April 29, 2025 • 24 mins
Supplements are an important tool in today's world where our food has fewer nutrients than in the past, but taking them without understanding why or choosing low-quality brands can waste money and potentially harm health. We explore the top three mistakes people make with supplements and how to choose products that genuinely support your body's needs.
• Mistake #1: Relying on supplements instead of focusing on a nutrient-dense diet and lifestyle changes
• Mistake #2: Buying supplements without checking brand credibility – 4 out of 5 supplements from major retailers don't contain the herbs listed on labels
• Mistake #3: Taking supplements without a clear reason or understanding if they're actually helping
• Look for third-party certifications like NSF, GMP, ISO, or IFOS (for fish oil) when purchasing supplements
• Consider working with a practitioner who can help identify what supplements will specifically support your needs
• Use lab testing to make data-backed decisions about supplementation rather than guessing
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
If you're taking supplements just because someone
told you that they are good foryou, then you're probably not
supporting your body in the bestway possible and you're really
just gambling with expensive pee.
Today, let's talk about how toget smarter with supplements and
we'll walk through what are thetop three mistakes that I see
my clients making.
Welcome to I'm Hormonal, yoursource of information about
(00:23):
women's hormone health and howto support your body.
Naturally, I'm your host,bridget Walton, and I'm a
certified functional hormonespecialist and menstrual cycle
coach.
I am on a mission to hold thesehormone conversations with as
many menstruators as possible,because you deserve easier
access to accurate informationabout what's up with your unruly
(00:43):
menstrual cycle and with yourfertility mysteries.
Don't you think it's time thatwe figure this out once and for
all?
Hey there, and welcome totoday's episode of I'm Hormonal.
I'm your host, bridget Walton,and I'm really grateful that you
are here with me for this 102ndepisode of the podcast.
(01:04):
As I mentioned, we're going tobe talking about supplements
today.
Supplements are consumed by themajority of adults throughout
the United States and many othercountries, wherever you're
listening from.
They're really important intoday's day and age, when our
food has less nutrients or fewernutrients than it used to.
(01:28):
So supplements are definitelyimportant, but it's also
important to be reallythoughtful about your
supplements and make sure thatthey are well-sourced, that
they're the ones that you need,that you know how and when to
take them, that you know how andwhen to take them.
We will get into that in just amoment here with the top three
(01:49):
mistakes that I see folks making, but first I just want to say
again, welcome.
If this is your first timelistening to the podcast, then
I'm really glad that you foundme.
However, you found me.
My name is Bridget.
If you have been here before,then thanks for coming back and
thanks for sharing the podcastwith your friends, with your
sisters, with your coworker.
(02:09):
It's been really fun to see thelistenership grow, especially
over the last couple of months,and I love getting DMs and
messages from you guys with yourquestions and your requests for
topics.
So thank you, thank you.
Now let's get into the subjectfor today, which is supplements,
(02:30):
and maybe it's worth clarifyingtoo that when I'm talking about
supplements, I'm talking aboutvitamins and minerals, also
talking about botanicals, right?
So sometimes we'll say herbs,herbs, although for many of you
maybe, when I say herbs we'rethinking of like cilantro or
parsley, whatever is in thekitchen.
So I mean botanicals by, yes,sometimes herbs, but even beyond
(02:55):
that right, because oftentimesit'll be part of the root of a
plant or another component of aplant.
Regardless.
These are taken generally as anextension of what's going on
nutrition-wise.
So they serve as an extensionof food, right.
Some people take them you knowwhat I'll hold my own thought
(03:18):
there because I'll get into thatin a second but they should be
supplemental to your nutritionand we'll walk through a couple
of different strategies as itrelates to taking supplements as
well.
Now, the backstory on why I wantto talk about this today is
because in all of my onboardingdiscussions with my one-on-one
(03:40):
clients, of course, we will talkthrough what supplements are
they taking, why are they takingthem, how long have they been
taking them, and sometimesthey'll say well, you know, this
was just recommended to me bysomebody.
Or my friend was taking it andshe said that it really helped
her.
Or, you know, I just heard thatit was good for me.
(04:00):
And those are not inherentlybad reasons to take a supplement
.
But when there are so manysupplements out there that don't
have what the label claims inthem that they might have
something in addition to whatthe label shows.
I think it's really importantto be thoughtful, and just
(04:21):
because, personally, I know Idon't want to be wasting my
money on supplements that aren'tactually giving me what the
label says.
