Beyond the Diet: Must-Have Supplements for Optimal Health and Longevity

Welcome to The Perfect Stool: Understanding and Healing the Gut Microbiome. This is your host, Lindsey Parsons, and today we're tackling a topic that's everywhere you look: supplements. You walk into any health food store, you look around online, and you're hit with an overwhelming selection of supplements and marketing for every possible condition, from boundless energy to eternal youth. Most people don't want to take 150 supplements a day like David Gaspary says he does. So this podcast is just a beginner's guide to what I think are the basics and non-negotiables, whether you've got health issues or not. My goal today is to help you move from a shotgun approach where you're just grabbing bottles off the shelf or following the best online marketing, hoping something works, to a more targeted foundational approach. But first, if you haven't yet subscribed to or followed the podcast, be sure to do that now. And if you want to get transcripts of the podcast and my free ebook, Finding Your Root Cause Through Stool and Organic Acids Testing, head to highdeserthealthcoaching.com and sign up for my newsletter, which is now coming out Substack. So just note you'll get a welcome from there when I add you to that before the next newsletter comes up. Now on to the show. Now, before we get into the bottles and the capsules, let's start with the most important point. Supplements are the icing on the cake, but your diet and lifestyle are the cake itself. Without a solid nutrient-dense diet, the best supplements in the world are just a band-aid on a bigger problem. You cannot out-supplement a diet of ultra-processed foods, high sugar, too much alcohol, or lifestyle of chronic stress, lack of exercise, poor sleep, or loneliness. So the first step for anyone in this journey is to clean up your plate. Focus on whole foods, lots of colorful vegetables, quality lean protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates, meaning whole foods, beans, legumes, whole grains, and starchy veggies, mostly other than potatoes. Make sure you're exercising, including both strength training and cardio, ideally with some high-intensity interval training sprints mixed in. If your sleep is less than optimal, usually the problems start before you head to bed. So start figuring out how to bring in better sleep hygiene practices and back your day up to allow you to go to bed early enough to get a solid 7 to 8 hours. And if you're lonely and don't have good social relationships, and this is a tough one, I understand very well. Sometimes you have to be the person who initiates these things. I have started ethnic dinner clubs by putting the word out on Nextdoor, hosted game nights, started a monthly poker night, started book clubs, joined and hosted meetup events. And coincidentally tonight, I'm hosting a cocktail party for my new neighbors as we just moved to a new street about 3 months ago. We just made flyers and put up an Eventbrite and taped flyers to our neighbors' doors. And we've made several new friends this way in our prior house. So whatever your interest, you can find others who join in and meet people that way. But it does take a concerted effort, especially if you've just moved into a new town, for example. So once your diet and lifestyle base is solid, then we can look at strategic supplementation to fill in the gaps and optimize for longevity, immunity, and overall wellness. So the first and most non-negotiable icing for me, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, is vitamin D. It's not just a vitamin, it's a prohormone, and its role in the body is far more extensive than most people realize. We've long known it's crucial for bone health because it helps the body absorb calcium, but we're now finding that its influence on immune function, mood, regulation, and even gene expression is profound. It's called the sunshine vitamin for a reason. A primary source is sunlight exposure, which for many people, especially in colder climates or those who work indoors all day, is just not sufficient. Honestly, I've yet to see a single client who had sufficient vitamin D levels without supplementing. Low vitamin D levels are linked to everything from weakened immunity, greater rates of autoimmune disease, increased risk of illness, in particular higher rates of ICU admission and mortality with COVID muscle weakness, and even depression. For good health and longevity, it's a non-negotiable. And if you're only willing to take one supplement other than a multi including D, I would choose this one. Now, you might be asking, how do I know my vitamin D levels? This is where testing becomes crucial. The standard, most accurate test is the 25-hydroxy vitamin D blood test. It's a simple blood draw that gives you a snapshot of your current levels, and most doctors will run it, but only if you ask. Most labs will give you a range. Anything below 20 ng/mL is considered deficient, and anything from 20 to 30 ng/mL is