Top Five Supplements for Daily Health & Well-Being

Stop the madness in choosing your supplements, take a look at our list

It is a mess, a really big mess out there. There are so many supplements to choose from that one CAN go crazy just trying to choose between them all. Not to mention diarrhea, if you try and ingest all of them at once! 167230135

Your intestines can only absorb a certain amount. The rest goes down the pooper. Let's break it down. The following supplements are the top five on our list, important for optimal and daily healthy living. Make sure you have them on your list, if you have a list. If you don't, start now dear reader. It's not too late.

Multivitamin/mineral.
This supplement also goes by the names MVM (for obvious reasons), multi or just vitamins. Some brands out there contain other ingredients (for example, glucosamine and echinacea) in addition to these two groups of nutrients (vitamins and minerals). There are many brands available to choose from. Most MVMs provide your body with enough of each nutrient to meet the recommended daily values. If you want higher strength MVMs, they usually come in packs of two (or you could simply take two, but check this out with your health practitioner first). It's important to take a multi to prevent nutrient deficiencies. Because of today's everyday stresses, you must arm yourself with a pretty decent MVM. Remember, there are also very few diets out there which provide you adequate amounts of each vitamin and mineral in todays modern world. Anyone can benefit from a MVM supplement, plus it helps you to avoid taking a million (just an exaggeration) pills everyday.
Calcium/Magnesium.
Why stress over these two minerals? Calcium is well recognized for its benefits. Fast nerve impulse transmission, strong bones and teeth, healthy muscle contractions and sufficient blood clotting. It's because of these reasons that your calcium intake should be adequate as long as you live. If you don't get enough calcium, your body will take it out of your bones. You know what that means, more fractures for you if this happens for a prolonged period of time. Sorry ladies, menopause causes a reduction in estrogen production. Estrogen supports calcium absorption, so lower estrogen means reduced calcium absorption. So please don't miss out on this vital mineral.

Magnesium is like calcium's little sister. It helps increase the absorption of calcium. Both of them are required for your body to make healthy teeth and bones. Magnesium is also extremely important for muscle relaxation, energy production and other processes in the body. In fact magnesium is a lot more likely to be low in most of us today because of our processed diets and the lack of this mineral in the soil. Score another one for the ladies, this humble mineral can help alleviate premenstrual symptoms like headaches, bloating and mood swings.
EPA and DHA Omega-3 (Essential Omega-3 Fatty Acids).
EPA and DHA stand for eicosapentanoic acid and docosahexanoic acid respectively. Both can be found in fish oil and algal oil supplements. Both also have positive impacts on diseases like depression, joint problems, cardiovascular illnesses and autoimmune diseases. These diseases have inflammation in common as their basic pathology (cause). EPA and DHA’s combined anti-inflammatory actions and the support they provide to the brain and cardiovascular system make it more than worthy to be included in our top five supplement list.
Probiotics.
Probiotics are microorganisms which have proven health benefits to your digestive system and are also known as ‘friendly bacteria’ or ‘the good guys’. I hope you know what a healthy digestive system stands for. That would mean better assimilation and absorption of the nutrients in your diet as well as enhanced protection from invading harmful bacteria. At first it may be difficult for you to grasp the concept of eating or ingesting live bacteria, but what actually happens is that they help reduce the bad bacteria and maintain the integrity of your intestinal lining. So now you can see why they are called the ‘good guys’.
Antioxidants.
As the name suggests, antioxidants are substances which help fight free radicals. Strictly speaking, a free radical is a molecule (or an atom) with a single, unpaired electron on its outermost shell. What?! Relax, these bunch of words just mean that a free radical is ready to react with other molecules. In doing so, it can disrupt the makeup of important biological structures. Antioxidants prevent this potentially damaging process. In practical terms, antioxidants delay aging and help to protect you from chronic conditions like heart disease and dementia. Antioxidant blends are the way to go as different antioxidants act in different areas of the body.

There you have it. Now that you're aware of these important supplements, you may wish to make them a part of your day so you can continue to enjoy optimal health.