I wanted to write this post because I have noticed that as I get older, my body needs a bit of extra support on the side. It isn’t enough for me to eat a balanced (enough) diet with lots of nutritious add-ons. I need to take certain nutritional supplements to feel good in my skin.
Maybe you are getting into your 30s and wondering if there is something specific you can do to get your health up to that optimal level. In this article, I will chat about the 7 nutritional supplements that I think every over-35-year-old should be taking in (I’m 38 as I write this post).
1. Magnesium
Okay, this one is not that intuitive, but for me, it has been an absolute god-send.
- Firstly, I should mention that I suffer from anxiety and it is quite difficult sometimes for me to fall asleep because my mind won’t stop whirring and churning.
- Secondly, I want to say that I’m not a doctor! So, you need to check in with your family physician or your body’s intelligence to see if my suggestions work for you.
- Finally, if you get frequent migraines (which I do), then supplementing with Magnesium could help. It helps me quite a bit.
As soon as I feel that migraine coming upon me, I spray some Magnesium on my belly. I will also take an Epsom Salt hot bath, or an Epsom salt foot soak, so I can get Magnesium into my body quickly. The skin absorbs Magnesium quite fast, which means, the effects are pretty quick as well (at least for me).
Coming back to how I take Magnesium. I take it in two ways.
Magnesium Spray
I have a Magnesium Spray that I purchased from good old Amazon. And I spray it upon my belly before sleep. Or as I said above, I take it when I know I’m about to get a migraine.
After getting them for years now, I know the instant when a migraine is about to descend upon me. It’s quite uncanny how on point I can be.
Pill Format
The second way is, of course, taking it in pill format. It is recommended that you take a nutritional supplement with Magnesium, Zinc, and Vitamin D3 together because they help each other absorb easier. The nutritional supplements I have used in the past and loved are linked above, so check them out.
2. Gua Pi Wan
Hehehe, are you wondering if I have gone cuckoo and started speaking gibberish? Of course not! This is a Chinese herb that is going to change your life.
A few months ago, I was feeling off. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong in my body, but something wasn’t feeling right. I always prefer going for natural options as much as possible when trying to fix my health ailments. And this time as well, I went for an acupuncture treatment.
There is a brilliant Yayasan (NGO or charity organization in Bahasa Indonesia) in Ubud Bali founded by Robin Lim, which was recommended to me by a friend as great for acupuncture treatments. They are called Bumi Sehat. I might write a post about them later, but they are absolutely a must-visit and must-donate if you are ever in Bali.
I went in for an acupuncture treatment, and the acupuncturist, Ayu, told me that I had weak heart and spleen function and I was anemic, depleted probably due to overwork, and lacking B12.
Oops. I thought I was doing so well taking care of my body. Not.
Thank God She Gave Me These Nutritional Supplements
She did the acupuncture treatment and then after they gave me a little Ziploc bag with these black pearly-looking pills in them. They were tiny and there were dozens of them in that little bag. She said it’s called Gua Pi, and I must take 8 of them 2 times a day.
I didn’t think much of it and took them. Just after 2 days of taking them, I noticed a huge difference in the way my body felt! Oh my god, I can’t even describe it to you.
I had been feeling tired, lethargic, and just low energy in general. And I tend to blame my upcoming period for any periods of low energy, but this time around, it was unrelated.
I had been overworking myself to be sure. But this was a normal thing for me, and I didn’t think twice about it.
Gua Pi Wan is prescribed to overworked students and professionals in Chinese medicine because it helps boosts the Yin energy in the body and helps create balance.
When you overwork, you are creating an excess of Yang in your body, and this was true for me, showing up in my body as overheating easily, unable to eat spicy food without a lot of trouble, diarrhea, brittle hair, dry skin, etc.
I highly recommend you go to a TCM (Traditional Chinese medicine) practitioner and get yourself checked out if you are feeling depleted, and see what they end up prescribing you.
The pill they prescribed for me was this one.
