Supplements are Supplemental
What are the most important things you can be doing to improve your health?
As the owner of a supplement company, I probably shouldn’t be telling you this.
But as a doctor and someone who just wants the best for people, here it is: you’re probably approaching supplements in the wrong way.
So many people in today’s society want the “one thing that will change your life” when it comes to a problem they’re experiencing.
That saying comes directly from the Western medicine model if you didn’t catch it already. And it’s one of the biggest problems Western society is facing when it comes to our approach to wellness.
Address your health in the right order
There’s a famous story of a college professor beginning class with a jar.
He fills the jar with large rocks and asks the students if the jar is full. They tell him it is.
He then takes some pebbles and pours them into the jar with the rocks.
Again, the professor asks if the jar is full and the class agrees that this time it is.
Finally, the professor takes a bag of sand and uses it to fill the remaining space between the rocks & pebbles, filling the jar to its final capacity.
Here’s a great animation for my visual learners out there:
The way this relates to our health choices is simple: the rocks are the “big things,” like sleep, food, movement, and healthy relationships.
I would say that supplements fall into the “pebbles” category. They’re useful for deficiencies that are caused by poor farming, but they shouldn’t be the primary thing we’re focusing on as a foundation for optimal health.
As for the sand, that would relate to the “sometimes” health maintenance items like emergency situations that call for surgeries, modalities such as cryotherapy or less-frequent health expenses, things like that.
Lifestyle first, supplements second
You already know I’m known as the “sleep guy.”
Sleep’s the most important thing in the world. You should do your best to do that, if you need help with it, that’s what I’m here to help you with.
If you’re not experiencing quality sleep, this should be one of the first things you address when trying to create a healthier lifestyle for yourself.
After that, the changes in movement and food can come in.
What types of exercise do you like? It doesn’t need to be something intense like CrossFit right away; my personal favorite way to move around is walking 5-6 miles each day.
What are some simple food changes you can make? If it’s decreasing sugar, great. If you think gluten is your issue, awesome. Maybe you can even get a simple food sensitivity test done to have a starting point – it doesn’t really matter.
What does matter is that you’re making the changes that work for what your body & situation need?
Finally, your relationships matter. The way you and those around you interact can greatly affect stress levels, and therefore foundational health.
Have those hard discussions and speak up about issues. I promise, they’re not as difficult to deal with as you may think.
These are your baseline lifestyle tweaks that must shift if you want to reap the benefits of supplementation to their fullest.
Supplements fill the gaps
Sure, you’ll get benefits from supplements without making these lifestyle changes. But you’ll basically be patching up holes instead of sealing them completely.
When it comes to things like my Sleep Remedy, there are circumstances that make sense for ongoing use.
Some of those might include:
Shift workers
Sleep disorders like sleep apnea or insomnia
Those who travel a lot
However, many people think they’re dealing with a severe health issue and learn that it’s simply a manifestation of their lack of sleep.
For those who are trying to get their sleep back on track, Sleep Remedy is a great tool as a piece of the puzzle.
As you’re creating a bedtime ritual for yourself, supplements that assist in getting you to sleep can be real game changers.
Especially for those who might have years’ worth of sleep debt to repay, using something that can help you see immediate changes in your sleep quality are life-changing.
But remember: you need those big rocks in your jar if you want things to truly change.
Supplementing the right way
For now, I’ll leave it at this:
Fill your jar with the large rocks first. Sprinkle in the pebbles where they’re needed – and know that those can change throughout your life.
Do your research on root causes and do anything in your power to support the prevention of chronic issues.
When you use supplements like mine, remember that we’re fortifying the brain to be able to get to this point of sleepiness faster.
But that doesn’t negate the importance of supporting the body’s ability to do that itself, without assistance.
If you’d like more information on my Sleep Remedy & how it works, click here.