Do you eat your supplements?
The New Year is very close and one of maybe the scariest and strangest years of our life is
finally coming to an end. The global pandemic and lockdowns have influenced us in many different
ways, however, not always negative. Part of society decided to spend the lockdown focusing on
realizing all the new year’s resolutions that they hadn’t fulfilled for the past years. Even if you were
not one of them, the New Year is in 2 weeks, so what about the “new year, new me” rule?
With the beginning of each year, everyone wants to start eating healthy, going to the gym and taking
care of themselves. The first two weeks of January are probably the most busy for all the gyms.
Unfortunately, not everyone does it really for themselves. Most people do it because being fit and
hashtagging #NewYearNewMe on instagram is very popular and brings you a lot of likes. This is
why living healthy nowadays is more associated with modern trends and looks than with just honestly
taking care of ourselves.
https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/307089268313095474/
However, whether you decide to start your glow up for likes or your own health, do it wisely. In this
article, I don’t want to talk about the looks. I don’t want to associate thin bodies with a healthy diet,
or muscular bodies with a fit lifestyle. I want to make you aware of the fact that looking good in your
instagram pictures doesn’t really make you healthy. Being healthy shouldn’t be associated with looks
because being fit outside, doesn’t mean being fit inside and sometimes the best self-care doesn’t even
have to be visually visible for others.
My story
I will start with sharing my own story with you. During the past 2 years I had two wrist surgeries due to
the ganglion. Ganglion is a little ball made of liquid coming out from your articular bags, which makes
your wrist hurt every time you do something. As a person who had never had any health problems it
was quite surprising that suddenly I had to go to hospital. I had many medical examinations and blood
tests before the narcosis, and this is how I found out that I have extremely low vitamin levels. I was
informed that it might be one of the reasons for my wrist tendons being so thin and weak and causing
my ailment. My doctors were terrified that I’m even still alive with such vitamins deficiency.
Nevertheless, there is always a positive side to any problem. In this situation, it was the fact that I
started being interested in my own health.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ganglion-cyst/symptoms-causes/syc-20351156
For me, the fact that I stayed alive and lived a normal life without any specific ailments, was sufficient
evidence that I am healthy. I was always tired, lazy, sleepy and not motivated, but I didn’t care because
all students are like that, aren’t they? However, doctors told me to change my diet and take vitamins in
pills as my lack of supplements is so low that there are no chances to make it up only with the right food.
I started eating mainly vegetables, fruits and fish combined with vitamins. Until that time I had always
been convinced that such diets are only to lose weight, but I had never looked at it as just taking care of
myself. It made me realize that eating healthy and being on a diet are two totally different things. I gave up
fast food, bread, sweets not only because of their calories, but also of their worthlessness. I started looking
at food like sources of vitamins and it just made me realize that even if you eat enough to stay alive, you
might not eat enough to stay healthy.
After a few months I got new medical examinations and it turned out that my vitamins level is much
higher. What’s more, I didn’t have any basic health problems. I stopped getting ill, I didn’t even have
a cold. My immune system got much stronger, I have much more energy and I am not tired anymore.
I realized that you can actually get up at 8 am, go to the university, do your homework and not be tired!
Right now I am more motivated, my whole body is in a better condition and I am much healthier.
Why is it so important right now?
Not only are the new year’s resolutions a great opportunity to start being fit and healthy but also the
worldwide pandemic. When is the best time to start taking care of your immune system if not now?
Remember that feeding your body with right supplements and quality foods, gives it strength to fight
the virus.
When it comes to viruses and illness, a huge part of society is convinced of the divine, healing effect of
vitamin C. However, as the video below shows, vitamin D is also extremely important, in particular for
people like us, living in the north (as we all know, the sun is the main source of vitamin D). I encourage
you to watch this short video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTl3axKh6Q0
How to check your body condition?
Unfortunately, the Polish healthcare system isn’t currently in the best condition. That’s why some of
you might think that it’s crazy or irresponsible to go out, check your vitamin levels when there is a lack
of doctors and people dying due to the virus. Well, I will tell you that you do not even have to leave your room
… Ok, maybe just to go to the post office. To check your vitamins levels, you only need to cut
some of your hair from behind your ears and send it to a special laboratory. After all, you fill the
questionnaire about your health and in a few weeks you get your results, which trust me, might be
shocking! When you have them, just visit another website, order vitamins you need and read a little
about which food is actually worth eating for you. Easy, isn’t it?
