Where do you Start Supplementing?

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Even after reading the page on what a healthy diet looks like, it may not be easy for you to see where you lack most.

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Is it in getting enough grain oils from whole grains to help the cell membrane absorb vitamins and minerals? Do you consume enough fruit and veg to supply those vitamins and minerals, together with the enzymes that help digestion? Do you eat enough quality proteien to sustain your energy throughout the day and allow enough left for renewing and repairing the cells? Are there enough dark leafy greens and bright yellows and reds in your diet to supply the anti-oxidants that help your body protect itself against disease and to help it flush environmental toxins?

I really can not tell you what you should do, I can only share with you what I did. It can be a maze out there when you walk the aisles where shops stack their supplements and every supplier will tell you their product is the best.

Here is my story

My point of no return:

It was the end of 2005. My son was just a year old and still breast feeding. He was an allergic baby and we had very bad nights filled with cramping or just habitual waking, sometimes every half hour. I was working everyday until 12:30. We did not have an afternoon nap, because naptime at crèche was from 11 to 12 and that would be enough for Benjamin. I was run down, fatigued and I had an irritable bowel from the stress and sleep deprivation. We were both on a dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free diet, and the anxiety of what to buy, what to eat and how to stay healthy was literally killing me. Something had to give, and it was not going to be me! I had read about intolerances and allergies and everything you can think of, but the road prescribed to me was too difficult to sustain. I knew step one of my plan was to wean the boy, but this caused some problems.

The problem:

To successfully ween, I had to :

My search brought me to AIM vegetable juices: whole food, pure, natural and healthy. It was recommended in a book called: Healthy Kids The natural Way by Mary-Anne Sherer and Charlotte Meschede. I tightened my belt and ordered all three at once and added the suggested tablespoon full of flaxseed oil. This range is a fabulous option for vegetarians, because there are no capsules containing gelatin in this range. There is also a very short distance between the fresh crop growing on the farm and the packaged product it your hand. It is a very well researched well controlled product range.

Plan one:

  1. Order the products
  2. Adults: Take a glass of veg juice (2 teaspoons BarleyLife, 1 tablespoon JustCarrots and 2 teaspoons Redibeets in a glass of water) first thing in the morning.
    (Cost: R713 / adult per month)
  3. Small children: begin with a knife-tip-full and work it up slowly to one third / half the dosage for adults.
    (Cost: R238 to R 356 / child per month)
  4. Take 1 tablespoon flaxseed oil daily for adults and a teaspoonful for babies and tots.
  5. Do this for at least three months to experience the full benefit.

Excecution:

Well, dear Gerhi and I took our veg juice religiously each day and got used to its taste (just the barley is difficult to palate at first). I mixed the oil into our breakfast (fresh fruit and raw oats or cooked porridge). Benjamin loved the taste of the dried veg powder and ate it clean off the spoon, but he seemed to cramp from a lot of things that did not make sense to me. I put it down to a generally sensitive digestive system that needed to mature more. I stopped giving it to him. After a month I evaluated.

Evaluation and adaptation:

My most pressing motivation, namely to get Benjamin's immune system strong and get him a breast milk replacement failed. Now other things came into focus: it became too expensive to sustain so at first I started to alternate between JustCarrots and RediBeets to make it last longer. We also switched to BarleyLife Extra which contains cherry and apple extracts making it much more palatable, but sadly also more expensive. Finally, I did not feel an incredibly significant difference in my own health - perhaps because I did not follow the full program for 3 months. We stopped.

Round two:

Benjamin was now completely weaned (it took 2 months). As expected his immunity dropped and he became very sick. I lost more sleep and became tired all over again. Then a friend brought me a container of GNLD Vita Guard: sugar-free, preservative free and pumped with antioxidants and other good stuff. It was also very affordable. This became our lifeline. At the same time I took Benjamin to a kineseologist to treat him for the allergic reactions. He responded very well to the treatment and that became lifeline number 2. At this time Gerhi and I was still taking the veg juices, but now we were introduced to another excellent range of supplements. They are also whole food supplements although there are more steps between the farm and container of capsules than was the case with the juices. It was more affordable, it contained important grain oils in the dosage, Benjamin loved it and did not respond to it and so we started to gravitate towards this plan as suggested by our GNLD distributor.

