Dietary Supplements (for optimal health)

[Not A Communist Shill]

I've long been concerned that I've not been getting enough of particular vitamins in my diet and also lament that I do not habitually consume the wide range of herbs and spices that are said to be elixirs.

I've started this thread to echo the quacks I have consumed so far, and so that others can offer insights they've found.


According to The Government of my country (that is, the health service), the only vitamin that they recommend everybody takes as a supplement is Vitamin D during the darker part of the year (I don't mean night, unless you are very far north or south). I actually found it hard to find doses sold that only meet the Recommended Daily Allowance and no more. The one I actually bought says it is 2000% of the RDA (although I think it's actually 1000% going on the 8.5 to 10mg figure recommended the NHS). Apparently if you take too much Vitamin D (in one go, or over time), this is very bad for your bones & kidneys (or was it the liver). But it seems that I would be OK to take one every week or two.

.......................

I have been utilising this website: https://cosylab.iiitd.edu.in/spicerx/

for research into herbs and spices, but ideally I would like for similar for all legal over-the-counter compounds that are safe.

The chart there is out of date it seems, based on the downloadable database, and should be more like:

 

Common Name	Scientific Name	NCBI TAX ID	No. of Positive associations		No. of Negative associations
garlic	Allium sativum	4682	1092	Positive	66	Negative
ginkgo	Ginkgo biloba	3311	830	Positive	37	Negative
ginger	Zingiber officinale	94328	795	Positive	3	Negative
turmeric	Curcuma longa	136217	739	Positive	9	Negative
liquorice	Glycyrrhiza glabra	49827	365	Positive	216	Negative
black cumin	Nigella sativa	555479	278	Positive	9	Negative
saffron	Crocus sativus	82528	237	Positive	5	Negative
ceylon cinnmaon	Cinnamomum verum	128608	220	Positive	20	Negative
fenugreek	Trigonella foenum-graecum	78534	188	Positive	17	Negative
safflower	Carthamus tinctorius	4222	182	Positive	10	Negative
chinese cinnamon	Cinnamomum aromaticum	119260	154	Positive	7	Negative
sesame	Sesamum indicum	4182	141	Positive	19	Negative
rosemary	Salvia rosmarinus	39367	132	Positive	7	Negative
peppermint	Mentha x piperita	34256	114	Positive	7	Negative
clove	Syzygium aromaticum	219868	92	Positive	16	Negative
avocado leaf	Persea americana	3435	83	Positive	15	Negative
holy basil	Ocimum tenuiflorum	204149	82	Positive
sunflower	Helianthus annuus	4232	77	Positive	30	Negative
common chamomile	Chamaemelum nobile	99037	76	Positive	7	Negative
evening primrose	Oenothera biennis	3942	70	Positive
garden thyme	Thymus vulgaris	49992	67	Positive	6	Negative
red sorrel	Hibiscus sabdariffa	183260	66	Positive	3	Negative
common oregano	Origanum vulgare	39352	65	Positive
jiaogulan	Gynostemma pentaphyllum	182084	64	Positive
flax	Linum usitatissimum	4006	63	Positive	5	Negative
lemon balm	Melissa officinalis	39338	60	Positive
common lavender	Lavandula angustifolia	39329	59	Positive	1	Negative
bell pepper	Capsicum annuum	4072	57	Positive	12	Negative
borage	Borago officinalis	13363	54	Positive	1	Negative
black pepper	Piper nigrum	13216	50	Positive	4	Negative
celery	Apium graveolens	4045	49	Positive	46	Negative
coriander	Coriandrum sativum	4047	49	Positive	9	Negative
basil	Ocimum basilicum	39350	49	Positive
fennel	Foeniculum vulgare	48038	46	Positive	7	Negative
long pepper	Piper longum	49511	44	Positive
ajowan	Trachyspermum ammi	52570	43	Positive
mastic	Pistacia lentiscus	371726	42	Positive
chilli pepper	Capsicum frutescens	4073	41	Positive	24	Negative
chicory	Cichorium intybus	13427	40	Positive	3	Negative
european barberry	Berberis vulgaris	258209	40	Positive
common purslane	Portulaca oleracea	46147	40	Positive
asafoetida	Ferula assa-foetida	52471	39	Positive
dandelion	Taraxacum officinale	50225	37	Positive	4	Negative
cumin	Cuminum cyminum	52462	37	Positive
curry leaf	Murraya koenigii	159030	36	Positive
absinthium	Artemisia absinthium	72332	33	Positive	5	Negative
lemon grass	Cymbopogon citratus	66014	31	Positive	2	Negative
tanner sumac	Rhus coriaria	298661	30	Positive	5	Negative
westen yarrow	Achillea millefolium	13329	28	Positive	4	Negative
green cardamom	Elettaria cardamomum	105181	28	Positive	3	Negative
guinea pepper	Xylopia aethiopica	1317910	27	Positive
watercress	Nasturtium officinale	65948	26	Positive	15	Negative
nutmeg	Myristica fragrans	51089	26	Positive	6	Negative
german chamomile	Matricaria chamomilla	98504	26	Positive	1	Negative
common sage	Salvia officinalis	38868	26	Positive
fish mint	Houttuynia cordata	16752	26	Positive
aniseed	Pimpinella anisum	271192	25	Positive	4	Negative
spearmint	Mentha spicata	29719	24	Positive
