3 things to consider when supplementing - from a Nutritionist
I love using supplements, and they are particularly useful in our health toolkit. As a Certified Practising Nutritionist I absolutely prescribe supplements, and I choose supplements from super reputable entities that are specifically indicated for illness and disease. My principles in prescription of food, movement, socialisation and supplementing are always centred around safety, sustainability and how this affects relationship with food. So you might ask, how do you know when is the right time to prescribe supplements? Here are three things to remember...
I see all sorts of beautiful clients at all stages in their lives and with all sorts of health goings-ons. And equally, all my clients have different levels of external stuff, like capacity, motivation, finance, time, mobility, age, gender you know what I mean? And all those things matter, and all those things influence my client's health journey and how I as a practitioner help them on their journey.
So three things to remember when supplementing - from a Nutritionist;
1. As a practitioner, food is always first. And I try to prescribe food first in with all my clients before I steer in the direction of supplementation. This is because I believe food is the unequivocal foundation of sustainable health. And food and the ceremony around eating cultivates so much meaning and enjoyment that can be positively associated with creating that sustainable health journey.
2. Secondly, I really take into consideration a client's life stage, because at different times in your life, your health demands different things. For example, our adolescents require protein because they are explodingly growing. Young girls who are beginning their menstruating journey demand Iron. Post menopausal women should be protecting their bones so require more Calcium, Vitamin D and K2. Men in their 40s are notoriously experiencing excessive stress and require protective Zinc to cope with that... and the list goes on. So it's having an understanding of life stage and weighing up whether there is a demand for extra help through supplementation.
3. And finally, considering a client's external influences and factors whether it be, motivational, mental, financial, who's looking after their health care, and just how depleted or sick a client is, will determine the need, or urgency or frequency of supplementation. Because food can absolutely form part of the solution to health hurdles, it's whether or not that is sufficient and if the client has the capability at that moment.
So in a little enteric coated capsule, as a Nutritionist I think supplements are a fantastic tool in your health tool kit, and I can throw in the standard line about how they don't replace a balanced diet, but it's so much more than that. I consider them a strategically considered approach that flies alongside my founding principles of safety, sustainability and relationship with food.
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