Hello, everyone.
Dr. James Marcum here with another biblical prescription for life.
The question that's come in for many of you has been this
Should I take a supplement?
That's what we're going to tackle.
On today's video, we're going to unpack this.
But before we do, as usual, let's look at the big picture,
the real source of truth where God can speak to you.
A text from Philippians four verses 19.
And my God shall supply all your need
according to His riches in glory
by Christ Jesus.
That's hold that text with us as we unpack this question.
Should I take a supplement?
Many people have written in about this question.
So let's talk a little bit about a supplement.
The supplement industries supplements.
You might need some pitfalls.
First of all, supplements are supposed to be.
Now, notice, are you supposed to be manufacturing
nutrients or vitamins, food or foods to enhance our body
so something we can get manufactured to enhance our bodies?
And these usually these supplements are either vitamins,
those are coenzyme for many chemical reactions.
You probably heard about vitamins, minerals.
Those are things
usually found in the soil, like potassium, magnesium, things of that nature.
Fiber helps the bowels run, helps regulate that
fatty acids, which are essential for many building blocks,
especially some of our brain neurotransmitters and amino acids.
So that's basically the different types of nutrients out there. Now.
I have been
looking at this and heard this question for many, many years.
And unfortunately, you just can't believe most of what you hear out there.
Let me tell you why.
If you go on the Internet, lots of people are saying
lots of things about supplements.
They do this because there's money involved.
They also are not regulated.
So they can say a lot of things.
Now, some of this some of the things they say might have some truth to it,
but it's really hard to sort through all of this.
When money's involved,
no good studies are being made and you don't have a balanced approach.
Let me tell you some of the problems, first of all.
Last in the last few years, over $140 billion has been made
by this supplement industry, over 50,000 products.
These products are not regulated.
Some of them are not studies.
Now, the most common are the multivitamins.
Some studies that I looked at regarding this is they looked
at some herbal supplements and they found that 92% of the herbal
supplements had different contaminants in it
and they usually consisted of lead and things like that.
In 2013, they looked at some supplements and remember, these are not regulated.
One third have no active ingredient that they claim they had.
Another third had unlisted substances.
They just filled them up with stuff and you're swallowing this.
So when you take a supplement, there's a certain act of faith
that you have to believe in the producers of this that are doing what's right.
If you don't, then you're going to have to take it
to an independent lab and and have it analyzed.
So that's some of the pitfalls out there.
Money, we don't know what we're getting.
Not a lot of good studies.
But let's really get back to the question.
Should I take a supplement?
Should you take a supplement?
Well, that is very individual.
There's no black or white.
So I'm going to just paint a broad picture here.
In answering this question, should I take a supplement?
Well, if you have a deficiency in something,
you might need to take a supplement.
Well, how do you know if you have a deficiency?
Well, most of the time you can get bloodwork done
and know if you have a deficiency or not.
However, most people that eat a balanced diet
fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains
get everything that they need.
God supplied everything that we need
in our food source that our body needed.
Now, as things have gone on, as the body ages,
sometimes the body doesn't utilize things as well.
And sometimes we don't aren't able to make certain things.
And there's some people that might need supplements.
So I'm going to go down the list of probably the most common supplements
on some that I would recommend that some people
might need depending on if they have a deficiency.
One common deficiency
we've talked about before, that's vitamin D
that's sort of made from sunlight
hitting the skin.
And unfortunately,
in the world we live in, a lot of people are not getting vitamin D.
It's very important for many aspects of our body.
How much do you need?
Well, you can take a blood test and see.
But usually at least 2000 international units a day.
Some people can need up to 5000, depending on their level.
It's very hard to take too much vitamin D
in the active form, which is D three.
Lots of people think they get enough vitamin D, but they don't.
We just don't get outside in the sun.
We wear clothes all the time.
So vitamin D might be a supplement you need.
Check with your provider.
Number two.
Fiber.
Some people don't get enough fiber in their diet
so they can take fiber supplements.
But if you eat a balanced diet, 3 to 5 fresh fruits and vegetables
a day, you get plenty of fiber fibers important for our bowel health.
It regulates our bowel flora, helps transit time, helps
chemicals like Butyrate develop all these special chemistry within the bowel.
So fiber is very important not to have a deficiency in that,
whether that be flax or Metamucil or something like that.
Some people need to take a fiber, but it's better to eat it
than to take a supplement.
If you are a pure vegan,
you might need vitamin B12.
Remember, that is made from microbes in the soil.
Some people don't get enough of this.
You don't need very much B12 at all.
It's also supplemented in many different foods.
Some soy milks have B12.
Other foods have B12.
