Louise H Connolly MD
A different kind of medical practice
310 372-4706
Supplement Tune Up
Your doctor told you to take fish oil but ducked the question of what brand and how much to take.
So what should you do? Just go to Costco and buy what’s on sale? Or go to Whole Foods and ask the vitamin specialist? You know that will be more expensive but hopefully of better quality.
Oh yes, your friend has been taking supplements for years, she should know what to buy. She’s very bright, but then she is not a professional..
Choose
This is a common dilemma and a big problem. Most people, doctors included, know nothing of supplement quality or dosing. It is a huge profitable and poorly regulated industry. It takes knowledge of medicine as well as knowledge of herbs and supplements in order to begin sorting things out. And it takes someone who does NOT have a profit motive – someone who does NOT sell them herself. Otherwise the picture just gets too cloudy.
That someone is me.
Are you too drained and tired for your age? Have you gone to your doctor only to find that all your tests are normal? It couldn’t be that you are just working too hard, not that you have any choice. So you turn elsewhere thinking perhaps it is a nutritional deficiency. On the internet you read that this herb or that supplement can really help. And it seems backed up by plausible scientific claims. So you buy some, hopefully at a discount. Soon you have way too many bottles and no money. And, to tell the truth, you really don’t feel that much better. I would love to help you here. There are some decent supplements, but there are a whole lot of bogus claims, phony sales and worthless products out there all dressed up to look legitimate. They remind me of the ads on late night TV.
Perhaps you already have a couple of alternative medicine specialists. Many people do. A chiropractor, naturopath, acupuncturist, or nutritionist. They are so nice and seem so knowledgeable. You feel better so you buy supplements on the way out. It’s convenient; they picked the brand for its purity and potency, so it must be the best. After all, they don’t force you to buy them. Often these are top quality brands but they are also the most expensive. Be aware that the markup on them is usually 50%. You do the math and figure out the true cost of your visit. Maybe it is reasonable, maybe not.
Come to me. I have years of experience in this field. I don’t sell supplements, although I must say that the hefty markup on them is tempting. Instead I pass the discounts on to you. I don’t send you to the vitamin store to stare at the thousands of bottles in dismay. I use online multibrand discounters with thousands and thousands of products. You don’t have to sift through them all, just enter a product code into the search. I’ve hand picked them for you!
