The Supplements Dr. Berzin Takes Every Day

There’s not one supplement everyone needs to be taking, but in the context of our modern lives, many of us don’t get enough sunlight or the nutrient density we need from our food, even if we eat healthy diets. That is includes me, which is why there are certain supplements I take every day. I’m sharing the daily supplements that support my lifestyle and leave me feeling my best.

These are my daily supplements for optimal wellness.

1. Vitamin D3 / K2

The body naturally produces vitamin D in response to sun exposure, but as a New Yorker who spends most of my time in an office, I’m not getting the sun I need to have optimal levels. Despite being called a vitamin, vitamin D is actually a hormone and it plays an important role in the immune system and mood regulation. It’s responsible for maintaining calcium levels in the blood. Unfortunately, over a billion people across the world are either deficient in vitamin D or have insufficient levels. Deficiency has been linked to obesity, diabetes, hypertension, chronic fatigue, and several types of cancer (1).

Because vitamin D helps your body maintain calcium levels, it’s important to take vitamin D3 with K2. K2 helps your body absorb that calcium and store it in your bones and teeth rather than letting it accumulate in your soft tissues.

I take 5000 units of D3/K2 a day.

2. Parsley Health Rebuild Protein Shake

Almost every day I have one of our Rebuild Protein Shakes blended into a smoothie . It’s a vegan protein blend of pea and rice protein isolate that’s been optimized with branch chain amino acids (BCAAs). Vegan or plant sources of protein are not always the best sources of protein because they’re not bioavailable, meaning your body can’t use them, but we’ve added BCAAs to make sure it’s truly bioavailable. This makes the protein found in our shake closer to an animal protein, even though it’s plant-based.

Aside from being a great source of protein, each serving of the Rebuild Protein Shake has a full multivitamin in it, including methylated B vitamins, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory nutrients. Because of this, I don’t take a multivitamin.

3. Magnesium Glycinate

There are several types of magnesium , but magnesium glycinate is the best absorbed form, so it won’t act as a natural laxative like some other forms do.

I use magnesium to help me sleep better, taking 200-300 mg a night about 30 minutes before bed. Why? I’m a light sleeper, my mind is constantly racing, and I’m totally guilty of looking at my phone before I go to sleep, so I need something to help me have a more relaxed, deeper sleep. Unlike sleeping pills, this won’t zonk you out or make you feel hungover the next day. Instead, it acts as a natural calcium channel blocker to slow impulses and relax muscles, promoting a deeper sleep (2).

These supplements work for me based on my individual needs. I recommend working with your provider or a provider at Parsley Health to identify, based on testing and your health story, what daily supplements are best for you.

References
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3068797/
2. http://www.pnas.org/content/112/25/7839