3. Probiotics
This is another big one for anyone and everyone. Seriously, I think that as soon as you get into your teens or 20s, you should start supplementing with probiotics in some shape or form. When I was a child, I naturally craved yogurt all the time.
Of course, it was my body’s intelligence telling me (subtly sometimes and not-so-subtly other times) that I needed more calcium, and my gut microbiome needed a booster shot.
Nowadays, I use many different kinds of fermented foods and a probiotic supplement to make sure my gut microbiome is happy and healthy. And of course, I also feed my gut microbiome lots of prebiotic foods like garlic, raw onions, and green leafy vegetables.
Some Fermented Foods I Love Are:
- Kimchi (so delicious, fresh, and spicy, my favorite combo) – is easy enough to get at any Asian food store, or you can make your own.
- Sauerkraut – another one that’s quite easy to find, and delicious to add to your salads or just eat as a side dish.
- Kombucha – I have this one place in Ubud, Bali that I go to, called Flock, which has the best Jasmine Apple Kombucha in the world. Find Kombucha at your nearest natural goods store.
- Yogurt – this one is an easy way to get your gut microbiome. But I have been trying to eat less dairy, so yogurt hasn’t been top of my fermented foods list for a while now.
- Tempe – you probably didn’t know that Tempe comes from Indonesia originally, and it’s so easy to get here and cheap. It’s fermented soybeans, usually in a slab form, which is eaten grilled or used in stir-fries.
- Natto – I recently had Natto for the first time and I must say I am a big fan. The only problem is that it’s a goitrogen and can interfere with thyroid functioning if you are already having troubles with it. If you are healthy, then it doesn’t matter.
- Miso Soup – my favorite soup in the world, after the black lentil soup my mum makes; it’s fresh, seaweedy, salty, and yummy
There are probably dozens of other ways people around the world consume fermented foods. I am not a big fan of pickles or kefir, but if you are, then go for it.
Your gut microbiome will grow healthier because of it. And you will feel so much better when your gut microbiome is happy and healthy. It’s all interconnected.
4. Calcium
If you are vegan, then, of course, you need to be supplementing with Calcium. Maybe you drank a lot of soda (pop) in your teens or younger years, or still do, then Calcium is a must.
And if you want strong healthy bones in the future, then eating lots of spinach, and other green leafy vegetables will help. But sometimes, you just need to supplement with Calcium to get enough of it into your body.
For some weird reason, I always worry about having strong healthy bones in my old age. It’s an odd compulsion with me, I guess.
But with Calcium supplements, I feel better about taking care of my bones. It’s always better to get a supplement with Vitamin D in it as well. Especially if you live in a part of the world where you don’t get to see much sun or if you don’t ever go out without sunscreen on.
Women’s Hormonal Balance Nutritional Supplements
There are many different recommended nutritional supplements for when you are interested in healing your hormones. These are the ones that I have used to great efficacy:
5. Ashwagandha – this is an Ayurvedic recommendation, and nowadays, you can get it easily from Amazon
6. Vitex – it’s a fruit from the Mediterranean region that’s become popular recently as a supplement to balance women’s hormones. You have to take it for at least 6-8 weeks to notice any difference.
7. Maca – this is a healing plant from Peru that can help you balance hormones if taken regularly
Again, I would highly recommend that you don’t think that nutritional supplements will change your life or heal you, without making any other changes. If you are worried about your health, you need to start working not only on your diet, and your lifestyle but also on the way you view your body and the way you speak to yourself.
It’s all interrelated and there’s no way you will heal your body if your mind or your soul isn’t healthy.
Which Nutritional Supplements Will You Try First?
These are the primary ones that I would like you to add to your day. Again, I’m not a doctor, so you need to talk to a medical professional before making any changes in your lifestyle or medication.
Also, just because it works for me, doesn’t mean it will work for you. That’s why it’s so important for you to perform trials with each nutritional supplement to see what works best for you.
P.S. This article has Amazon links, so if you click on them, I will receive a teeny-tiny affiliate fee. If you aren’t comfortable with that, then just type in the name of each supplement directly into Amazon and pick the one that appeals to you. (Or the one Amazon recommends).
