iThei mdcdaelcinfd o c elllllrllll ethhsbmbkceCaution: Many probiotics use gluten, dairy, or soy in their manufacturing
process.
Beneficial bacterial species found on raw lacto-fermented vegetables re-
portedly contain trillions of CFUs per dose. Although not technically
supplements, they really are the superstars for overcoming dysbiosis and
should be included in the healing plan above all else.
How to Get the Most Healing from Your Supplements
As a pharmacist and patient myself, I know adherence to a medication/
supplement regimen is very difficult. Adherence studies have found that
even when we know how to treat a condition perfectly well, in many
cases when a product is recommended by a health care professional, it
does not help the patient for a variety of reasons—most of them having
to do with the lack of information the patient received.
- The patient never gets the product.
- The patient gets the wrong product, wrong dose, or wrong
type of medication or supplement. - The patient gets the correct product but uses it incorrectly.
- The patient gets the product and knows how to use it but forgets to
take it and uses the product only sporadically.
There is an old pharmacist’s joke about a man who goes to the doctor and
says the suppositories the doctor prescribed are not working for his con-
stipation. Puzzled, the doctor asks, “How have you been using them?”
The patient replies, “Well, I swallow them, of course—what else would
you do with them?”
You can spend hundreds of dollars on really great products, but if you
don’t use them correctly (or at all), you might as well be throwing your
money away!
Some medications and supplements cannot be absorbed in combination
with other supplements or when food is present. Others absorb better with
food or other supplements. Still others may need to be taken at different
times of the day due to their propensity to cause tiredness or alertness.
Thyroid hormones in particular have a lot of restrictions. They need be
taken on an empty stomach, thirty minutes prior to meals, and at least
four hours apart from iron, calcium, and magnesium (which can lower
the absorption of the hormone).