So, all of that being said, Ihave this conversation with my
clients all the time of how dowe understand what you're
currently taking, how do we lookat what you might want to
incorporate in the future?
(04:41):
And then, just generally, whenyou're looking at brands, what
do you want to consider, whatshould be a red flag and what
could be a green flag?
So let's dive into all of thatnow.
The first mistake that I seepeople making when it comes to
supplements is really relying onthe supplements instead of
making adjustments to consume amore nutrient-dense diet or, for
(05:06):
example, relying on supplementsinstead of maybe making some
lifestyle changes that wouldhelp them to reduce or better
handle their stress.
Of course, there will be timesin our lives when we need to
supplement with a certain typeof vitamin or mineral or
botanical, depending on what isgoing on.
So it's not that you shouldn'tever take them, but I really
(05:30):
want to encourage you to thinkof supplements as just that
supplemental, and first focusingon how can I get some of these
nutrients through my diet,through what I'm consuming three
times a day or more, and thenfrom there say, okay, what can I
supplement beyond this?
There will be some people orperhaps you listening who maybe
(05:54):
you need to take a supplementmore indefinitely, right, For
those folks out there who havethe MTHFR gene mutation which
impacts methylation.
I know this is just one nicheexample, but that's something
that, okay, your body is notsuper great at methylating, and
so you'll need to take a methylB complex on a more indefinite
(06:17):
kind of basis.
On the other side of thespectrum, and just one other
example, maybe you are goingthrough some acute stress and
you want to take a supplementthat is going to support your
adrenal glands in order to kindof help your body be resilient
through this time of stress.
That's something that you mighttake for just a set period of
(06:40):
time, right, and then move onfrom it.
Coming back to the originalthought here, though, of just
saying, okay, if you are takingmagnesium because you have
stress and maybe you're a bitanxious, right?
Maybe right now, the pace ofyour schedule at work is just
(07:01):
going 100 miles an hour and yousay, all right, let me take some
magnesium to help my bodynavigate this stress.
That might make a lot of sensefor your picture and you're
using, then, magnesium as a toolto address that stress, in
addition to hopefully makingchanges where you can in your
life to better navigate thatstress as well.
(07:24):
So in another way, right,you're using supplements as a
tool, not as a replacement, fordoing the thing.
That might be a little bitharder, might take more energy,
might require a change in habits, and so just using it again as
a tool, that's what I wouldreally emphasize for you to
(07:47):
consider.
Now the second thing that I seepeople doing quite often.
I mean, I've certainly donethis myself too.
So it's not like you know I'mabove buying certain brands of
supplements, but I want you tojust really consider if you are
buying supplements, vitamins,just off the shelf at your local
(08:08):
grocery store, take a look intothat brand.
Take a look into anycertifications that that brand
has on their productionfacilities.
Do they have third-partytesting?
Do they have a lab where theyactually validate what is in the
vitamin or mineral or the fishoil, right?
(08:31):
Did you know a little fun facthere there have been many
investigations done, of course,but one particular investigation
showed that four out of fiveproducts pulled from the shelves
of major retailers like GNC,target, walgreens and Walmart
actually didn't contain any ofthe herbs that were listed on
(08:51):
the supplements label.
Four out of five Like that'sinsane.
It's aside from this wholeconversation about how the
United States at leastsupplements need to be vetted
before they are put into themarket space.
It's just worth knowing, like,hey, there are a lot of options
(09:15):
out there that they would loveto take your money and there
might not actually be anythingvaluable, supportive for your
body in there.
Or, even worse, it hassomething again that's not on
the label and maybe that couldbe setting you back in whatever
progress you're trying to makewith your health.
So, coming back to the originalthought of taking a look into
(09:41):
what creditations orcertifications do the labs have
for the manufacturers of theproducts that you're using, a
couple of certifications or acouple of pieces of terminology
that might pop up for you as youlook into that could be NSF.
This is a third party that cando testing to just validate that
(10:06):
the processes to make thesesupplements are good to go.
You may also see GMP, or seeGMP, which is good manufacturing
practices, gmp or CGMP, whichis good manufacturing practices
Another way to say, hey, yep,their manufacturing practices
are up to speed with thestandards, at least here in the
US, and I know I've mentionedthat disclaimer a couple of
(10:28):
times.
