Supplements. Are they really necessary?

[QUOTE=Paleobird;861581]Hah! "incubating my larva", nice one, Steph.
Huzzah for new primal Groklings![/QUOTE]

We take our pregnancy terminology very seriously, here at the Onalark Compound. :D

I get crampy legs in the night if I don't take calcium/magnesium/potassium supplements. And I'm not sure, but I think I feel more sluggish and depressed if I don't take my Vitamin D for a while. The brochures about Santa Barbara make it look like such a sunny beautiful place, but it's gray and cold much of the time.

[QUOTE]sup·ple·ment [n. suhp-luh-muhnt; v. suhp-luh-ment]
1.something added to complete a thing, [B][I]supply a deficiency[/B][/I], or reinforce or extend a whole.[/QUOTE]

I think the answer may be in the question, no? :)

RitaRose,

My wife has been suffering with migraines, we do take Magnesium.
Would you mind expanding on your comment? What form? When? How much?

Thank You, Mike

[QUOTE=Tanninman;862369]RitaRose,

My wife has been suffering with migraines, we do take Magnesium.
Would you mind expanding on your comment? What form? When? How much?

Thank You, Mike[/QUOTE]

It might take a little experimenting. I personally take 1000 mg every day, which is enough to scare the crap out of the average person (literally). I've tried taking a little less and it just didn't seem to work for me. Since that's kind of a high amount to take all at once (and might send you to the bathroom), I take 500 mg in the morning and another 500 mg before bed. It probably helps keep the magnesium levels more consistent anyway, so it's all good.

I've also tried a few different kinds. To be honest, the Nature's Blend or whatever you get at the drug store seems to work best for me. Yes, the cheap crap everyone says to avoid. I tried a chelated version (magnesium glycinate/lysinate chelate) and wasn't thrilled. It felt like it wasn't working at all. I'm currently taking magnesium glycinate, which seem to be fine, so I might stick with it just because I think the quality is probably better.

I'll tell you, though, no matter how much magnesium I take, 2 things will slam me and the migraines will be back with a vengeance - gluten foods and "gluten-free" flour foods. I understand the gluten, but if I decide to cheat a little with some "gluten free" baked thing (pizza, rolls, whatever) I still get one.

Thank You for the input, we have not tried that much,
And she does take it all at nite, I will talk to her about
Increasing and splitting the dose. When we ate crap she was fine
So it is extremely frustrating to clean up you diet & then have
Migraines!

Thanks Again

Has she maybe added in a new food that she could have an intolerance to?

I strongly recommend prudent supplementation given the fact that certain nutrition just isn't available today like it would have been in the paleolithic era. The most obvious example being vitamin D since most people aren't shirtless and outside in the sun all day anymore. Here is what I take, daily:

vitamin D
magnesium/zinc/calcium hybrid
multivitamin with no iron

People rave about fish oil to balance omega3/6 ratios... but i would simply recommend limiting o6 intake to almost nothing and eating a fresh piece of fish once or twice a week. Polyunsaturated fat in general is highly unstable, including isolated o3, and research does show that short term o3 supplementation can help certain biomarkers, but has it's own liabilities over the long run.

AKA, don't pound the soybean oil dressing and say lol omega 3 pill will neutralize this.

[QUOTE=RitaRose;861761]
I think how much supplementation you take, and whether you do at all, is going to depend on your specific issues, how much your body has healed and the quality of the food you're able to get. But I would do my best to get the majority of nutrients from good food and just fill in any gaps with a little supplementation.[/QUOTE]
I think this says it very well. If you need magnesium for your headaches, or a multi while you are traveling for work or some D in the depths of winter in some really cold place, great. I don't think, however, that everybody is deficient in everything the way some supplement peddlers would have you believe. Read those ads with large quantities of iodized salt. :)

I have taken supplements for specific issues/times in my life like a multi during chemo and extra D and calcium to rebuild bone density afterwards. Now I don't take any supps at all and feel great.

Timely thread, I just logged on to search magnesium/potassiun because I remembered them mentioned for leg cramps.

After a year & half of virtually 100% Primal and [I]otherwise feeling completely awesome[/I] I'm starting to get some really bad leg cramps at night. It's disrupting my sleep and I have to get up & walk around before they'll go away. [B]THIS ANNOYS ME.[/B]

I eat only local, grassfed meat and plenty of it, offal included. Tons of veggies and BAS - did that even before Primal. Local eggs from pastured hens and about 30% local, raw goats milk. The rest of my milk, cream and ½ & ½ comes from the grocery, non-organic 'cause that's all I can get locally. This is ranch country, no dairy cows for now, although that could change soon (fingers & toes crossed).

Marks' Damage Control vitamins are tempting because I trust the source but the price is a bit more than my budget will allow. Not saying they aren't worth it, just can't afford it right now. Guess I'll start with some magnesium & see if that helps & experiment from there.