The 3 Most Important Vitamins You Probably Aren’t Taking

Dr. Steve Jepson reveals the three most important vitamins you probably aren’t taking.

As I’ve talked about on Studio 5 before, part of my role as an aesthetic medicine specialist, is to help people achieve optimal hormone balance. I do this because you truly can’t look better on the outside if all is not right on the inside. So, now as Oprah and others in the media are jumping on the Bioidentical Hormone Balance bandwagon, it’s something that I have been offering my patients (and talking about on Studio 5) for a number of years. As part of my approach to bioidentical hormone balancing, I also try to guide my patients on optimal vitamin and supplement intake. Today I’m going to talk about what I feel are the three most important vitamin supplements that you probably aren’t taking.

Iodine

It’s been estimated that 90% of Americans are Iodine deficient! Most dietary iodine comes from seafood, and Americans don’t eat a lot of seafood compared to other countries. The iodine that is added to our table salt is not enough for optimal body function. The most important effect of low iodine is thyroid dysfunction. This means that you can have many of the same symptoms of low thyroid despite normal thyroid levels. These include fatigue, weight gain, sluggishness, and foggy thinking. Just simply taking Iodine supplementation can significantly help improve those symptoms. Many health food stores have kelp tablets as a type of Iodine supplement. I personally recommend a type of high potency Iodine supplement called Iodoral that can be found at some specialty pharmacy’s such as Jolley’s or at my office.

Vitamin D

This supplement is gaining momentum right now in the medical community as perhaps one of the most important vitamins for our general health. And many of us don’t get nearly enough. Our most important sources of Vitamin D are sun exposure (our skin cells make it in response to the sun) and dairy products. But many of us have cut way back on both of those. Vitamin D has been shown to prevent osteoporosis, cancer, and heart disease. It will also help boost our immune system. And, Vitamin D, like Iodine, helps your thyroid hormone work better with resultant increases in energy and metabolism. I recommend 2000 units daily (which is much higher than the amounts in standard multivitamins). We have it available at my office in easy-to-take liquid drops.

Sea Salt

While you may not think of salt as a vitamin supplement, the right kind of salt is an important source of minerals. The typical table salt that we all grew up with (such as Morton’s) is refined salt. This means that it’s been chemically processed, and all the minerals, with the exception of Sodium, have been removed. I think we all know that too much Sodium is not good for us, and many of us have cut back on our salt consumption consequently. But salt in its unprocessed natural state is full of many other essential minerals that help our body function better. Many people experience a significant energy boost just by switching to this type of salt and using it on their food and with cooking. I personally recommend a Utah-based natural sea salt called Real Salt. This brand can be found in most grocery stores here in Utah.

If you would like more detailed information on the whole concept of bioidentical hormone management, I will be holding a free seminar tonight in Sandy. Space is limited so please call my office to RSVP (801-281-0022)

Bioidentical Hormone Seminar

Salt Lake Community College, Miller Campus (in Sandy)

9750 S 300 W

MDPC Building Room 220

Tuesday May 12th from 7:00 – 8:30pm