We should be careful when taking a set amount of any nutrient for an extended period of time.
If we are working with someone and know our levels of a nutrient as well as other important nutrients that each might depend on, we are likely ok to take a set amount of a supplement for a bit.
But, as we work with someone else and test, we tend to retest at times to see if we should continue taking the same things or if it’s time to switch something up.
Not all of us are able to work with someone and run tests. I did this by myself without any testing. But that means we have to be more mindful as well as learn how to judge how much we need of each nutrient.
Burning engine oil
I love using examples to put things into perspective. It’s not always an exact representation, but I think it helps us visualize what we’re doing.
Automobile engines require oil in order to maintain proper wear and tear. As some engines age, they start to burn oil. So some people have to add a little oil sometimes in order to keep from running out before the next oil change.
But imagine if someone just adds 200mcg of oil to their engine every single day without testing or having any idea how much it uses? If the engine is burning enough oil to use 200mcg or more of oil daily, then this “supplementation” will be helpful.
But what if our engine isn’t burning oil at the moment? What if we assume it is, but we’re not really sure? Well, at that point, we can either test our levels, or we can learn how to watch for signs of low or elevated oil. Otherwise, we’re shooting in the dark.
This might be easier than we assume
I see a lot of people locking themselves in a very rigid box with supplements and dosages. The amount on the bottle as well as the amount people mention for various situations is just a generic idea of how much of this nutrient a lot of people seem to handle.
I’m going to need another example.
A commercial plays and reminds us of how much we used to love running(lol not me). We look up the benefits of running and go wow, I have those symptoms, I’m going to take that “supplement”.
Do we:
- Set a timer for 200 minutes, put our body into action and commit to the entire “dosage” without having any idea how far we can or cannot run.
- Stretch, walk, walk faster and start running for a short period of time to see how our body handles this now, later today and tomorrow morning.
I learned the hard way a handful of times that utilizing #1 for anything is a pretty bad idea.
Drugs are fun(in this example) but we don’t want to smoke 100 pots at once and die from the pot. We wanna take a puff and see how we feel, and over time we might learn how to adjust our dose for stressful days etc.
Enough examples, what should I do?
I can’t suggest what anyone does. That type of situation is why I’m writing this page. People read “suggestions” and roll with it. Sometimes they assume it was much more than a suggestion.
I personally utilize a method called pulse dosing. This is the idea of essentially “tasting” my supplements by introducing my body to small amounts of them and then stepping away from them for at least a few days and “tasting” them again.
Sometimes I open capsules and sprinkle a little in water, sometimes I try one whole capsule. But either way, I wait at least a day or so before taking more. Sometimes we’ll take a new supplement and really enjoy how it makes us feel, so we take more a few hours later and again that night. And then BAM, we wake up the next morning with a headache or just about any various detox/healing reaction.
These detox/healing reactions are great because its how we move forward. We just want to do this slowly and find the rest of the nutrients required to move forward.
The discomfort we experience is essentially due to a lack of a nutrient. But sometimes we don’t have the cells that are required in order to use the nutrient in need. This is why going slow, eating well, reducing toxins and integrating with nature is so important.
If we try a nutrient, like iodine as one example, and it makes us feel poorly each time we touch it, this is an indication that we are missing other nutrients. And until we figure out what those other nutrients are, our original nutrient may not be able to work well or at all.
My motto, essentially
Smaller amounts of more nutrients.