caper	Capparis spinosa	65558	22	Positive	1	Negative
juniper	Juniperus communis	58039	21	Positive	3	Negative
beafsteak plant	Perilla frutescens	48386	21	Positive	1	Negative
star anise	Illicium verum	124778	19	Positive	3	Negative
zedoary	Curcuma zedoaria	136224	18	Positive
kencur	Kaempferia galanga	97750	18	Positive
mugwort	Artemisia vulgaris	4220	17	Positive	57	Negative
marjoram	Origanum majorana	268884	17	Positive
brazilian pepper tree	Schinus terebinthifolia	169191	16	Positive
greater galangal	Alpinia galanga	94327	16	Positive
common rue	Ruta graveolens	37565	15	Positive	8	Negative
wormseed	Dysphania ambrosioides	330163	15	Positive
indian borage	Plectranthus amboinicus	204180	14	Positive	2	Negative
lesser galangal	Alpinia officinarum	199623	14	Positive
achiote	Bixa orellana	66672	13	Positive	6	Negative
chia seed	Salvia hispanica	49212	13	Positive	1	Negative
ashitaba	Angelica keiskei	357850	13	Positive
spikenard	Nardostachys jatamansi	179860	13	Positive
wasabi	Eutrema japonicum	75806	13	Positive
summer savory	Satureja hortensis	49987	13	Positive
lemon verbena	Aloysia triphylla	542672	12	Positive
bay laurel	Laurus nobilis	85223	11	Positive	7	Negative
quinoa	Chenopodium quinoa	63459	11	Positive	7	Negative
parsely	Petroselinum crispum	4043	11	Positive	1	Negative
babasu oil	Attalea speciosa	145700	11	Positive
dill seed	Anethum graveolens	40922	11	Positive
melegueta pepper	Aframomum melegueta	637930	10	Positive
kokum	Garcinia indica	547469	10	Positive
caraway	Carum carvi	48032	9	Positive
catnip	Nepeta cataria	39347	8	Positive	1	Negative
willow herb	Epilobium parviflorum	644182	8	Positive
szechuan pepper	Zanthoxylum piperitum	354529	8	Positive
tarragon	Artemisia dracunculus	72341	8	Positive
water pepper	Persicaria hydropiper	46901	8	Positive
welsh onion	Allium fistulosum	35875	8	Positive
california bay laurel	Umbellularia californica	3438	7	Positive	3	Negative
indian bay	Cinnamomum tamala	397098	7	Positive
quassia	Quassia amara	43725	7	Positive
garlic chives	Allium tuberosum	4683	7	Positive
allspice	Pimenta dioica	375272	6	Positive
corn mint	Mentha arvensis	292239	6	Positive
breadseed poppies	Papaver somniferum	3469	6	Positive
alkanet	Alkanna tinctoria	543564	5	Positive
alligator pepper	Aframomum daniellii	199616	5	Positive
common verbena	Verbena officinalis	79772	5	Positive
clary sage	Salvia sclarea	38869	5	Positive
fireweed	Chamerion angustifolium	13055	5	Positive
horseradish	Armoracia rusticana	3704	5	Positive
water mint	Mentha aquatica	190902	4	Positive
cinnamon myrtle	Backhousia myrtifolia	178105	4	Positive
fingerroot	Uvaria chamae	174970	4	Positive
mexican marigold	Tagetes minuta	169607	4	Positive
boldo	Peumus boldus	63812	4	Positive
alfalfa	Medicago sativa	3879	4	Positive
checkerberry	Gaultheria procumbens	157519	3	Positive	4	Negative
hyssop	Hyssopus officinalis	39324	3	Positive	2	Negative
chive	Allium schoenoprasum	74900	3	Positive	1	Negative
long coriander	Eryngium foetidum	477864	3	Positive
shea butter	Vitellaria paradoxa	292385	3	Positive
spotted orchis	Orchis mascula	59338	3	Positive
sassafras	Sassafras albidum	46945	3	Positive
black mustard	Brassica nigra	3710	2	Positive	2	Negative
musk okra	Abelmoschus moschatus	1170222	2	Positive
pot marjoram	Origanum onites	452416	2	Positive
cubeb pepper	Piper cubeba	405322	2	Positive
oil seed camellia	Camellia oleifera	385388	2	Positive
black cumin	Bunium persicum	377494	2	Positive
persian cow parsley	Heracleum persicum	360621	2	Positive
pandan flower	Pandanus odoratissimus	240453	2	Positive
wild thyme	Thymus serpyllum	204219	2	Positive
indonesian cinnamon	Cinnamomum burmannii	119261	2	Positive
sheep's sorrel	Rumex acetosella	61450	2	Positive
herb bennet	Geum urbanum	57919	2	Positive
lemon myrtle	Backhousia citriodora	39976	2	Positive
white mustard	Sinapis alba	3728	2	Positive
brown mustard	Brassica juncea	3707	2	Positive
mexican oregano	Lippia graveolens	1986359	1	Positive
korarima	Aframomum corrorima	1765291	1	Positive
black cardamom	Amomum subulatum	1008370	1	Positive
pineapple sage	Salvia elegans	888065	1	Positive
saigon cinnamon	Cinnamomum loureiroi	688535	1	Positive
curry plant	Helichrysum italicum	261786	1	Positive
pandan leaf	Pandanus amaryllifolius	260201	1	Positive
red torch ginger	Etlingera elatior	188493	1	Positive
salad burnet	Poterium sanguisorba	137456	1	Positive
linden	Tilia tomentosa	121718	1	Positive
yellow water lily	Nuphar lutea	77113	1	Positive
vanilla	Vanilla planifolia	51239	1	Positive
winter savory	Satureja montana	49988	1	Positive
peruvian pepper	Schinus molle	43851	1	Positive
locoto	Capsicum baccatum	33114	1	Positive
mountain pepper	Tasmannia lanceolata	3420	1	Positive
sago palm	Metroxylon sagu	93297			2	Negative
kawakawa seed	Macropiper excelsum	130373			1	Negative