Of course, animal products have B12.
You don't need very much.
So if you're a pure vegan
and you might want to check your B12 levels,
but we usually recommend about 250 milligrams once a week
, or that's 2500 micrograms once a week, and you usually get a substance of that.
But that's only for pure vegans
that don't get it substituted in other foods that they eat.
So that's another common supplement people take because they have deficiencies.
But most people that need a balanced diet do not have a deficiency.
A few people out
there have to take iodine, remember goiter.
But that's very rare because iodine in most salt,
if you never have salt, then maybe you might need to take
a little seaweed occasionally that has iodine in it.
Another thing that sometimes we need is if we don't eat balanced
diets is short chain alpha, omega three fatty acids.
You get these and things like nuts
have lots of omega three fatty acids.
That's a good source, but you get them in flax.
Lots of things have omega three fatty acids,
chia seeds, another good source of omega three fatty acids.
Sometimes as we age, the body can't take the omega threes
and make these longer fatty acids
which are need for art, which we need for neurotransmitters in the brain health
not very often, but usually omega threes you can make it .
But some people are recommending that you might need
to take some type of long chain fatty acids.
You might hear the DHEA, a term used, and we can get that in certain amount
of algae supplements that you can get at a good nutritional store.
That's sort of a rare thing that people need.
But some people do try it. It never hurts.
Some people have a deficiency in that as they age.
Lastly, a question that's come in quite a bit.
Do I need the supplement coenzyme Q10?
Well, this is something that the body makes ubiquitous
and we can get it in food like parsley,
broccoli, grapes, cauliflower.
They have this substance in it.
But in looking through the literature, it's been claimed to help
lots of things from everything from a weak heart to Parkinson's disease.
So any type of muscle injury disease, so these foods have it.
But if some people might have a deficiency, who might that be?
Well, this is something needed for the mitochondria
in the muscles and people that take statin therapy,
cholesterol medications, and they start to have muscle aches.
Sometimes those people, if they don't, can't get enough
parsley, broccoli, grapes, kava and foods that have it.
They benefit from taking a Coenzyme
Q10 supplement, usually 100 to 200 milligrams a day
if they have what they consider muscle weakness or aches
from a cholesterol lowering medication, specifically a stat.
So in general,
most people do not need supplements.
Supplements
you have to pay very close attention to to make sure you're
not wasting your money, make sure you're getting a good source.
You can't believe most of what you hear on the Internet
because they're trying to make money, but they always put a little bit of truth
to it.
And people are always looking for a quick fix.
But think about it if you have a deficiency
and you can eat natural foods that have
these needed ingredients which are vitamins, minerals,
fibers, fatty acids, amino acids, if you can eat that in your nutrition,
it's in a better sauce that you can depend on.
It's absorbed better.
Your body can use this type of supplement to keep your body levels up
so it can do all of the different things a body needs to do.
So that's sort of my take on
supplements, mainly if you have a deficiency.
Sometimes if you get older and of course if you can't,
if you're not
if you're not eating a balanced food source,
you're going to need to take some supplements.
If you never like to eat fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains,
I would take a multivitamin.
If you never eat fiber.
I would take a fiber supplement.
If you never get out of the sun.
I would take vitamin D.
So there are some people that just choose not to do this.
And we still love you, but we want to tell you and that group,
you might need to take a supplement, but if you eat a balanced diet
with fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains, unless you have a deficiency in
something we talked about, you probably don't need a supplement.
Now, there's lots of gray out there.
This doesn't apply to everyone.
If you have a specific question regarding you
and many of you do have this, I can't really go on.
The social media and answer these questions for privacy reasons.
But you can mail your questions to Hart Wise Ministries, P.O.
Box 4743.
Chattanooga, Tennessee 37405.
I can't promise I'll get back to you right away,
but I'm trying to create more time in my day to minister
to each person, more individual, letting people know
there's not black or white, but there's a lot of gray.
But the most important thing is to have the real healer.
That's a relationship with Christ, who's going to heal us in his time.
And he's more than a supplement.
Which brings us back to our text today, Philippians four versus 19.
And this might be one you'll want to jot down and even memorize.
And. My God.
Shall supply.
All your need
according to his riches
in glory by Christ Jesus.
So we know where our needs are going to be supplied.
We just don't know how, when or where sometimes.
But this is a promise that we can depend on.
So I want to thank you for joining me today.
Give this a thumbs up if you like it.
You need to get ahold of us.
Heart Wise Ministries P.O.
Box 4743 Chattanooga 374005.
And we have lots of resources.
Be sure to share this with your friends and neighbors, and I will be back
very soon with another biblical prescription for life.