considered insufficient, but that level is in fact way insufficient for optimal health and longevity. A growing number of experts recommend aiming for a level between 40 to 80 ng/mL. I personally aim for 50 to 80 ng/mL based on the Genova Lab optimal ranges. This range is associated with better immune function, lower risk of many chronic diseases, and overall greater health. Most people need something in the range of 4,000 to 5,000 IU of vitamin D 3 daily to maintain those levels. But getting your levels tested is the only way to know for sure if you're hitting that sweet spot. And if someone is really low to begin with, like below 35, you can also do a loading dose of 10,000 IU a day for a month to catch up. Now make sure to always take your vitamin D with vitamin K. Why? In which form, you may ask? Well, I like MK-4, menaquinone-4, a form of vitamin K2 your body can make from K1, which comes from leafy greens, by the way. Using GG or geranylgeraniol. Unlike MK-7, which is made by gut bugs in the colon, MK-4 is the form your own tissues build and use, and it's found across around 25 to 30 organs, bone, vasculature, brain, et cetera. Its superpower is it activates vitamin K-dependent proteins by carboxylation. So vitamin D upregulates the production of bone and vessel proteins, for example, osteocalcin, for bone mineralization, MGP for keeping calcium out of arteries, and MK4 switches them on and activates those proteins so they actually bind calcium correctly. So in short, D without enough K2, ideally is MK4, can push calcium without proper traffic control, raising the risk it lands in soft tissues. In other words, taking D plus MK4 ensures calcium goes to your bones and teeth, not to your arteries, creating calcification or kidneys, creating stones, in particular if you're also supplementing with calcium. I actually like the Seeking Health Vitamin DK drops that have MK-4, or there is a Designs for Health Vitamin DK that has MK-4 that I like as well. Next up, let's talk about the B vitamins. These are a family of 8 essential vitamins that are crucial for cellular energy production, brain function, and overall metabolism. I have yet to see a single client that was not deficient in B vitamins without having taken either a multivitamin or a B complex. Think of them as the tiny cogs that help everything else in your body run smoothly. The problem is that our diets, even healthy ones, can sometimes be low in certain B vitamins, and some people have genetic factors that make it harder for their bodies to use them. When people started processing grains and removing the outer shell and the germ, we removed lots of the common sources of B vitamins from our diets, hence why flour is often enriched in B vitamins, but typically the cheapest and least bioavailable kinds. And for people on gluten-free diets, which seems to be the majority of people I see with gut health or autoimmune issues, which is recommended by the way, even that source of B vitamins is eliminated. This brings us to a key distinction: methylated versus non-methylated B vitamins. The term methylated refers to the body's ability to convert a vitamin into its active usable form. For example, the B vitamin folate, or B9, in its standard non-methylated form is called folic acid, but for your body to use it, it has to convert it to the active form, L-methylfolate, Some people, due to a set of common genetic variations grouped under the name MTHFR, have a harder time with this conversion process. And something like 60 to 70% of Americans have a variant allele of MTHFR. So most people can safely assume they'll be better off with methylated B vitamins. So the form you'd be looking for of folate or folic acid, right, is L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate, which may be listed as L-methylfolate or 5-MTHF. Or 6S-5-MTHF, or under the trademark names Quatrefolic or Metafolin. But if you see MTHF or the word methyl, you should be good and should be getting the fully active methylated form that your body uses right away for neurotransmitters, homocysteine balance, and methylation. Another form, folic acid or 5-formyl-THF, is a natural active form that bypasses MTHFR but doesn't directly provide methyl groups. It's often used in cancer therapy, fertility, or when someone needs a gentler folate support or has some uncommon SNPs such that they don't do well with methylated B vitamins. The same issue applies for vitamin B12 and the MTR and MTRR variations. For the majority of people who have these SNPs, taking methylcobalamin rather than cyanocobalamin for B12 is very important. Furthermore, lots of people who have gut issues, especially issues affecting the stomach like gastritis or low stomach acid or H. pylori, will likely have impaired absorption of B12 in the stomach. So you may do better with a sublingual lozenge, or if your levels are low enough, a shot of methylcobalamin. If you test low on a traditional blood test for B12, then you're really low, as that's one of the last markers to go south when