Speaker A [00:00:00]:
Hi, everyone. Welcome to today’s episode. I want to talk about supplements today. So when I say supplements, I mean vitamins, minerals, protein powders, anything that you take that is going to hopefully help you be in better health. And I think that supplements are really individualized. You know, when I work with clients in longevity coaching program, we kind of go through, what does this person need? You know, are you a vegetarian? You know, do you need to supplement certain things that you might be missing from your diet? Are you a person who has heart disease? Might you need something for inflammation? There’s so many supplements out there and I think most people are really confused about what’s worth it, what’s not worth it, what in particular could help people with paralysis. And so I want to get into that stuff today. Welcome to the Paralysis Nutrition Podcast, where changing your eating habits is the key to losing weight, improving bowel health, and feeling your best.
Speaker A [00:01:11]:
I’m your host, Fatima Fakouri. I’m a registered dietitian who’s married to a quadriplegic and specializes in nutrition for paralysis. Get ready to be inspired, educated and motivated so you can take control of your health using the power of food. Let’s get, get started. This is the Paralysis Nutrition Podcast. There’s no one size fits all approach to taking supplements. If you are eating a healthy diet, you may not need supplements. However, no one’s perfect.
Speaker A [00:01:43]:
And even on days that you eat really well, you might not be hitting all of your vitamins, minerals, trace minerals, you know, you might not be getting everything that you need. So we don’t want to worry about day to day, we want to worry about through the week. You know, are you getting a variety of foods that’s going to help you get more variety of nutrition? But my opinion on supplements really has changed over the past couple of years. I used to really be a food purist and say you can get everything you need from food. And now that I’ve worked with hundreds of clients with paralysis, I’m changing my tune. I actually do think that supplements have a really relevant role in long term health because the more I work with people, the more I realize it’s not, it’s not easy to maintain a healthy diet, right? Everyone is going to have off days or even off weeks, right? So having that supplementation is a good thing. So which supplements do I recommend the most? Obviously? Listener, I don’t know you, so I can’t tell you exactly what you should take. I can highlight some nutrients of interest and perhaps concern, and that’s what I’m going to do so first, before we even get into the vitamins, minerals, all that, I want to talk about things like protein powders because they’re really, really popular and I’m not against protein powder.
Speaker A [00:03:17]:
However, you don’t want to overdo protein. A lot of people that I speak to who are athletes or at least just, you know, work out when they start eating healthier, they focus a lot on protein. And what happens is that they neglect other things like fruits and whole grains. And what happens is that they get constipated because you need fiber if you’re going to poop. And fiber is found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, mostly in fruits and whole grains. So if you have that kind of gym nutrition mentality of like, I need to pound this protein, I need to stop you right there because that’s going to harm your kidneys and cause you to become constipated. So if you want to have a smoothie for lunch, for example, I would so much rather you use something like Greek yogurt or collagen powder or, I don’t know, there’s, there’s so many different food based protein sources. You could do the, the powdered peanuts.
Speaker A [00:04:22]:
Like there’s, there’s protein powder that’s made of peanuts. These are more whole food sources of protein. They’re going to be gentler on your system than a lot of these packaged high, you know, quote unquote, high performance protein powders and all that kind of stuff. None of those things are made for people with paralysis. None of those things is designed for people who have neurogenic bladder and at a higher risk of kidney disease. Kidney disease is irreversible. So we don’t want to mess with our kidneys. So before you go running out and buying a protein powder, think about, do I actually need this? Can I actually get enough protein from whole foods? And if you do want to do something like, for example, my husband likes smoothies, we use a collagen powder.
Speaker A [00:05:11]:
Right? Collagen powder is a supplement. It’s, you know, not a, I wouldn’t call it a food. Right. But it’s a supplement. We prefer that. Now you could use something like a protein powder. But I don’t want people to rely on these supplements for nutrition. I think that there is a place for them, but let’s not overdo it.
Speaker A [00:05:31]:
We don’t want to be pouring protein powder into everything and eating protein bars all day long. We want to eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins from whole foods. So if you are a person who is looking to add protein. Get it from food first. Protein powders can be harsh on the body. They’re concentrated and they often are made from different things that could cause bloating. Like, some of them are made from whey protein, some of them are made from soy. The quality of these ingredients is not always top notch.
