Alpha-lipoic Acid and Fish Oil - what else?
GammieLCHF
Posts: 139 Member
What vitamins would you recommend? I’m gonna look for these based on this article about supporting my leptin levels. What supplements do you take and why? I don’t have a whole lot of extra money, but I can afford maybe two things. 
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I would maybe take fish oil and that's it. If you eat a fair bit of fish, I would skip it. I live in the prairies so I don't eat much fish.2
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LOL I would consider fish oil pills then.
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Oops. Well, I like lobster. But everyone likes butter. 0
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alpha-lipolic acid causes organ failure when overdosed...that's kind of crazy, but it looks like it has good results for treating diabetic neuropathy and that's kind of amazing.0
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tcunbeliever wrote: »alpha-lipolic acid causes organ failure when overdosed...that's kind of crazy, but it looks like it has good results for treating diabetic neuropathy and that's kind of amazing.
Hmm, good to know! I’ll be careful.0 -
Speaking of neuropathy my daughter sent me this photo a few months ago. At the time it made me really mad, but I actually think it’s one of the reasons I got back to LCHF instead of eating junk.
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I have to admit, I giggled at that meme, even though I know diabetic neuropathy is no laughing matter.
As for supplements...
In general, I subscribe to the philosophy of "don't take them 'just because,' take them if you see a demonstrated need for them."
I agree with the fish oil and make sure it's a high quality one. Rosita and Green Pastures seem to be the top two (just discard the drama between them). They're pricy, but they're the real deal as opposed to the knock-offs which tend to be questionable.
A good Vitamin D + K2 supplement is another good one, especially if you live outside of the tropics.
Electrolyte supplements are good to have on hand in general, but that's probably a given.
Selenium and chromium have been shown to be beneficial in those with metabolic dysfunction and signs of adrenal fatigue. They're both hard to get in the diet in most cases, so it can be a useful temporary supplement to replenish depleted stores.1 -
When looking for fish oils, look for ones that are DHA/EPA, not just general fish oil. That is the easiest to use form for your body.
Here is my list of daily supplements:
Gut health (I have issues):
L-Glutamine - Dr. recommended
Probiotic (Garden Of Life Primal Defense Ultra)
Prebiotic (Epicor)
Others:
Multivitamin
1500mg of DHA/EPA (I rarely eat fish, particularly the fatty kind)
Calcium/Magnesium/Zinc/D3
Vit C (somedays I am more carnivore than omnivore)
Turmeric Curcumin with Bioprene (for joint inflammation and I swear it helps my eczema!)
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Well, I placed my order and this is what I’m gonna try:
Turmeric (current as my mom swears it’s a cure all)
B12 (current my doc says I’m low)
D3 and K2
Vitamin C just cause I have it
Magnesium (doc ordered a while back but I stopped taking it, I’ll finish up the bottle)
Chromium
Selenium
Fish Oil
We’ll see if I notice any change.0 -
I'd recommend a good b complex and vitamin e(mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols) in addition to those nutrients. It's best to get them all from food even though it can be hard to do.
https://tools.myfooddata.com/nutrient-ranking-tool.php
This is the website I use to get a lot of info on what nutrients are in food.2 -
My recommendation is to first get yourself checked to see where you are deficient or even below optimal to know what YOU need.
I found out through such testing that despite my high intake of B vitamins, I was low or borderline low on all but 1 of them. Subsequent testing showed I have a variant of the MTHFR gene that makes metabolizing B vitamins less efficient.
If you are low on something, I would first suggest trying to get it from food because, as several studies have shown, supplementation does not have the same impact as getting vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients as getting them from food. This is likely because there are other parts of those foods that help with the metabolizing of them.
Fish oil, vitamin D and multivitamins all have studies showing that supplementation did not have the positive health outcomes that higher blood levels without supplementation had.
Vitamin D is different than the others because the sun is the best way to get it. Even getting it through food is not as effective in terms of the cardiovascular benefits associated with higher blood levels. This is because in addition to vitamin D, sun exposure leads to other chemical responses involving nitrogen which act as a vasodialator (relaxes the blood vessels making it easier for them to stretch thereby lowering blood pressure).
An exception being K2 which, in the modern food world, is almost impossible to get in sufficient quantities.
