To supplement or not to supplement?

[Janine Costanzo]

Hi all! I'm about to start my first Whole30 (tomorrow!). I'm wondering whether I should take my supplements during it or not. I'm taking calcium+vitamin D, fish oil, and probiotics. I deliberately did a bunch of research and bought new brands of all of these (except the fish oil, still working on that one), since the ones I had before all had soy in them.

Part of me thinks I should take them since they should make me healthier. The other part is wondering if maybe I shouldn't take them, and then introduce them after the Whole30 is over to see if they change anything. I'm wondering if starting new brands of supplements at the same time that I'm changing my diet might skew things in some way (i.e. how do I know if it's the diet or the supplements that's changing how I feel?).

So, what do you all usually do for supplementation during the Whole30? What would you recommend in my case?

Oh and as a side note...are there any capsule fish oil brands that you recommend? All of the ones I looked at seemed to have soy in them (or didn't say either way). I know the Stronger Faster Healthier brand is recommended, but I'd rather have it in capsule form than in liquid form.

The other stuff I'm taking is:

* Solgar Calcium Citrate with Vitamin D (my doctor recommends that I take a combo calcium/vitamin D supplement)

* Ultimate Flora Probiotics (Adult Formula)

Thanks!

Janine

[Renee Lee]

Personally, I'm anti calcium supplementation. Americans have one of the highest intakes of dietary calcium, yet still boast one of the highest incidences of osteoporosis in the world. Calcium isn't the whole answer to strong bones. There are other minerals at play. Magnesium is the big one.

That aside, what form of D is in your supp? Is it d2 or d3? D3 is the good stuff

[Megan Claydon]

for capsules of fish oil try PurePharma. They are not officially Whole30 approved but as far as I can tell they are clean. A few members at our gym take it and have seen good results.

[Janine Costanzo]

Thanks for the input. I decided that I'm going to do the fish oil, vitamin D, and probiotics during my Whole30, and not do the calcium, for now at least.

Are Nordic Naturals brand of fish oil good? I bought a kind that has vitamin D with it too (and yes, it's D3), so I'm taking that. It's this one: http://www.nordicnaturals.com/en/Products/Product_Details/514/?ProdID=1490

[silk]

I thought I read in the book to ditch all the supplements during the whole30 ? That's what I did. Can I bring them back? Generally I take CoQ10, ALA, fish oil, probiotic, and some Chinese herbs for my liver, which I didn't stop taking.

[Renee Lee]

The W30 doesn't demand that you ditch them, unless they specifically have soy/gluten/whatever in them.

Whole_9_ encourages you to take a good look at your supps and figure out why you're supplementing and if you really need it.

We don't believe that the average person NEEDS them if they're eating a nutrient dense, anti-inflammatory diet, but they aren't necessarily out of the question

[silk]

Thanks, Renee. I take supplements since I got a diagnosis of chronic hepatitis c -- they're the supplements all the docs I've seen have recommended for that. I take breaks from them from time to time, but I already took a break from them for the month of October, so it would feel good to start taking them again.

[Renee Lee]

Thanks, Renee. I take supplements since I got a diagnosis of chronic hepatitis c -- they're the supplements all the docs I've seen have recommended for that. I take breaks from them from time to time, but I already took a break from them for the month of October, so it would feel good to start taking them again.

Yep, Hep C would definitely exclude you from the "average person" definition. If they're doc recommended/prescribed/etc, and they don't have any forbidden ingredients, you're good to go