Speaker A [00:06:06]:
So educate yourself before you just start using protein powder, you know, all day, every day. The next thing I want to talk about is herbal detoxes and teas and things that, you know, these are. These are the really scary things like liver detox and colon cleanse and God, goodness knows what. I don’t like these things because a lot of y’all are on medications. You’re on blood thinners, you are on diabetes meds, you’re on heart medications, you’re on prescription medications that could interact with different herbs and different, you know, botanicals. So when you go into the GNC or whatever store that it is and you pick up a liver detox, because that is appealing to you for whatever reason, the person that you’re buying it from doesn’t know which medications you’re on. And so if there is an interaction, no one has an opportunity to tell you, like, hey, stop, right? So check your prescriptions against any supplements that you buy. For example, I have two examples, actually.
Speaker A [00:07:19]:
I have a current client in the longevity coaching program who has fatty liver. And he said, I really want to address this fatty liver. Are there any supplements? And I immediately said, yeah, you know, you could try milk thistle. Milk thistle has been shown to help people with fatty liver. But we went through his list of medications and sure enough, he’s on a blood thinner that is an immediate no, because blood thinners interact with milk thistle. So in a matter of, you know, five seconds, I was able to say, oh, you know what? No, that is not for you. Because I know this, right? And because I’m. I’m hearing from him which meds he’s on.
Speaker A [00:07:59]:
The checkout person at GNC doesn’t know what you’re on. So be careful because some of these things really interact with your prescription medications. I had another client last year, actually, funny enough, she also had fatty liver and she bought a liver detox. And the liver detox was very high in turmeric. Turmeric is a very powerful anti inflammatory. And she had a incident where she was bleeding a lot, and they didn’t know why all of a sudden she was bleeding so much. This was related to the fact that she was taking a liver detox supplement that was high in things that’s in your blood. And she also was on a blood thinning medication.
Speaker A [00:08:45]:
And whose fault is it? Right? It’s no one’s fault. It’s not her fault. She was trying to buy something that was going to help her. But there was no one checking the prescriptions against the over the counter supplements. So, so it, you know, those are cautionary tales kind of, right? So check. We don’t want these drastic, dramatic cleanses and things like that. They are not individualized. They are not meant for people with paralysis.
Speaker A [00:09:15]:
They are legal because, you know, in the United States at least, the FDA does not regulate supplements. I should have actually started off saying that no one is out there checking dosages and purity or anything like that when it comes to vitamins, minerals, botanicals, any sort of supplements. This has been going on since, I want to say, the 60s, the 1960s in the United States at least. So the Food and Drug Administration does not monitor supplements. Supplements are not considered a food. They’re also not considered a medicine. So they fall between the cracks and the companies themselves are responsible for backing up the claims. So if you buy a fat burner pill, whatever that means, if you look at the ingredients, you’ll see it’s mostly like caffeine guarana.
Speaker A [00:10:11]:
God knows what is in there. They have all these different warnings on there, right? On these diet pills and no one is there to tell you, hey, this could increase your chance of having a stroke. And if you have, if you’re a quad and you want to lose weight again, another cautionary tale. Not a client of mine, but someone who reached out to me on social media and said, you know, I had a stroke a couple of months ago and it’s because I was on these diet pills and I couldn’t cast in time. Some they was driving somewhere and he said, I didn’t pull over to calf. And so what happens when you don’t calf? Your blood pressure goes up because you’re starting to probably get into ad autonomic dysreflexia, which raises your pressure. And if you’re also taking diet pills that raise your blood pressure, yeah, you could have a stroke. So it’s very dangerous.
Speaker A [00:11:08]:
Okay. And no one is cross checking your supplements with your meds. Dietitians do that, right? So we went over protein powders, we went over some of the, I don’t even know what you call them, the magical elixirs. Right. The cleanses, the detoxes, all these things. I think you know my opinion on those. Avoid. Now I want to Talk about good old fashioned vitamins and minerals.