In red, I've (subjectively) highlighted those that had a particular high ratio of negative assosiations (research reports) compared to the number of positive ones. But each individual will have to do their own reseach to see if the spice/herb is liable to be harmful for them (bearing in mind their individual health issues & also possible conflicts with medicines they take). For example, in my case, I have crossed out ginkgo.

The long and the short of this is that so far, I've determined that it would be good for me to definitely take garlic and tumeric (actually, the deriative active compound curcumin specifically) taking into consideration the diverse health benefits (seemingly without negative implications for my own health) and the cost.

Examine.com (which seems to be a generally reliable website for reviewing such compounds recommends about 10g (or equilavent) of garlic a day - I now 12g simply because of the dose I purchased. This costs about 8 pence a day or 11 cents.

With curcumin, it is very important for it to be activated, otherwise it won't be adequate unless you take a very large dose (research papers generally cite the use of black pepper for this purpose). I have purchased curcumin in the "Meriva" form, which is an alternative method. I take 500mg a day, which costs 27 pence or 35 cents.


Suggested websites (at your own own risk, fingers crossed!):
https://examine.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
https://www.drugs.com/
https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/index
https://www.reddit.com/r/Supplements/


When I was going further down the list of herbs/spices, I was encountering positive associations/research for health conditions/health preservation etc. that had more positive associations with herbs/spices further up the list. Of course it is possible and likely that multiple selections compliment each other. Also, there are many conditions that are person specific, e.g. diabetes rather likely to be of general interest. Other than Garlic and Turmeric (Curcumin), so far, I have asterisked ginger, cinammon, and black cumin for my further consideration.