Do You Need a Multivitamin?
Forrest Health supplies many different health-promoting brands, including two organic liquid vitamin supplements—intraKID liquid multi-vitamin for kids and intraMAX for adults. Multivitamins are designed to address vitamin, mineral, fatty acid, and amino acid deficiencies—but do even the best multivitamins take the place of a proper diet?
The answer is no. Multivitamins are not a substitute for a varied, balanced diet. Although they can be beneficial for many people, the vitamins and minerals in food are more easily absorbed into the body. However, a multivitamin can ensure you get an adequate supply of calcium, zinc, magnesium, manganese, iron, beta-carotene, vitamin D, and different types of B vitamins.
How Do I Know if I Need a Multivitamin?
The nutritional needs of each individual are different. You might need an extra daily dose if you have a known vitamin or mineral deficiency or medical condition. People with digestion problems fall into this category, including those with Crohn’s disease. Others who may benefit include:
- Older adults: People over age 60 may need more B vitamins, vitamin D, or magnesium in their diet, which can be supplied through multivitamins.
- Women who plan to become pregnant: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends women of childbearing age get 400 micrograms of folic acid daily.1
- Pregnant women: An extra boost of vitamins and minerals is often advised if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, but it’s best to discuss your needs with a healthcare professional.
- Those on a strict diet: You may need nutritional supplements if you’re on a rigorous weight-loss plan, have had gastric bypass surgery, or are a vegan and eat no animal products.
Most multivitamins are marketed to certain groups, such as men, women, children, or the elderly. Many products come in pill form, but there are choices if you don’t like or can’t swallow pills; examples include gel-coated capsules and even liquid vitamins.
Will a Multivitamin Make Me Healthier?
Many products are advertised to improve health and/or make you more energetic. That’s really not the focus of multivitamins, but they can effectively compensate for deficiencies in your body and, particularly, in processed food. According to the National Institutes of Health, over one-third of Americans take dietary supplements.2
However, multivitamin/mineral supplements are not strictly regulated, so there’s no standard as far as ingredients and dosages. People need to be cautious about multivitamin consumption. Too much vitamin A, D, K, or other fat-soluble vitamins can be toxic in high enough quantities over time.
If you’re thinking about starting to take multivitamins, consult with a healthcare professional about your nutritional requirements or, if you’re on any medications, discuss whether certain vitamins can interact with them.
Organic Vitamin Supplements
The best multivitamins are ones that meet your exact dietary needs. Forrest Health sells intraKID, an organic supplement with over 215 nutrients and 71 trace minerals. Over 415 ingredients are found in intraMAX, including 80+ vitamins, 62 fruit and vegetable extracts, and 154 antioxidants.
Overall, multivitamins can be good for blood, bone, digestive, skin, and immune health. Continue browsing to learn more about our organic liquid vitamin supplements from Drucker Labs or contact us online or at 408-354-4262 with questions.
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Fight Flu Season with the Right Supplements
Flu season is right around the corner once again. Undoubtedly, you’ve dealt with a flu virus at least once in your life, so you know how uncomfortable and draining it can be. Thankfully, using immune support supplements can help you fight the flu all season long.
Herbal supplements, along with the proper nutrition, can help boost your body’s immune system so you can fight the flu naturally.
If you’re not sure which nutritional supplements work to fend off the flu, don’t worry. We will cover a couple of key immune system supplements you can put to the test.
We’ll also show you how nutrition can have a huge impact on how strong your immune system is and how well it can stand up to viruses like the flu.
What Are the Best Natural Immune System Booster Vitamins?
You’ve probably heard of things like vitamin C and zinc to help fight off the flu and colds. While those supplements are beneficial, there are also plenty more to consider.
You shouldn’t just start taking nutritional supplements once you get sick. By taking them regularly beforehand, you can naturally give your immune system a boost that works to prevent viruses from taking root. As a result, you’re less likely to get hit with the flu, and if you do, the symptoms will likely be less severe.