I am not a doctor, I just want to motivate you!
I am not a doctor and everybody’s organism is different, but what I want to say with this story is we
should remember that looking healthy and fit outside, does not really mean being healthy inside.
I want to motivate you to get interested in what your body actually needs. Go and get some blood
examinations, check your vitamins level. When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, many people give
up after 2 weeks, because they don’t see any results in their looks. Nevertheless, it all shouldn’t be
associated with the looks, muscularity or instagram likes, but with your own, inner health. I am not
telling you to completely change your diet or give up fast foods or sweets. I am just telling you to start
looking at food like sources of health for your organism, because this is actually why we eat - to feed
our organism so it has energy to function properly and stay alive. If we feed it with worthless things,
what is the point of eating?
QUESTIONS:
Have you ever wondered what your body actually needs when it comes to supplementation?
Have you done anything to strengthen your immune system during the pandemic?
What do you think about attending the gym without any knowledge of the proper diet and
supplementation? Is a sporty lifestyle enough to stay healthy?
Sources:
https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/307089268313095474/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ganglion-cyst/symptoms-causes/syc-20351156
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTl3axKh6Q0
https://www.biomol.pl/
Comments
Yes, during pandemic I take care to stay hygienic. I drink tea with ginger , hot water, some exercises, Yoga and so on .. and I am still following it because it is good thing and I don't want to change it.
I think if you don't have knowledge about gym than also you should go for it because their you can take help from the instructor even when you go there for enquiry than you have to ask them about instructor or note the time when they come ,here you can ask about your supplements according to your body and digest system. And ofcouse, I don't think that only sporty lifestyle is enough to stay healthy because it is for fitness, to stay accurate , to look healthy but for immunity as I said before you will have to follow some hygienic stuff, some green vegetables, and also should do gettogether with friends and family who makes laugh and spread happiness because laughter is best medicine we all know that.So not just sporty lifestyle but healthy and happy lifestyle is also important.
1. I am not sure I understood the question correctly, but I do have some basic knowledge about what our body needs and that our diet has an influence on us because we require something more than just 'food'. I am willing to check my level of D vitamin in my blood, but I think I will wait for a better moment than today.
2. Not really. I just had to change the place when I do exercise. I was aware of the need to do some sport and eat well before, so the pandemic did not change much in the way I am working on my immune system.
3. I think it better than nothing, but of course, knowledge is power, so the more you learn, the more you do. The thing is that it is hard to start with everything at the same time - usually, it ends just like people starting the #NewYearNewMe... in one or two months. I learn something new about the exercises, health, diets and so on all the time I live, because for example here I read the blog post (:D), there I watch a YouTube video explaining something about a diet, sometimes I hear something from my friends. What I mean is that we have to make a start, but our start will never be perfect. Only trying sport won't make us super healthy, but this will be a step towards a healthier life. It is good to read and listen so that you keep learning and improve.
And after reading your blog post I know I have something to read about: examination by sending hair ;)
Not really. I don’t have any medical problems. I don’t even get occasionally sick. This summer I took my first blood test in my life! The results were mostly very good besides the TSH level. TSH is the level of your hormones and mine was very high (mine level is compared to the 90-year-old lady). My doctor said it might be because of my high-stress level or some genealogical problems. I’m going to take my blood test again and check If my hormones get better or should I look for another solution.
2. Have you done anything to strengthen your immune system during the pandemic?
Yes! I eat better. I’m trying to eat lots of fruits and vegetables. My favorite thing to do is making myself healthy smoothies or juices. Another magical food I discovered recently is sauerkraut. I have a big barrel of it in my basement. It’s very healthy and I love the taste. Another thing is also physical activity. I like to walk with my dog long walks.
3. What do you think about attending the gym without any knowledge of the proper diet and supplementation? Is a sporty lifestyle enough to stay healthy?
For me, knowledge about proper diet is so much more important than going to the gym. I believe that what we eat is what we are! Our intestines are just as important as our brains.
I don’t eat supplements when I don’t feel the need to take them. When I have some problem with eyelid twitching I will take magnesium for one week and that’s it.
In addition, since my thyroid problems have started, I've been looking more into the subject and considering taking appropriate probiotics because the intestines are said to be our second brain.
