Maggie's Farm

Not all vitamins and supplements are useless. But, like medicines, not everyone reacts the same.

After experimenting over the years with many items that claimed to reduce cholesterol, including one non-statin prescribed medicine, I finally found the combination to bring mine down to 181- first time below 210 since first measured 20 years ago. A spoonful of 5 different natural fibers (flaxseed, chia, pectin, psyllium and guar gum) taken once dily, with a lot of water, mixed altogether in a shaker bottle. Everyone I know who has ever taken statins has had unpleasant side effects- so I have resisted doctors recommendations to take them. All of them, BTW, have studies showing they may help to reduce cholesterol, but none of them had worked to reduce mine when used singly. So I figured I would try them all at once and it did work.

Started taking lysine years ago. Stopped getting cold sores after I started taking lysine. Could be co-incidence, but since it also worked for my wife, and anyone else I know who has tried it, maybe it isn't.

Chondroitain-glucosamine. The person who recommended I take this conination as a supplement said that it wouldn't take the pain away like an NSAID or pain pill, but that a few months down the line I would wake up and say to myself- "You know, my knees haven't hurt for a while." And that's exactly what happened. Studies on this combination are generally short term- and expect it to act like other pain-relievers. Take it and the pain goes away- instantly and magically.

Creatine, Works wonders. If I'm doing work I know is using underutilized muscle groups, I take some afterwards. Muscles will be tired the next morning- but not sore. If I do pull my back muscles, a more frequent occurrence as I get older, taking creatine everyday afterwards reduces recovery time from weeks to days. Still need pain-killers to stop the pain, but don't need them as long.

My doctor had never heard of nasal irrigation when I started doing it, using a water-pik attachment. Haven't used an anti-histamine in more then a decade now. He says I was ahead of the trend. A significant portion of his patients now practice it. It works- really well- and is still not mainsream medicine. (Don't know how people do it with a Neti pot.)

Real prescribed medicines? I forget the name of what my son was prescribed for cluster headaches- but his college health department sent him to the psychiactric emergeny room becasue it made him paranoid. (I got him out of there before they started drugging him furthur and making it worse.) He finally started taking aspirin- powdered aspirin to get in him quicker- and it worked better then any new wonder drug. But every doctor he had ever been to warned him- "DON'T TAKE ASPIRIN!" Aspirin is far safer then ibuprofen and acetomenophin. And for most people- works . And, it's less expensive.

There's both a lot of information and mis-information out there in the wilds of the internet about supplements. Seperating the wheat from the chaff is difficult. I don't disagree that there are a lot of worthless supplements out there. But I do know there are several that work.

There's both a lot of information and mis-information out there in the wilds of the internet about EVERYTHING. I know people who use the internet to "prove" all the mutually incompatible conspiracy theories they believe in. Free energy, anti-gravity, mind control, XT bodies at Area 51, vaccines as poison for the masses- it's all out there. But, extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.