Supplement Regimen Update — September 2016

Goals for Oct. 2016 and Beyond

Since the seasons are changing again, this also means flu season and lethargy and depressed mood that may come with it. So I will be focusing my supplement stack in this direction to ensure I cover any gaps in this area.

Though the ZMA and Ester-C will cover my vitamin C and zinc requirements to maintain a strong immune system, I will need to focus more on vitamin D3 and K2.

Most of my stack has not changed since September, but I am going to include some new additions as well as some potential ones I will be exploring very soon.

Current Supplement Regimen

Morning

• 1 Jarrow Formulas NAC Sustain tablet (Time-released NAC — See my review of NAC!)
• 1 NOW Foods Neptune Krill Oil softgel
• 1 Ester-C (w/ bioflavonoids) capsule (Source of Vitamin C)
• 1 Life Extension Optimized Ashwagandha (Sensoril) capsule
• Dose of Zembrin or Polygala Tenuiflora (experimental mood herbs at the moment)

Evening

• 1 Jarrow Formulas NAC Sustain tablet
• 1 Neptune Krill Oil softgel
• 1 Ester-C capsule
• 1 Ashwagandha capsule
• 2 Universal Nutrition ZMA Pro capsules

Supplements to Add

Vitamin D3 and K2

I’m going to include Vitamin D3 and K2 capsules in my stack because it’s a nuisance to remember to manually dose the drops each day.

Since I already have Vitamin K2 Complex by Life Extension I will need to add vitamin D3 in the form of softgels. I will likely be taking upwards of 10,000 IU per day as I have taken in the past, especially since I have not been taking any vitamin D in a while. The daily 400 IU recommendation according to US dietary guidelines is pitifully low, and the current science says that we should be getting far more than this in our diet where possible. ¹

After a week or two I will taper down to 1 x 5000 IU of Vitamin D3 per day to see where that gets me later.

For those of you who are new to Vitamin D and K, it’s VERY important to get enough vitamin K2 in the effective forms (MK-4, MK-7) to ensure that the body’s calcium activated by Vitamin D is properly sequestered into the bones rather than the soft tissues such as arteries. ²

Kanna (Zembrin brand extract)

As I explained in last week’s post, I began dosing 25 mg Zembrin (kanna extract) sublingually for anxiolytic and mood enhancing purposes. Zembrin’s components act similarly to SSRI antidepressants, ensuring brain levels of serotonin remain at comfortable levels. So far there have been no negative side effects from one-time daily dosing in the mornings, and it works fairly well for me. There is no huge psychoactive effect as you might feel on phenibut or higher doses of kava kava, but the anti-anxiety aspect is notable to me.

The only one drawback is of the powder itself: Zembrin is very, very hygroscopic. It clumps and sticks together very easily, making measuring a little bit of a chore. This clumping is apparently a common complaint. I do not hold it against Nootropics Depot because there’s only so much you can do about that sort of thing.

I have taken days off from Zembrin with no issue.