D3 drops/capsules around £10 so it's not worth asking your doctor for either however it will be useful if after using an effective amount of D3 for 12~24weeks you retest 25(OH)D and adjust the daily intake up/down to ensure you stay around the 125~150nmol/l 50~60ng/ml and explain what you are doing to your doctor so your health professionals start to learn what actually is required to keep people healthy.