The other potential exception that was relevant to me is magnesium. I have not found any studies showing supplementation is not effective, and given many of the foods that should be high in magnesium (spinach for example) do not have as much as they used to because of monocropping. Magnesium is not part of the chemical fertilizers that are used as they generally are only concerned with those things which help the plants to grow bigger and faster like nitrogen. Because the grow so much faster, in addition to not having as much magnesium in the soil, there is less pulled into the plant because it is in the ground for a shorter period of time before getting harvested.1 -
Fermented cod liver oil will cover a lot of the things you appear to be looking for.2
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I concur with getting yourself tested to see if you are deficient before you start supplementing. If you are taking ANY type of medication...ANY...thoroughly research the use of a supplement and discuss taking the supplement with your physician.
I think it is important to realize that if supplements are suggested because they are effective/beneficial...then so too should one accept they have the potential of being harmful under the right circumstances.1 -
cstehansen wrote: »My recommendation is to first get yourself checked to see where you are deficient or even below optimal to know what YOU need.
Any insights into amino acid testing?
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Magnesium is the one supplement that I might kill for but there are other important ones but just not a matter of life and death like magnesium when it comes to my heart health.
https://openheart.bmj.com/content/5/2/e000775 Magnesium for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease
https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3957229/
Magnesium Intake Is Inversely Associated With Coronary Artery Calcification
The Framingham Heart Study
"RESULTS
In fully adjusted models, a 50-mg/day increment in self-reported total magnesium intake was associated with 22% lower CAC (p < 0.001) and 12% lower AAC (p = 0.07). Consistent with these observations, the odds of having any CAC were 58% lower (p trend: <0.001) and any AAC were 34% lower (p trend: 0.01), in those with the highest compared to those with the lowest magnesium intake. Stronger inverse associations were observed in women than in men.
CONCLUSIONS
In community-dwelling participants free of cardiovascular disease, self-reported magnesium intake was inversely associated with arterial calcification, which may play a contributing role in magnesium's protective associations in stroke and fatal coronary heart disease."2 -
I'd talk to your doctor before starting any supplements. I was taking fish oil and my doctor told me to stop because of some side-effects it can have, especially with my medical history, (that I hadn't even thought of). I asked her about several other supplements I was thinking about taking and she went over my blood work/health markers/history and none of them were necessary.
Supplements are not a regulated industry and while many of them are harmless, there are some that can have side effects, interact negatively with other medications etc. Use caution with them.1 -
I'd talk to your doctor before starting any supplements. I was taking fish oil and my doctor told me to stop because of some side-effects it can have, especially with my medical history, (that I hadn't even thought of). I asked her about several other supplements I was thinking about taking and she went over my blood work/health markers/history and none of them were necessary.
Supplements are not a regulated industry and while many of them are harmless, there are some that can have side effects, interact negatively with other medications etc. Use caution with them.
What are some of the side-effects fish oil can have?
Peter Attia MD has podcast about when antioxidants might not be best to take that I am going to check out too.1 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »I'd talk to your doctor before starting any supplements. I was taking fish oil and my doctor told me to stop because of some side-effects it can have, especially with my medical history, (that I hadn't even thought of). I asked her about several other supplements I was thinking about taking and she went over my blood work/health markers/history and none of them were necessary.
Supplements are not a regulated industry and while many of them are harmless, there are some that can have side effects, interact negatively with other medications etc. Use caution with them.
What are some of the side-effects fish oil can have?
Peter Attia MD has podcast about when antioxidants might not be best to take that I am going to check out too.
I have a history of blood clots and my doctor was concerned that I was taking fish oil with that in my background. A quick google search pulls up several potential problems related to blood issues, plus there's documented adverse reactions with certain medications.1 -
I’ve been tested many times over the past few years. I’m always deficient in certain things. Vitamin D, K, magnesium, B12 and B6. I was already taking all those, but stopped for a few month so Ive restarted. I think I just had pill weariness! Lol.
I’ve added selenium and chromium, no idea what my levels are in those. Also added a few other things I’m usually borderline in. And I added a good fish oil capsule. I hate eating fish. I can barely stand fish sticks, and sometimes tuna, but barely.
