As a integrative nutrition health and wellness coach I am frequently asked about vitamins – do we need them; which ones should I take? Let me do my best to answer.

For those of you who know me, you already know my answer. For those of you who don’t, the answer is…

YES… you need to take a multi vitamin.

A healthy diet rich in whole foods is #1. But you can’t get everything you need from food for optimal-healthiest-you levels of nutrients to only get the lowest-required-levels. Our busy lifestyles, stress, and exercise also increases what and the amount of antioxidants your body needs. The RDAs just aren’t enough anymore. Think of the supplements as a way to Future Proof Your Health™ against nutritional deficiencies & give a boost to help your cells with optimal function levels.

Vitamins & Minerals are absolutely essential to keep the body resilient and functioning optimally. Even the Journal Of The American Medical Association (JAMA) has stated, “[…] Suboptimal intake of some vitamins, above levels causing classic vitamin deficiency, is a risk factor for chronic diseases […] it appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements.” (Read the abstract here.)

I studied for a year with the world’s leading experts in the field of nutrition and wellness. and I don’t recall one of them saying to skip taking multivitamins. In fact, most said that they were absolutely necessary and they take themselves everyday.

I believe also it’s beneficial to take a few other key nutritional supplements including a pure, distilled fish oil (or a vegan flax oil), a probiotic with at least 1 billion live cultures, vitamin D3 in fall and winter, and maybe some others based on your own specific needs.

I have included a link to a Health Assessment to learn more about what vitamins you should be taking based on your lifestyle.

Are your vitamins doing you good?

I am not a scientist, but over the past 12 years I have found not all supplements are created equal.

The reason people think supplements don’t work is because, honestly, a lot of them just don’t. The super sized bottle of 1,000 take-only-once-per-day tablets that you buy the same place you get the other super sized household supplies (and even tires) mostly likely won’t hurt you, but they certainly aren’t helping anything either. What’s sad is that many supplements on the market today aren’t “clean” (aka fish oil can be highly contaminated with mercury if not distilled properly.) and can be doing you more harm.

Since I take supplements every day; give to my kids; recommend to my family, friends and clients; my philosophy with supplements is to buy only from companies who specialize in making them and are recognized for being the best in their field.

I would rather spend a few extra dollars to get something effective and potent instead of save a few bucks on something that doesn’t work. I don’t chose my supplements as a great financial decision to save a few extra bucks because if I did, I’d really just flushing money down the toilet and that is throwing money away.

In short, I recommend you stop buying the cheapest supplements you can find in the biggest bottle or on the 2-for-1 sale display. I suggest you get them from a company that is known for their science, research & development and high-quality manufacturing processes. Think about it, in the long run investing in high-quality saves you money.

Do your research and look at the label; the book The Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements – is an excellent 3rd party guide full of studies ($20 on Amazon.com).

It is also important to understand the marketing of health products is like a science itself and is cleaver to say the least. Did you know most supplement companies outsource the production of their supplements but you wouldn’t know that from their marketing?

My criteria for choosing supplements:

   Extra potent and complete (no wasting $$)

   Priced well (affordable)

   Clinically tested for absorbability (if my body can’t absorb it why take it at all)

   Clinically tested for purity and safety (proven + certified)

   Manufactured by a true R&D company (makes their own in house)

I started using supplements from USANA Health Sciences almost 13 years ago when I was just turning 40 and I won’t go a day without them. I can feel a difference in my energy, my mental clarity, see it in my skin, enhanced my immune system (recover quicker), and really in my overall well-being.

After much research, I’ve chosen USANA Health Sciences as my exclusive product partner. Not only do they fit the bill for everything I was looking for above but they continue to have product and scientific breakthroughs like their Nutritional Hybrid technology. This includes a 5-Star Rating in the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements (5 editions + Editors Choice), pharmaceutical-quality manufacturing standards (approved FDA Registered manufacturing facility, very rare for a supplement company), Potency Guarantee, meets USP specifications, plus excellent customer service (awarded by Consumers Lab), and great prices. They are also the #1 award winner for customer service, and I value that too.

DID YOU KNOW? YOU’D HAVE TO EAT 22,000 CALORIES PER DAY AND SPEND MORE THAN $33 PER DAY TO GET THE SAME AMOUNT OF NUTRIENTS FOUND IN A DAILY DOSE OF THE USANA ESSENTIALS MULTIVITAMIN ALONE.

How do you chose what to take?

This interactive tool is very fun and highly informative and takes just a few minutes to do. It will give you three personalized reports to help you make an informed decision. Includes:

Lifestyle Report
Top Health Risk Areas Report
Supplement Recommendations Report

You can choose to order when you have completed the assessment after making any adjustment you might want to. If you do, be sure to select to become one of my Preferred Customer (FREE of course) so you can save 10-20% off retail pricing (this is also what I pay too so you don’t have to pay any more that I do). Please be sure to use my free health assessment link to get the lowest price options.

The health assessment will give you customized recommendations based on what information you input; and you are able to edit your final list at the end based on your own personal preferences, too.

If you are interested in what I take from USANA, here it is:

* Essentials™ Multivitamin (and I don’t need extras like B complexes or C – it’s all in here)
* BiOmega™ Fish Oil (advanced and guaranteed levels of EPA and DHA omega-3’s)
* Proflavonal C® 100 (Nutritonal Hybrid advanced antioxidant)
* CoQuoine® 30 (Clinically proven to deliver more CoQ10 into bloodstream)
* Antioxidant Booster (one of my fav’s)
* Active Calcium/Magnesium/Vitamin D
* USANA Probiotic (with my smoothies every other day)
* Digestive Enzymes before meals
* Hepasil DTX™ (advanced liver detox and support)
* Procosa (because my joints need the extra glucosamine and curcumin love these days)
* Vitamin D (optimal formula I take mostly in the winter)

(Click here to find out all about each product I take but use the Health Assessment to determine which you need. Sign up as a free Preferred Customer at the end of the Health Asssesment or at this site. )

I did not start off taking all these so don’t get nervous. I started with the Essentials and Fish Oil (what I recommend) and moved up from there – remember things change in our bodies with age and we need to adapt our diet and our supplements. I take what my age and body needs (like adding Procosa for joints a couple years ago) in the best more potent form so I don’t have bottles and bottles to be worried about.

Some GREAT NEWS: USANA is now a Trusted Product Partner and Sponsor of the Dr. Oz Show.

“For The Dr. Oz Show to call any company a Trusted Partner and Sponsor, it must meet certain criteria. Chief among them is integrity. We’ve done our research and found USANA to be an outstanding company. One that offers cutting-edge products that we here at the show would feel comfortable recommending to our wonderful audience,” said Dr. Mehmet Oz, cardiothoracic surgeon and three-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning host of the three-time Emmy Daytime Award-winning The Dr. Oz Show.

USANA Products on the Dr. Oz Show include:

Procosa for joint pain + health. Read more…
Proflavonal C100 for heart health + antioxidant support. Read more…

I hope this is helpful and that you know why I recommend USANA; you can trust that it is for the right reasons. Please ask me anything about supplements if I haven’t answered it in this blog. Just shoot me an email at cindy@cindynunnery.com

We only have one body – treat it right!

(I want to disclose: As an independent distributor of the company I may receive compensation should you choose to order products through the assessment link. There is no compensatation for you taking the free health assessment or you creating a free Preferred Customer Account.)

What vitamins should you be taking?