Some General Feedback about Food Supplements

Here is feedback about Food Supplements, from not only my
experiences, but from other members' experiences too!

1) Food Supplements are supplements first, and not food
replacements. Unfortunately, there are people who misuse Food
Supplements. They will eat a very acidic diet, then take some
alkalizing Food Supplements, and continue the abusive diet, thinking
the alkalizing supplements will mitigate the effects of that acidic
diet. That's almost like treating the Food Supplement as a food
replacement. In my experience, that doesn't work optimally. One
should already eat a healthy alkalizing diet (see Alkalizing Blood
Type Diet), where supplements are just for fine-tuning the healing
process.

2) Food Supplements will work for some people, but not for all
people, for a variety of different reasons. We all have different
bodies, different existing health history, different pre-existing
conditions, different healing capacity, different healing co-factors
like attitude, discipline, family support, different allopathic
drugs and therapies used and in some cases abused in the past, so
it's no surprise to see different results, from different people
using the same type of Food Supplements. For example, some members
have taken immune suppressing allopathic drugs for a long time, and
have sustained permanent damage to their immune system. In such a
case, it's unrealistic to expect that this person will experience
the same results taking an immune boosting supplement compared to
someone who has never taken, or have taken only immune suppressing
drugs for a very short time, and do not have permanent damage to
their immune system. That's not a fair comparison since the problem
is not the Food Supplement, but the existing health of the person
using that Food Supplement.

3) Food Supplements may or may not be your best alternative. It
depends on the situation. Allopathic drugs and therapies are
usually great for emergency and acute health problems, while Food
Supplements are generally better for long-term, degenerative, non-
acute, non-emergency health problems. When dealing with long-term,
degenerative, non-acute, non-emergency health problems, I always
look to Food Supplements and diet first, to see if I can address and
correct the problem, without allopathic drugs and therapies. For
me, the allopathic drugs and therapies are secondary, when the
primary method of diet and supplements don't work.

4) Food Supplements are not prescription drugs so don't expect it to
work like prescription drugs. One reason allopathic prescription
drugs are popular is because it's easy, and you usually get results
relatively quickly. Blood pressure high? Take a drug. Cholesterol
High? Take a drug. Test results come back good, since the drug
mitigate symptoms, as it improves the test numbers, but not
necessarily correct the root health problems. We also see some
people taking a prescription drug to mitigate the negative side
effects of other prescription drugs they are taking. Food
Supplements usually work slower, and takes more time for people to
actually see benefits. Food Supplements usually require a
cumulative, sustained effort to see long-term benefits. This makes
perfect sense to me. Acute emergency = short-term drug therapy.
Non-acute emergency = long term cumulative therapy. Short-term to
short-term, long-term to long-term. Therefore, part of using Food
Supplement is managing one's expectations, to have a more realistic
long-term outlook.

5) Food supplements vary from one brand to another. When I first
took Fish Oil Capsules, I took the Costco Brand, and it didn't do
much for me. The bottle had a fishy smell, and sometimes after
taking it, I experienced nasty aftertaste. But I realize there were
enough people espousing the benefits of Fish Oil that I needed to
try other brands just for my own sake, and not dismiss Fish Oils
just because of my initial bad experience. After trying a few more
brands, I discovered the Carlson Brand agreed with me, so that is
the brand I'm sticking with. Finding the right brand is really a
trial and error process since each manufacturer may use the same or
similar active ingredient, but use different binders and fillers.
Furthermore, the same supplement can come in different forms like
liquid, powder, soft gel, capsule, tablet, etc. each of which may
affect absorption and effectiveness depending on the individual.
Ultimately, I knew Fish Oil was good for me, so it was a matter of
trial and error to find the right brand and delivery system
appropriate for me. I hesitate to name brands because I'm mindful
that the brand and delivery system right for me may not be right for
you. However, in the interest of full disclosure, I do name the
brands I use in the "Healing Journey" article, so you have a basis
to start your trial and error. Let my examples be your starting
point, not your end point.