We are pretty conservative about supplements in general and very cautious when it comes to supplementing with minerals. Minerals aren’t just high or low. They all connect, never working in isolation. And some are even antagonists, which means they compete in the body. This is especially important to remember when considering adding in a specific supplement.
As always, we encourage you to do your own research and talk with your doctor or dietitian before you stop or start any supplement. We are nutrition professionals, but we are not YOUR nutrition professionals. This is not medical advice.
That said, there are a few vitamins and minerals we believe can help support most bodies for optimal health. Let’s go through them.
Notice that our MVP of “supplements” is actually just a whole food that we love to take in supplement form. We refer to beef liver as nature’s multivitamin because of how rich it is in so many minerals, including B vitamins, vitamin A, copper, selenium, and iron. You’ve heard us talk about how important Vitamin A and copper are for regulating iron in the body, and beef liver is abundant in both. And because it’s a whole food, you’re not getting anything synthetic or in unnatural amounts.
Not sure where to start with beef liver? If you don’t mind the taste, purchase a pound or two from a reputable source (US Wellness Meats sells beef liver for $12.45 a pound) and make it into a paté to snack on with sourdough crackers. You could also cook up a few ounces a couple times a week with onions—here’s a classic recipe!—or mix ground liver into dishes with ground beef. (Up to 4 ounces a week is considered safe, for both pregnant and non-pregnant women.)
Also cheaper than buying a supplement is making your own. Buy it raw from from a local farm, cut it into bite-sized pieces, and freeze. Swallow whole once a day and chase with juice or add to smoothies. I know a lot of people who love to do it this way! Personally, I don’t look forward to cooking beef liver and I’m not crazy about the taste, so I alternate between taking the desiccated liver pills by Ancestral Supplements and Perfect Supplements. I also really like Paleovalley Organ Complex for a variety of organs in one supplement (use code HORMONEHEALINGRD10 for 10% off).
Don’t want to do beef liver, or can’t tolerate it? Duck liver and chicken liver both have similar nutrient profiles. (Chicken liver is lower in copper but rich in vitamin A and makes a delicious paté.) We also like OysterZinc from Smidge as an alternative for getting your copper, zinc, B12, selenium, and iodine.
Magnesium is the first mineral we burn through when we’re stressed. When you combine all of our modern-day stressors and the fact that our soils are pretty much depleted of magnesium nowadays, you’ll find that most of us are deficient in this important mineral. (High magnesium on your HTMA? You’re using it up and losing it through your hair!)
There are several ways to get in your daily dose of magnesium, but remember that not all magnesium supplements are created equal. Here are our favorites:
1. Topically through epsom salt baths, foot baths, or magnesium oil spray/lotion.
2. Orally with:
Keep in mind that bio-individuality is important, and this is where your HTMA comes in. For those of you slow metabolizers, you really need to get your sodium and potassium levels in a good place before you start going crazy with the magnesium supplementation, because magnesium can push those down further. (We don’t ever supplement with sodium and potassium—food only approach for these. We love adrenal cocktails!) Always start slow with magnesium (~100-200 mg at first) and increase incrementally based on how you feel.
Eventually, we recommend working your way up to 5x your body weight in milligrams (so, if you weigh 150 lbs, you’d eventually get up to 750 milligrams taken throughout the day and in a variety of the methods we recommended) for optimal replenishment.
We love vitamin E because it acts similarly to progesterone in the body by reducing stress and opposing estrogen and androgens. This is beneficial for those of us dealing with PCOS, hormonal imbalances, and estrogen dominance or low progesterone. It also functions as a powerful antioxidant to help protect the body from inflammation and oxidation. This includes combatting the effects of PUFAs like vegetable oils in the diet.
If you’re someone who struggles with infertility, irregular periods, or anovulation, supplementing with vitamin E can increase blood flow in the luteal phase and aid in regulating cycles by lengthening the time between ovulation and your period. Because of the anti-inflammatory effects, it’s also great for those struggling with headaches/migraines, and period pain.
Look for a vitamin E supplement that contains 400 IU or more of “mixed tocopherols.” We like MitoLife’s PUFA Protect. Don’t overdo it, but if you feel a migraine coming on or you eat a lot of PUFAs (like at a restaurant or fried food), you can take more than one capsule. But be aware that supplementing with vitamin E can cause a detox reaction at first where your body starts dumping excess estrogen. This can lead to symptoms like acne.
Vitamin C is important for using vitamin E in the body, so we’re going to talk about that one next.
The benefits of REAL vitamin C are vast and wide, but if we could sum it up in a short list, this is what we’d say:
Now then, what is different about ascorbic acid? Long story short, it’s the incomplete version of vitamin C. It doesn’t contain tyrosinase or copper or a host of other components that science hasn’t even discovered yet. Vitamin activity (reactions and functions) only take place when ALL co-factors and components of the entire vitamin complex are present and working together. Which means, with ascorbic acid, you won’t get any of the health-supporting benefits you’re expecting from vitamin C!
Last but not least, we have digestive bitters. If you struggle with digestive symptoms like gas, bloating, heartburn, or indigestion, we recommend supplementing with digestive bitters (or apple cider vinegar) 15 minutes before meals (or whenever your symptoms start). A lot of nutrition experts recommend taking HCl with meals as a first line of defense, but we prefer the bitters to help stimulate your own stomach acid.
Urban Moonshine makes a blend of herbs in tincture form that can lead to better absorption of nutrients, natural detoxification of the liver, and—thanks to the gut-brain connection—bitters can even have a positive effect on stress.
Certain bitter herbs are contraindicated in pregnancy, which is why digestive bitters are not recommended to pregnant women—use a couple teaspoons of ACV instead.
That’s it! Remember, supplements will be even more effective when you have a solid nutrition foundation. When we skip this foundational step, it will be harder and take longer to balance our minerals and feel our best. (Not to mention, it’s a waste of money!)
Now that you’ve learned about supportive supplements you may be interested in learning about supplements that may be harmful to your health. You can learn more about this in this podcast episode from the are you menstrual? podcast.
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