But just to make it abundantlyclear, I'm not very familiar at
all I would say I'm 0% familiar,in fact with the standards set
forth for supplements incountries other than the United
States.
So just a little asterisk here,if you are listening from
outside of the US.
One other certification that Iwant to mention, that's really
(10:51):
high quality, would be an ISOcertified lab.
So some manufacturers will havetheir own lab in-house so that,
as they are creating theproduct, they're testing to make
sure that it is up to theirhigh standards.
I know I said that was going tobe the last one, but for real,
this last one I want to mentionis an IFOS or International Fish
(11:15):
Oil Standards Certification,which, you guessed it.
You might want to take a lookfor this.
If you are taking a fish oilsupplement, this can be really
important because fish oil, inaddition to an array of other
supplements, if exposed tooxygen, can cause the fish oil
(11:36):
to go rancid or if it's adifferent nutrient, can cause it
to oxidize, which TLDR?
That's not the best.
That's not going to be the bestthing to put into your body.
So, making sure that, a it isfish oil as properly identified
on the label, that is important.
And just the whole process ofextracting it from the original
(12:01):
source, whether that's theanimal or another source of the
nutrient.
Making sure that thedistribution process, that all
of the parts of getting thissupplement into your hand before
you swig it down with a drinkof water, you know that should
all be done in a specific what'sthe word I'm looking for?
(12:25):
What?
If I want to say manicured way,and as I'm rattling off all of
these certifications, I alsowant to suggest to you right,
hey, don't let this be astressor for you.
This could be as simple as youknow, a 60 second Google to say,
(12:47):
okay, type in the name of themultivitamin that you take and
state NSF certification or GMP.
Or if you just go to thatmanufacturer's website and
understand okay, do they sayanything here about
certifications?
That's going to be a reallyeasy way to tell, like, hey, is
(13:07):
this a brand that I should stickwith or can I look for a better
option.
Another note on this would bethat if you are working with a
practitioner who is giving yourecommendations for supplements
and they're probably givingthose recommendations to you
either directly from themanufacturer or through a
platform like Fullscript, right,fullscript, for example, does
(13:31):
vetting of the products thatthey allow on their platform.
So there are platforms likethat that are already doing some
of that vetting to make surethat what they're selling
through that platform, or whatthey're facilitating the sale of
, is really high quality and isgoing to help you actually
accomplish whatever is theoutcome of the supplements that
(13:54):
you are taking.
So, in super quick summary,before we move on to the third
mistake, we'll just recall thatwe talked about mistake number
one being somebody who's relyingon supplements instead of also
focusing on getting a morenutrient-dense diet that
provides a lot of these vitaminsand minerals that are needed.
(14:17):
Of course, there is a time andplace for supplementation, for
sure, but it shouldn't go at theexpense or at the replacement
of focusing on getting goodquality food sources that can
provide that to you naturallythrough your food.
Number two making sure that thebrands that you are buying are
(14:37):
reputable and that there is somesort of third-party testing or
assessment or other confidencethat what you are spending your
money on actually is the vitaminor mineral or botanical that
you expect to be getting.
Now, number three one mistakethat I see people making and
(15:00):
again one that I have made inthe past myself is not having a
solid reason for actually takinga supplement right, just taking
it because, okay, I know, or Ithink I know, that this is good
for me.
I heard a podcast, or you know,maybe even I heard on I'm
Hormonal that magnesium isreally good for mood and stress,
(15:21):
which that is true.
But it's also a question of,well, how is this?
What does this mean for you andwhat does your body need?
Of course, there aresupplements out there that it
might not hurt to take, right,like, let's just use a
multivitamin, for example, mightnot hurt to take a multivitamin
(15:44):
, but do you need to be taking amultivitamin or is it something
else, like another adaptogenright to help your body during
times of stress?
Do you need to be taking thatadaptogen?
Is it one that you should betaking kind of indefinitely, or
one that you should be taking ina therapeutic manner where you
say, okay, I'm going to take itfor these two months, one month,
(16:08):
whatever it is.
So, just understanding, you know, if you can just think to
yourself, or when you get home,if you're driving right now,
wherever you are, just gettingback, take a look at what is in
front of you in your medicinecabinet or your supplement
cabinet to say why do I actuallytake these?
Like what am I trying to getout of this?
Because, when it comes to whatare you spending your money on,
(16:32):
I know that I don't want to bespending my money on stuff that
isn't actually going to behelping me accomplish my goals.
