My mom is this bubbly, bouncing, sunshine shining out of her booty, ball of whimsy. She is a hippie at heart and definitely moves to her own drum beat. She is this tiny little thing that loves her giant truck and cute boots. When she and I are together I know my abs will be hurting later because we laugh those really big belly laughs that usually lead to hiccups and tears. I get my quirkiness from mom. We share the same weirdness but that is okay because we understand each other because of it. She is not a planner but she is a doer, if that makes sense. What I mean is she just kind of takes life as it comes one step at a time but when there is a hurtle in front of her she will tackle the snot out of it. She is pretty much the most amazing woman I know.
I received my second best compliment (that's right, I rate them) of my life the other day from two other very special women in my life. They said I was a mixture of Princess Diana and Martha Stewart rolled into one little me. Which by the way is so funny to me because inside this head things are more like Wayne's World and that cute conservative blond on The View that nobody but me seems to like. But I do possess some ability to organize and plan and aside from God, I would give all the credit to my beautiful and talented Mimi. She is my idea of royalty and grace. My Mimi is a planner.(When the zombie apocalype happens I guarantee she will be prepared.) She plans down to the minutest details. She recently made my landscaping plan and I want to just frame the actual plan it is just so beautifully done. I admire my Mimi's drive to always be learning and I love that she always saves for me the articles and information that I would find interesting. Details are important to my Mimi and I have learned that it is the details that take something that is regular and turns it into something spectacular. God put lots of detail into my Mimi because she is spectacular.
So I share DNA from both of these incredible women which makes me what I would imagine the love child of Phoebe Buffay and Monica Geller would turn out like (despite always wanting to be Rachel.) But here's the deal...We all have a passion in common...nutrition, health and preventative medicine. The Sunshine Shoppe was originally started by my great-grandmother, Nena and my Mimi almost 40 years ago. My mom raised me in the very store I am owner of now. I grew up taking cod liver oil and liquid garlic and actually loved it. (which freaks me out because my kids are the same way now.) Supplements have always been a part of my life and when I found the paleo lifestyle I was a little worried about where that would fit in.
I've read a lot of paleo articles that state that supplements are unnecessary on a paleo diet because you should be getting all the nutrients you need from food alone. Some even go as far as to say pregnant women can forgo prenatal multivitamins. Then there other paleo lifestylers that say you don't need to supplement vitamins and minerals but if you get sick you should stick to more natural supplements to treat the issue. I've been asked a lot lately where I stand on this. I try to not be biased but I'm not sure that is possible considering my business is in supplements but I am honest and the choices I make for my family are based on self-education, experience, and my mommy super-senses.
FOR MY FAMILY we have continued to take our supplements despite eating a very nutritious diet. I am very much a planner and I make a weekly menu that is very detailed BUT I cannot plan everything and so I fall back on my "supplement insurance". I am pretty sure we are not always getting enough minerals into our diet, or omega-3s, or vitamin d. When I plan our menu I am considering factors such as costs, seasonal produce, the time available to prepare, what sounds yummy. I probably need to try to figure out a way to make sure we are getting the nutrients we need in the amounts we need them in but despite sharing DNA with two super-women that is just not feasible for me right now. So we take our supplements to fill in the cracks.
- Probiotics-I'm sure you have all seen the "active cultures" label on your yogurt. Those cultures are a good bacteria that help our bodies with digestion and immune function. Bacteria seems like a bad thing and it can be if there are more bad bacteria than good. Check out the awesome Ted Talks video by Bonnie Bassler a molecular scientist (so she must be smart). She does a great job of explaining how bacteria communicate and that every bacteria's vote counts so we want the good bacteria to outnumber the bad. It is a very interesting talk even if you aren't a nerd like me. I like Nutrition Now's PB8 because the price is good for the amount of cultures per capsule. I take this probiotic for maintenance. If I was to get sick I would take a probiotic with 50 cultures instead of just 14.
- Multivitamin-I am pretty picky when it comes to multis. I don't want to waste my time and money on a cheap product with more filler than nutrients. I LOVE MegaFood's Once Daily multis for men and women. This is the perfect multi for someone that eats healthy. Usually I am not a huge fan of a one-a-day multi because most people are not getting many vitamins and minerals through diet and therefore they need to supplement but even a one-a-day usually won't fill in the cracks for someone on the Standard American Diet. But for those of us that are eating all those delicious and colorful vitamins and minerals from our plates we can fall back on this WHOLE FOOD multivitamin. See how WHOLE FOOD is in caps. That is because it is an important factor. This little tablet comes from the very foods we should all be eating. There are no synthetic vitamins in this multi. And the best part is it can be taken on an empty stomach without experiencing any yucky nausea because it is just FOOD! Pretty cool!
- Vitamin D-So I just recently added this to my little handful of pills. Vitamin D packs a pretty good punch when it comes to cancer prevention and immune strengthening. It also plays a key role in the absorption of important minerals such as calcium and phosphorus. There are some studies that show that vitamin D can help with depression too. I am taking 4000IUs by Carlson. I like this brand because it is clean and the company regularly test for freshness, potency and purity by an independent third party.
- Omega-3-This supplement is getting more and more important as our foods get more and more processed. Inflammation is this really bad thing that isn't just found in the joints of elderly people. In an article in the Huffington Post, Mark Hyman, M.D. says, "What few people understand is that hidden inflammation run amok is at the root of all chronic illness we experience -- conditions like heart disease, obesity, diabetes, dementia, depression, cancer, and even autism." Omega-3s help counteract excessive inflammation. You can get omega-3s in foods such as salmon, trout, anchovies, and sardines. I try very hard to make sure we are eating fish at least once a week but that isn't enough therefore we take Nordic Naturals Omega-3. I actually take 4 of these a day even though the "recommended dosage" is 2 a day. There is a history of auto-immune disease in my family and I'm going to do whatever I can to prevent it from becoming a part of my body and therefore I take a little extra.
These colorful bottles are the supplements the kiddos take.
- Vitamin C-The kids take vitamin C to keep their immune systems strong. At one point I was told that both kids have allergies and that I should put them on Claritin or something like that. I did some research and found that vitamin C works as an antihistamine too and so I started giving that to the kids and we haven't had issues since. (I really feel like I'm jinxing myself here.) Plus with Jack's little tummy troubles vitamin C is great at keeping things moving...if you know what I mean.
- Children's DHA-This is the kid version of my Omega-3...kind of. This one comes from cod liver oil which is really awesome because it provides more vitamin A and D. Omega 3 breaks down into DHA and EPA. DHA is SUPER important for kid's brain development. Children with ADD and ADHD have been found to be deficient in DHA. My kids love the way these little "fish balls" taste. They are small and are great for kids to start practicing swallowing pills but they can also be chewed. Mmmmm...cod liver oil.
- Multivitamin-Once again this is a WHOLE FOOD multi. I have tried out at least 10 brands of multivitamins on my kids. They never liked the taste until I found these by Bluebonnet. Their favorite flavor is the cherry so that is what I keep in stock at the shop but they also come in orange (second fav) and grape.
- Kids Probiotic-these are kid friendly probiotics. They are only 3 billion cultures and taste like candy. During cold and flu season I double up on these babies and make sure the kids get at least two a day.
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