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How to choose a good multivitamin
April 5, 2012
In my last post , I discussed the reasons why it is important to supplement with a daily multivitamin. One thing I didn’t mention is that while Dietitians of Canada and Health Canada do not take the same position, in 2002 the American Medical Association came out with a landmark review which changed their long-standing opposition to universal supplementation; they now recommend that everyone take a daily multivitamin for the prevention of chronic disease. Here’s a link to the article in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
To be clear, I also propose that the supplement include essential minerals as well; mineral supplementation was not reviewed in the JAMA article.
The supplement market consists of thousands of products, with more coming out all the time. And when you look at the ingredient list, they all seem to look the same; that is, until you know what you’re looking for.
I’ve taken much of my information from Nutrisearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements by Lyle MacWilliam. This guide compares 1600 nutritional supplements on the market on 18 different criteria, of which I will be touching on what I believe are the two most important. The guide relies on the research and recommendations of 12 independent experts in the field of nutrition to determine an average standard for what nutrients are essential for health and in what quantity (referred to as the Blended Standard )
According to the Blended Standard, there are 47 different vitamins, minerals, essential fats, and vitamin-like substances (ie. other plant-based anti-oxidants) necessary for our bodies’ cells to function. Obviously, the first thing we need to look for in our supplement, is how complete it is. What’s the point of popping these pills if you’re not getting everything you need out of them? Related to the question of which nutrients are provided is the question of whether they are provided in adequate quantity to have any benefit. In case you’re interested, a list of the 47 nutrients is provided below.
The second thing to look for is the form in which the minerals are provided. Before I go further, you must understand that minerals, unlike vitamins, in solid form are always bound to something. Think of sodium, for example. There’s sodium chloride (table salt), sodium bicarbonate (baking powder) and countless other substances. Put some salt in enough water, however, and it dissolves into separate sodium and chloride ions. The same is true for all minerals. (Obviously, not every mineral compound will dissolve as readily or easily as table salt!)
The body will absorb minerals in either of two ways. One is as a dissociated ion once it has dissolved; the mineral just passively drifts through the stomach lining. The other is slightly more complicated; if the mineral is attached to something the body needs (like an amino acid, for example), then the body will actively absorb the amino acid, and the mineral gets to piggyback along for the ride.
As we get older, we tend to produce less stomach acid. Often this means that many mineral salts (eg. magnesium sulfate, calcium phosphate etc.) won’t dissolve, so those minerals will not get absorbed; they’ll just pass right through the body. Even worse, there is some evidence to suggest that these types of salts (phosphate, sulfate, carbonate etc. are collectively known as inorganic mineral salts), when consumed as part of a fibre-rich diet, actually act like magnets and pull minerals out of the body. So not only are you not getting the goodness you are expecting from the multivitamin, you’re in fact losing more than you put in!
Minerals attached to organic salts (eg. citrate, alpha-ketoglutarate, malate & others) are preferentially absorbed because the body needs them. Therefore , it makes far more sense to have minerals in these forms in your supplement.
The bottom line: take a look at the mineral forms. Stay clear of multivitamins using inorganic salts… you’ll find them in many of the cheapest vitamins, but they will probably do you more harm than good.
So how do you know which one to choose? What is good? You could start by looking at the Comparative Guide I mentioned. It ranks multis on a scale of 0-5.0. I’d say that anything rated 3.0 or better is likely to be a decent product. Another strategy is word of mouth…if someone recommends a product, telling you how much more energy or how much better they feel while on it, it may be worth a try. Most of us are chronically deficient, though not bad enough to be displaying overt symptoms. Like tires that are not flat, but with not quite enough pressure; we can get from point A to point B, but the ride isn’t as smooth and the mileage isn’t as efficient as it could be. Taking a good multivitamin can get us to feeling optimal and honestly, the difference is noticeable.
What it really comes down to is taking a product that makes you feel better on it than off it. If you are currently taking something that doesn’t do this for you, you should try something else. Give a new product at least a month to see if it helps; the more deficient your starting point, the more “air in the tires” needed before you reach optimal.
If you’re on a multi and you’d like to know how it rates, let me know and I’ll look it up for you! Or if you’re on a product you like, please share. I’m sure there are lots of people who would be interested!
