After you work on getting your sleep, your eating, and your exercise right, it’s time to address whether you are able to meet recommended daily allowances of minerals, vitamins, and fatty acids with food alone.
Even if you are trying to eat more vegetables, consume more leafy greens, and get healthy fatty acids from fish, beef, chicken, and other proteins, there’s one little problem—we need nutrient density from an increasingly nutrient empty world.
Getting Our Nutrients from Food Alone: Is it Possible?
There are two issues at hand which are causing nutrient deficiencies in all the food we eat, proteins included:
Animals are what they eat, just as much as humans are, and most fish and cattle are being fed GMO-rich, hybridized, nutrient-empty, gluten-packed grains themselves (unless you’re buying quality, organic, grass fed proteins and fats).
So the nutrients are going out of all of our foods.
We all want to stay trim, but who can eat 12 bananas and 15 cups a day of spinach a day just to meet the RDA for potassium and iron?
This infographic below, for example, shows what the iron one bowl of spinach would have yielded in 1953 versus 1997 (20 years ago now).
If you want to know how difficult it is to get our RDA for all nutrients, just try to put together a day’s worth of meals for yourself that meets every RDA for Omega-3s, protein, vitamins, minerals, trace minerals, and other vital nutrient compounds like phytonutrients, phytochemicals, and antioxidants. It’s not possible without consuming thousands upon thousands of calories a day, especially if you’re avoiding refined, fortified grains of all kinds.
And this is not a new problem is just one we’re just finally talking about it with enough fear and concern.
This decline in nutrient content of fruits and vegetables was first reported more than 10 years ago by English researcher Anne-Marie Mayer, who looked at the dwindling mineral concentrations of 20 UK-based crops from the 1930s to the 1980s. In 2009, Donald Davis conducted a similar study on US soil and found that the nutrient decline in US produce was dropping more rapidly than that of the UK. He found that broccoli, for example, had 130 mg of calcium in 1950. Today, broccoli has only 48 mg. of calcium.
The bottom line is, if you’re not buying organic and local from farmers who either mineralize their soil or who have tested their soil to see how much nutrient-dense topsoil is left (after centuries of soil erosion, soil depletion, and the long-term effects of pesticides) – then you’re probably nutrient deficient—which is probably the source of many of your diet-destroying cravings and constant hunger—your body wants more nutrients and it signals you to eat more, even after a meal.
This is why if you study up on what causes sugar, lemon/sour, and salt cravings, you’ll find we’re actually lacking in very necessary minerals such as choline, potassium, vitamin A, D, and the B and C complexes.
So What Do We Do?
The only thing we can. That is to recognize this is a problem and try to remedy some of these deficiencies with high quality supplements from companies who have received the green light from respect-worthy nutritional agencies who agree their supplements are noteworthy in terms of their quality.
Jackson’s Go to Supplement Stack for Maximum Nutrition
Today, I’m going to tell you about a supplement stack that ensures that the entire spectrum of our nutritional needs are fully met for maximum health. A lot of these have powerful abilities to enhance fat burning and muscle building as well.
Just remember, finding quality supplements is paramount. Try to get your vitamins and minerals from plant-based minerals grown in mineralized soils from trustworthy companies you have researched thoroughly.
1- Digestive Enzymes and HCL
First, let’s discuss getting your digestive enzymes right.
There’s no use in supplementing vitamins and minerals if they’re not being properly absorbed in the body. Indeed, it’s not so much that you are what you eat but that you are what you absorb.
If your stomach acids aren’t just right, you might not be absorbing nutrients from the food you are eating, and this can lead to constant cravings and nutrient deficiencies that are harmful to health and that prevent fat burning, a strong, healthy metabolism of calories, and lean muscle development.
Digestive enzyme products are derived from three sources:
The Power of Hydrochloric Acid for Nutrient Absorption
Hydrochloric acid (HCL) is a crucial stomach acid our body needs to maintain gut balance, and digest foods properly, which helps prevent the risks of nutrient deficiency and food putrefying in the gut. HCL is also crucial for digesting proteins by converting pepsinogen to pepsin, which aids in bile secretion, protects the stomach against a host of pathogens, and inhibits growth of bad bacteria in the gut.
HCL also regulates pancreatic enzymes.
Hydrochloric acid is highly important for the absorption of a number of key nutrients
including:
I believe that given the quality of our food supply today, from age 30 on, we should get our digestive enzymes tested and make sure our stomach acids are normal so we can extract full nutrient value from our foods.