So, what are some of the best immune-boosting supplements, and how do they help? A few of the most effective include:
- NotaSAN – These capsules help with inflammation and resolve infections.
- QuentaSAN – This helps to reduce the negative symptoms associated with infections.
- Mycobactin S – This is often used with viral infections, like the flu, because it is an immune system adaptogen.
Any of these supplements will help fight off the flu because they’re natural and effective immune boosters. If you’re already suffering from the flu, they can help knock it out quickly.
The Right Nutrition for a Healthy Immune System
Did you know that your diet can have a big impact on how well your immune system works? Eating for your health can really help when it comes to staving off sickness. One of the best things you can do is to eat a well-balanced, nutritious diet. This includes whole grains, lean proteins, and plenty of fruits and vegetables.
There are some foods, like garlic, ginger, green tea, and spinach, that are commonly associated with boosting the immune system. By including more anti-inflammatory and vitamin-rich foods in your diet, you’ll have a better chance of staying healthy this flu season.
If you’re having a hard time getting the nutrition your body needs from your food, take a daily multivitamin to supplement your diet.
Natural Ways to Fight Off the Flu
No one wants to get sick, but some people don’t want to worry about getting a flu shot or taking dose after dose of medications that could have dangerous side effects. Thankfully, you don’t have to.
There are many natural options to improve your immune system. By trying these supplements and eating a well-balanced diet, you can stay healthier this flu season and lower your chances of contracting this debilitating virus. Contact Forrest Health for more information.
Top 5 Benefits of Taking Fish Oil Supplements
Fish oil has become one of the most commonly used nutritional supplements because of its many health benefits. Fish oil supplements offer omega-3 fatty acids—something many of us don’t get enough of from our daily diets.
Unlike Omega-6 acids, Omega-3s help to do things like reduce inflammation and tumor growth and the risk of blood clots. Unfortunately, our diets have started to take a shift in more recent years, and more people are getting omega-6 acids from things like corn oil and soy oil.
Offsetting the Omega-6 acids with Omega-3s (found in flaxseed oil and fatty fish) can help to fight back against some of the risks Omega 6s pose. So, what are the other top benefits of taking fish oil vitamins? Some may surprise you!
1. Better for Your Mental Health
Fish oil contains a fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The brain contains about 20 grams of DHA and needs it in order to function properly. When DHA levels start to dip, serotonin levels can dip as well.
Low serotonin levels can leave you feeling down and lethargic and can even lead to depression. There have been several studies performed that suggest an increased intake of omega-3s can reduce the effects of depression.
In some cases, omega-3 fatty acids have even been used to help treat mental health conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. While it’s always important to talk with your doctor about any sort of mental health treatment, adding fish oil supplements to your daily routine certainly won’t hurt!
2. Improving Your Memory
There are plenty of stereotypes about losing your memory as you age, but it can be a serious problem for some people. Fish oil has been linked to a decrease in age-related memory loss when taken every day.
Going one step further, there have even been studies performed that suggest taking fish oil supplements can help to improve the quality of life for people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Taking it each day can even work to lower your risk of getting this disease in the first place.
3. Great for Heart Health
There are so many benefits when it comes to taking fish oil for greater heart health. Studies have shown that people who tend to eat fattier fish have fewer heart problems. By introducing fish oil supplements into your diet, you can expect the following benefits when it comes to your heart:
- Lowers triglycerides
- Increases levels of “good” cholesterol
- Helps to reduce blood pressure
- Removes “plaque” from arteries
If you’re at risk for any type of heart disease, taking fish oil can significantly lower that risk and keep your heart healthy.
4. Reduces Pain
Because Omega-3s are so great at reducing inflammation, fish oil vitamins are equally great at reducing pain. They are especially helpful for people suffering from conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or ulcerative colitis.
Of course, you don’t have to have a specific condition to benefit from the inflammation-reducing properties of fish oil. It can help to decrease stiffness in your joints when taken as a daily supplement.
5. Cancer Fighter
Perhaps one of the most important benefits of fish oil is that it can help to delay tumor development in breast cancer. There is some evidence that has shown it can also help to reduce the size of tumors associated with breast cancer.