you're getting low. Methylmalonic acid is a better test if you can get it and will show a deficiency sooner. And that's found on tests like the organic acids test or the metabolomics or NutriWell. Of course, your basic blood test called the CBC may show elevations in MCV, MCH, or MCHC if you're deficient in B12 or folate. Incidentally, when I was finding out about all my health issues around 2014, I had such low B12 that I had the common symptom of deficiency, tingling in my hands and feet. And my level on a standard B12 test was 124 on a scale of like 240 to 900, roughly, which was described by my hematologist as a level that could cause sustained neurological problems. Although thankfully that didn't happen. So if you have that tingling, get checked out. For someone who is deficient and has possible absorption issues, or vegans, as you get most of your B12 from animal products, a 1,000 microgram or 1 milligram sublingual methylcobalamin is a good choice. Or if you don't think your absorption is compromised, just pick a good B complex with 100 micrograms to 1,000 micrograms of methylcobalamin and at least 400 micrograms of methylfolate. Just make sure that between any multivitamins and B complexes, you don't overdo the folate. The daily recommended maximum, unless you have an identified deficiency, is 1,000 micrograms of folate. While most people do well with methylated vitamins, a small group feel overstimulated, anxious, irritable, or get headaches when taking high doses of methylfolate or methylcobalamin. It's not super common, but it does happen in people who are sensitive methylators. In those cases, gentler forms work better. So folic acid instead of methylfolate still supports folate pathways, and hydroxocobalamin or adenosylcobalamin instead of methylcobalamin provide active B12 without the same methyl punch. These forms are especially helpful for people with neurological issues, detox imbalances, or who just don't to— tolerate methyl donors well. Seeking Health makes a product called B-Minus, which doesn't have any folate or B12, which is sometimes useful for people in this situation who need other B vitamins. But are sensitive to these two methylated forms. And I should also mention quickly that in looking at B complexes, there are a couple things to watch out for. Most people I see are deficient in B6, whose active form is peroxyl-5-phosphate or P5P. This is less crucial to get in its active form than the other two, but good B complexes have some amount of P5P in them. But a small number of people with certain genetics can overload on B6, and symptoms of that mimic those of B12 deficiency, which is tingling, numbness, burning, or pins and needles in your hands and feet. So if you started a B complex and start having those symptoms, you should stop taking it and get your B6 checked. So something in the range of 25 milligrams or below of B6 is safest if you don't know your B6 genetics and haven't shown any deficiency on any test. But if you're deficient, which is super common in anxiety and depression, as lots of B6 is used with your neurotransmitters, then you may need more like 50 or 100 milligrams of B6. Another thing to be careful of is B5 or pantothenic acid. That's another one that you can overload on. Some people will feel wired or have insomnia with as ma— amounts as high as 100 milligrams a day. So I usually try to max out a bit lower than that for most people, more like 75 milligrams or less. It's a small subset of people who are under a lot of stress or have adrenal dysfunction who may benefit from megadoses of B5, like 500 milligrams a day, but that's a small minority. But a good B complex will have middling doses of most B vitamins from like 10 to 50 milligrams of most of the Bs with 100 to 1,000 micrograms of B12 and 400 to 800 micrograms of folate. Which is often expressed in micrograms DFE, which means direct folate equivalents. And it's also good to find a B complex with some choline, which isn't in all of them. Some of my favorites are the AOR Advanced B Complex. If you want lower B6, the Thorne Basic B Complex, or if you want more B6, the Thorne B Complex #6, which has 100 milligrams of B6. Next on my list of foundational supplements is magnesium. Magnesium is involved in over 300 enzymatic reactions in the body. It's considered the master mineral because it's a silent hero doing everything from regulating muscle and nerve function to blood sugar control, blood pressure, and protein synthesis. The problem is that our soil is so depleted of minerals that even if you're eating a perfect diet, you're likely not getting an optimal amount of magnesium. Magnesium deficiency could manifest in a lot of different ways. People think of it for muscle cramps or twitches, but it can also show up as constipation, insomnia, anxiety, headaches, migraines, or even poor energy levels. The tricky part with magnesium is that there isn't one best form. The type of magnesium you take really depends on what you're trying to achieve. When it comes to testing