Dr. Suris’ Top 5 Supplements Everyone Should Be Taking

Let’s be honest, if you’re anything like me you love your supplements (just ask my wife). In 2015, Americans spent over $20 billion on supplements, and that number only continues to rise.

With millions of products out there, it’s hard to know which ones you should be spending your hard earned money on. Along with not knowing what products to take, there are also hundreds of thousands of companies selling the same product. So which ones do you take?

One of the main reasons we created New Wellness was to provide professional quality supplements to our patients who could trust that they were physician approved. We only sell products from suppliers that we trust and know on a personal basis to ensure we are providing quality supplements to you.

While not everyone should be taking every single supplement out there, there are a few foundational supplements I recommend people should be taking. The prevalence of nutrient deficiencies is on the rise as food quality is rapidly decreasing. Over farming is causing our food to be less nutrient rich, which in turn leads to nutrient deficiencies in our bodies.

Even if your diet is almost perfect, the amount of organically grown, recently picked fruits and vegetables that needs to be consumed on a daily basis is too large to maintain. On top of that, the stresses of modern day living take a toll on our body and deplete our precious nutrients.

While every supplement serves it’s purpose, one of the most common questions I get is “what are the basic supplements I should be taking”? Below are the top 5 supplements that should be considered foundational. I have seen drastic improvements in my patient’s sleep, energy levels, and ability to lose weight among other great benefits.

1. Multivitamin. Don’t skimp on the cheap stuff. Not only are the cheap one-a-days at your local corner store not providing enough of the right nutrients, but they’re also extremely poor quality. Most of the one-a-day multivitamins that are tested by third party labs don’t even have the amount of vitamins they are advertising on the bottle. As convenient as one-a-day multivitamins are, we recommend taking multivitamin packs. Packs come with multiple pills containing high amounts of quality vitamins and minerals your body needs. A good multivitamin will help you fulfill most of your micronutrient needs that your not getting from your vegetables (*don’t forget to continue eating your vegetables).Recommended: Wellness Complete or Wellness Essential
2. Fish Oil. One of the biggest contributors to almost every disease is inflammation. Omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids are essential fatty acids (this means your body cannot make them). Omega 3 fatty acids are are mostly anti-inflammatory, while omega 6 fatty acids are considered to be inflammatory. A ratio of 1:1 is ideal, but unfortunately most of us consumer up to 50x more inflammatory omega 6 fatty acids than omega 3 fatty acids. By taking a fish oil supplement, therapeutic amounts of EPA and DHA help protect your most vital organs such as the brain, heart, and liver from inflammation. A quality fish oil supplement is EXTREMELY important. If fish live in contaminated waters, they can bio-concentrate mercury and other harmful toxins.Recommended: Nordic Naturals ProOmega
3. Vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 is one of the most important hormones (that’s right, it’s actually a hormone, not a vitamin) in the body. Nearly everyone is deficient in vitamin D3. Our bodies make vitamin D3 naturally when we get sun exposure, but because of our busy lifestyles and large amount of times spent indoors, most of us don’t get the amount of sun our bodies need to make enough vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 levels are definitely one of the tests you want to have done. Most patients should take 10,000 IUs a day until optimal levels are reached and then dial down the dosage. You also want to make sure you supplement with K2 while taking vitamin D3. Vitamin K2 helps promote bone growth and prevents calcium deposits in arteries.Recommended: K2:D3 (New Wellness Brand)

    

4. Probiotic. The talk about gut health these days is gaining more traction than ever before, and rightfully so. Chronic stress, toxic environments, and our overuse of anything and everything that kills anything and everything (think hand sanitizers, pesticides, herbicides, etc.) has taken its toll on our gut micro biomes. A healthy gut helps support proper brain function, nutrient absorption, immune health, and digestion. It is best to take a probiotic that has billions of microorganisms and a diverse amount of species.Recommended: Ultraflora Spectrum

    

5. Magnesium. If you are a coffee fan that regularly enjoys your daily cup”s” of coffee, you may want to consider taking a magnesium supplement. Coffee, among other things like stress, deplete magnesium in our bodies. Magnesium plays a role in hundreds of enzymatic reactions and studies show that nearly 80% of Americans are deficient in this critical mineral.Recommended: OptiMag

These are the top 5 supplements I recommend most everyone should be taking! Again though, make sure to talk to your doctor before you take them, especially if you are on any medications.