The Causes of Low Stomach Acids
Numerous studies have demonstrated that aging causes hydrochloric acid to deplete in the stomach, and that “30% of the elderly have low secretion of hydrochloric acid by gastric parietal cells.” It is crucial that as we grow older, we assure that our gastric acids are normal so that we can prevent degeneration of the bones, brain, eyes, and internal organs due to nutrient deficiencies and a lack of absorption of highly important phytochemicals and phytonutrients in our food.
Another cause for low hydrochloric acid is overuse of wrongly prescribed antacids, which people are told will heartburn, gas, and GERD symptoms also cause a decline in crucial stomach acids that actually prevent these very digestive disorders that are really caused by a lack of stomach acid. For a great article on this, see Chris Kresser’s “How Your Antacid Drug is Making You Sick.”
If seeking an HCL supplement, most experts advise a betaine HCL supplement that
includes pepsin.
2- Magnesium for Getting Lean, Fit, and Feeling Great
Most of us are deficient in magnesium. In fact, 68% of all Americans are deficient in this highly important mineral, researchers state. For those of us interested in being lean and fit, in losing belly fat, conquering insulin sensitivity, and getting the kind of healthy sleep that helps us build muscle and lose fat, magnesium is crucial.
Magnesium controls over 300 important functions in the body, and there are countless benefits to making sure you are getting more of it in your diet and via quality supplements. But I’m going to focus today on what magnesium can do for weight loss, insulin sensitivity, and sleep.
Magnesium and Sleep
Magnesium has a very calming effect on the central nervous system. This is why many people take this before bed, since very soon after taking it, you will feel very relaxed. Recent
studies have proven that magnesium helps alleviate chronic insomnia and to help people get to sleep faster that have trouble falling asleep. Also see these articles on magnesium and its sleep-enhancing effects: here, here, and here.
Magnesium: Fat Burning and Lean Muscle Building
Deficiencies in magnesium often correlate with obesity, belly fat, and high cortisol. This is because being low on magnesium will cause you to become increasingly insulin resistant. Decreased insulin sensitivity is disastrous for lean muscle gains and fat loss because insulin, cortisol, and estrogen are all affected when the insulin hormone does not do its job. Insulin has a crucial role in digesting carbohydrates and managing blood sugar levels, and insulin resistance increases your risk of diabetes, stroke, and a host of other problems. Insulin resistance also inhibits the body’s storage of glycogen and slows down recovery after workouts, meaning slower muscle gains and fat loss.
3- L-Carnitine for Fat Burning and Brain Function
First, let’s look at what carnitine does for the brain.
Carnitine is a precursor to acetylcholine, which plays a crucial part in protecting brain cell membranes and in improving the function of the mitochondria in the brain. Carnitine also protects the brain from free radical damage, and enhanced glucose flow in the brain.
In studies, L-carnitine has demonstrated positive effects upon healing the negative side effects of aging upon the brain and in helping to reduce fatigue and chronic fatigue as well.
What carnitine does that is so beneficial for brain health is that it actually repairs damaged neurons, thus improving cognitive function. In studies, L-carnitine has demonstrated that it can reverse brain damage in rats. It has also proven to reverse the effects of aging upon memory.
Not only that but L-carnitine has reversed brain injury in infants, improved the cognitive function of seniors with cerebellum degeneration, and improved the cognitive function of the normal, healthy brain as well. In fact, carnitine is now being used to reverse the fatal effects of a rare, degenerative brain disease called GA-1 in infants, by reversing brain atrophy.
For these reasons, L-carnitine is now becoming highly revered in nootropic communities all over the web.
Carnitine: For More Brown Fat, Less White
Carnitine burns body fat, period, and study after study has confirmed that carnitine helps assure that the fat that is stored in our bodies is highly thermogenic and is calorie and fat- burning brown fat. See study, study, study.
One of the most advantageous things l-carnitine does, however, is that it helps us to use fat for energy instead of storing it. For this reason, carnitine is also helpful in healing the body from insulin resistance, which also helps to prevent us storing all our calories as fat instead of using them for energy.
Even better, a recent 2016 study determined most assuredly that “subjects who received carnitine lost significantly more weight . . . and showed a decrease in body mass index.” This recent study with a 95% confidence interval, finally gives us a definitive answer to the question of whether or not l-carnitine can aid in weight loss.