And when you are doing sometroubleshooting right, if you
are somebody, you're probablylistening to this because you
have irregular periods, you havePMS, you have maybe no period
at all.
Periods you have PMS, you havemaybe no period at all, and you
(16:57):
say, okay, well, could what I'mtaking even be working against
my goal, right?
Maybe you know there are somesupplements out there, some
botanicals, that can help you torecover your period.
They help to support normalbalance as it relates to women's
sex hormones.
But there could be nuancedsituations, like with Vitex, for
(17:19):
example, where it actually is.
For example, if you have PCOS,maybe Vitex isn't the right herb
for you to take.
For you to take even though weknow colloquially, colloquially,
colloquially, wow.
Even though we know generallythat Vitex is supportive for PMS
(17:41):
and for hormones.
Hopefully, that rabbit holethat I just went down made some
sense.
But it all is just to come backto saying why are you taking a
supplement?
What is it actually for?
Can you tell that it is helpingyou and, if not, do you need to
be taking that supplement?
Or is there something else thatwould better support the
(18:03):
function or the process that youwere looking to support?
So, from here, what can you do?
Number one I want you to checkout your supplements and do a
little Google search.
Ask some AI bot more about theproduct that you are taking and
(18:24):
what sort of certifications thatproduct and or manufacturer has
.
Is there any third partytesting?
This will take you 60 seconds.
It'll either be a quick, youknow, sense of safety.
What is the term that I'mlooking for?
Why can't I remember wordstoday?
Oh, warm and fuzzy.
(18:47):
That's what I was going for.
Either it's a little warm andfuzzy, that perfect.
Yes, this is a reputable brand,I'm going to keep on keeping on
or it's just a good sign to say, okay, let me look into
something that is more reputable.
It doesn't have to beinherently good or bad, it's
just you taking this informationto make a decision in the best
(19:08):
interest of your health.
I also want to mention, ofcourse, that if you don't know
what to take, if you don't knowwhat is going to be supportive
for you, then that could be agood opportunity to work with a
practitioner who will helpadvise you on what's going to be
supportive for whatever you areup against.
So, whether that is aconversation with your primary
(19:30):
care provider, with anotherpractitioner, with somebody like
me, with somebody like anaturopath, who also is more
holistically minded, of course,and is going to be thinking of
okay, how can we support yourbody, naturally, those would be
good options to go down.
Third and final thought herewould just be that if you have
(19:53):
something that you are workingon addressing, like irregular
cycles, like missing periods,like really heavy periods, like
bloating or other digestivediscomforts, it can be really
helpful to have some sort of labtesting done in order to get a
really specific and clearunderstanding of what direction
(20:13):
you need to go and whatsupplements will be the most
supportive for your normal bodyprocesses and systems to
function.
So you're making thosedata-backed decisions,
science-backed decisions,instead of thinking, okay, well,
yes, generally sure, vitamin Ais good for us, and so is fish
(20:36):
oil is going to be good for mostpeople, et cetera, but really
making that data andscience-backed decisions.
So no surprises on that one.
I'm sure that we all could havededuced it, but I think it is a
good, friendly reminder that,again, if you were spending
money on these supplements, youwere using them as a tool.
How can you use that toolefficiently and effectively to
(20:59):
get to your goal, instead of itbeing another thing that is kind
of in your way and that ispreventing you from getting to
your goal, because you think,okay, well, I'm taking this
supplement, I'm taking thisbotanical, it should be helping
me, but it might not really bethat botanical, depending on the
source.
(21:19):
The last thing that I want toleave you with is don't be
concerned, don't be scared,don't be stressed about what is
going on with your supplements.
Just take some time to lookinto what is there so that you
can make the best decision foryourself, and then just move on
(21:40):
and keep on with yourstrategizing and your
implementation of what will bestserve you.
So if you're somebody who takessupplements, if you're somebody
who will take supplements inthe future, then I hope this
episode was helpful for you.
I hope you have some goodtakeaways.
Share this with somebody inyour life with whom you've been
talking about supplements lately.
(22:01):
I will see you on Thursday fora shorty episode about a couple
of supplements and or foods thatyou can incorporate into your
busy work week to support yourbody.
So I will see you then.
Thanks so much for listening.
I'm Bridget Walton.
If you loved today's episodeand got something good out of it
, make sure you subscribe sothat these episodes show up
(22:24):
automatically in your feed, nowork needed on your side.