Plan two:

  1. Order the products
  2. Adults: Take Formula IV plus daily (one hard and one soft capsule that come together in a sachet)
    (Cost: R139 / adult per month)
  3. Still with adults. Add Nutrishake for sustained energy and Carrotenoid Complex for immune support (this product is totally unique to this range containing the largest spectrum of carrotenoids on the market)
    (Cost: Nutrishake - R281 / adult per month, Carrotenoid - R313 / adult per month)
  4. Kids take 2 Vita Squares daily as equivalent to the Formula IV Plus. Then add nutrishake as protein source and Vita Squares as immune boosting anti-oxidants.(Cost: Vita Squares - R71 / child per month)

Execution:

Instead of going in with blazing guns this time, I eased into it slowly. We did not start on the broad spectrum multi-vitamin plus grain oil concentrate (Formula IV Plus) as suggested by the program, I started us all on anti-oxidant first. With Benjamin I started about 2 months before I ordered the Carrotenoid complex for myself and the Beta Guard (a cheaper option - R92 / month) for Gerhi. My reasoning was as follows: We kept getting sick and we always do with every turn of the season. We were now just battling to overcome the flu and the sinus infections completely. In addition, I was plagued with night blindness and my lenses rapidly became less and less flexible causing blurred vision. I already have a visual dissability and I wanted to keep my eyes as healthy as possible. The Carotenoid Complex made sense to me. Gerhi battled with chronic sinusitis because of our bad air quality here in Maritzburg and Beta Guard is known for its detoxing effect and immune boosting power.

Soon after that we added the Formula IV Plus and two months later the Nutrishake.

With Benjamin I alternated between Vita Guard (R98 / month) and Vita Squares originally to save money, but now he takes both, although not at full dosage. He gets 1 of each a day generally and when the snivels come I pick up on the Vita Guard. At first, about 8 months ago, he cramped of the soy in the Nutrishake. But after his most recent visit to the kineseologist, he seems fine with it and it is a life saver. He still loves to eat the veg juices off the spoon and he does not respond negatively to it anymore.

Evaluation:

Benjamin - Multi-vitamin and Antioxidant:

Both vita Guard and Vita Squares are extremely tasty. He knows them better than he knows sweets and he prefers them. They are a great motivator to get him to lie still for a nappy change or as a distraction when something has upset him. When he gets the snivels or looks like he is picking up some bug from crèche, I double up the Vita Guard dosage. He is generally much stronger now and sleeps through the night.

Protein:

I have not reintroduced Nutrishake for him yet, although he does not respond to other soy or dairy products (except fresh milk and hard yellow cheese) anymore. For protein and calcium I have long since been giving him tahini (sesame seed paste) on sandwiches, in his cereal and so on. I use the veg juices now as part of our diet rather than of our supplementation program. Whenever we run out of fresh fruit or veg, or Benjamin did not eat enough of them that da , or we were out for lunch and there was no salad served, I give him a spoonful of BarleyLife Extra or JustCarrots.

Gerhi and me

Antioxidants:

The Carrotenoid Complex worked very well to get me over my flu and my night blindness has definitely improved. However, it became too expensive to sustain, once again, and I joined Gerhi on the Beta Guard which has kept his sinusitis away through the worst season for it : spring. We did not get sick with the change of season at all this time round.

Multi vitamins:

This is the first time in my life that I can feel the difference in my energy levels since I started. It is quite spectacular. I now have seemingly boundless energy in spite of caring for a 2 year old and being pregnant with the second one. I am still going most nights till 10 or half past and I get up at 5:30 to 6 in the morning. Admittedly I take a 20 minute nap most afternoons, a little luxury I spoil myself with for being pregnant. The Formula IV Plus can not take all the glory, though.

Protein shake:

The Nutrishake adds to the energy levels significantly. It makes the difference between being awake till 10:30 and being productive until then. It also sustains my sugar levels so I do not get massive hunger pains midmorning and a mid afternoon slump. It does the same for Gerhi. Veg juices: We also take a glass full whenever we did not eat enough fresh fruit and veg that day, but we do not take it on any kind of regular basis.

The current plan as it is practiced in our kitchen:

  1. Order the products as they run out and save money on the two days in between as we wait for the order to arrive.
  2. Benjamin asks for vitamins as he gets his night nappy changed, or first set foot in the kitchen in the morning.
  3. Gerhi and I take Formula IV Plus and Beta Guard in the morning before breakfast as recommended.
  4. I drink my Nutrishake around 10 o'clock just as my tummy threatens to start rumbling.
  5. Gerhi takes his Nutrishake in the evening just as he gets back from work to tie him over until supper.
  6. Benjamin gets a wide variety of protein in his diet now, but I will soon begin to introduce Nutrishake for him too - to help him grow.
  7. We use the veg juices now whenever we feel we need more fruit and veeg that day, for whatever reason. It is the most convenient and healthiest fast food around!

Click here to see what a Starter Family Pack would cost you when you start supplementing.

If you want to tell me your story, I would love to hear from you. If you want to order any of the products I mention, also contact me, they are available world wide and can be delivered to your door depending on your order.

Petro Janse van Vuuren

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Petro Janse van Vuuren

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