for magnesium, that's where things get a little tricky. The standard, most common test your doctor will run is a serum magnesium test as part of a comprehensive metabolic panel. The problem is this test is often unreliable. Your body keeps only about 1% of its total magnesium in your blood, and it works incredibly hard to keep that level in a tight normal range by pulling magnesium from your bones and tissues if needed. So you can have a normal serum magnesium test result while still being deficient on a cellular level. The more accurate and reliable test is the RBC, or red blood cell magnesium test, which measures the magnesium inside your red blood cells. This gives a much better picture of your body's true magnesium stores, and an optimal reference range for RBC magnesium is 4 to 6.4 mg/dL. Now let's walk through some of the different types of magnesium. Most people are familiar with magnesium citrate, and it's a very popular and well-absorbed form, but it has a well, well-known side effect. It pulls water into the intestines, which is why it's a great choice for people who deal with constipation. I like the Natural Vitality Coal Magnesium for people who are constipated, and most people do well with 2 teaspoons before bed in water. But if that's too much and you have a blowout, back down to 1/2 teaspoon and titrate up by 1/2 teaspoon every 2 days. You can add more in the same way if you get no help at all from the 2 teaspoons. However, if you're not trying to solve that particular problem, you might find it gives you some digestive distress. Then there's magnesium oxide. This is a very cheap form, often found in low-cost multivitamins. It's a laxative as well, but its bioavailability is very, very low. The body absorbs only about 4% of it. I would generally recommend staying away from that for long-term health, although I have found that some people, especially people with interstitial cystitis who have issues with citrates, may need to use this form instead for the laxative effect. For people who struggle with sleep, anxiety, or general relaxation. Magnesium glycinate is a fantastic form. It's a chelated form, meaning it's bound to the amino acid glycine. Glycine itself has a calming effect on the nervous system, so when you combine it with magnesium, it's a one-two punch for relaxation. It's highly bioavailable and gentle on the stomach. You can't get a ton in one pill, and you need to make sure you read the label well, as it may say 400 milligrams on the COVID but they mean that in 4 pills. So I like the one, uh, that's on Fullscript from BioSpec called Mag Glycinate 510, which is 170 milligrams per pill, or Magnesium HP from Healthy Gut, which is 180 milligrams per pill. Most people need at least 400 milligrams of supplemental magnesium a day in a well-absorbed form. And for brain health, there's a newer, more exciting form called magnesium L-threonate. This form's unique because it's been shown in studies to effectively cross the blood-brain barrier. And no other form of magnesium does this as efficiently. So this means it can directly increase magnesium levels in the brain, which is crucial for cognitive function, memory, and learning. If you're looking for cognitive benefits and brain health, this is one to consider. The patented ingredient is called Magtein. The main drawback of the form is that it's not a lot of magnesium per unit consumed with only 144 milligrams total of magnesium in 3 pills in a total of 2,000 milligrams of magnesium L-threonate. So you're getting a lot of L-threonine. All right, so let's talk next about fish oil. The science on the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids is overwhelming. I'm talking about EPA and DHA, the two primary omega-3s found in fatty fish. They are powerful anti-inflammatory agents, and we know that chronic low-grade inflammation is a root cause of almost every modern chronic disease, including heart disease, Alzheimer's, and cancer. Fish oil helps to put out that fire. It also has profound benefits for brain health, heart health, and joint health. If you have low HDL, the good kind of cholesterol, you may be deficient. The market for fish oil is probably one of the most saturated. Seems like every bottle looks the same, but here's how do you pick a good one from a bad one. The biggest risk with fish oil is that it can go rancid very easily, and when you consume the rancid oil, you're doing more harm than good as you're introducing oxidized fats into your system. So the first and most basic test is just to smell and taste it. If it smells or tastes fishy, it's a bad sign. It should be virtually odorless and tasteless. So given I live in Arizona, I try to stock up on my fish oil in winter so it's not going through the mail in summer. Beyond that, you need to look at a few things on the label. First, look for a third-party certification seal. Organizations like IFOS, which stands for the International Fish Oil Standards Program, or the gold standard, they test for purity, potency, and