My heart aches for the daily conversations I have about personal health.
There are so many that are sick and tired. Fatigue is rampant and chronic diseases are unfathomably common. Personally, I attribute high stress, poor diet, and toxicity as the fundamental culprits. There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not researching cancer and how to overcome it. Even if you don’t have cancer, the fundamentals of health are the same for all of us.
Here, I’m going to outline my base recommendation for supplements and nutrition. (Disclaimer – I’m not a healthcare professional, although I spent eight years in emergency medicine and did not give medical advice.)
The following is my opinion from personal experience but you should always consult a doctor.
I go into much more depth in my book Father’s Heart
The first piece of advice I give is to remove added sugar, vegetable oils, and gluten. This can be difficult, but we can’t overcome a bad diet with supplements. That is the first step. To see more specific recommendations on what to eat I put together a short ebook called the LanderMan Plan.
It is important to address potential deficiencies. This is an area that I wish I had understood in greater detail earlier in our childhood cancer journey. The most common, quickly addressed deficiencies are Magnesium, Vitamins D, K, and Iodine. However, it is essential first to understand all supplements are not created equal, and to add to the confusion; there are numerous types of a given nutrient.
Supplement manufacturers tend to use the cheapest form of an ingredient because they are in business to have a margin and make money. I get it, but the problem is most of the time, the cheapest form isn’t able to be used by the body optimally, if at all.
My son, Lander, is now eight, and was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer in 2019 at age five. So, I’ve spent the last few years trying to explain to a child why we eat specific foods while avoiding others. And answer, why do we take the supplements we do even when some don’t taste good?
Magnesium
Lander and I were talking about Magnesium. There are a lot of different types. Lander has a drink mix with Magnesium Threonate in it that he likes. While it’s great for the brain, it doesn’t address many other crucial forms other organs and parts of the body need.
When talking with Lander, I related him to dogs. I asked him to name off all the dogs in the family. It ranged from a Dachshund, Labrador, Newfoundland, Mountain Cur, and miniature Australian Shepherd. All are dogs, but all look different and can do unique things.
To dive in a little more, I related the dogs to the TV show, Paw Patrol. In the kid’s show, the dogs make up a team of superheroes about saving the day in various ways. Each team member’s dog has specialized equipment like a police officer, fireman, heavy equipment and aircraft.
The Magnesium that Lander doesn’t like is a powder made of seven other forms. All are highly bioavailable and essential for different functions. Dad’s trick for Magnesium is to open the capsule and mix it with Cymbiotika Longevity Mushrooms, which has a great chocolate flavor plus a vast amount of things that I want Lander to take.
Common Symptoms Magnesium Deficiency
- Headache
- Constipation
- Fatigue
- Muscle Cramps
- Irregular Heartbeat
- High Blood Pressure
- Osteoporosis
- Mental/Psychological Disorders
My recommendation for supplementation is BiOptimzer Magnesium Breakthrough, ReMag Liquid Magnesium Chloride, Ancient Minerals Bath Soak, and a nighttime spray for the skin.
I’m not a fan of Magnesium Oxide, which is the most common supplement I’ve come across. Magnesium Citrate is another very common form and is a solid start but lacking in many areas.
Magnesium-rich foods
- Spinach
- Swiss Chard
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Bananas
- Avocados
- Dark Chocolate
Too much Magnesium will cause diarrhea or disaster pants, as Dave Asprey calls it. This is something to work your way up to and not take a whole lot at once in the beginning. I can’t stress the importance of getting Magnesium. It has a profound impact on quality of life by aiding in the body’s ability to deal with stress, improve sleep, and simply do the things the body has to do to function.
A great resource is The Magnesium Miracle by Carolyn Dean MD.
Vitamins D and K
These two are critically important. Much like Magnesium, not all are created equal, and there are different forms. However, unlike Magnesium, a few forms are exceedingly superior and these are the ones we are after.
Vitamin D3 and Vitamin K2 are the forms to look at. The problem with much of the K2 is that it is synthetically made from petroleum. Sounds tasty, right?
In many regards, K2 is the gatekeeper for Magnesium and calcium. This is a deep topic, but an oversimplification is that without K2, our bodies can’t put calcium into the bones and teeth, in part leading to cavities and osteoporosis. It leads to calcium buildup in soft tissue and inside blood vessels. It’s kind of like pouring gas on the outside of a vehicle or the windshield wiper fluid reservoir; it’s not in the right place.
For heart and bone health, vitamin K2 is essential. I recommend taking Just Thrive’s K2 and a high-quality D3 for adults like Ancient Nutrition. Cymbiotika for kids works also because the taste is excellent, and it contains Vegan Vitamin D3 (as Cholecalciferol from Lichen), Vitamin K2 (as Menaquinone MK4/MK7), Selenium (as Selenomethionine), and Coenzyme Q10.
The downside to many of the best supplements is the cost. Unfortunately, it is very expensive and can add up over time. But…this is my heart in writing this- so that I can clarify the areas of the most significant benefit for the least cost.
Iodine
This subject is one of two areas that I beat myself up for not understanding sooner. The other is organ meats. Blue zones are a significant focus in my work and a primary reason is cancer is pretty much nonexistent. Okinawa, Japan, is one of my favorite areas to study and the reason we have purple sweet potatoes at Me & McGee Market.
In striving for self-education, heavy iodine consumption is an overlooked aspect of their lifestyle. The crisis in which we find ourselves with iodine is twofold. One is that we are inundated with bromide and bromines. These are chemical compounds used in manufacturing flame retardants and even in flour. They displace needed iodine when we are deficient.
The bad news is we are all deficient if we don’t eat a lot of seaweed or if we don’t supplement. The iodized salt is a farce and shouldn’t be relied on to provide anywhere near adequate iodine amounts. I’m starting to believe much of the thyroid and many cancers, especially reproductive cancers like breast and prostate, are enabled in part by iodine deficiency.
Guy Abraham, MD is a pioneer in the area. Here is one of his papers. https://www.optimox.com/iodine-study-8
David Brownstein, MD is another expert in the field and part of the Iodine Project. Dr. Brownstien also contributed to the excellent book The Iodine Crisis by Lynne Farrow.
The resources mentioned above are a great way to get a protocol for supplementing with iodine and a plan for bromide detox. I use 4 to 6 drops of Lugol’s solution 2% in a water bottle for my supplement regimen. This can be irritating to the stomach.
An option to deal with the distress is to take an Iodoral tablet, which tends to not cause issues. It’s extremely important to note this is a very high dose of iodine and many healthcare professionals will not be familiar with the work of Abraham and Brownstein. You should consult a doctor that is familiar with nutrient supplementation. I suggest a functional medicine practitioner.
I pray this information isn’t too overwhelming. It’s my sincerest desire to help overcome the chronic issues faced by our community. My heart breaks with every message or call that I get from a new cancer diagnosis. It seems that it is everywhere! I don’t want to see any more suffering, especially if there are easy solutions (such as addressing deficiencies) to many, if not all, of the diseases we face.