Essential Nutrients list: Vitamins A, D, K thiamine(B1), riboflavin(B2), niacin & niacinamide(B3), pantothenic acid(B5), pyridoxine(B6), cobalamin(B12) biotin, folic acid Vitamin C Vitamin E (in both alpha tocopherol and gamma/mixed forms) bioflavinoids, procyanidolic oligomers (PCOs), phenolic compounds Coenzyme Q10, alpha-lipoic acid beta-carotene, mixed carotenoids lutein/zeaxanthin, lycopene n-acetyl-l-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, carnitine choline, inositol, lecithin alpha-linoleic acid, omega-3 fish oil (EPA/DHA) boron, calcium, chromium, copper, iodine, magnesium, manganese molybdenum, potassium, selenium, silicon, vanadium, zinc trimethylglycine, carnosine iron is a necessary nutrient, but not recommended in a multivitamin due to potential toxicity with long-term supplementation
So she could finally get a good night's sleep
The voices in your head aren't you. I was in the middle of doing prep work for completely overhauling my ART training over the next month and I realized that the above was something that I understood from the thousand(s?) of sessions I have done, but have never put into words. The voices in your head are not you. There is only one YOU in your head. That's the one THINKING. Asking questions. Making decisions. The one who knows what you want and don't want. So, who is calling you names? Making nasty comments? Saying things that you know aren't true? Or aren't how you really feel? I refer to these chatterboxes in your head collectively as "the peanut gallery." They fall into one of 3 categories. Something that was a part of you, but split off and is no longer "attached". Something that was never part of your energy. Or it's your inner child. If it's your inner child, that is the childlike part in every one of us that keeps us young, and they need some soothing. We all live with a younger version of ourselves inside. But this younger version has it's own needs and wants, and you have to learn to work together to live harmoniously! If it was never a part of you, it's some kind of energetic interference. Someone else - whether living or dead - is invading your space. It could even be your spirit guides themselves, believing that they are protecting you with that belief, or they themselves need healing and they are imposing their beliefs upon you. Most of the time, we just take the few moments we need to heal them so they no longer feel it necessary to interfere. And then there are the ones that were once a part of you. These are typically referred to as Alters. These were formed out of trauma. As a result of a traumatic experience, the body coped by splitting off the trauma into a separate segment in an attempt to "contain" it. These segments have their own consciousness and belief system...therefore they no longer truly represent YOU. People with dissociative identity disorder (DID. Formerly called multiple personality disorder) have Alters that are so imbued with trauma energy that they can occasionally "take the drivers seat" and during those times, "You" are relegated to the background. As such, people with DID will often have large gaps in their memory when an Alter had taken over. The wild thing is, everyone has Alters. It's only in DID that the trauma is so overwhelming for an Alter to be able to take control. You can speak to Alters. Find out what they need in order to heal. Once they are healed, they can integrate back into the whole. (ie. become part of you once again) And once you address all of the "personalities" that have appeared, the peanut gallery finally becomes quiet. For this week's story, while I was working with a client she suddenly shared that she felt like people want what she has, and wanted her to suffer...while all she wanted was peace. Her subconscious told me that that feeling wasn't the one we were supposed to work on, though. That that was actually symbolic of something else in her life...somewhere else that there was suffering and she wanted peace. She then told me "there's a part of me that wants to die." She clearly hears it say "I want to die." We both know that's not what she really wants. It's a voice in her head. In moments, I discover it's an Alter. This Alter was suffering and wanted peace. This is what we were being directed to heal. Once they are discovered, healing an Alter is actually rather straightforward and simple. So within a few minutes, the peanut gallery was quiet. She no longer needs to hear those words in her head again. What a relief! If you find this as fascinating as I do, then consider learning ART! There is a 5-week, live training course with me (conducted over zoom) and a couple of smaller prerequisite courses. You can find all the information about when the various courses are offered and their pricings by clicking here . You will be amazed by what you learn!
Your subconscious knows exactly how long it will take you to heal.
