Overcoming Supplementphobia: A Guide to Safe Supplement Use

I don’t know if this is a real word, but I am going to create it and use it: Supplementphobia

Supplementphobia: a fear of supplements and nutraceuticals, usually stemming from allopathic/western medicine rhetoric

Our conventional healthcare system (all things considered) is very supplementphobic….because our training starts with supplementphobic rhetoric and for many, the training lacks how to safely utilize supplements so it just gets avoided or flat out discouraged in practice. And I get the caution….but only to some extent.

Yes – Reckless supplementation is not good. Not checking for supplement-drug interactions is dangerous. Getting supplements from places (i.e. Amazon) that don’t/can’t regulate third party distributors has risks.

Conventional care practitioners love to say “supplements are not FDA regulated.” Dietary supplements are regulated by the FDA under the food category, just not regulated the same as drugs. But often this negative narrative is often said with the intent that we should avoid all supplementation because “it’s all bad” and it puts this supplementphobia in people.

What does this supplementphobia rhetoric really lead to: people fearful to use supplements when there is a demonstrated need or the other extreme of patients not sharing with their Doctor about what supplements they are taking for fear that their Doctor has supplementphobia (which most do) and the patient will be chastised.

Wouldn’t it be great if the blanket statement negative supplement rhetoric changed to match the science? If western medicine aligned schools would get up to speed and stop beating into healthcare professionals’ heads that the majority of supplementation is something to be feared and avoided. I can dream.

What I envision is a world where:

-Doctors refer all patients to Registered Dietitians for nutrition consultation as we are nutrition experts, study and understand safe supplementation and all the nuances to supplementation.

-Schools start teaching safe and evidenced based supplement practices and how to use them and titrating them appropriately

Because the reality is that most people need supplementation due to drastic increases in chronic illnesses with chronic medication usage and chronic nutrient depletion. Hear me out on a few bullet points:

1) We cannot “eat our way out of most nutrient deficiencies.” What do I mean?

To really correct a nutrition related deficiency, a “better diet” typically doesn’t cut it. Don’t get me wrong – you can and should improve your diet. But when it comes to iron deficiency (for example) you can absolutely incorporate more iron rich foods, but this is (loose analogy) a drop in the bucket. About 3mg of iron is found in about 3 ounces of many cuts of meat. To put it into perspective, the therapeutic dosing guidelines as outlined in the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetic’s Nutrition Care Manual, recommends 50 to 200mg per day of iron, often for many months. Note, medical management or more invasive interventions may be needed such as an iron infusion in some scenarios. With almost any nutrient deficiency, supplementation is needed to correct the problem. And the vast majority of adults have staggering nutrient deficiencies as seen in bloodwork I order, and also as shown in thousands of studies in pubmed. My personal experience with ordering thousands of of nutrition panels is that we are hella depleted.

2) I despise the dismissive and reductive use of the phrase “food first.” Here’s why:

Yes, I get it – nutrients are best from food. We should in a perfect world get all of our nutrients from food. However, we are all farrrr from living in a perfect world. The majority are either on prescriptions (omeprazole, statins, hormonal birth control, etc.) that induce nutrient deficiencies, have medical conditions/illnesses or surgical history that impairs digestion/absorption, have food scarcity, and on and on with examples of why people flat out don’t get their nutritional needs consistently met. People shouldn’t have to wait for things to be perfect with their diet (often impossible) before using tools like supplementation that can help them. Also – why wait until things are awful? Why not use tools to support health and prevent deficiencies from occuring in the first place?

3) Targeted supplementation WORKS!

Targeted nutritional supplementation refers to the practice of using specific dietary supplements or nutraceuticals to address deficits or provide support for specific health related concerns. It involves identifying an individual’s unique need and providing a tool that targets those specific needs. Examples:

• Targeted strain specific probiotics for low commensal bacteria in the gut as seen in a GIMAP test to support blood glucose control, bowel regularity
• Apple cider vinegar for better digestion especially if low stomach acid production from stress, nutrient deficiencies
• Magnesium to help pull fluid into the colon to help with bowel regularity
• Inositol/vitamin b8 to help sensitize insulin in those with insulin resistance to help with blood glucose metabolism
• Adequate zinc to help support healthy mid luteal progesterone surge for fertility and support healthier secretory igA levels in the gut
• Proper copper intake to help support DAO production to breakdown excess histamine
• High dose fish oil or gluthathione supplementation for someone exposed to mold in their home

I can go on and on with examples of specific nutraceuticals that I use with patients all the time to improve/correct/augment some aspect of their health. Prior to supplementation on a case by case basis, I of course vet each person’s health history, check for supplement-drug interactions, look at history of allergies. I know how to dose and what to monitor for. Sometimes supplementation is temporary and other times it is for ongoing support if there is a consistent need.

Big picture:

Supplementation and nutraceuticals are something that shouldn’t be inherently feared. We got legitimate, studied tools to use; why not use it for the betterment of patients lives?! My goal is to normalize supplement usage.

Supplement usage is never “too much” – it’s all relative to the need(s). If there are lots of needs, then there may be multiple supplements, and that is okay when done safely and correctly, and in conjuction with other medical history, and factoring in other prescription usage.

Stop the supplementphobia.

*The picture above is what I was on at one point to deal with various medical problems I had. Some may need way less or other more, but it is all relative to needs – remember this. But I’m so thankful I had these aids to get better as a prescription can’t do what a nutrient can do (and vice versa – as I understand there are also times/places for prescription medication).

The beautiful thing about Functional/Integrative Medicine aligned practitioners is where we can lean into one thing where the other may lack (when it comes to medications and nutraceuticals).

If someone doesn’t know how to use or prescribe supplements correctly, they should refer to someone who does instead of continuing to spread the incorrect narrative. Need help with safe and appropriate supplementation use? Come on over and schedule a consult package.

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