Supplements

Notes on various supplements. Also see the nutrition page.

Traditional supplements
Synthetic supplements
✅ Magnesium
🚫 Vitamin C
🚫 Vitamin D
🚫 Omega-3
🚫 Zinc
🚫 Iron

Traditional supplements

These are "supplements" that have been around for a long time and so can be deemed safe. Note that, traditionally, there has been no real distinction between supplements and food as medicine. A good diet should already provide most necessary minerals, vitamins, amino acids and so on.

Organ meats – nature's multivitamin
Black seed oil – anti-inflammatory; research
Olive oil – antioxidant, anti-inflammatory
Cod liver (oil) – vitamin D, anti-inflammatory
Magnesium/potassium/sodium chloride – electrolytes
Pine pollen – testosterone, multivitamin
Pine needles – vitamin A and vitamin C
Bull testicales – testosterone
Royal jelly – B vitamins, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory

Synthetic supplements

Lab-made supplements. The ones listed are probably safe, but proceed with caution.

Magnesium glycinate
L-theanine – taken with magnesium glycinate in equal amounts
Boron – 3 to 5 mg daily, or 10 mg 3 days a week
Taurine
Inositol
Creatine
Glutamine - good if you suffer from IBS

Magnesium

One of the most important minerals to supplement.

11 mg elemental magnesium per kg of bodyweight
- Magnesium glycinate pills
- Magnesium chloride (hexahydrate), sometimes called bittern or nigari salt
  - 12% elemental magnesium by weight.
  - Orally: 5-10 g dissolved in water per day (spread out).
  - Topically: dissolve 100-200 g in 0.5L spray bottle, apply on skin.

Vitamin C

Avoid – see here. Instead, get vitamin C from fruit and liver, not as ascorbic acid or citric acid.

Vitamin D

Avoid – supplementation increases calcium, depletes magnesium, potassium and retinol. Instead, get vitamin D from sunlight and seafood, eggs and cod liver (oil).

The Truth About Vitamin D (PDF)
- If you just go outside regularly, and eat foods high in vitamin D, you get enough vitamin D, even over the winter.
- Vitamin D suppresses the immune system, and oral supplementation may cause toxicity and other adverse health effects.
- The amount of cholesterol in your skin is important when it comes to synthesizing vitamin D from the sun.
Vitamin D testing methodology is flawed
Why Vitamin D is Not Enough (PDF)
Vitamin D, the Sunshine Supplement, has Shadowy Boney Behind It
Vitamin D supplements are immunosuppressive, which is why you might feel better on it if you have any sort of autoimmune disease or allergy (which most people do) - problem is that you're allowing for the disease/allergy to progress uninhibited. Link.
Vitamin D from sun is not the same as from supplementation, the latter being toxic. Megadosing vitamin D is madness and even "normaldosing" it is unnecessary. Link.
High-dose vitamin D supplementation may harm bone health
You need magnesium, not Vitamin D supplements. Link.

Omega-3

Avoid - capsules / fish oil easily turns rancid. Instead, get omega-3 (DHA/EPA) from seafood and bivalves, preferably wild caught.

Zinc

Avoid – can create copper/iron imbalance. Instead, get zinc from red meat and bivalves.

Iron

Avoid - all supplements and plant sources of iron have low bioavailability, and thus accumulates in your blood to a greater extent than heme iron. Get your iron from meat instead. Also see the section about iron in the modern dangers page.