freshness, which ensures the product is free of heavy metals like mercury, PCBs, and other environmental toxins that can accumulate in fish. If you don't see that certification seal, be skeptical. The second thing to look for is the form. You wanna look for the term triglyceride form on the bottle. The natural form of omega-3s in fish is the, the triglyceride form, and when they process fish oil, they convert it to an ethyl ester form to purify and concentrate the EPA and DHA. So a high-quality brand will then reconvert it back into the more bioavailable triglyceride form. The research shows that the triglyceride form is absorbed by the body up to 70% better than the ethyl ester form. So if the bottle doesn't say triglyceride or re-esterified triglyceride, it's probably the less absorbed ethyl ester form. So you could be taking a fish oil supplement for years thinking you're getting the benefits, but if it's the ethyl ester form, your body isn't absorbing much of it. It's the kind of thing that can make a difference between a supplement that works and one that gives you just expensive burps. A good daily dose to aim for is at least 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams of combined EPA and DHA. Doesn't matter how many milligrams of fish oil, it's the EPA and DHA that matter. I like Nordic Naturals Pro Omega 2000 for this, as it has 1,000 mg of EPA and DHA in one pill. It always smells lemony and pleasant and does not give you fish oil burps. Just like with vitamin D and magnesium, your body's omega-3 status is highly individual. The best way to measure it is with a specialized blood test called the omega-3 index, and that test measures the percentage of omega-3 fatty acids, specifically EPA and DHA, that are incorporated into red blood cell membranes. It's an incredibly accurate way to see what your body has actually absorbed, and it's a strong biomarker for cardiovascular and brain health. An omega-3 index below 4% is considered a high-risk zone. A score between 4% and 8% is in the intermediate zone. For true longevity and optimal health benefits, you wanna be in the low-risk or optimal zone, which is a score of 8% or higher. And I can tell you it's hard to get that high, like you have to supplement. The test is typically a simple finger prick you can do at home and send to a lab, making it very accessible. Or you can also do an omega check at your doctor's office, which, um, is a more extensive look at all the omegas. Another basic vitamin that most people need more of is vitamin C. For people who aren't constipated, 500 to 1,000 milligrams a day should be sufficient, ideally in a buffered form. Perci-Guard is one of the best absorbed and the one I recommend the most. If you're constipated, you may wanna use vitamin C to help loosen things up, so you can usually handle 1,000 milligrams a few times a day. Now let's pivot to the gut. Obviously, the microbiome is a huge topic in health and longevity and the topic of this podcast. So what role do supplements play here? This is where we need to be careful. Most people jump straight to probiotics. That can be a mistake. I'd argue that the more foundational support for gut health is a prebiotic fiber. Think of your gut microbiome as a garden. Probiotics are like putting new seeds in the garden, but if the soil is poor and there's no food, the seeds won't grow and flourish. Prebiotics are the fertilizer. They are non-digestible fibers that feed the beneficial bacteria that already live in your gut. So prebiotics feed the good bacteria you already have while probiotics are introducing new bacteria. We have trillions of bacteria in our gut and some people have, you know, as many as 350, 500 species. Their composition is highly individual, like a fingerprint. Taking a random probiotic with a few generic strains might not be the right fit for your unique microbiome. In some cases, it can even cause problems. For example, if you have SIBO or small intestine bacterial overgrowth, taking a probiotic may make your symptoms of gas, bloating, and discomfort worse. Some people who try probiotics say they feel even more bloated. When you introduce a lot of new bacteria into an already imbalanced system, it can just disrupt the delicate balance and lead to an overgrowth. It's much safer to focus on feeding the bacteria that are already there and healthy. So if you're going to use a probiotic, it should be targeted and personalized, ideally after a stool test that can give you a clear picture of what's going on in your gut. But for the vast majority of people, starting with a good prebiotic fiber supplement is safer and a more effective way to improve gut health. So if you're not eating your adequate intake of fiber, which for men 50 and under is 38 grams a day, men over 50 is 30 grams, women 50 and under is 25 grams a day, and women older than 50 is 21 grams a day, then you should consider a supplement or increasing significantly the amount of beans and lentils you eat, which are some of the highest fiber foods. Some of