Let's put it on autopilot.
As always, I need to give youmy reminder that the information
I share with you here is foreducational purposes only, and
it should not be used as areplacement for medical advice
or diagnosis.
Now, if you are, on the otherhand, in the market for some
one-on-one support, then I wouldlove for you to take me up on
(22:47):
my offer for a free strategycall.
You can find these links andmore in the show notes.
If you're taking supplements just because someone
told you that they are good foryou, then you're probably not
supporting your body in the bestway possible and you're really
just gambling with expensive pee.
Today, let's talk about how toget smarter with supplements and
we'll walk through what are thetop three mistakes that I see
my clients making.
Welcome to I'm Hormonal, yoursource of information about
(00:23):
women's hormone health and howto support your body.
Naturally, I'm your host,bridget Walton, and I'm a
certified functional hormonespecialist and menstrual cycle
coach.
I am on a mission to hold thesehormone conversations with as
many menstruators as possible,because you deserve easier
access to accurate informationabout what's up with your unruly
(00:43):
menstrual cycle and with yourfertility mysteries.
Don't you think it's time thatwe figure this out once and for
all?
Hey there, and welcome totoday's episode of I'm Hormonal.
I'm your host, bridget Walton,and I'm really grateful that you
are here with me for this 102ndepisode of the podcast.
(01:04):
As I mentioned, we're going tobe talking about supplements
today.
Supplements are consumed by themajority of adults throughout
the United States and many othercountries, wherever you're
listening from.
They're really important intoday's day and age, when our
food has less nutrients or fewernutrients than it used to.
(01:28):
So supplements are definitelyimportant, but it's also
important to be reallythoughtful about your
supplements and make sure thatthey are well-sourced, that
they're the ones that you need,that you know how and when to
take them, that you know how andwhen to take them.
We will get into that in just amoment here with the top three
(01:49):
mistakes that I see folks making, but first I just want to say
again, welcome.
If this is your first timelistening to the podcast, then
I'm really glad that you foundme.
However, you found me.
My name is Bridget.
If you have been here before,then thanks for coming back and
thanks for sharing the podcastwith your friends, with your
sisters, with your coworker.
(02:09):
It's been really fun to see thelistenership grow, especially
over the last couple of months,and I love getting DMs and
messages from you guys with yourquestions and your requests for
topics.
So thank you, thank you.
Now let's get into the subjectfor today, which is supplements,
(02:30):
and maybe it's worth clarifyingtoo that when I'm talking about
supplements, I'm talking aboutvitamins and minerals, also
talking about botanicals, right?
So sometimes we'll say herbs,herbs, although for many of you
maybe, when I say herbs we'rethinking of like cilantro or
parsley, whatever is in thekitchen.
So I mean botanicals by, yes,sometimes herbs, but even beyond
(02:55):
that right, because oftentimesit'll be part of the root of a
plant or another component of aplant.
Regardless.
These are taken generally as anextension of what's going on
nutrition-wise.
So they serve as an extensionof food, right.
Some people take them you knowwhat I'll hold my own thought
(03:18):
there because I'll get into thatin a second but they should be
supplemental to your nutritionand we'll walk through a couple
of different strategies as itrelates to taking supplements as
well.
Now, the backstory on why I wantto talk about this today is
because in all of my onboardingdiscussions with my one-on-one
(03:40):
clients, of course, we will talkthrough what supplements are
they taking, why are they takingthem, how long have they been
taking them, and sometimesthey'll say well, you know, this
was just recommended to me bysomebody.
Or my friend was taking it andshe said that it really helped
her.
Or, you know, I just heard thatit was good for me.
(04:00):
And those are not inherentlybad reasons to take a supplement
.
But when there are so manysupplements out there that don't
have what the label claims inthem that they might have
something in addition to whatthe label shows.
I think it's really importantto be thoughtful, and just
(04:21):
because, personally, I know Idon't want to be wasting my
money on supplements that aren'tactually giving me what the
label says.
So, all of that being said, Ihave this conversation with my
clients all the time of how dowe understand what you're
currently taking, how do we lookat what you might want to
incorporate in the future?
(04:41):
And then, just generally, whenyou're looking at brands, what
do you want to consider, whatshould be a red flag and what
could be a green flag?
So let's dive into all of thatnow.