It’s been two weeks now and I definitely feel a difference. A lot less joint pain. Not sure what to attribute it to, added some questionable things like turmeric too which I used to take a lot but got out of the habit. One day I’ll list all my supplements if anyone is interested, but I think I hit most of them above. There are 9-10 I think. Thanks all!0 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »I'd talk to your doctor before starting any supplements. I was taking fish oil and my doctor told me to stop because of some side-effects it can have, especially with my medical history, (that I hadn't even thought of). I asked her about several other supplements I was thinking about taking and she went over my blood work/health markers/history and none of them were necessary.
Supplements are not a regulated industry and while many of them are harmless, there are some that can have side effects, interact negatively with other medications etc. Use caution with them.
What are some of the side-effects fish oil can have?
Peter Attia MD has podcast about when antioxidants might not be best to take that I am going to check out too.
I have a history of blood clots and my doctor was concerned that I was taking fish oil with that in my background. A quick google search pulls up several potential problems related to blood issues, plus there's documented adverse reactions with certain medications.
OK I can see if one is taking a blood thinner since fish oil does the same in some people.
I have been taking fish oil supplements for 23 years at very high dosage sometimes since it helps manage my joint pain as does drinking a gallon of water a day but since 2014 Keto has been the icing on the cake so to speak. Thankfully I am Rx Med free.
One thing that I do take at bedtime and after 2 hours of no food to prevent blood clots is Wobenzym tablets. All that I know is they seem to be safe. A few years ago I took 20 tablets 4 times daily for 30 days before introducing them to a family member that is important to me.
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cstehansen wrote: »My recommendation is to first get yourself checked to see where you are deficient or even below optimal to know what YOU need.
Any insights into amino acid testing?
I have not looked at amino acid testing. Given how my diet has changed based on my own n=1 experimentation and what is working for me, my protein intake has gone up quite a bit and is mostly from animal sources and therefore complete proteins.2 -
cstehansen wrote: »cstehansen wrote: »My recommendation is to first get yourself checked to see where you are deficient or even below optimal to know what YOU need.
Any insights into amino acid testing?
I have not looked at amino acid testing. Given how my diet has changed based on my own n=1 experimentation and what is working for me, my protein intake has gone up quite a bit and is mostly from animal sources and therefore complete proteins.
Dumb question here, but I just got blood test results this morning and one of the things tested was levels of protein-is this the same thing being talked about here or am I completely confused, lol.
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cstehansen wrote: »cstehansen wrote: »My recommendation is to first get yourself checked to see where you are deficient or even below optimal to know what YOU need.
Any insights into amino acid testing?
I have not looked at amino acid testing. Given how my diet has changed based on my own n=1 experimentation and what is working for me, my protein intake has gone up quite a bit and is mostly from animal sources and therefore complete proteins.
Dumb question here, but I just got blood test results this morning and one of the things tested was levels of protein-is this the same thing being talked about here or am I completely confused, lol.
Not the same thing - the blood protein test is usually a kidney function test (I think).1 -
cstehansen wrote: »cstehansen wrote: »My recommendation is to first get yourself checked to see where you are deficient or even below optimal to know what YOU need.
Any insights into amino acid testing?
I have not looked at amino acid testing. Given how my diet has changed based on my own n=1 experimentation and what is working for me, my protein intake has gone up quite a bit and is mostly from animal sources and therefore complete proteins.
Dumb question here, but I just got blood test results this morning and one of the things tested was levels of protein-is this the same thing being talked about here or am I completely confused, lol.
Not the same thing - the blood protein test is usually a kidney function test (I think).
thanks
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Finally typed this up for my doc. All but the magnesium (doc ordered) are new. Something in there seems to be helping my joint pain.
Supplements started May 7th:
Chromium Picolinate 800mcg
Vitamins D3&K2 1000iu/45mcg
Selenium 200mcg
Magnesium 500mg
Turmeric Curcumin 750mg
Vitamin C 1000mg
Fish Oil 1200mg
Vitamin B-12 1000mcg
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Be careful with chromium and selenium. They can be toxic if taken too long at high doses.1
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The selenium is essential to make use of iodine to help with hypothyroid conditions. Just by taking selenium I was able to move my Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies from 1108 U/ml (normal range is 0-60) down to 312 U/ml. Iodine without selenium negatively affects Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, iodine with selenium improves Hashi's. (2007 study - PubMed ID 17696828)4
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I ran them by my endocrinologist (I don’t have a thyroid). He said they were excellent choices.4
