# Who's taking what supplements, and how' that working for you?



## janfromflorida (Jun 1, 2013)

Want my list first - wait, let me go take my Ginkgo Biloba first!  Yeah, I like that.  Can't find my way out of the living room without it.
Let's see now.....
Magnesium - I try to keep a good level to keep asthma at bay.
Lutein - They say eyes need it.  Going for 2nd cataract surgery in two days, so it seemed like a good idea.
Cranberry - Keep the pipes clean.
Chrome - It's supposed to level out sugar levels for us diabetics.
Vitamins A-C-E, just in case I'm not eating right.

Got a drawerful of other stuff taken on an "as needed" or "if-I-can-remember" basis.
Among them 
Hoodia - to curb the appetite and help with weight loss.
Lysine - in case of a cold sore
Lecithin - in case I think I ate saturated fat

I probably forgot a lot - I'll go take another Ginkgo......


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## rkunsaw (Jun 1, 2013)

I take no drugs or supplements on a regular basis. I try to get all I need from the food I eat.


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## That Guy (Jun 1, 2013)

Just take a multivitamin daily.  Was doing a spoonful of fish oil and MSM for inflammation of the beat-up old tendons but saw no results so stopped that.


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## SifuPhil (Jun 1, 2013)

That Guy said:


> Just take a multivitamin daily.  Was doing a spoonful of fish oil and MSM for inflammation of the beat-up old tendons but saw no results so stopped that.



Yeah, now they're stating that fish oil only helps the fish stay lubricated. 

You pretty much can't go wrong with a multi-vitamin unless maybe you use the dollar-store brand - who KNOWS what they put in there? 

I used to be a Chinese medicine practitioner and had access to pure herbs so I used them in my daily routine, but now that I've "retired" and no longer maintain my accounts I wouldn't touch anything labeled "herbs from China".


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## SifuPhil (Jun 1, 2013)

TWHRider said:


> Even though these are for equine use, if my vet said they'd work on me, I'd take them based on what I've seen them do for two of my horses
> 
> http://www.tcvmherbal.com/



Actual experiences, good or bad, are certainly the major factors to consider with herbals. 

One thing I don't like about "Dr. Xie"'s set-up is that he offers MSDSs (Material Safety Data Sheet) for his compounds. Now, an MSDS is designed by OSHA to protect workers that are exposed to a compound, drug or material - it makes NO judgement on the safety or efficiency of those compounds.

Basically, his posting an MSDS is the equivalent of me posting the results of my latest IQ test - it means nothing, but it might impress a few people who don't know any better.

Now if he were to post peer-reviewed studies on his compounds, long-term studies, double-blind tests ... then I would be happier. 

Now on the good side, the president of the company actually _is_ a Huisheng P. Xie, who is also listed as:


 
 President at Dr. Xie's Jing-Tang Herbal, Inc.                                                 Director at American Association of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, Inc. 
Director at Center for International Brain Research, Inc. 
President at Chi Institute of Chinese Medicine, Inc. 
President at Chi Institute of Europe, Inc. 
Managing Member at Cibr, LLC 
Owner at Jing-Tang Herbal 
Managing Member at Tcvm, Ltd. Co. 
President at Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, Inc. 

 
He also seems transparent enough in his quality control methods, so perhaps he IS on the up-and-up. Veterinary TCM is still a relatively unknown practice here in the States, so I'm careful when it comes to something like this, but once again since you've had good experiences I'd say congrats and stick with it.


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## That Guy (Jun 1, 2013)

I ain't trustin' no guy named Herb from China...


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## MercyL (Jun 4, 2013)

janfromflorida said:


> Want my list first - wait, let me go take my Ginkgo Biloba first!  Yeah, I like that.  Can't find my way out of the living room without it.
> Let's see now.....
> Magnesium - I try to keep a good level to keep asthma at bay.
> Lutein - They say eyes need it.  Going for 2nd cataract surgery in two days, so it seemed like a good idea.
> ...