The first mistake that I seepeople making when it comes to
supplements is really relying onthe supplements instead of
making adjustments to consume amore nutrient-dense diet or, for
(05:06):
example, relying on supplementsinstead of maybe making some
lifestyle changes that wouldhelp them to reduce or better
handle their stress.
Of course, there will be timesin our lives when we need to
supplement with a certain typeof vitamin or mineral or
botanical, depending on what isgoing on.
So it's not that you shouldn'tever take them, but I really
(05:30):
want to encourage you to thinkof supplements as just that
supplemental, and first focusingon how can I get some of these
nutrients through my diet,through what I'm consuming three
times a day or more, and thenfrom there say, okay, what can I
supplement beyond this?
There will be some people orperhaps you listening who maybe
(05:54):
you need to take a supplementmore indefinitely, right, For
those folks out there who havethe MTHFR gene mutation which
impacts methylation.
I know this is just one nicheexample, but that's something
that, okay, your body is notsuper great at methylating, and
so you'll need to take a methylB complex on a more indefinite
(06:17):
kind of basis.
On the other side of thespectrum, and just one other
example, maybe you are goingthrough some acute stress and
you want to take a supplementthat is going to support your
adrenal glands in order to kindof help your body be resilient
through this time of stress.
That's something that you mighttake for just a set period of
(06:40):
time, right, and then move onfrom it.
Coming back to the originalthought here, though, of just
saying, okay, if you are takingmagnesium because you have
stress and maybe you're a bitanxious, right?
Maybe right now, the pace ofyour schedule at work is just
(07:01):
going 100 miles an hour and yousay, all right, let me take some
magnesium to help my bodynavigate this stress.
That might make a lot of sensefor your picture and you're
using, then, magnesium as a toolto address that stress, in
addition to hopefully makingchanges where you can in your
life to better navigate thatstress as well.
(07:24):
So in another way, right,you're using supplements as a
tool, not as a replacement, fordoing the thing.
That might be a little bitharder, might take more energy,
might require a change in habits, and so just using it again as
a tool, that's what I wouldreally emphasize for you to
(07:47):
consider.
Now the second thing that I seepeople doing quite often.
I mean, I've certainly donethis myself too.
So it's not like you know I'mabove buying certain brands of
supplements, but I want you tojust really consider if you are
buying supplements, vitamins,just off the shelf at your local
(08:08):
grocery store, take a look intothat brand.
Take a look into anycertifications that that brand
has on their productionfacilities.
Do they have third-partytesting?
Do they have a lab where theyactually validate what is in the
vitamin or mineral or the fishoil, right?
(08:31):
Did you know a little fun facthere there have been many
investigations done, of course,but one particular investigation
showed that four out of fiveproducts pulled from the shelves
of major retailers like GNC,target, walgreens and Walmart
actually didn't contain any ofthe herbs that were listed on
(08:51):
the supplements label.
Four out of five Like that'sinsane.
It's aside from this wholeconversation about how the
United States at leastsupplements need to be vetted
before they are put into themarket space.
It's just worth knowing, like,hey, there are a lot of options
(09:15):
out there that they would loveto take your money and there
might not actually be anythingvaluable, supportive for your
body in there.
Or, even worse, it hassomething again that's not on
the label and maybe that couldbe setting you back in whatever
progress you're trying to makewith your health.
So, coming back to the originalthought of taking a look into
(09:41):
what creditations orcertifications do the labs have
for the manufacturers of theproducts that you're using, a
couple of certifications or acouple of pieces of terminology
that might pop up for you as youlook into that could be NSF.
This is a third party that cando testing to just validate that
(10:06):
the processes to make thesesupplements are good to go.
You may also see GMP, or seeGMP, which is good manufacturing
practices, gmp or CGMP, whichis good manufacturing practices
Another way to say, hey, yep,their manufacturing practices
are up to speed with thestandards, at least here in the
US, and I know I've mentionedthat disclaimer a couple of
(10:28):
times.
But just to make it abundantlyclear, I'm not very familiar at
all I would say I'm 0% familiar,in fact with the standards set
forth for supplements incountries other than the United
States.
So just a little asterisk here,if you are listening from
outside of the US.
One other certification that Iwant to mention, that's really
(10:51):
high quality, would be an ISOcertified lab.
So some manufacturers will havetheir own lab in-house so that,
as they are creating theproduct, they're testing to make
sure that it is up to theirhigh standards.
