Tuesday, October 20

Top 5 Daily Supplements

So just a little introduction: I'm not recommending these things in any sort of medical fashion. This isn't sponsored. This is what we do in our family and it works for us. Consult your doctor, do what works for you.

I'm sharing it because I like posts like this and I generally like to know what other people prefer before I buy something. Sometimes I don't care. But if a fish oil tastes horrible, I want to know that going in.

Now that we have that out of the way, let's get to the good stuff. The following is what we take daily. The vitamin D we cut down on and sometimes take a break from over the summer. The prices I found are current as of today on VitaCost (not sponsored, no affiliate links here!). That is where I purchase these items and I think they have the best prices (other than Amazon, but sometimes I wonder about the safety of buying supplements from Amazon). Hm. Anyway...


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1. Carlson's Arctic Cod Liver oil (liquid, not capsules) in strawberry flavor. 
Why we take it: Do I need to go into a big tangent on Omega 3s or do you get it? My favorite explanation of the importance of cod liver oil is in this book. I also like the discussion of bone broth in there and it's the reason I make chicken broth almost weekly in the fall/winter! (Also because it's easy and not time consuming like you'd think, and that works for me).

I like to use the liquid because I can just half the dose for Carter (it's the exact same nutrition facts for the kids' version, just doubled). Plus it's more economical than the capsules.
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How we take it: In a little splash of green juice! Usually Naked or Odwalla brand just because they're fruit-heavy and totally cover the taste and texture of the oil. I've taken the oil straight and honestly the taste is great, not at all fishy and super strawberry-ish, I just don't like the texture of oil.

2. Garden of Life probiotics for kids.
Why: Carter takes one tablet a day. I chose these because they have a 5 billion dosage and a lot of kids' probiotics only have 3 billion. I say bring on the billions. I give it to him for immunity, and also because he has a sensitive stomach and it seems to help him.

How: Chewable! He takes it either with breakfast or dinner. Whenever we remember.

3. Adult probiotics. Pretty self-explanatory! I usually only take 1 capsule a day, but I up it if I feel like I'm coming down with something.

4. Vitamin D3 for kids.
Why: Why not?! Even if you take a little too much vitamin D, it's not a bad thing. Also, you can say "go out in the sun" all you want, but in New England that's not going to be enough from basically October through April. And even in the summer, Carter would burn before he ever got his 45 minutes in so a supplement it is. I don't take sun burn chances with his super fair skin and melanoma in our family. Eek.

How: I usually add this to the same green juice as his fish oil. The probiotic he takes has d3 too so I don't go crazy with this one and it lasts a long time.

5. Adult vitamin D3
I feel so much better when I take vitamin D. Happier, more energy. I mean it's no cup of coffee, but the way I feel during the winter when I take it regularly compared to how I've felt in the past with no vitamin D to speak of, is a huge difference. Also, I feel like superwoman when I go get my blood drawn at my doctor's office and they're all, "You'll probably be low in vitamin D, everyone is," and then I get the phone call, "Your vitamin D levels are perfect." Yeah. OBVS. Am I the only one who feels accomplished when I hear this? Ha!

It might seem pricey when you add it all up, but both of our bottles of vitamin D last over a year because we forget some days (doesn't everyone?) and we go easy on it in the summer. The fish oil lasts about 3 months with three of us taking it (Carter regularly and Tom and I sporadically). Same with the adult probiotics. The only thing we replace often (monthly) is Carter's probiotic. 

1 comment:

Mademoiselle Michael Blog said...

I just stocked up on vitamins today! I have been terrible at taking mine...eek! Now I have no excuses. Miss you!!

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