Managing Your Treatment
ONCE YOU TAKE IT TO MIND to have nutritional supplements, or have had them prescribed by a therapist, you need to plan how and when to take them. Some supplements are best taken with food, others on an empty stomach; some once a day, others two or three times. Always follow the advice you are given. You should begin to see results within a few weeks.
Always follow the instructions for treatment carefully, as suggested by your nutritional practitioner. Some supplements are best taken on an empty stomach, and others will be completely absorbed by the body only when there is food present. Treatment will always be based on your individual needs, and what works for another person may not be appropriate for you.
Follow the doses prescribed for you by a practitioner, or provided on the back of supplement carton. While we are encouraged to eat as much healthy food as possible, for its therapeutic benefits and nutrient content, the same does not follow for supplementation. More is not better, and taking extra of any one supplement can seriously upset the balance of the body and result in deficiencies of other nutrients. Where dosages are set at therapeutic levels, for various health or lifestyle conditions, these should not be exceeded, and should only be taken for short period of time - say two or three weeks - until the condition has either resolved or improved to such an extent that the "picture" has changed, and your requirements will be different.
COMBINE SUPPLEMENTS WITH OTHER THERAPIES?
Vitamins, minerals, and other elements of nutrition are, in essence, simply parts of food, so they are safe to take with other medication and with complementary treatments. (Indeed most good complementary therapies offer advice on nutrition as part of their treatment, since a nutritious diet forms the basis of health on the most fundamental level.) Some therapies, such as herbalism, use herbs and other plant products for nutritional as well as medicinal purposes, and you should tell your practitioner if you are taking supplements, since the action can be duplicated and you may well be taking too much of one thing- it is sensible always to tell your physician or therapist if you are taking supplements and they will advise you if there are likely to be contraindications.