This is a short one... A client came in for her first session with me, and as I typically do for an intro session, we planned to find and heal a life event for her. This generally starts off with us needing to find out a belief that the client is hanging onto as a result of the experience. I got my clues, but none of it meant anything to my client. I checked into see if we were being blocked, and I didn't see any issues, but still no spark of insight came to her. Worse yet, nothing was coming to me either. I usually get an intuitive hit to guide the conversation but this time, nada. Then it occurred to me to ask if she and I were still connected. I got a "no." No?? I tried again to connect and found, in a nutshell, that her spirit guides had booted me out! It sometimes happens that I can't connect initially, but I don't generally get kicked out mid-session like that. So I asked what her guides needed to allow us to move forward and it turns out that they needed an apology from me! I can only guess that I ticked them off in a past life. 😕 I apologized. Thankfully they accepted. And I quickly found that the information that I had received earlier had been completely false and we had to start from scratch. Happily, they didn't interfere again and my client and I went on to have a great session. 😃 Today's tip: if you are doing your own healing work and you find your intuition shut down, verify that you are actually connected! And don't be surprised if somebody's grudge from a past life comes up to be resolved. :) If you are interested in learning more about whether ART is right for you, either to learn for yourself, or to experience as a client, book a discovery call with me and let's chat!
Before the year ends, I've got one last story to share for 2023. Today's client reached out to do a session with me because she felt that something was amiss and her intuition told her that I could help. She was finding herself unusually angry with her husband. She's not by nature an angry person so this unnatural rage bubbling up whenever she would see or even think about him was especially disconcerting. Connected to her anger, she also had this strange feeling that he himself was feeling distant and resentful towards her. To be honest, it was a confusing session. I didn't really know where we were going with it, but I always maintain trust in the subconscious and that it knows more than I do - and that everything would make sense by the end. I was not disappointed! My client and I reasoned that since she was feeling his resentment, it made sense that he was the one needing the healing. So, I tapped into his energy and immediately found a huge cluster of trapped emotions and beliefs - disgust, a lack of control, a belief that he couldn't be happy, that his happiness was dependent on others, not being good enough, and more. We cleared all of that after which she sensed an improvement in the resentment, but not yet to the feeling of him being distant. Add to that, she was also now feeling a lack of love, and not being wanted. Even more new, unusual emotions for her. So we kept going. With a little more digging, all of the pieces started falling into place. It turns out that she and her husband have a beautiful daughter whom they adore, but needed medical intervention to conceive. My client knew she was destined to have another child - she had heard this child communicate with her before, during previous sessions with me and at other times, too. Recently she had broached the subject with her husband about starting the process again for this second child and he had not shown any interest. That's when it all clicked. NONE of the emotions my client had been experiencing were her own. The anger, resentment, disconnect, lack of love or anything else...those all belonged to not-yet-even-conceived Baby #2! All the emotions and beliefs we had healed...those belonged to the baby as well! It made so much sense! This baby was aching to join the family, but dad's lack of interest led to feelings of rejection, anger, and sadness. Wow! No wonder my client was so confused as to what to do. The emotions were so foreign to her, not at all how she usually responds to disappointment, and now we understood why! Shortly after that, a wave of sleepiness hit my client, always signal of a message from someone trying to come through: very clearly, she heard the words "Bring me home now" in her head. Baby #2 was no longer angry or hurt, just insistent that it was their time to make an appearance. And with that, my client felt totally better - back to her old self once again. We could both see a visible change in her face - she was smiling from ear to ear. And ready to pass along the message to her husband. 😀 Do you feel like you are behaving out of character? Sometimes your emotions are not your own! Whether they are yours or not, they can be healed so you can feel back to normal once again. Book a session with me and I can help! Happy New Year! See you in 2024!
One of my clients came to me to address, amongst other things, migraine headaches. She would get them regularly, requiring daily medication which, when working properly, would mean she would have fewer episodes and (hopefully!) less severe ones. Until working with me, she never felt like her head was ever fully pain free. If you have never had a migraine, or known anyone who has suffered from them, then to put it simply, a migraine is an extremely intense headache, which for most sufferers, can be debilitating. In addition to throbbing pain, they may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound that can last from hours to days. Many migraine sufferers are forced to sequester themselves alone in a dark, quiet room until the symptoms subside. After a bit of work, her subconscious lead us to one key experience in her childhood. It was in grade 5, when she was newly designated as "enhanced" at school. That change meant that she was suddenly required to be taken out of her regular classes to participate in extra programming with the other enhanced kids. And she hated it! She was being pulled away from her friends and being given extra work to do, to boot! Yuck! Are you ready to play detective...what do you think the connection is? That kid was angry. The injustice of it all! Teachers, parents...the whole system seemed to be forcing her to do something she had absolutely no interest in. Deep inside her, there was an inner child screaming to the world "will everyone just leave me alone?!?" What happens when someone gets a migraine? The whole world has to leave them alone! It took giving her a lot of pain to get it, but that inner child eventually got what she was asking for. Crazy, eh? It's actually more common than you think. Once that was understood, our next task was to heal that child so it could stop being so angry and upset. And shortly after that, my client's head stopped hurting. That little bit of pain that she always felt, was gone . Her subconscious no longer had a purpose for her migraines, so it was time to let them go. If you suffer from migraines or know anyone who does, book a session with me so we can make them a thing of the past.