the most important prebiotic fibers which feed your butyrate-producing microbes and your Bifidobacteria microbes, essential for good gut health, are inulin, psyllium husk, partially hydrogenated guar gum, or PHGG, AKA sun fiber, apple pectin, beta glucans, rice bran, or other types of bran like oat or wheat if you tolerate those, and acacia fiber. Which fiber brings up which gut microbe is a whole other podcast topic, and I usually target fibers based on the content of your microbiome. But given that butyrate is an incredibly important molecule for colon health, reducing inflammation and strengthening the gut barrier. I'm often targeting low levels of butyrate producers. But just a brief note to say that not all of these fibers are thick and gooey. Some mix really well into water and drink down easily. So I've been enjoying acacia fiber like this, as well as Thorn Fiber Mend, which has a combo of fibers including PHGG and apple pectin. And some fibers like psyllium husk are better added into smoothies to disguise the texture or flavor. You could also get prebiotics from food sources, of course, like onions, garlic, leeks, bananas, and asparagus. And the supplement just makes it easier to get a consistent, effective dose. And if you're going to make a smoothie and add fiber, you might wanna add some polyphenols too. Compounds found in pomegranate, cranberries, blueberries, think the bright rich colors that are poorly absorbed in the small intestine. So up to 90 to 95% pass into the colon mostly intact. Your gut microbes metabolize them into smaller compounds like phenolic acids, urolithins, et cetera, that have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and metabolic benefits. For example, cranberry and pomegranate fruit powders or concentrates feed Akkermansia, and blueberries increase the population of beneficial bifidobacterium and lactobacillus species. Polyphenols act like prebiotics by feeding and favoring beneficial bacteria while inhibiting pathogenic ones. So the hierarchy is clean up the diet first, add a prebiotic for the gut, and only consider a probiotic if you've done a test and know what strains you need. Now, what about some of the more advanced or less known supplements that have been getting a lot of attention for longevity lately? There are a few I think are worth mentioning, and one that I'm a big fan of is creatine monohydrate. Many people think of creatine as a supplement for bodybuilders and athletes, and while it's fantastic for muscle strength and power, its benefits for longevity, particularly for the brain, are incredibly compelling. Creatine provides a quick source of energy to cells, including brain cells. Research has shown that creatine supplementation can improve cognitive performance, especially in older adults and those with a plant-based diet. As they often have lower baseline creatine levels. It's also been shown to help with age-related muscle loss or sarcopenia, which is a major concern for longevity. So it's not just about building big muscles, it's about keeping our muscles and brains strong as we age. A typical dose is 5 grams a day, and it's easy and tasteless to mix into a cold or hot drink. Another one I'd mention is curcumin, which is the active compound in turmeric. Its primary benefit is its powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Inflammation is at the root of so many age-related diseases, and curcumin can help modulate that. The key here is absorption. Curcumin on its own is very poorly absorbed by the body, so you need to look for a supplement that's been formulated for enhanced absorption. Traditionally, it was known that combining it with piperine, which is the active component of black pepper, or taking curcumin with fat enhances the absorption. However, there are several new delivery systems that have entered the market, including phytosomes like Meriva, which is a curcumin bound to phospholipids, which gives it significantly better uptake. Nanoparticles, micelles, or liposomes, which are tiny particles that improve solubility and stability in the gut. For example, Theracurmin, which has submicron particles designed for superior absorption, or BCM95, which has curcumin and turmeric essential oils shown to abse— enhance absorption. Just to note that high doses of curcumin may block iron absorption. So if you're prone to anemia, take it away from food. Or if you have genetics for iron overload, take it with your steak. One more supplement that people commonly need is coenzyme Q10 or CoQ10. This is a powerful antioxidant that your body naturally produces, and it's a key player in the process of generating energy in your cell's powerhouses, the mitochondria. Think of it as a vital spark plug for your body's energy production. Our natural production of CoQ10 declines as we age, and this is one reason why it's a popular supplement for heart health and anti-aging. If you're over the age of 40, you're taking a statin drug, which can deplete CoQ10. Supplementation is something you should definitely