However, it is worth remembering that there is no need to take vitamins blindly, first you have to take blood tests.
I think that exercising without a proper diet does not give good results and a lot of progress. However, in my opinion it is better to exercise than not to exercise, no matter what diet you are on. For me exercise is a form of stress relief, but also a way to keep a slim body despite my love for pizza.
I have, because of my diet. Although, the article convinced me to check my vitamins levels.
Have you done anything to strengthen your immune system during the pandemic?
Nothing special apart from caring more about disinfection. I'm already supplementing vitamin D and C during colder months.
What do you think about attending the gym without any knowledge of the proper diet and supplementation? Is a sporty lifestyle enough to stay healthy?
I would say it is better to do anything, even without diet than do nothing because you don't want to check all the specifics about diets and supplementation. Nevertheless, I highly encourage to be reasonable about sport and diet.
2. I take vitamin D in pills every day and other vitamins twice a week. I think that a healthy diet and regular walks (I go out with my dog 3 times a day) are enough for me.
3. When I used to go to the gym I used pre-workout before exercises and protein shake after. The results were satisfying for me, but my only goal was to gain a little weight. For sure knowledge is important. When the pandemic ends I want to return to the gym, but before I will educate myself a bit more in this field.
I thought about it sometimes but I'm no expert, I'm not really eating junk food besides some sweets like chocolate sometimes. But you made me think either it's enough what I already have. But I do take some supplementation to strengthen my retina, especially during winter when temeperatures are lower. Not like i thought about it myself, I simply have retinal detachment and must be a little bit more careful
2. Have you done anything to strengthen your immune system during the pandemic?
I changed my diet a little bit to have more energy. I have no idea if that's enough but thats more than nothing :)
3. What do you think about attending the gym without any knowledge of the proper diet and
supplementation? Is a sporty lifestyle enough to stay healthy?
I think that exercising itself is healthy enough. Getting a diet that helps you maintain energy better is totally fine if you want to feel good. But in cases when you really want to see effects visually it's a completely different story. In that case supplementation is needed and not only. The diet rich in various things comes first.
2. I have these "365 each day vitamins for men" that I bought in US. I just take one every day. It's actually awesome that in US you can get any type of supplements by a very reasonable price! Unfortunately in EU it costs a lot to buy some quality supplements. Aside from that I drink "Actimel" haha. And of course try to always include some fiber and fruits in my rations.
3. I think that everyone went to a gym without giving to much attention to a diet. I think that's not a crime and it won't hurt as long as you don't overwork. Pushing your body too hard at the gym can stop you from progressing because you release to much stress hormone btw.
To strenghten my immune system during pandemic i started taking more vitamins, it's pretty easy way to fight back the virus. I also started to go with my friends and take cold baths in the lake. It's not so pleasant at the beginning but now it's pretty fun, especially with friends to talk to.
Well, exercises without diet won't get you slim or too healthy even. There are 3 main factors to stay healthy: diet, exercises and additional habits. Diet has incredible impact on you health. Scientist say it might be even twice as big as exercies's. This factor (additional habits) means habits like smoking, going to sleep early etc. These small habits can make major impact, if they are being repeated every day.
However, such approach might not be the best one as generally everything we do is based on how well we fare.
Recently, I pay much more attention to my diet.
It seems, that this effort is paying off and I advise everyone to do the same.
My immune system care consists of vitamin C consumption and hardening myself with harsh weather conditions.
As a matter of fact, I am not concerned about it too much. Maybe that should raise an alarm?
As you have outlined in the article, proper diet is absolutely crucial.
Being active is certainly better than nothing, but in order to maximize gain, we should ensure the diet is optimized.
Some even dare to say that the diet is actually more important than the excercises.
I believe that in this case, the truth lies somewhere in between.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, I have tried to restrain myself from eating sweets and unhealthy meals and I have tried to introduce more ingredients like garlic and ginger, which are often recommended when being sick, into the recipes that I use. Exercising your body has also a huge impact on our immune system. Sadly, because of the lockdown, I couldn't do any equestrian sports, and the lack of movement has definitely badly influenced my productivity and mood. I've tried to do some cardio exercises at home, but I often find myself unmotivated to even start.