If you find yourself holding yourself back on doing something, you are absolutely not alone! It is one of the most common things that I see, but it is often one of the more devastating. To know that you have a gift to share with the world, to want to do it and know that you should, but to feel this invisible resistance keeping you from your dreams...it is heartbreaking! It invariably leads to us questioning ourselves, wondering "What is wrong with me?" It's just another case of your subconscious trying to tell you that you've got something from your past that needs to be healed. That was the situation for my client in this week's story. My client in question is a fellow alternative health practitioner. She had an event coming up and was afraid that people wouldn't sign up. I could see her whole heart wasn't into it. She was doubting herself. But it was bigger than the one event. It turned out that the emotions she was feeling surrounding the event could be found in other places in her life as well. She had to admit that she wasn't 100% certain that her husband was fully on board with her work. And quite frankly, part of her doubted herself and whether her work was as effective as she thought. (A sentiment I could absolutely relate to from the early years in my practice.) We discovered that she had the phrase "Am I ridiculous?" anchored into her subconscious. It took us some work, but eventually the memory surfaced that when she wanted to go to university, her parents didn't approve of her desire to go into music therapy, and they made it very clear that they thought she ought to do something else. This made her question her own judgement, and the thought "Am I ridiculous?" anchored in. Together we shifted that belief and integrated the phrase "I do amazing things and am loved for it!" in it's place. She ended the session with a new level of confidence and self-assurance. And the event? It went great! If you are an entrepreneur and you find yourself questioning your ability to be successful, book a session with me and we'll have you ready to take on the world in no time!
A client was struggling with feeling like she doesn't belong anywhere. She moved to Canada from Chile when she was young, and despite living here for so long, has never felt entirely at ease. But during trips to visit Chile, she would feel like an outsider there as well. We discovered that her subconscious was holding onto the belief "Why don't I fit in?" As long as that belief was programmed into her psyche, we knew she wouldn't feel at home no matter where she was. Together we determined that what she really wanted to believe was "I am comfortable anywhere". So where did her subconscious anchor in the belief "Why don't I fit in?". As it turns out, at the airport, on the day she arrived in Canada as a little girl, she and her family encountered something they had never seen before: an escalator. My client accidentally managed to get separated from her family and onto the escalator...and they all panicked! They were terrified that she was going to reach the end and get sucked into the machinery. Of course, the escalator monster didn't end up eating her, but it left her completely puzzled, asking herself "Why don't I fit in?"! She and I got a big chuckle out of this one! Once we healed the terror and embarrassment from the experience we were then able to release the negative belief and program in her new belief "I am comfortable anywhere". That is now her new truth. If there is a moral to the story, it is this: trauma is in the eye of the beholder. Even seemingly insignificant events can have a huge impact on our lives, because what would be meaningless to an adult can be terrifying for a child. So if you've got embarrassing or uncomfortable stories from your childhood, don't ignore them - they are probably impacting you in ways you would never expect.
