Should we all be taking supplements?

By Gloria Jones

The market for supplements is booming but it can be difficult to know which are actually of any use. We’ve often been told that if you eat a healthy diet, you don’t need anything else but as we age our body doesn’t work as well. There are some nutrients, such as vitamin B12 and calcium for example, that we start to absorb much less efficiently as we get older.

I personally have tried adding magnesium (for sleep, muscle relaxing, brain and stress – pretty sure it’s helping), lion’s mane mushroom (cognition – no idea if it’s working), biotin (hair health- ditto). Certainly I’ve read enough about women really needing to start taking supplements when they hit middle age to pique my interest. This is mainly because I’ve heard that waning oestrogen can impact many parts of the body: bone health, muscle mass, metabolism and even add to cardiovascular disease risk.

Our bodies should be able to tell us if they’re not getting what they need. Unfortunately, as we get older, or simply busier,we lose the skill of paying attention to them. Tuning in to the signals takes awareness and having the discipline to follow a health regime can be difficult – as can be seen at this time of the year with failing New Year’s Resolutions! So I decided to take a long hard look at my eating habits and diet.

In my line of work I am lucky enough to be asked to write dining reviews at very high end restaurants. Obviously when I get such a gig I do not hold back on eating all the wonderful dishes put in front of me. Therefore in the last couple of years I have found that intermittent fasting works for me. That way I can make the most of the meal which I am writing about and then have nothing else for the next 24 hours. However, simply keeping the weight down is not now my only issue. I also have to consider muscle mass and muscle loss and what I discovered recently is that spreading protein across 2-3 meals in a day will optimize muscle growth and maintenance.

So would supplements help me I asked? Well the first stage was to get myself on some Body Composition (BIA) Scales. The results – well unsurprisingly I need to lose about 3-4 kilos (knew that already) my muscle mass was excellent(surprising) my hydration good (I have been conscientiously drinking more water), My Body age is 10 years younger than actual age (whoop,whoop) but my Protein level low which suggests that I need more dietary protein to maintain muscle and improve metabolism. I am therefore going to try some Herbalife Nutritional Shake Mixes which are packed with Vitamins, Minerals, Fibre and all important Protein and when consumed with 250ml of low fat milk only come to 214 calories …… .watch this space to find out how I get on,and if you would also like to try these nutritional supplement shakes let me know – email me at [email protected] and I will send you the details. More next month