I definitely think that going to the gym or trying any new sports alone, might not be the best idea, simply because it may result in unwanted injuries. Having someone to guide you through the basics, can really improve your experience and motivate you to continue with this sport. Personally, I have never liked going to the gym or exercising indoors. One of the main factors that contributed to that attitude is because whenever I asked someone about going to the gym it was strongly connected with taking supplements, which seemed kinda weird and repulsive to me, as I mentioned I don't like taking pills. Moreover, it seemed like the supplement that they were mentioning were only for increasing muscle growth for the looks and not for the health benefits. After some time and research, I found that some focus only on your health and might actually be useful if you have some sort of deficiency. Nevertheless, I prefer to find vitamins and proteins sourced in foods rather than powders.
2. Yes, I'm a runner so I run now 3 times a week to boost my immunity system and to stay in a good shape as well. But I have got infected by corona virus and now I have to regenerate my body and my lungs so I quit running for now but if everything will be okay I'll be back running.
3. I think that a knowledge about diet and supplementation is not necessary to going to the gym. If you want just to keep a good shape or train for fun you don't have to have a specific diet or supplementation.
1. Have you ever wondered what your body actually needs when it comes to supplementation?
Frankly, I've never paid too much attention to my body's needs when it comes to supplementation. Perhaps it is due to the fact I've never encountered problems with my health besides usual stuff such as having flu from time to time. Hence this and the fact I do quite a lot of sports, I developed a kind of "nothing bad is going to happen to my health" attitude. To be perfectly honest, after reading your post I started to challenge this belief, since we cannot know what our bodies actually need as long as we don't check it with health expert's assistance.
2. Have you done anything to strengthen your immune system during the pandemic?
To put this briefly - yes, I took care of my immune system through maintaining my exercise routine and challenging some of my unhealthy habits. I climb regularly so, during the first lock-down period, when all of the climbing gyms were closed, I began to feel stagnant and unhealthy. I needed to come up with other types of exercise so I started riding my bike a lot. Then, climbing gyms reopened so I was able to come back to my usual training, but I enjoyed cycling so much that I started to commute to my training sessions by bike. Apart from that, during this year I finally managed to get used to drinking water in proper quantities every day, parallel to cutting down on sweetened bewerages.
3. What do you think about attending the gym without any knowledge of the proper diet and supplementation? Is a sporty lifestyle enough to stay healthy?
I think that regular work out on it's own can change the game. Exercising two or three times a week can be crucial to maintain general immunity. However it has to be paired up with proper diet, especially when you exercise a lot.
2. I tend to listen what’s that my body truly needs when it comes to meal. I always try to find a balance between my irrational needs like wanting to go to McDonald’s and what my body expects me to consume to stay healthy to function as a normal human.
3. I believe it’s not and it’s always important to consult with someone who actually knows a thing or two about the deal. A sporty lifestyle is a system, which should be built wisely with a thought about all the elements. A sporty lifestyle is not just a habit, it’s a complicated structure.
Yes, because of health problems, I check my brain performance, blood and blood pressure regularly. And every time I am prescribed vitamins mainly due to lack of iron or sugar in the blood, but I think that vitamins are a temporary solution, since I drink them every year.
Have you done anything to strengthen your immune system during the pandemic?
Yes, I started to play sports, I think for me this is the best medicine.
What do you think about attending the gym without any knowledge of the proper diet and supplementation? Is a sporty lifestyle enough to stay healthy?
Well, I think it's okay to go to the gym without any knowledge of nutrition or supplementation. I go in for sports without proper nutrition (I mainly eat fast food or soda), so for me the main thing is to relieve stress. Since I live alone and spend whole days at home without human communication, it is very stressful to be alone.
One thing I know about supplementation: you shouldn’t take it without any doctor’s recommendation and tests. Nutrients excess could be dangerous for your health. I think if you have a healthy and balanced diet you don’t really need any supplements. As far as I know, you should take a supplement if a certain nutrient is missing from the food. I don’t eat any fish, so I just take fish fat in pills.
2.Have you done anything to strengthen your immune system during the pandemic?
I eat more fruits and vegetables to get more natural vitamins. Also, I regularly take fish fat in pills, because vitamin D is really important for our immune system and I don’t eat enough fish. If you a vegan, you can just add more linen seed oil in your food instead of taking fish fat. Also, I try to go walk regularly.
3. What do you think about attending the gym without any knowledge of the proper diet and supplementation? Is a sporty lifestyle enough to stay healthy?