That was certainly the case with a recent client. In her first session with me, my client admitted that she has been struggling a lot lately, suffering with feelings of inadequacy, and imposter syndrome, which had been triggering her to engage in avoidance behaviour, including turning to internet surfing and television watching to cope. We quickly found that she was holding onto the belief "I'm not good enough." In my head, I thought, "well that would make sense...if she doesn't feel good enough to engage with the work she is meant to do, she would be drawn to procrastinate and do other things, like TV or internet." Where did the belief "I'm not good enough" come from? We tracked it to a time when she was younger and her older brother bullied her. Despite her telling her parents that he was mistreating her, they took no action, and the torment continued. To her, "I'm not good enough" really meant "I'm not good enough for my parents to care about me...I'm all on my own". This general problem came attached to a specific memory that came to mind, though. In this one, her brother "decided" that she would no longer be allowed to watch TV for a year. He put a sheet over her head to prevent her from viewing the TV, and would interfere in other ways anytime she would try. As always, her parents did not intervene, and this behaviour went on for some time. And then it hit us. She wasn't surfing the web and watching television because she was avoiding doing other work. She was watching it because the little girl inside her wanted to watch TV and was upset with her big brother for not letting her! My client's subconscious was communicating with her. That "desire to watch a screen" was meant to remind her of an earlier experience of when she had that same desire; it was trying to direct us to heal the abuse and neglect she experienced when she was young. By the time we were done healing the experience, my client said the thought alone of spending hours in front of a screen made her nauseous - she had no desire to do it. She even wrote me later and told me that she had no craving to spend time on the internet or TV, and instead her evening was "pleasantly filled with other joyful stuff." Yay! Do you know anyone who is addicted to their screens? If they would like to get hours of their life back doing meaningful activities that would bring them more joy, let them know I can help and suggest they book a session today.
Everything we react to, whether it's foods, things in the environment, people...whatever...the reaction is there for a reason . Your subconscious is communicating with you. Let's take lactose for example. Some people (okay, most of them) will say that lactose intolerance exists "because the body has stopped producing the enzyme that digests lactose". (I was a registered dietitian for 12 years, so that was exactly what I believed, and didn't think twice about it.) But have they ever asked themselves why the body stopped producing lactase (that's the enzyme). Like, did the person's DNA change? And all of a sudden, this one protein is unavailable for production? Or did the production system change (and miraculously only this one single protein was affected?) I was never, ever, provided with a satisfactory reason for why the body couldn't do it's job anymore. "It just stopped" is a description, not a reason . So let's look at the symbolism of lactose. Lactose is found in only one place: milk. Milk has only once source: mothers . To the subconscious, milk (lactose) represents mothers. Let me give you a real-life example. I met with a new friend for a get-to-know-you coffee date. Without any prompting from me, he told me exactly what his subconscious had been trying to tell him for 30 years, in under 30 minutes. As we were settling in and he was adding cream to his coffee, he casually mentioned to me how until recently he used to be unable to tolerate any amount of dairy for years. He used to love milk as a kid, but sometime after university, milk stopped loving him and even the littlest bit would have him running to the bathroom. Over the last few years, however, he started to be able to tolerate more and more, so now he can have the cream in his coffee or a slice of pizza without digestive discomfort. So far, so good. Then we started talking about our families. He was pleased to let me know that his youngest of three kids had just graduated from university and admitted to a sense of relief that his mother had been able to see all of them graduate. He went on to tell me that when he himself graduated from university he didn't want to go to his convocation ceremony, so he neglected to tell his mother about it. She was devastated! She had very much wanted to see her son's graduation and so he had felt guilty about it for all these years. Now that she was able to see her three grandkids in their caps and gowns, he didn't feel quite so bad. Bingo! My friend's reaction to dairy was directly related to the level of guilt he felt towards his mother. So, if you have an issue with milk, there's an exceptionally good chance that you've either got an issue with your own mother, or a maternal figure in your life, or the concept of motherhood. I've seen it over and over. Heal the issue with mom, and you can say hello to ice cream again. :) Do you have your own allergy or intolerance you'd like to get rid of? Book a session with me and we can make that problem history!
Winner of "Best Alternative Medicine/Healing" in 2020
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Disclaimer: I do not diagnose, prescribe, treat, cure, or heal any physical, mental, or emotional illness(es). I am NOT a licensed Psychologist, Psychotherapist, Psychiatrist, Mental Health Counsellor or Medical Doctor and ALWAYS recommend that clients seek appropriate medical and/or professional help at all times. Any energy healing sessions are an aid to general wellness and are not a substitute for medical treatments or medications. In purchasing any service listed on this web site, purchaser (client) agrees that the service, whether purchased for self or received as a gift, is subject to client’s own interpretation. All information obtained through any service offered on this web site is not intended to constitute professional legal, medical, or financial advice. Actions taken by any client based on any part of the service(s) received are the full and complete responsibility of aforementioned client. Any information provided during these services or any other statements made during same shall be considered confidential and shall not be disclosed except as required by law.
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