Supplements: Great … when used correctly

In the early 1500s, Juan Ponce de Leon searched Florida for a supposed “fountain of youth” that he thought to be there. This fountain of youth would supposedly rejuvenate those who drank its water. Of course, we now know that Ponce de Leon never found the fountain of youth, and we additionally know that this fountain of youth doesn’t even exist. Despite this, we appear to still continue our search for eternal youth.

The closest thing we have to a fountain of youth is the maintenance of our bodies through exercise and proper eating, as well as attentiveness to our spiritual, mental and emotional aspects. But because we find it hard to pay attention to these things, we instead seek health solutions that require much less effort with all of the benefit. Enter supplements.

Now, lest I be misunderstood, this is not a “bash supplements” column. Supplements are not bad at all. In fact, when used knowledgeably and methodically, they can be a significant help to your overall health. For example, some suggest that the use of whole food vitamin and mineral supplements can be helpful in this day and age when our soils have been depleted of much of their nutrient content from decades of farming.

But here’s the thing. Supplements were never supposed to serve as a substitute for a healthy lifestyle. Supplements are … well, supplements. They are meant to fill in small nutritional gaps, and to boost immunity in cases where individuals are dealing with specific illnesses, for example, when someone takes more vitamin C to help fight colds and flu. But supplements do not cancel out unhealthy habits. Sorry, it doesn’t matter how good your multivitamin is; it’s not going to cancel out the negative effects of a cheeseburger and fries diet.

That said, if you choose to use health supplements, make sure first of all that you are focused on living a healthy lifestyle. In other words, be eating right, exercising and otherwise taking care of yourself.

Secondly, educate yourself beforehand on the proper usage of supplements, or find someone to help you. There are a ton of pills, powders and tinctures out there, so unless you have some knowledge or guidance, you may not know what you’re doing.

As a personal trainer, I cannot recommend to you what supplements to take. However, this month, I have partnered through my podcast with Natural Therapies Health Center of Warner Robins, which carries a wide variety of supplements, as well as other services. Run by Hayden Foster and his son, Shane Foster, these guys and their staff know a lot about supplementation for whatever your need might be.

By the way, if you visit my website (YourHealthAtTheCrossroads.com) and click “Coupon of the Month” at the top of the page, you can download a 10 percent off all supplements coupon for Natural Therapies for the rest of August.

To conclude, supplements are no fountain of youth. However, if you knowledgeably combine them with an overall healthy lifestyle, you can perhaps enable yourself to age slower and more gracefully. That’s definitely worth something.

This story was originally published August 16, 2017 at 8:12 PM with the headline "Supplements: Great … when used correctly."