Soundbite From Our Scientists: Physical & Life Stage Factors

Acute heat loading

The first factor Taron discusses in this video is metabolic heat or acute heat loading. We've found that individuals who who have been using medications for a long time will often report back to us that they feel medicated again, or they feel certain specific side-effects from their medication after exercise, hot showers, saunas, hot tubs or being out in the sun on a hot day. The underlying mechanism there is that the drug kinetics and dynamics become altered as a result of the individual's physiologic response to that heat exposure and increase in body temperature.  Sometimes some of those drug residues stored in body tissues will increase through internal and external mechanisms, and there is a possibility that individuals may feel the residual effects of those drugs as they are worked out of the system.  This tends to diminish over time.

Healthy diet

We all do better with a healthy diet, that's a given. High sugar diets and highly refined diets will cause blood sugars to rise and fall and that has an impact on an individual's health.  Poor diet can trigger a stress response, and can cause mood swings as blood glucose levels rise and fall especially dramatically. So, the healthier you can eat, the better you'll feel and the better that your body will respond while using micronutrients. 

Adequate sleep

The better quality sleep we get and the amount of sleep we get has a big impact on our mental and physical health. Sleep helps our brain and our body to reset. Our brain processes daily events and life events while we sleep. Sleep gives the body systems a chance to slow down and recuperate, so sleep or rest is a very important component of health. Therefore if you are chronically losing sleep, find ways to rest, relax and make a good sleep a part of your healthy lifestyle.

Adequate water intake

Adequate water helps our bodies to move good nutrients into the tissues and help move waste products out. If we don't have adequate hydration those processes become sluggish and limited. If you wait for the thirst response you're probably dehydrated. So drink enough water so that the body can have the fuel it needs to run all the processes supported by the micronutrients you are introducing.

Non-compliance

Non-compliance is a limiting factor for any treatment, not just for micronutrients. Some individuals have a hard time taking a lot of capsules. Taron shares, "There were even moments in my own experience when I felt that same way and I do regularly take the nutrients, but every once in a while you look at that handful of capsules and go, 'this is crazy'. I remember having that experience and I had to slow down and go, 'wait a minute, I know these nutrients helped me to feel better, and I know that this is simply adding nutrient density to the foods I already eat,' and so I kind of had to talk myself through that...This is improving the quality of my diet, the quality of the food that I eat, and therefore I haven't really finished eating until I've taken these." 

Also, pay attention to how your body is feeling when you take the nutrients versus when you haven't taken them or don't take them. If you take the time to work through that and recognize the impact of the micronutrients on your mood and overall well-being, you will likely have a better outcome.

Physical activity

This topic relates to back to the metabolic heat or acute heat loading. When you feel better, you want to get out and do things and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's important to to be gradual, particularly if you've had a history of medication use. If you rush right out and do a lot of physical activity and get your metabolism going, that will have an effect on how you feel in the in the short term. We've had a lot of people that report back that they feel drugged again, or over-medicated after transitioning from psychiatric medications to micronutrients.

So as your body begins to metabolize lipids and fats and you start getting to a healthy weight and feeling better, these are things that can diminish over time.  Be active but do it carefully and go slowly and the more slowly you implement physical activity and exercise into your routine generally the more consistent you will be at it, too.

We hope that by bringing these things to your attention, if they apply to you, they will help to mitigate these issues and increase your success when transitioning to Daily Essential Nutrients.