#Muchmorethanjustvitamins
Do you take or are you thinking about taking vitamins or supplements? Do you know why you are taking them? Do you know what is really in them? Have you ever wondered how they work or even if they work. I can help you find answers to these questions.
My name is Sandra. I’ve been a Physician Assistant for more than 30 years and for many of those years I was skeptical about the use of vitamins and supplements. I never recommended them unless there was a proven deficiency like Iron or B12. Then something interesting happened. The practice I worked with started bringing in Pharmaceutical Grade vitamins and supplements. I was not on board. However, I attended a few meetings to learn about these products and how they work. Eventually I started to hear things around the office that made me take notice. The first was Vitamin D. I understood there was controversy concerning this vitamin; how much, how often, test, don’t test so I decided to do my own “test”. I began to order Vitamin D testing on our menopausal patients (with their consent) and much to my surprise the results were quite low on many of these women. I started them on Vitamin D and retested them in 3 months, low and behold the numbers started to go up.
The next thing that caught my attention was patients with Osteopenia (low bone density, but not Osteoporosis). I heard about a supplement called Vitamin K2. It was supposed to take the calcium out of the blood and put it back in the bone. I was diagnosed with Osteopenia personally and so I decided to try it. My next DEXA scan showed some improvement. This intrigued me and I began to look deeper into this. I looked back at the records of some of the patients that other providers had recommended K2 for and discovered in many cases the numbers were improving. This meant that it was possibly helping to prevent the progression to Osteoporosis and the need for biologicals.
My mind was changed. Discussions about Vitamins and Supplements became a regular part of most patient visits. I still do not recommend them unless they are needed but I became much more likely to test for the need, based on the patient’s symptoms.
The FDA does not regulate vitamins and supplements. However, there are agencies that that “certify” products. What does this mean? For example: Green Tea; To get the clinical effect that you are looking for, you need a specific part of the leaf. With drug store vitamins the bottle may say 100% Green Tea, but you cannot be sure that the clinically effective part of the plant is there. For this reason, I recommend that you look for Pharmaceutical Grade products. You need to find a trusted manufacturer and stick with them.
As always you should check with your health care provider before starting any vitamins or supplements, but if you already know that you need a particular product, please check out the link below to be sure that you are getting a product that is “Certified”. It has in it what is says it has in it.
I’m writing this blog to help you through this process. There are multiple companies out there that do a great job, but my favorite is Xymogen. They are located here in the USA. I have personally toured the factory and spent time with the founders. Their philosophy is all about safety, purity, quality, & effectiveness. Xymogen’s products can only be purchased through a medical professional. This assures that you. the patients are getting the right product.
Http://www.wholescripts.com/register/healthrenew2-thomas
I may receive a small commission for any products purchased at this site.
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