Speaker A [00:11:36]:
These are the things that actually have a very important role in long term health. And there’s so much good research out there with, you know, certain minerals and things like that when it comes to supporting the nervous system. And I, and you know, overall health as well. Of course, I’m always thinking about the nervous system with paralysis obviously, because, you know, spinal cord injury and all that. So there, there are some that I think are really worth looking into. Number one, these are not in any particular order. Number one, the first thing you want to do is talk to your doctor. Hopefully you have a good doctor that you have a good relationship with.
Speaker A [00:12:13]:
And you know, what supplements do you think I might want to take? Just to hear what they have to say most. I think doctors, they’re not very knowledgeable about supplements. But you could ask, right? So that would be my first question. I had a visit with my PCP the other day, my primary care physician and I asked her about some supplementations and she was really awesome actually. And she said, you know, you’re kind of at this age where I’ll be 40 soon. She said, where you could start, you know, some supplementation. Of course she doesn’t. I didn’t tell her at that time, but now I told her afterwards that I do take a number of supplements and these are recommended to me from my dietitian.
Speaker A [00:12:57]:
I work with a dietitian because I have an autoimmune disease. She specializes in that. So she has me on a number of supplements and my doctor was actually quite impressed and said, wow, okay, cool. And she had nothing to add, but she did say, I will run a very, you know, detailed blood work panel so that we can see if you’re deficient in anything. Great. That is what I think that everyone should do. Gold standard when it comes to supplements is to first get your blood work checked, have your vitamin D checked, have your cholesterol levels checked, or they call it a lipid panel, have your thyroid checked, have your liver enzymes checked, like a full, you know, panel and see if there’s anything you’re low on. A couple months ago, my husband’s ferritin was low, so that’s related to like iron and the blood.
Speaker A [00:13:49]:
So he was on a ferritin supplement also. I just think that this population tends to, you know, have different health things coming up. So if you happen to be pre diabetic, if you happen to have high cholesterol, all these things, you know, you can guess specific supplements for those things overall with spinal Cord injury with my clients. The things that I find are really helpful and tend to kind of do no harm. You know, even, even if you can’t get your blood work checked. A couple of things that I, I’m by no means giving you recommendations or telling you what to do. Just giving some nutrition education, some supplement education here today. I really like magnesium.
Speaker A [00:14:29]:
Magnesium is a mineral. Most people don’t eat enough magnesium rich foods. Your dark leafy greens and oysters. When’s the last time you had oysters? So magnesium is really important for your nervous system. It can also help you have an easier bowel program. It is a osmotic laxative. And when I say laxative, I don’t mean it’s going to make you poop your pants. It’s, it’s not.
Speaker A [00:14:59]:
And it also depends on what type you get. I really like magnesium glycinate. G L Y C I N A T E. Magnesium glycinate is the most bioavailable form of magnesium. That means that your body absorbs it very well and it’s gentle. Okay. It’s not going to cause like this major laxative effect. If you are super backed up and you need more of a strong laxative effect.
Speaker A [00:15:28]:
You could try magnesium citrate. Citrate. You could try magnesium citrate. So magnesium I think is really interesting and really helpful for people with paralysis because it has so many different functions in the body. So it can help you poop easier, it is good for anxiety, it’s good to support your nervous system. I think magnesium is kind of a no brainer. The other one is vitamin D. So a lot of people are deficient in vitamin D and it’s a really easy thing to get checked so you can get your blood work done.
Speaker A [00:16:06]:
Okay. And if you’re low in vitamin D, your doctor will tell you how many micrograms you should go on. Okay. So when you go to the vitamin store or whatever, there’s going to be 10 different kinds of vitamin D. They could start at as low as 1,000 IUs and go all the way up to 10,000 IUs. We don’t want to overdo our vitamin D supplementation because vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin. We have fat soluble and we have water soluble. The water soluble vitamins, like all the B vitamins and vitamin C, if you overdo them, you secrete them in your urine.
Speaker A [00:16:46]:
That means you pee them out. If you overdo a fat soluble vitamin, you don’t pee it out because it is stored in your fat. And so we don’t want to overdo it. So the best thing to do is get your blood work done. And if you are low in vitamin D, your doctor can help guide you in how much vitamin D you should take. Vitamin D is, it’s almost a misnomer to call it a vitamin. It functions more as a hormone in the body. It’s important for metabolism, for your gut health.