Carnitine has also proven to enhance lean muscle mass, to enhance athletic performance, increase strength and endurance, and to elevate protein metabolism.
One more thing I should mention is on the Alpha-lipoic-acid (ALA) and L-Carnitine combo. Studies have shown that combining these two supplements works to speed up the metabolism and lower oxidative stress.
Because of the high level of quality research on the benefits of l-carnitine for cognitive enhancement, neuron repair, and its proven fat burning, hormone balancing, and metabolic benefits, I cannot recommend anything higher than this supplement for helping you get lean, strong, and muscular.
4- Zinc: For Energy and Testosterone Production
Insufficient amounts of zinc in the diet can greatly affect your development of muscle mass after workouts and inhibit athletic performance. Studies have found that meeting your RDA for zinc will enhance the release of three specific hormones crucial for muscle development:
Studies also demonstrate that assuring adequate zinc levels in the blood leads to an increased surge of testosterone release after strength training and exercise as well.
So supplementing with zinc, for both men and women, can greatly enhance lean muscle development. Since zinc is also helpful in fighting chronic fatigue, this particular mineral is especially beneficial for enhancing energy levels as well.
5- Vitamin D3: Crucial and Hard to Get
From what I’ve gained from years of research on vitamins and minerals is that one of the central ways of boosting the metabolism and fat burning processes in your body is to get more Vitamin D, especially since most of us are deficient in this hard to get vitamin –in fact, a whopping 50% of us are.
We need about 3,000 to 5,000 IUs of D a day to maintain the blood levels of 35-50 ng/mL required. The best way to determine this is to get your vitamin D levels measured and see what dosage it takes you to get to that level.
We can only get vitamin D in significant amounts from seafood and sunlight. The problem is you have to eat a major amount of seafood to get enough D. For example, 9 ounces of herring provides the minimum of 2,000 IUs a day.
Sunlight can be a tricky source too. Some people don’t absorb enough D from the sun, and you can lose the ability to absorb these UV rays as you age, if you are overweight, or if you have any kind of inflammation in the body. Plus, it’s only people with pale skin that fully absorbs that 10,000 to 20,000 IUs (in 30 minutes of full sun) that we need so badly.
Low vitamin D = more fat on the body
The reason why vitamin D is so important to getting lean and fit is that low vitamin D in children and adults is directly correlated with more belly fat and fat mass on the body. In one recent study of overweight women, those who supplemented with vitamin D for just four weeks lost 2.7 kg of fat compared to the placebo group.
In another study of overweight adolescents wanting weight loss surgery, 8% were severely deficient in vitamin D with the highest BMIs most likely to be vitamin D deficient.
Since D creates an accumulation of fat on the body, this fat then triggers both metabolic and inflammatory processes in the body, which can worsen insulin sensitivity, making us more prone to fat gain and placing us at risk of diabetes.
In a 2009 study titled “Vitamin D Deficiency is the Cause of Common Obesity,” researchers note that a fall in vitamin D in the form of circulating calcidiol is the stimulus for the winter response, which consists of an accumulation of fat mass (obesity) and the induction of a winter metabolism (the metabolic syndrome). Vitamin D deficiency can account for the secular trends in the prevalence of obesity and for individual differences in its onset and severity. It may be possible to reverse the increasing prevalence of obesity by improving vitamin D status.
How to Get More Vitamin D Naturally?
There are three ways I know of to assure that you get enough vitamin D daily that are safe and natural. First, cod liver oil is great for boosting D naturally. Find a good quality source of cod liver oil that is not super-refined or fermented (I don’t know what’s up with this—you cannot ferment an oil).
You could also use a high quality safe tanning bed that does not emit any dangerous EMF, and, three, there’s all kinds of 10,000 lux light boxes that emit plenty of UV light to help you get your vitamin D if you do not go outside enough or get enough sun in the winter months.
5- Fish Oil: We Need More Fat to Get Un-Fat
If you can only take one supplement, as Poloquin says, take this one. That’s because we all need more Omega-3s in our diet after years of nutritional ignorance and eating blindly of foods we were told were healthy (before the internet exploded, and more honest information dissemination, if you’re selective).
Beyond its multitude of benefits for the body besides improving heart health, eye health, cellular health, and relieving the symptoms of diabetes, arthritis, ADHD, as well as lowering your risk for Alzheimer’s, cancer, and heart attack, fish oil is also a wonder supplement for weight loss.