I take Biotin and omega-3 supplements. The Biotin is for hair growth, and seems to be working quite well. 

Sometimes I take a B-complex, but only if I feel a pain flare coming on. The B-complex helps fight the fatigue generated by break through pain.

I do not take a multivitamin, though, because I want to focus on specific physical problems and do not want to risk toxicity by stacking too many vitamins.


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## SifuPhil (Jun 5, 2013)

Excellent!

Veterinary TCM is sort of a specialty field of Chinese herbalism and I never took the time to study it, since any critter bigger than a kitten or a dwarf chihuahua terrify me. But I can imagine that the meds aren't cheap. If it's any consolation you usually get what you pay for in this field. 

You could always go the cheap route and get them from CheapChineseCures.com, but would you do that to THAT face?!?


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## Ozarkgal (Jun 5, 2013)

TWH...I was skeptical until I read your full explanation.  There are so many "natural" supplements on the market today, it's mind boggling. I am very leery of anything from China, and will not buy food, supplements or cookware and dishes make there. 

It sounds like you have really done your homework on this product, which I have come to expect from you.  Horse management is certainly more complicated and expensive now than in the "good old days" of horse ownership.  Some is excellent progress and  some is a lot of hype, as with any other commercial product.  

One thing I do know is that true horse people will go to just about any extent to help their beloved horses, and you can't say how something will work until you try it.  In Joker's case it looks like it's working.

For myself, I was never a pill taker, can't remember to take them most of the time, even when I need something for pain.  I take a multi-vitamin on most days, and I only remember that because I switched to the gummy bear ones and really like them.  I have taken red krill oil, another expensive, hyped supplement that did nothing for me that I can tell.  I took three bottles and still have half a bottle left that probably won't get used. 

What I would like to see is more genuine research done on the claims for these supplements, to prove if they really are effective, or it's just a way to separate people from their money.


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## SifuPhil (Jun 5, 2013)

Ozarkgal said:


> ... What I would like to see is more genuine research done on the claims for these supplements, to prove if they really are effective, or it's just a way to separate people from their money.



At least in the field of Chinese herbs (although I suspect it's the same for ANY supplement) the problem is that the herb itself is historically effective - you're talking thousands of years of field-trials. Anything that did NOT work was discarded long before Western scientists developed their testing procedures. 

That being said, you could have two batches of herbs from the same plant, harvested at the same time, and they'll end up having two very different effects. Why? It depends upon how and how long they are stored, whether they are blended with other herbs (the most common practice) or remain virgin, temperature and humidity ... at the very least, an herb that sits in a warehouse for several months before it's shipped out will have lost most of its effectiveness. 

Take as an example _Ma Huang_, an herb that has the common Western name of Ephedra. After it was "discovered" here the market was saturated with various formulations, most of which were just dried-out, impotent stems and seeds from the original plant and a lot of creative "supplementation" with such goodies as caffeine, sugar and other stimulants. As a result, people were experiencing all the side-effects of those compounds when they used ephedra for weight loss since they were essentially self-medicating with garbage.

If they had visited a Chinese herbalist they would have received fresh _ma huang_, instructed on how to make a tea of it and given a strict prescription. They would have received the energy boost that _ma huang_ is used for, but NOT necessarily the weight loss - _that_ only comes from over-dosing on it and was never the original intent of the herb.

To successfully prescribe Chinese herbs you have to understand the entire field of Chinese medicine, not just re-sell something you got from an online catalog. You have to be able to do the diagnostics and understand exactly how that herb (or mixture) is going to effect the patient, based upon your diagnosis. You need to understand dosage and methods of administration, you need to be wary of interactions with both allopathic and homeopathic compounds and overall you need to be cognizant of exactly where that herb came from, when it was harvested, how long and under what conditions it's been stored and most of all respect the power that it contains.


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## That Guy (Jun 5, 2013)




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## flaminia (Jun 10, 2013)

Hello JANFROMFLORIDA, I adore kefir, full of vitamins, especially B Group and calcium


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