Does Anyone Take Supplements to Feel Better?

I do take a couple of supplements but I feel the most important thing is exercise, eating right and drinking lots of water.

I have a large Swell bottle (thermos type bottle) that keeps my water icy cold) and I refill it at least 4 times in a 12 hour period. I drink water with lemon juice. NO sugar.

I also wear a Fitbit and I get a minimum of 10,000 steps a day.

I feel better, have more energy and sleep better if I'm up and moving. I do not eat anything after 7pm... only my lemon water until morning.

Supplements can help, but only when you take the correct ones, and there's no way we can know your medical history or anything about your eating/exercise/lifestyle habits.

Ask your doctor to do a couple of blood tests on you. Iron, Vitamin D3, electrolyte panel, complete blood count, thyroid, etc. Tell your doctor you don't have enough energy, and be very honest with him or her about all the medications you take.

And consider keeping a food journal. That's just a notebook page per day, listing the foods you eat. Be specific (I know, I say this all the time here). Don't write "had a snack this morning". Write:"had a cup of Swiss Miss cocoa and 3 Girl Scout cookies at 10 am". Write: "at 8 am, had breakfast which was 2 scrambled eggs and white toast with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and grape jelly".

Then, after a couple of weeks, look at what you're eating. Is it all frozen food or canned food or boxed mixes or packets? Are there fresh vegetables? Is it all low fat, sugar-free, "diet" stuff, because if it is, you're feeding your body artificial sweeteners and lots of chemicals. Choose foods with one ingredient (such as butter made from cream) rather than food with a list of ingredients (such as a "buttery spread" with a list of ingredients that is several inches long). Eat food that is recognizable. If you eat zucchini, don't eat it in muffins or chocolate bread. Eat it sliced and steamed.

Ask your doctor for a recommendation, after you show the food journal to him or her, about how to eat healthier, and whether some vitamin supplements might help (after reviewing your blood tests results).

B.,

The best thing you can do for yourself is get out and MOVE!! Pick and EASY exercise program and STICK TO IT. Make it a routine/habit. It's NOT about the supplements you take either - it's about the food you eat! You eat a lot of processed food? you will feel loggy/lethargic.

Your mindset is the best - you're only as old as you feel. Keep thinking like a "kid" but don't do "kid" things! :)

Eat healthy.
MOVE!!! Get up and MOVE!! Exercises - keep 'em simple but do 'em! YOU CAN DO IT!!

No, I exercise to feel better....and it really works. Start out with walking. Just wear comfortable, supportive sneakers (buy a good pair but don't wait until you do...start walking today). So get those tennis shoes on now and go out your front door. Start by walking around the block. Next walk 2 or 3 blocks. Eventually drive to a park and walk around that. Be safe when walking. Be observant. You can always take a multi vitamin or calcium supplements if you are worried about aging and bone density. Eat healthier and you will feel better. You can always add workout dvd's that you do in your own home. Or join a nearby gym (only if you will go) and walk on the treadmill and lift some light weights to help with bone density as you age.

The problem with most supplements is that they are single ingredients (vitamin, mineral, etc.) and not comprehensive. Even basic multi-vitamins have anywhere from 10-20 different ones thrown in there, with no particular science involved. You can buy "extra this" and "extra that" which is contrary to all the food science research. They are big profit centers for the companies, of course, but of dubious benefit to the consumer. You'll see all kinds of articles that say, "If you have symptom X, take vitamin C. If you have symptom Y, take magnesium." But that's not how the body uses nutrients! Most of us know that calcium is not absorbed without Vitamin D - which is why milk has vitamin D added. But there are some 70 nutrients that work the same way - in partnership with each other. Too little of some nutrients can render all the others useless.

Then, of course, there are all those supplements sold by the big chains that turned out not to have any of the stated ingredient, or an amount far below what the label said.

There was a time when we go our vitamins, minerals, trace elements and phytonutrients from our food - but no longer. That's due to a whole host of reasons - processed foods for convenience and shelf life, farming techniques for high yield but low nutrient content (how many big agriculture companies even rotate crops?), pesticides/herbicides, environmental pollution, and more. People used to eat what was in season and grown locally - but now we expect strawberries in November and apples in April - so they're either stored for months after picking (like apples) or shipped from some other country with unknown regulations and standards.

In my family, after decades of illness and poor lab results, we now use comprehensive supplementation, and we put a big emphasis on independent testing. We also look for patents and refuse to take things that have warning labels. (Think of the irony of giving kids a children's vitamin that says "Keep out of reach of children.") We don't take pills, which have a low absorption rate, and we don't take pre-mixed liquids (which are convenient but have lower potency). We got great results (including dramatic changes in lab work) and the sign-off by our doctors (who admit when they don't have nutritional background and don't like throwing more medications at people) and by working with food scientists who provide direct customer service. Those are things I'd encourage you to look into.

The best thing for you - is more exercise.
To be more active you need to build up being more active.
Talk to your doctor about what would be good for you.
Some exercises in a pool would be great for your joints.
Some seniors yoga classes, tai chi and/or stretching would be good too to keep and increase your range of motion.
Supplements aren't magic pills - they can only do so much - taking too much is just as bad for you as having some deficiencies.
Taking things your body can't absorb means your kidneys will filter out the excess but you don't want to develop kidney stones either.
Your doctor can run some blood tests and suggest diet and exercises that would help you.
I think drinking a moderate amount of green tea is good for just about everyone.

Have you talked to your doctor? A simple blood test can make sure that you are not anemic or some other simple problem. I take 2 supplements that make a huge difference to my energy level, but they are both things that my doctor found were low in a blood test. I am not going to say specifically what they are, because they only help if you are low in the first place. Bottom line - talk to your doctor.

While supplements can be beneficial I don't think they are going to give you the boost you are looking for. Exercise is the best thing for that. Can you walk 20 to 30 minutes every day? If you do that you'll for sure feel "younger" ie. more energetic. It helps to eat well too, of course, and drink plenty of water!

i take a gummy multi vitamin and one other supplement as recommended by my dr. you should check with your dr before starting any kind of supplementation or exercise routine.

Im 61. I use a vitamin/mineral powder called Tangy Tangerine, biotin, B complex, 5k of D3, collagen powder, turmeric, and recently introduced lithium orotate just a few days ago. I feel pretty good. When I skip the regimen (which occasionally I will miss a few days or a week) my joints let me know.