I don’t like going to the gym. For me it’s boring and I don’t enjoy going there. I prefer more interesting sport like volleyball, swimming, or horse riding. Taking pleasure from sport is really important for me.
I remember I had a smartwatch for checking my activity level. Then I worked as a barista 3 days a weak. Also when I haven’t any work I visited a gym. During a standard working day in the coffee shop, my activity level was a lot higher than an hour spent in a gym.
For a few years now every day, I take a vitamin pill that contains all (or most) of the vitamins that are required to stay healthy for a woman, and additionally, I supplement biotin for healthy and strong hair. I think that is enough and I didn’t start to supplement anything new during the pandemic.
I think that if someone wants to join the gym, they should. Obviously, if you don’t know how to use some machines or how to do exercises correctly you can hurt yourself, but you can always ask someone for help. I don’t think that lack of knowledge about proper diet or supplementation should stop anybody from joining the gym. Although in order to stay healthy you should add those to a sporty lifestyle.
Yes, of course. Most often it is noticeable by the appearance of e.g. hair condition, skin condition etc. It is essential to add well-being to this set. Many people live with the belief that vitamin C is the most important and sometimes that only this vitamin exists and others are irrelevant. It is a big mistake. Supplementation is important, but I am a supporter of providing vitamins directly from the diet. On the packages of supplements there are very impressive values of the vitamin content, but no one cares about their absorption by our body. The truth is that a small percentage of these vitamins from an artificial source will be absorbed, while the digestibility of vitamins from vegetables or fruits is much better.
Have you done anything to strengthen your immune system during the pandemic?
During a pandemic, I try to provide vitamins in various ways. My main source of vitamins are vegetable and fruit juices. They usually consist of carrots, kale, parsley, apple or beetroot. For juicing, I use a specialized device, which is a juicer that squeezes the last drop even from plants such as kale. I recommend such juices because they are a vitamin bomb. Also, my diet includes a lot of fruits like bananas and oranges. Instead of eating fast food, I often eat soups, which are much healthier.
What do you think about attending the gym without any knowledge of the proper diet and supplementation? Is a sporty lifestyle enough to stay healthy?
In my opinion, a sports lifestyle is enough to stay healthy. A lot also depends on the expectations of such training. If you want to be slim and just move a lot so that the circulation system works, I don't see the point in exploring supplementation techniques. The case is completely different if you want to improve your appearance and, for example, build muscle mass. Then you need to make a detailed list of what you will eat and the macronutrients in your diet. You need to ensure that the amount of protein is adequate, because protein is the building block of muscles. Besides, it is necessary to measure the amount of calories consumed during the day. There are many variables that determine how our body will look during hypertrophic training.
2. I drink tea with ginger and lemon. I try to get out into the fresh air and take a walk. But that's all. During the pandemic, nothing else has changed for me regarding immunity.
3. I think this is still a good idea to go . By the way I do not really think that nowadays people do not have any knowledge of the proper diet and supplementation. So you do not really need to be an expert at this field to go to the gym. And i think it is better than not doing any sports at all.
My mom works at the hospital, so I have easy access to many tests, like the ones when you give your blood or urine for them to check it. That's how I know that my body is in perfect condition, and I don't have to change anything in my lifestyle. I eat healthy most of the time, so it probably helps a lot.
2.Have you done anything to strengthen your immune system during the pandemic?
Since I started exercising years ago, I didn't fall ill, so my immune system is perfectly fine I think. I got Coronavirus though, but it's impossible to stop it with just healthy body.
3.What do you think about attending the gym without any knowledge of the proper diet and
supplementation? Is a sporty lifestyle enough to stay healthy?
No, going to the gym or doing some exercises at home is enough to give you some muscles and help you lose a little bit of fat, but it heavily affects your body. You can't just train your body without giving it enough "fuel". Also, many people combine exercising with cutting their calories, which is just asking for disaster.
Supplementation has really little effect on your body compared to proper diet. It can help you if you don't wanna cook a lot, but you need some vitamins or proteins though.
2. Not particularly, I think it is more important to take supplements when you are sick with virus. After all, taking supplements won't protect us from it. But I can say that in winter it is worth taking vitamin D because it is harder for us to get it from sun
3. To stay healthy, definitely. Supplements can help us achieve better results or achieve better results. Unless we do it professionally then supplements are necessary