I know I said that was going tobe the last one, but for real,
this last one I want to mentionis an IFOS or International Fish
(11:15):
Oil Standards Certification,which, you guessed it.
You might want to take a lookfor this.
If you are taking a fish oilsupplement, this can be really
important because fish oil, inaddition to an array of other
supplements, if exposed tooxygen, can cause the fish oil
(11:36):
to go rancid or if it's adifferent nutrient, can cause it
to oxidize, which TLDR?
That's not the best.
That's not going to be the bestthing to put into your body.
So, making sure that, a it isfish oil as properly identified
on the label, that is important.
And just the whole process ofextracting it from the original
(12:01):
source, whether that's theanimal or another source of the
nutrient.
Making sure that thedistribution process, that all
of the parts of getting thissupplement into your hand before
you swig it down with a drinkof water, you know that should
all be done in a specific what'sthe word I'm looking for?
(12:25):
What?
If I want to say manicured way,and as I'm rattling off all of
these certifications, I alsowant to suggest to you right,
hey, don't let this be astressor for you.
This could be as simple as youknow, a 60 second Google to say,
(12:47):
okay, type in the name of themultivitamin that you take and
state NSF certification or GMP.
Or if you just go to thatmanufacturer's website and
understand okay, do they sayanything here about
certifications?
That's going to be a reallyeasy way to tell, like, hey, is
(13:07):
this a brand that I should stickwith or can I look for a better
option.
Another note on this would bethat if you are working with a
practitioner who is giving yourecommendations for supplements
and they're probably givingthose recommendations to you
either directly from themanufacturer or through a
platform like Fullscript, right,fullscript, for example, does
(13:31):
vetting of the products thatthey allow on their platform.
So there are platforms likethat that are already doing some
of that vetting to make surethat what they're selling
through that platform, or whatthey're facilitating the sale of
, is really high quality and isgoing to help you actually
accomplish whatever is theoutcome of the supplements that
(13:54):
you are taking.
So, in super quick summary,before we move on to the third
mistake, we'll just recall thatwe talked about mistake number
one being somebody who's relyingon supplements instead of also
focusing on getting a morenutrient-dense diet that
provides a lot of these vitaminsand minerals that are needed.
(14:17):
Of course, there is a time andplace for supplementation, for
sure, but it shouldn't go at theexpense or at the replacement
of focusing on getting goodquality food sources that can
provide that to you naturallythrough your food.
Number two making sure that thebrands that you are buying are
(14:37):
reputable and that there is somesort of third-party testing or
assessment or other confidencethat what you are spending your
money on actually is the vitaminor mineral or botanical that
you expect to be getting.
Now, number three one mistakethat I see people making and
(15:00):
again one that I have made inthe past myself is not having a
solid reason for actually takinga supplement right, just taking
it because, okay, I know, or Ithink I know, that this is good
for me.
I heard a podcast, or you know,maybe even I heard on I'm
Hormonal that magnesium isreally good for mood and stress,
(15:21):
which that is true.
But it's also a question of,well, how is this?
What does this mean for you andwhat does your body need?
Of course, there aresupplements out there that it
might not hurt to take, right,like, let's just use a
multivitamin, for example, mightnot hurt to take a multivitamin
(15:44):
, but do you need to be taking amultivitamin or is it something
else, like another adaptogenright to help your body during
times of stress?
Do you need to be taking thatadaptogen?
Is it one that you should betaking kind of indefinitely, or
one that you should be taking ina therapeutic manner where you
say, okay, I'm going to take itfor these two months, one month,
(16:08):
whatever it is.
So, just understanding, you know, if you can just think to
yourself, or when you get home,if you're driving right now,
wherever you are, just gettingback, take a look at what is in
front of you in your medicinecabinet or your supplement
cabinet to say why do I actuallytake these?
Like what am I trying to getout of this?
Because, when it comes to whatare you spending your money on,
(16:32):
I know that I don't want to bespending my money on stuff that
isn't actually going to behelping me accomplish my goals.
And when you are doing sometroubleshooting right, if you
are somebody, you're probablylistening to this because you
have irregular periods, you havePMS, you have maybe no period
at all.
Periods you have PMS, you havemaybe no period at all, and you
(16:57):
say, okay, well, could what I'mtaking even be working against
my goal, right?
Maybe you know there are somesupplements out there, some
botanicals, that can help you torecover your period.