Weight Loss and Omega-3 Fish Oil
As solid, educated, professional fitness and health experts will tell you, we have operated for far too long under the frighteningly wrong dictate that “fat makes you fat.” While the weight loss and fat free food industry has profited from this “theory,” the world public has not, with obesity rates skyrocketing in adults and children ever since we were told to decrease our fat intake.
The truth is that we need fat and cholesterol. The body produces thousands of mgs. of cholesterol on its own daily. As we have learned, it is actually sugar and refined starches that are elevating bad cholesterol, lowering the good, and causing plaque in the arteries.
In a study published in 2007, for example, researchers found that supplementing with fish oil combined with diet and exercise evidenced that fish oil can and does decrease body fat levels. In addition to this, the overweight group who supplemented with fish oil also had better heart and metabolic health, had reduced HDL (bad) cholesterol, lower triglycerides, and improved overall cardiovascular health.
We’ve also learned that fish oil and omega 3 fatty acids in general can help heal insulin resistance, a condition which makes it brutally impossible to lose even the slightest bit of weight, transforming that dangerous condition called insulin resistance into what we want– insulin sensitivity (study, study, study).
Continued studies have found that fish oil helps to suppress lipogenic genes—those responsible for fat gain, especially in those prone to obesity via genetics. There is also significant evidence that while suppressing fat gain, fish oil supplementation enhances fat loss.
A 2010 study tested the effects of fish oil supplementation in healthy men and women over a period of 6 weeks. The researchers found that fish oil supplementation resulted in reduced body fat, enhanced body mass without fat present in it, a decrease in cortisol, and enhancements in lean muscle mass.
Fish oil is a win-win on every front.
I’ve seen it work for my clients and myself and, along with L-carnitine, fish oil is one of the first supplements I recommend that everyone take to look and feel great.
6- A Good, High Quality Multi-Vitamin
Most of us are deficient in a multiplicity of vitamins and minerals. This table from the recent CDC survey (2014), reveals that most American are deficient in important vitamins and minerals highly necessary for the heart, bones, liver, eyes, cells, brain, everything. For example, 95% of us are deficient in vitamin D, 94% in vitamin E, 61% in magnesium, 48-53% are deficient in vitamins A and C, and 15% are deficient in B6, along with having many other vitamin and mineral deficiencies across the board, especially in potassium, which everyone is deficient in today compared to 50 years ago.
For this reason and because a multiplex of nutrients is necessary to nourish the body, keep our organs in optimum health, to detoxify the body and nourish our cells, I do recommend a good, high quality multi-vitamin carefully selected according to important criteria.
With vitamins, the higher the thousands of percent over the RDA, the more synthetic the vitamin is. Real vitamins are hard to come by. When you see one that 10,000 mgs. over the daily required intake, then you know you’re getting a synthetic.
Why?
Because it would take a metric ton of rock to yield this many mgs of any vitamin. So what you’re really getting, often, are rocks, like real rocks . . . and we wonder why we get kidney stones and calcification issues? How about calcified rocks?
What to Look for in a Multi-Vitamin:
If you want vitamins you can absorb and digest well (and without that quality you won’t reap their benefits anyway), you have to have some solid vitamin and mineral supplement criteria.
Here are mine that I’ve developed over time. I use this list to evaluate every supplement . . .
herb, vitamin, or mineral, that I put in my body. Usually, if they meet these 6 criteria, I know the supplement is a good one.
Jackson’s Multivitamin Criteria
A good way to immediately recognize a good multivitamin is to look at the quality and type of B vitamin used. The form they are in means everything for if your body can actually absorb and use the vitamin.
Vitamin What you want Don’t want
B6 Pyridoxal 5’-Phosphate Pyridoxine HCl
B12 methylcobalamin cyanocobalamin
B2 Riboflavin 5’-Phosophate Riboflavin HCl
Conclusion
The supplements I’ve covered above are ones I know that work from personal experience and from watching my clients thrive upon them. They are tried, tested means of becoming the ultimate you—sleek, muscular, and with a revving metabolism that allows you to enjoy a nutrient dense diet. Along with a good soil-based probiotic, the supplements above will help you become the optimal you and help you, for once, reach the recommended daily allowance of all the nutrients you need to stay in ultimate health.
Thank you,
Jackson
I would love to hear your comments or questions below!