👉🏻 Let's talk about it.
I get it- you read an article online and instantly want to try a new herb, or medication or vitamin. 💊
The blogger or advertisement says it will help. You buy it online, it shows up on your door step and bam- you take it! It might make you feel better, remember the placebo effect is real (and strong). However, my concerns are also real. 👩🏼⚕️
A lot of these proprietary blends don't even have enough active herb to do anything anyways.
What exactly does a proprietary blend mean exactly? It means you have a bunch of herbs listed and the total mg or amount is given.
Let’s give an example:
Herbal proprietary blend 850 mg: Ashwagandha, Holy Basil, L-theanine, Magnesium oxide
You could have 50 mg of the Ashwagandha and 400 of the Magnesium and 10 mg of the Holy Basil. You have no idea and because it’s proprietary blend no way to find out. Why do supplement companies do this? Sometimes it’s to protect their formulation. However, I don’t like it when I am trying to get patients to a health goal and need to make sure they are getting the correct amount of a botanical.
Also, they might have herbs that can do wrong or have side effects. A lot of supplement companies online are not quality tested, which means they can have heavy metals or toxins in them. 😱 If you are trying to heal, the last thing you need is heavy metals in your body wreaking havoc. Yes, this happens frequently- the supplements are adultered or have not been safety tested for heavy metals, pesticides or mold. You always want to ask a company for the COA- Certificate of Analysis. This document will show exactly what is going on with the supplement and testing.
The other concern I have as an Integrative Physician is when people go to a supplement store and come out with a bunch of bottles recommended by the shop owner. 🤔 This is dangerous too! They might not know what is going on with your labs, history or medications.
We need to be careful about what we put in our bodies. Do I love supplements- yes, of course! 👍🏻 BUT they need to be for a specific reason and sometimes there has to be testing first. Some of my patients I have on supplements to help them heal their body, lower inflammation, ect. Some supplements I would recommend for a lot longer. 💊 Some vitamins I recommend daily because we can't get the same nutrients in our food sources as we used to. First, we should look at what we are putting into our mouths- because Food is Medicine. 🥬🍎🥑🍊🥦 I care about you all!
Want high quality supplements? Check out my store here.
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