Maximizing your health and wellness starts with the lifestyle choices you make every day like the food you eat, the way you move your body, how many hours of sleep you get, how much time you spend outside, and quality time spent with those you love. Though supplements can be a great addition to your lifestyle habits, they are by no means just one (or even a “main”) tool for optimizing your nutrition. Today, we’re examining what steps you can take to make the most of your supplement routine. Let’s get started.

Supplements can come in the form of pills, capsules, gummies, and other ingestibles that contain some concentration of key vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other nutritional factors. As the name might suggest, supplements are just that: a potential add-on to your everyday nutrient intake. Your diet is the single most important way that your body takes in nutrients; you cannot survive on supplements alone. Maintaining a consistently healthy diet that’s composed primarily of whole, nutrient-rich foods is the best thing you can do to make sure your daily nutrient intake is both well-rounded and complete. Talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian about your current eating habits and health goals in order to come up with a diet plan that works for your unique needs. For educational resources about maintaining a healthy, well-balanced diet, click here.

Step one to ensuring that your body receives the right proportion of nutrients to function optimally is to talk to your physician or a registered dietitian about what foods you should be eating. Whole foods (fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, nuts and seeds, whole grains, and clean protein sources) are the gold standard, but the calories, macronutrients, and volume you’ll be consuming depend on your unique health profile. Ultimately, the goal is to make sure that your diet is both satisfying and nutritious.

Making the most of your health relies on movement just as much as it does on eating well. Though exercise doesn’t bring nutrients into your system, it has been linked to various health benefits that people often take supplements to attain, including improved mood and energy levels, better sleep, promoting memory and cardiovascular health, and boosting skin elasticity. There’s plenty of room for creativity in the movement you choose. Whether you take up running and strength training, go on a long daily walk, or take up a new group fitness class, the most important thing is incorporating regular, intentional movement into your weekly routine. This, combined with a balanced diet, will yield countless health benefits.

Mapping out the perfect supplement routine requires understanding what your unique biological needs are in the first place. Schedule a consultation with your physician to talk through any symptoms you’re currently experiencing, along with your medical history, lifestyle habits, stress levels, goals for the future, and other factors. Then you should have comprehensive blood work. This will help your doctor determine what supplements you could benefit from the most. Always consult with your physician before starting a new supplement. This is important, because even the same “kind” of supplement could be of very different quality from two different companies. Your functional medicine physician will be able to orient you about which brands have the best-quality products.

Optimizing your health is a life-long journey, and your needs today may be completely different than your needs down the line. Set up a relationship-based care plan with a physician who’s familiar with your health journey. By checking in with them regularly, you’ll be able to make sure that your supplement routine is always optimized for your best health.

If you’re determined to find the perfect supplement routine for your lifestyle, the best first step is talking to a physician. Just click here to schedule a consultation with us.