consider. The two forms are ubiquinone and ubiquinol, with ubiquinol being the more bioavailable form. Another important supplement that most people don't know much about is tocotrienols. Vitamin E has two groups of compounds called tocopherols and tocotrienols. The tocopherols are more known, typically the form you'll find in most multivitamins. And while some studies have shown that oversupplementation of certain forms of vitamin E can lead to negative outcomes, tocotrienols, which are found in palm, rice bran, and annatto, are safe to supplement long-term and have shown huge benefits in the area of fatty liver, brain health, cancer prevention and outcomes, and cholesterol reduction and LDL clearance from the blood. Check out episode 89 with Barry Taun to learn more. Some people are sensitive to annatto, so if you're one of those people, palm tocotrienols will be a better choice for you. Otherwise, the annatto ones are preferable. Most people don't need huge amounts of tocotrienols if they eat nuts, seeds, and healthy oils, but supplementation can make sense in some cases, such as low-fat diets or fat malabsorption conditions like Crohn's, cystic fibrosis, celiac, or bariatric surgery. If you have a very low intake of nuts and seeds. If you have metabolic or inflammatory conditions like fatty liver, high cholesterol, or insulin resistance. For our skin or eye concerns, including oxidative stress, eczema, or age-related macular degeneration, high oxidative stress load, for example, smokers, environmental toxin exposure, or intense endurance athletes. When the folks from The DNA Company came on and on my podcast, because I have familial hypercholesterolemia, he recommended tocotrienols for me as part of my lifetime stack. Finally, I recommend that most people take a multivitamin just to cover their nutritional bases. A good multi should have all your vitamins such as A, D, E, K, C, along with methylated B vitamins and minerals including magnesium, calcium, zinc, copper, in some cases selenium, manganese, iodine, chromium, and molybdenum. Some also have iron in them, but make sure to take it only if you have an iron deficiency, as excessive iron can cause inflammation in the body. Some of my favorites are made by Pure Encapsulations. If you want one with everything in it, including all the D and K you'll need, try their Pure Response Multi, which provides everything in 2 pills, or their One Multi-Vitamin, which provides everything, although only 2,000 IU of D in 1 pill a day. Or if you're looking for a multi that provides vitamin E in the form of tocotrienols, you should check out Designs for Health's Choice Daily Multi. Note that none of these multis I just mentioned have any copper in them. For some people, it is important to take copper with zinc in order to prevent the zinc from pushing down copper levels. If you start a multi and have issues with fatigue, then you may need to pick one with copper and get your copper and zinc tested just to make sure everything is in range. Ideally, you want your zinc in the top half of the reference range and your copper in the lower end. This is blood test. And if you eat nuts and seeds and keep the zinc to around 15 milligrams a day or below, you're unlikely to end up deficient in copper, but I have seen it happen. So to bring it all back to the beginning, it's about building a solid foundation first. We can't use supplements as a shortcut. Supplements are not a magic pill. They're a complement to a healthy lifestyle. The first, second, and third steps are always a whole food diet, regular physical activity, prioritizing sleep, managing stress, and having good social connections. Actually, those are the first through fifth steps. But once you have those pillars in place, strategic and targeted supplementation guided by personal data from tests like the ones we discussed can be key to unlocking an even higher level of health and longevity. And I've linked lots of the supplements you heard in the show notes, so be sure to check those out. If you're having gut health issues and you'd like help figuring out your next steps, I work with individual clients to get to the root of their digestive issues. You can set up a free 30-minute breakthrough session using the link in the show notes or visit HighDesertHealthCoaching.com. And if you have bloating, loose stool, or constipation, check out my SBI powder linked in the show notes. Or if you have loose stool or diarrhea, check out my Tributrin Max linked in the show notes. To support the podcast, you can also order supplements at a discount. Through my Fullscript dispensary, use my affiliate links to Amazon for anything, not just supplements, so please bookmark my link and use it for whatever, or iHerb, which is available worldwide. You can become a supporter on Patreon. You can also connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, X, or in my Gut Healing Facebook group, all linked in the show notes. Thanks for joining me today, and here's Machine Wall, the perfect stool.