High levels of omega-3 acids and low levels of omega-6 acids in your diet can reduce your risk of getting breast cancer when you take it as a daily supplement. Some research has even suggested that taking fish oil supplements each day improves the survival rate and quality of life for existing cancer patients.
What Are the Side Effects of Taking Fish Oil Supplements?
With so many benefits to fish oil, it’s also important to consider certain side effects. Fish oil supplements are very safe when they are of high quality. Always get your supplements from a name and source you can trust.
Serious side effects of taking fish oil are rare, but some people may experience the following:
- “Fishy” burps
- Blood thinning
- Heartburn
- Nausea
- Flatulence/loose stools
Often, these side effects occur as a result of taking too much fish oil. If you start to notice any problems, decrease your intake or try taking your supplements with meals.
There are so many additional benefits to taking fish oil every day that we haven’t even touched on here, but, as you can see, including a fish oil supplement into your daily routine can make a big difference in how you feel, and it can help to ward off some serious health conditions.
Contact Forrest Health for more information.
Is a Ketogenic Diet Right for Me?
By now, you’ve probably heard of the ketogenic (“keto”) diet. Many people are swearing by this diet plan because it can help you lose weight—but, like any other diet, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons before you make a decision on whether it’s right for you.
Simply put, the keto diet is high in fat but low in carbs and proteins. It focuses on starving your body of sugar and, instead, focusing on fat. In fact, up to 70% of your daily caloric intake on the keto diet will be from fat!
This article will talk more about what you can expect from the keto diet, what you can and can’t eat, and how nutritional supplements can make a difference.
Is It Just a Fad?
Yes, the keto diet is a fad. Does that mean it’s a bad thing? Not necessarily. It all depends on what your long-term health and weight loss goals might be. The keto diet works by putting your body into a state of ketosis.
What is ketosis? It’s a state in which your body burns ketone bodies instead of glucose. So, by getting rid of sugar/carbs, your body starts to burn more of the fats you ingest. As a result, you can lose a substantial amount of weight relatively quickly.
Like any other fad diet, though, it’s not fully sustainable. It limits what you can intake quite severely. Even healthy foods like quinoa, beans, sweet potatoes, and nuts have to be avoided on this diet.
What to Eat on Keto Diet
So, what are the best ketogenic diet foods? A good rule of thumb is to stick to foods that are fewer than 5% carbs. Some of the best foods for this diet include:
- Eggs
- Natural fats/oils
- Meat
- Seafood
- Cheese
Higher fat options are encouraged on a keto diet, including high-fat dairy and fattier cuts of meat. It’s a pretty simple diet to follow once you get the hang of it. Because it’s so popular, many people have developed keto-friendly recipes, and they’re easily found online, in cookbooks, etc.
What Are the Pros and Cons of the Keto Diet?
If you’re considering a ketogenic diet to lose weight, that’s definitely one of the benefits. Because you’re cutting out certain food groups, it’s easy to lose a lot of weight quickly. It also has some medical benefits. When you cut out sugars and carbohydrates from your diet, bacteria have less to “feed” on. So, if you have a viral or bacterial infection, this diet can help you to feel better faster.
Unfortunately, there are also some drawbacks to consider. For instance, it puts a lot of stress on your kidneys, and it can contribute to kidney stones. It can also contribute to muscle loss since you’re focusing more on fat intake than protein.
Finally, a ketogenic diet might not be giving you the nutrition your body needs to perform properly. In most cases, a balanced diet that focuses on proper nutrition is the better choice, but it’s understandable to be interested in the latest diet craze, especially if you’re trying to lose weight fast.
If you do choose to try out this diet for weight loss, we recommend taking vitamins and supplements to back it up. By taking herbal supplements, you can be sure your body is getting the nutrients it needs, even if those nutrients aren’t directly coming from the food you eat. Taking supplements can make the diet more sustainable for a longer period of time.
Contact Forrest Health for more information.