Dr. Bhandari's Favorite Supplements
Historically, plants were the cornerstone for producing medicine. In Western culture, we consider medicine as a product of the pharmaceutical industrial complex. In many other parts of the developing world plants are still primarily used to address health concerns and have often shown to reverse many illnesses without causing side effects.
Many pharmaceuticals can often be traced back to their plant counterparts. For example, the opiate Morphine is derived from poppies. The antibiotic Penicillin is derived from moss and mold. Aspirin is derived from willow bark. Medicine created from plant analogs, rather than the plant itself, can be processed easily.
At Advanced Health, we offer a number of supplements to leverage the power of those plant sources along with using plants consumed for food as effective treatments to combat many symptoms and diseases. The following list highlights our top ten favorite supplements.
Active B Complex
Active B Complex from Integrative Therapeutics, is a mix of activated vitamins B1, B2, B6, and B12. This formula assists the body in making energy and forming red blood cells to support the nervous and cardiovascular systems. Vitamin B1 (also called Thiamine) promotes the production and functioning of several key neurotransmitters, and helps metabolize carbohydrates into glucose for energy. Vitamin B2 (also called Riboflavin) assists with fat, protein, and carbohydrate metabolism in order to regulate energy supply. Pyridoxine (also called Vitamin B6) and Vitamin B12 (also called methylcobalamin) are necessary for producing red blood cells and neurotransmitters, along with the formation of new DNA strands and for cellular metabolism.
Optimizing your health by taking an activated Complex B most days keeps your body functioning efficiently.
Standardized Butterbur Extract
The shrub butterbur, found in North America, Southwestern Asia, and Europe, has been used since the Middle Ages as a natural medicine for headaches and allergies. The plant extracts of butterbur at 75mg per serving promotes clear respiration, a healthy urinary tract, and eases head discomfort.
Cortisol Manager
The “stress hormone” cortisol is produced by the adrenal cortex as a response to signals from the pituitary gland, hypothalamus and liver. It’s an alarm system, priming the body to respond to stress. When cortisol levels are high or unstable chronically, metabolism decreases, blood pressure and blood sugar surge, and sleep/wake cycles become irregular.
The stress-reducing botanicals in Integrative Therapeutics’ Cortisol Manager promote relaxation, regular sleep/wake cycles, and alleviate fatigue in order to support healthy cortisol levels.
Enterogenic Intensive 100 probiotic
The Enterogenic Intensive 100 from Integrative Therapeutics is one of our favorite supplements. It replenishes and balances your intestinal microflora with 10 different bacterial strains and over 100 billion microbes in each capsule. This probiotic provides a broad spectrum of upper and lower GI support, essential for balancing hormones, aiding digestion, and regulating mood. Many factors play a role in maintaining gut health and the microbiome. They include one’s diet, eating habits, exercise regimen, travel, antibiotic use, and lifestyle factors. Adding a probiotic to your daily regimen maintains a population of healthy gut bacteria especially when one is not feeling well for up to four months.
HPA Adapt
The Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis connects the brain with the adrenal glands. It is the body’s central stress response system forming a complex series of interactions, triggers, and responses which regulate the body’s gastrointestinal, neurological, and immune systems. The HPA axis has a profound impact on the rest of the body keeping those systems in harmony.
Integrative Therapeutics’ HPA Adapt combines five adaptogenic, stress-reducing herbs: Rhodiola root extract, eleuthero root extract, ashwagandha, maca, and holy basil leaf extracts. These herbs work together to balance stress hormone levels.
Inflama-Complete
The body’s inflammatory response maintains health by fighting disease and repairing cell damage. Age, stress, poor diet, and excess toxin exposure gradually diminishes the body’s natural capacity to manage its inflammatory response. Innate’s Inflamma-Complete is one of our most often recommended supplements for addressing inflammation and optimizing health.
This formula manages the inflammatory response by maintaining the correct levels of key enzymes and compounds. Powerful ingredients include turmeric, regularized to at least 95% curcuminoids, holy basil, ginger, cranberry extract, and black cherry.
Magnesium 300
Magnesium is an essential mineral for supporting more than 300 physiological functions and enzyme reactions required for optimal health and well-being. Innate’s Magnesium 300 supplement blends three forms of magnesium: citrate, malate, and glycinate. Citrate is especially soluble, enhancing its bioavailability, glycinate soothes the nervous system with calming amino acids, and malate is a substrate which increases adenosine triphosphate (ATP), production to boost cell metabolism for energy.
Neuro Response
Integrative Therapeutics’ Neuro Response improves cognitive function and decreases stress. It is a botanical blend of Bacopa, Holy Basil, and Ashwagandha which replenishes the body’s reserves of nutrients, supports cognitive health, and reduces stress.
Advanced Health Offer A Variety of Supplements for Optimizing Health
At Advanced Health, we offer more than a dozen supplement formulas to improve health and to complement many of our treatment regimens. If you are experiencing chronic pain, stress, trouble sleeping or breathing, or a decrease in flexibility, Advanced Health is here to help. CONTACT US TODAY! Working together on your path to lifelong wellness is our ultimate goal.
AUTHOR
Dr. Payal Bhandari M.D. is one of U.S.'s top leading integrative functional medical physicians and the founder of SF Advanced Health. She combines the best in Eastern and Western Medicine to understand the root causes of diseases and provide patients with personalized treatment plans that quickly deliver effective results. Dr. Bhandari specializes in cell function to understand how the whole body works. Dr. Bhandari received her Bachelor of Arts degree in biology in 1997 and Doctor of Medicine degree in 2001 from West Virginia University. She the completed her Family Medicine residency in 2004 from the University of Massachusetts and joined a family medicine practice in 2005 which was eventually nationally recognized as San Francisco’s 1st patient-centered medical home. To learn more, go to www.sfadvancedhealth.com.