• 

Here’s the scoop on why we should all be supplementing with vitamins and minerals:

Kristin: Nowadays, even when eating local and organic, food is less nutrient dense than it used to be. The hard-hitting added stressors—from your iPhone alarm and blue laptop lights to the beeps, bells, and whistles of our modern everyday life—increase our nutrient needs. All of us are typically working out more than the average, sedentary everyday person and exercise increases your need for further nutrients, too. We face tons of new toxins daily—in the air, in products, in our offices, and lives—and we need extra nutrients to push the toxins into our body’s detox pathways to help get rid of them. And, last, but certainly not least, even organic, local, well-sourced foods have way less nutritional value than our ancestors’ food had because agriculture has changed so much over time, and all these added stressors affect everything down to the soil our food grows in.
 

Adding nutritional supplements will:

• Aid in muscle repair and recovery

• Increase your energy

• Boost immunity

• Regulate blood sugar

• Support cognitive function (You are most likely living with more brain fog than you need!)

• Create antioxidative defense, which defend against all those free radicals! (Free radicals, by the way, are unstable molecules that can damage cells in your body that arise due to metabolic process, environmental toxins, and stress!)

What supplements/brands should every woman be taking?

EVERYWOMAN is hard to speak to given our physiological differences, but here are the basics in my opinion:

• Amino Acids (EAAs) – especially if a woman works out

• Magnesium

• An adaptogen of some type -depends on desired outcome

• MultiVitamin / Vitamin D

KRISTIN’S FAVE SUPPLEMENT BRANDS – Highly bioavailable, well-tested, and cleanly sourced.

Amino Acids

• KION: This is what I take. Only available online from Kion or Amazon, and super bioavailable. These are all the essential amino acids (EAAs). Best to take these versus a mix of EAAs and BCAAs (branch chain amino acids) unless you know you personally need BCAAs.

Multi-Vitamin

• The most comprehensive multivitamin and mineral supplement in easy to manage and take on-the-go packets I have found is Primal Master Formula.

• Thorne 2-A-Day is also excellent, but with a few less fancy ingredients that cost more to source, and is priced at half the cost.

Magnesium

• Responsible for over 600 systemic and cellular functions in the body

• Tons of literature on mood boosting effects

• Wonderful to regulate sleep, best to take with dinner or before sleep

Collagen

I use the unflavored kind so I can add to anything, usually to my a.m. coffee. This will support skin, hair, joint, nails, teeth, elasticity, repair, and recovery. It is an added source of clean protein and is always animal based (not vegan).

• Bulletproof collagen is my go-to brand.

• Vital Proteins has some great varieties and also a wild-caught marine sourced version if you only eat fish.

• If you are need of some chocolatey shake goodness, have no fear, Primal Kitchen has made a chocolate coconut collagen fuel mix!

• All of the above are sold at Erewhon and Whole Foods as well and usually at your local top-notch supplement shop.

ADAPTOGENS

• Mushrooms: Reishi (relax and destress) and Cordyceps (pre-workout)

  • Brand: ALPHA DYNAMICS (Code: WELLPOWER gets them 10% off)

• Rhodiola: Tons of research on mood boosting effects (I like Thorne Research)

• ALGAE: (EnergyBits Brand VITALITY BITS: a mix of Spirulina and Chlorella) have protein, micro nutrients, Omega-3 healthy fat, detoxification and cell healing properties (Code: WELLPOWER gets them 20% off)

What are some nice to haves that help kick it up a notch?

• Melatonin –

• NAD – NAD+

• L-Theanine / Cognetics Excel

What vitamin brands do you prefer?

• Thorne Research

• Primal Blueprint (Mark Sisson)

• Alpha Dynamics

• KION (Aminos)

• Sea Buckthorn Wonders

• Alitura

• Cognetics

What should we be staying away from? Any vitamins that are total BS?

• Amazon unknowns

• Anything with fillers

• Check for ‘cheapness’ – if you find something very cheap/significantly cheaper or knock off – chances are it could be counterfeit or poor substitute for the real thing

• Gummy vitamins with sugar / RTD vit drinks / things that feel more like candy

What supplements are great for skin, aging, wrinkles?

• Sea Buckthorn (skin and beauty WOW booster!!!)

• Collagen

When should I be taking my vitamins?  Do I take them all together at once?  How do I know?

GREAT QUESTION! 

• Fat soluble ones with food.

• Timing does matter – especially with melatonin and magnesium

• Adaptogens several times per day

• Aminos – empty pre food pre workout

KRISTIN AND I WENT EVEN DEEPER THIS WEEK ON IGTV! WATCH FOR ALL THE DETAILS ON FEELING GOOD AND LOOKING GOOD!