Vitamin K2/Supplement Balance/Zyflamend- any primers or references?

[jump4life]

Hello -  I am on Day 3 of my first Whole30 and am thinking quite a bit about supplements.   Any primers or references for the following questions is appreciated:

 

1) Vitamin K2?  It keeps popping up in various discussions but I am not sure of the "whys" and "how tos" for this one.

 

2) Do the recos for supplementation change as the diet improves?   How do you determine when you get the "right" balance of the crucial stuff from diet alone?

 

3) Is there any Whole30 compliant substitute for New Chapter Zyflamend?

 

A bit more background on my habits below if it helps to have context when answering the questions.

 

Thanks!

 

Lynn

 

What I eat: I have been gluten (but not grain) free, low added sugar and not afraid of good fats for a while now.   Been prepping  for Whole30 for a few weeks and am now am Whole 30 compliant.  Sourcing most of my protein from grass fed meat/poultry/eggs and from fish.  Fish probably 1X per week but trying to increase.   Not ready for organ meat but just got my first set of soup bones for broth. Added fats mostly from coconut, olive oil, and avocado, occasionally macadamia or cashews.   Lots of raw/green/salad veggies , starchy veggies (squash, sweet potato) probably not enough fibrous veggies.

 

How I move:  2x week strength/circuit (mostly body weight/lifting heavy stuff), 2X week cardio (interval training on elliptical) and 1X long and slow on road bike.    8000-11000 steps/day.  Sit too much at work. 

 

My health concerns:  Overweight by a good margin (but very slowly losing and keeping it off ,-20lbs/18 months).    Significant foot, ankle,knee inflammation/pain issues (likely due to past injuries, surgeries, overweight, overuse).   Not enough sleep/rest.        

 

My current supplements: 

Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega -  2 softcaps at Meals 1 and 3, typically my fattiest meals = total ~2.5 g Omega 3 (1300mg EPA, 900mg DHA)

Country Life Vitamin D3- 5000 IU with Meal 1 ( I have little sun exposure and haven't supplemented in a while.  I will likely decrease this dose after this bottle is gone)

Natural Calm-  1/2 teaspoon (90mg) just started last night.  Planning to slowly titrate up as I can tolerate.

(Zyflamend-  not taking this now b/c not Whole 30 compliant.  But really wish I had a good substitute!)

 

 

[Tina R]

There is a post on the website about supplements but this forum won't allow me to post the link. Search google.com "whole30 supplements" to find it.

 

The only thing I know about vitamin K2 is that it helps move calcium to the right place in your body (for example if you have sensitive teeth vatamin K can help heal your teeth from the inside). I also know that if you are on certain medications you need to limit vitamin K because it can interfere with them (like blood thinners). Hopefully someone else can answer the rest of your questions. Good Luck!

[Tom Denham]

My go-to site for supplement questions is http://examine.com/. I supplement with vitamin k2 because of its potential benefit of reducing unwanted calcification. 

 

The Whole9 take on supplements can be found here: 

http://whole9life.com/2010/08/whole9-supplement-evaluation-checklist/

http://whole9life.com/2010/09/supplements-part-ii/

 

I don't think you need a substitute for Zyflamend. New Chapter is a powerful marketing company and I think they have oversold your need for their products. 

 

​I have experimented with a variety of supplements over the years without noticing meaningful benefits. I have kept a few where the scientific reports were encouraging, but I don't think any supplement comes close to matching the benefits of eating the right whole foods. So, for example, I no longer take a fish oil supplement per se, but I eat a lot of canned tuna and salmon. By a lot, I mean eating a can of tuna about 5 times per week as my post-workout meal and eating salmon 3, maybe 4 times per week as my protein in a main meal. I take a 5000 IU vitamin D3 supplement on days that I do not spend time shirtless in the sun. I exercise outside 5 days per week, so I supplement two days per week most weeks.