Speaker A [00:17:16]:
We want to keep those gut bugs that are healthy and, you know, alive. We want to keep them happy. Vitamin D is also important for mood, for. I said metabolism, for immunity. Okay. So much recurrent UTI and wound infections in this community. We need to build up our immune system. So that’s vitamin D.
Speaker A [00:17:38]:
I also now this one is a little, I don’t want to say controversial because it’s not controversial. It’s just I’m worried because a lot of people in the community are on blood thinners. If you are on a blood thinner, plug your ears. This is not for you. Omega 3. So fish oils, fish oils are really good for inflammation. Everyone with a spinal cord injury or type of paralysis, other type of paralysis is dealing with chronic inflammation. So I really like omega 3 fish oils.
Speaker A [00:18:09]:
Again, important for immunity and mood. And so if you are on a blood thinner though, you do not take omega 3s. Okay, if I could shout that, I would. You don’t take omega 3s if you’re on a blood thinner. If you’re on warfarin, warfarin, Coumadin, any of the name brand ones, you don’t go on an Omega 3. But for example, I’ll use me as an example, I have borderline high cholesterol, So I take Omega 3s and it helps keep the level down. Okay? So that’s omega 3s. I also, I’m going to do a whole episode on probiotics and prebiotics.
Speaker A [00:18:47]:
But the last supplement, so we did, we said magnesium is a good idea for to check out. Vitamin D is a good idea. Omega 3 is a good idea to check out. Talk to your doctor, talk to your pharmacist, ask them, hey, you know, might this help me? And the last one is probiotics. So a high quality probiotic is going to help you have a healthy gut microbiome. Your gut microbiome is all of the bacteria, trillions of bacteria in your gut. Okay? And I’m going to have a future episode all on the gut biome. But just for today, let’s just say if you have a high quality probiotic as part of your regimen, it’s going to make your gut healthier.
Speaker A [00:19:37]:
It’s going to be easier to poop, you’re going to have less bloating. Also, the gut is the home of your enteric nervous system. This enteric nervous system is responsible for communicating with other parts of your body and of course your brain. Okay, so what happens in the gut doesn’t stay in the gut. What happens in the gut affects the rest of the body. Most people do not eat enough healthy foods and enough fermented foods that contain probiotics. So a high quality probiotic is for me like a no brainer. Especially if you take antibiotics.
Speaker A [00:20:16]:
If you take antibiotics, you need to restore that gut bacteria with a high quality probiotic. So today we talked about supplements. I know it was a lot of information. Supplements are really individualized. But for the sci community, the main, I mean from a nutrition point of view, for me, it’s like we want the gut to be healthy, we want the immune system to be strong, we want the metabolism going, we want you to support your nervous system. And so that’s really the angle that I’m coming with. Of course there’s a million supplements out there and I could do 10 episodes on all the different supplements, but nobody needs to be taking 500 supplements. If you want to get started taking something, call your doctor, have some blood work run, see what we’re dealing with and then take a look at, well, not take a look, give a listen to this episode again and see, huh, which one of those supplements might help me and then you can run it by your pharmacist.
Speaker A [00:21:21]:
Pharmacists usually have like systems where they can look up your medication and see if it would interact with any supplements. So use the resources that you have. If you don’t have a dietitian or a doctor that knows about this stuff, ask your friendly neighborhood pharmacist. That’s today’s episode. I hope that you learned something new about supplements and that you are going to kind of explore this, this subject. Because supplements, they’re not everything. Okay, diet and lifestyle is everything. But supplements do have a pretty valid role in overall health.
Speaker A [00:22:04]:
Thank you guys so much and I will talk to you next time. That’s our episode for today. Thanks for listening. I hope you enjoyed it and that you learned something new. Remember, if you want to lose weight with paralysis, improve your bowel health and feel your best you can. It’s possible you just have to change your eating habits. If you need inspiration on how to get started, check out the paralysis Nutrition Cookbook 101 recipes to help you lose weight and improve bowel health. The cookbook comes with a bonus 30 day meal plan and is the perfect way to start eating healthier.
Speaker A [00:22:37]:
You can find it online online@paralysisnutrition.com cookbook I’ll talk to you again soon.
