FAQ

Most vitamins are very safe for children in a reduced dose from what is indicated for adults. The exceptions are Vitamin D, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and Melatonin. The vitamins listed are fat-soluble, which means they can be stored by the body. This increases the chance of a toxic dose. Melatonin is a hormone and is not recommended for anyone that has not completed puberty as its effects are not well studied to know whether it will alter natural hormonal development.

Yup.

Taking too much of the fat-soluble vitamins can result in damage to your liver and kidneys. Always err on the side of caution and stick to the recommended dose for the recommended timeline.

Nope.

A rattle snake and a bear are the most natural things in the world, and I’m still not going into a room with either without a trained professional with me.

Some complementary products can interact very badly with medication, or cause you to feel dizzy or nauseated, or you could have an allergy or an intolerance. It is VERY important to speak with a professional that is well trained in interactions and the classes of herbs and vitamins to determine what is safe for you. It’s even more important that you are very honest with them. Just because you haven’t had a bad reaction (yet), doesn’t make it safe.

We like to follow the rule of 1:1.

For however many years you have been dealing with an issue, it will likely take one month for your supplement to start working for that. So if it’s been 2 years, it could take 2 months! Some people are faster and some are slower.

See #9 for why.

It takes more than 1 apple to fill you up for the day. Natural health products often need to be repeated during the day to allow you to absorb everything you put in your body. This is very important when it comes to vitamins and minerals especially. You spent good money on a good quality product. Don’t poop it away!

If it is a food-type item, you can take it all at once – so your omega oils, some herbs, and mushrooms can often be used just once in the day. If it is an extract or a mineral, you will need to divide the dose to ensure you are absorbing it all and not just passing it out of your body.

Always tell your primary care physician what you are using and how much. Always ask both your doctor and your pharmacist if you can use a complimentary product with your medication. You can always ask the experts at your local health food store first, and then confirm the info with your doctor or pharmacist.

We are lucky that Health Canada provides a strict licensing board for natural products. This means that you can look up the Natural Product Number (NPN) of any product and see the studies and the warnings.

The B Vitamins. They appear yellow and orange (and sometimes pink) when they are extracted. They also give off that characteristic ‘vitamin smell’.

If you are using a strong multivitamin, your body will pass out any unused B vitamins in your urine. This is because they are water-soluble. This means that they need to be constantly replaced by food or supplement.

We love this question! How often do you eat? In a body that has a well-functioning metabolism/digestive tract, you should have at least 1 bowel movement per meal that you eat. So if you eat once a day, you should poop at least once that day. If you eat 3-4 times a day, yup, you are looking at 3-4 trips to the bathroom. If you are having at least one healthy poop a day, we would say that your digestive tract is pretty good, if you are going as many times as you have a meal, then we would say it is excellent. If you are eating and drinking normally and not having a bowel movement, then we know you are constipated.

The healthier your digestive system, the better your supplements will work for you.

No. It didn’t.

When we eat it stimulates peristaltic movement. Peristalsis is a series of muscle contractions that move food through the digestive tract. It starts in the esophagus where strong wave-like motions of the smooth muscle move balls of swallowed food to the stomach. There, the food is mixed with enzymes and acid and churned into a liquid mixture called chyme that moves into the small intestine where peristalsis continues. The motion mixes and shifts the chyme back and forth like a front-loading washing machine. This lets the bloodstream absorb nutrients through the walls of the small intestine. In the large intestine, peristalsis helps the water from undigested food be absorbed into the bloodstream. Then, the remaining waste products are excreted through the rectum and anus.

Whew! That was a lot of info…. Basically, when you eat, it triggers your intestines to get moving, and then it triggers your colon that it is time to poop. But the food that you just ate won’t make it into your colon for about 6-12 hours, so when you have to poop after you eat, that is the meal you had before this one. Anything that you cannot absorb will come out in the bowl.