They help to support normalbalance as it relates to women's
sex hormones.
But there could be nuancedsituations, like with Vitex, for
(17:19):
example, where it actually is.
For example, if you have PCOS,maybe Vitex isn't the right herb
for you to take.
For you to take even though weknow colloquially, colloquially,
colloquially, wow.
Even though we know generallythat Vitex is supportive for PMS
(17:41):
and for hormones.
Hopefully, that rabbit holethat I just went down made some
sense.
But it all is just to come backto saying why are you taking a
supplement?
What is it actually for?
Can you tell that it is helpingyou and, if not, do you need to
be taking that supplement?
Or is there something else thatwould better support the
(18:03):
function or the process that youwere looking to support?
So, from here, what can you do?
Number one I want you to checkout your supplements and do a
little Google search.
Ask some AI bot more about theproduct that you are taking and
(18:24):
what sort of certifications thatproduct and or manufacturer has
.
Is there any third partytesting?
This will take you 60 seconds.
It'll either be a quick, youknow, sense of safety.
What is the term that I'mlooking for?
Why can't I remember wordstoday?
Oh, warm and fuzzy.
(18:47):
That's what I was going for.
Either it's a little warm andfuzzy, that perfect.
Yes, this is a reputable brand,I'm going to keep on keeping on
or it's just a good sign to say, okay, let me look into
something that is more reputable.
It doesn't have to beinherently good or bad, it's
just you taking this informationto make a decision in the best
(19:08):
interest of your health.
I also want to mention, ofcourse, that if you don't know
what to take, if you don't knowwhat is going to be supportive
for you, then that could be agood opportunity to work with a
practitioner who will helpadvise you on what's going to be
supportive for whatever you areup against.
So, whether that is aconversation with your primary
(19:30):
care provider, with anotherpractitioner, with somebody like
me, with somebody like anaturopath, who also is more
holistically minded, of course,and is going to be thinking of
okay, how can we support yourbody, naturally, those would be
good options to go down.
Third and final thought herewould just be that if you have
(19:53):
something that you are workingon addressing, like irregular
cycles, like missing periods,like really heavy periods, like
bloating or other digestivediscomforts, it can be really
helpful to have some sort of labtesting done in order to get a
really specific and clearunderstanding of what direction
(20:13):
you need to go and whatsupplements will be the most
supportive for your normal bodyprocesses and systems to
function.
So you're making thosedata-backed decisions,
science-backed decisions,instead of thinking, okay, well,
yes, generally sure, vitamin Ais good for us, and so is fish
(20:36):
oil is going to be good for mostpeople, et cetera, but really
making that data andscience-backed decisions.
So no surprises on that one.
I'm sure that we all could havededuced it, but I think it is a
good, friendly reminder that,again, if you were spending
money on these supplements, youwere using them as a tool.
How can you use that toolefficiently and effectively to
(20:59):
get to your goal, instead of itbeing another thing that is kind
of in your way and that ispreventing you from getting to
your goal, because you think,okay, well, I'm taking this
supplement, I'm taking thisbotanical, it should be helping
me, but it might not really bethat botanical, depending on the
source.
(21:19):
The last thing that I want toleave you with is don't be
concerned, don't be scared,don't be stressed about what is
going on with your supplements.
Just take some time to lookinto what is there so that you
can make the best decision foryourself, and then just move on
(21:40):
and keep on with yourstrategizing and your
implementation of what will bestserve you.
So if you're somebody who takessupplements, if you're somebody
who will take supplements inthe future, then I hope this
episode was helpful for you.
I hope you have some goodtakeaways.
Share this with somebody inyour life with whom you've been
talking about supplements lately.
(22:01):
I will see you on Thursday fora shorty episode about a couple
of supplements and or foods thatyou can incorporate into your
busy work week to support yourbody.
So I will see you then.
Thanks so much for listening.
I'm Bridget Walton.
If you loved today's episodeand got something good out of it
, make sure you subscribe sothat these episodes show up
(22:24):
automatically in your feed, nowork needed on your side.
Let's put it on autopilot.
As always, I need to give youmy reminder that the information
I share with you here is foreducational purposes only, and
it should not be used as areplacement for medical advice
or diagnosis.
Now, if you are, on the otherhand, in the market for some
one-on-one support, then I wouldlove for you to take me up on
(22:47):
my offer for a free strategycall.
You can find these links andmore in the show notes.
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