Never Trust a Sickly Nutrition Coach

Hello to those of you who have stuck with me through the dry spell of monthly posts. I've been doing well - actually, I just sat down to a bowl of hot, whole-milk oatmeal with dates and walnut. It tastes incredible.

I thought it would be interesting to some of you to see which supplements I take on a regular basis. Keep in mind, this is additionally supplemented with things like oil of oregano when I'm worried about a virus going around, various herbal teas to get me sleepy if I need to and an assortment of freebies that I get at work just to try.

Every morning I spoon down the following:

I received this as a product swap with my friend/co-worker Andy for a bottle of AOR Advanced Orthocore multivitamin capsules that I won in a raffle draw at yoga. Due to a problem with the tipping of my epiglottis, and a lifelong fear of choking, I can't swallow any pills whatsoever. I was excited about this trade because I've always wanted to try Vitamin Code's products - they are raw, vegan, whole food plus well researched and most often sprouted. This one admittedly does taste terrible (a mix of orange and gasoline?) but I follow it with apple juice and that makes it bearable.

As someone who has only seen the other side of anemia once (it was the day I was schedule to give blood, my iron levels finally increased to an acceptable amount for the first time in my life, the lady said I was good to go, then ended up withholding my blood because I'd been on a vacation to Mexico in the past year - boo), I desperately require a daily iron supplement. The ones at the drug store - liquid Palafer was my go to - will make you sick to your stomach guaranteed. This formula contains vegetable juices to increase absorption and taste. I only take 1 Tbsp per day because I also keep a ton of iron-rich foods in my diet (molasses being the most frequent) and I drink nettle tea every morning.

I'm a big believer in the idea that our current North American diet contains a lot of bad fat and a sparse amount of good fat. I would never, ever recommend a low-fat diet, but I would suggest making conscientious changes to increase the ratio of good to bad fats. One of the ways I do that is fitting avocado, walnuts, coconut and flax in my diet. I also keep hemp and chia in the house and have started using more coconut oil. To make sure my essential fatty acids are in check I take a bit of Genestra's lemon flavor EFA liquid. It's made from fish so I may switch away from it in the future, but for now it's doing me well.

If you want probiotics to truly give your digestive system a boost the only way to do so is take a capsule that will make it through the stomach and work on the intestines. Because that's not an option for me, I do the next best thing and take a probiotic lozenge that will at least introduce healthy flora to my mouth and throat. That's good for breath, dental health and illnesses related to the throat. I like to think it helps my immune system.

Speaking of immune system, another product I haven't mentioned but is definitely deserving of a paragraph is Sambu. It is a concentrated syrup made from wild elderberries. The flu virus cannot live or reproduce in the presence of elderberry. I put a spoon of this in a mug and add hot water to make an out-of-this-world delicious tea that tastes like hot blueberries and apples. I wouldn't say I take it every day, but certainly 80% of the time between October and March.

So that's that. I hope you've enjoyed this peer into my refrigerator (can't say medicine cabinet because all of these liquids are perishable - darn). Feel free to ask questions.