Building A Supplement Program That's Right For You

by Ward Dean, M.D.

With all the possible choices of vitamins and supplements available today - a wide range of formulas and products from countless companies - selecting the most apropriate formula for your needs may appear overwhelming.

This uncertainty is commmon not only for those who are new to supplements, but among informed consumers as well. For example, when evaluating the nutritional programs of my patients, I ask them to bring in their current supplements. What I usually find is a "mish-mash" of bottles from several different companies.

The trouble with this approach is that it is costly and not necessarily in the best interest of one's health. These combinations of formulas characteristically contain large amounts of certain therapeutic nutrients, plus miscellaneous redundant co-factors.

Consequently, the various supplements often conflict with one another, and may have wastefully excesive, imbalanced or even detrimental doses of some nutrients while offering only subtherapeutic (ineffective) amounts of others.

However, formulas in each level of the Complementary Prescriptions™ anti-aging pyramid (shown here) are designed to work together in a complementary fashion. We call this synergistic approach our Modular concept.

This modular approach helps ensure against unnecessary, overlapping and sometimes counterproductive ingredients.

Using CP's unique modular concept, let's look at how to build an effective supplement program that's right for you, one step at a time.

As shown below, when designing a nutritional supplement program, there are some basic requirements common to all of us.

Multinutrients
We believe that the foundation of any supplement program, whether therapeutic or preventive, is a broad-spectrum multinutrient formula. Complementary Prescriptions™ multinutrient formulas range from Extend One to Extend Ultra. In choosing a multinutrient formula, you'll want to consider several factors: cost; daily "pill capacity"; personal dietary and therapeutic needs (based on age, sex, health condition, family history and personal goals); gastrointestinal tolerance (some people find high-potency forumlas upsetting to their stomachs); qualtiy of diet; and exercise habits.

Minerals
Next I recommend adding a multimineral formula, such as Essential Minerals or Advanced Essential Minerals. This step is important, as it is generally not possible to provide adequeate amounts of the "macrominerals" (especially calcium and magnesium) in a multinutrient formula because of the "capsule space" they require.

Phytonutrients
Third, because even the most conscientious of us often do not consume adequate phytonutrients, I recommend that everyone include one or more broad-spectrum phyonutrient supplement formulas in their daily "nutrition-insurance" program. Examples of such formulas include NanoGreens10 and/or Extension Phytonutrient.

Condition-Specific Formulas
Having established the nutritional foundation, consider choosing formulas for specific condition support; i.e. bone and joint, cardiovascular or other problem areas.

Antioxidants, Hormone Suppport and Other Anti-Aging Nutrients
To complete the supplemnt program and tailor it to individual needs, you can then add antioxidants, hormones, receptor sensitizers and bioenergizers.

By following these simple steps based on the Complementary Prescriptions™ modular concept, you can be confident that your individual nutritional requirements are being met, while minimizing unwanted and unnecessary ingredients.