LADY@LXG: We truly are what we eat, or ingest...

Where supplements are concerned, there are two types of people; those who guzzle a kadzillion, multi-coloured pills and capsules with their morning kale juice or those who feel that the whole supplement industry is nothing but a clever scam. 

I fall into the former category. In fact, I take about 20 pills / capsules daily and it doesn’t just stop at me. In fact my cats and dogs also take a dose of supplements to help them maintain their joints and muscles, skin and coat.

In fact, this whole supplement obsession, is not something that I suddenly woke up to. No siree, in fact, both my parents are totally into supplements and as wee bairns, my brothers and I, had to hold out our chubby little hands while our mother placed an assortment of pills into them.

I mean, if you look at it objectively, how many of us are really aware of what we are eating and how many of us, actually manage to cram the requisite number of fruits and vegetables down the gullet, every single day? I for one, don’t! 

Personally, I love fruits and vegetables, but I am a naturally lazy person. While I am all for sterilizing my living space on a daily basis, I absolutely abhor cooking. Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely no problem with eating, but the whole concept of cooking really gets me down, which is why my diet consists of cookies, candy, instant food, fast food and when I feel packed with toxins, I will drag myself to the kitchen and make some ‘real’ food in a desperate bid to detox. This is essentially why supplements are so important to me. After all, with the life style I lead (lets not even go there) and the diet I have, if I didn’t take supplements, my skin and teeth would rot and my bones would shatter, not to mention that my hair would all fall off. 

This is why, I spend a sizeable percentage of my salary on a multitude of vitamins. In fact, open my wallet and you will find a number of member cards to almost every supplement store here in Singapore. Recently, I came across a new brand of supplements from AdN, which I just had to try. Their prices are very competitive (important factor when you buy as much as I do) and I liked the variety of supplements they had on offer, so let me share with you some of the products that I bought.

AdN VisionCare caught my eye (ha ha get it?) because my eyes do not produce much tears and with me spending most of my day in front of the computer, the last thing I need is to have vision issues. 

Plus I loved that this product which is naturally derived from marigold flowers, contained carotenoids such as lutein and zeaxanthin, proven to help protect the eyes from harmful light waves (did I mention that I slouch most of the day in front of a computer?).

It also has antioxidant properties and helps prevent damage to the eyes, while Lutein may even lower the risk of getting some eye problems and with symptoms of certain eye conditions. The bottle lasts two-months and was only $49!

Recently I was diagnosed with horrifically high cholesterol (yeah, wonder why right?) which is why this one caught my eye; AdN CholestoCare which cost me $69 (for around 15-30 days, depending on how often you take it, I take 1 cap once a day after lunch) is a blend of red yeast rice, milk thistle, alpha lipoic acid and CoQ10 for healthy cholesterol levels, liver function and overall wellbeing. 

Red yeast rice has a long history of being used by traditional Chinese herbalists and is said to help keep cholesterol levels healthy naturally, while Milk Thistle helps protect the liver from toxic chemicals and also has some antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. I have been taking this now for a few weeks, so lets see if my readings are better at my next blood test! 

Did I mention that I need to eat cookies and chocolates daily? Well I do, or I get quite grumpy. It doesn’t help that my mother keeps dragging me to have my blood sugar tested for diabetes, so when I spotted AdN GlucoCare which cost me $59 for a month’s supply, I grabbed a few bottles (okay, so I grabbed like five bottles). 

This supplement contains a blend of ingredients to help with healthy blood glucose control. Thiamine (Vit B1) and Pantothenic Acid (Vit B5) helps the body use carbohydrates more efficiently and increases energy, while Chromium and GlucoFit helps improve the way the body uses glucose. Gymnema Sylvestre, which has been used for a long time in Ayurvedic medicine, helps to reduce the  absorption of glucose from our diet as well as help our body to use glucose properly. So I pop this pill before or after I gorge on candy. I look at it as an insurance policy, after all, it sure beats taking nothing and it makes me feel less guilty when I gorge on candy daily.

Ever since I turned 30 and my knees started to ache, I have been religiously taking my glucosamine, so I was quite pleased when I found AdN Glucosamine + MSM which at $89 for 1.5-3-months (depending upon how many you take a day, I just take one capsule and I am pain free). 

It contains a blend of glucosamine sulfate, MSM and chondrotin for healthy joints. 

In fact, we ALL take this supplement, including my 17 year old cat Jelly, who has arthritis in her lower back (don't worry, this has been approved by her veterinarian as not all human supplements are safe for animals, so before you share your stash with your fur-kid, always check with their veterinarian ). 

I combine this with AdN Hi Omega-3 for us all, including my new puppy. This is made from natural fish oil concentrate from sardines,  anchovies and mackerel and encapsulated in a softgel. 

Apparently, smaller fish have less risk of environmental contamination than larger, predatory fish (I say, reading directly from the AdN website), thus making them an ideal source of omega 3. 

In fact, AdN Hi Omega-3 claims to have TWICE AS MUCH OMEGA 3 in ONE capsule as  compared to the usual fish oil products in the market (which contains only 120mg DHA/180mg EPA per capsule), which honestly is good enough for me!

I am really happy with my find and so far have no complaints at all. So if you are new to supplements, give this brand a try. Its affordable, works fine and is available online at AdN supplements.