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Chances are, you faithfully take a vitamin or herbal supplement, even if it’s a once daily multi-vitamin.  The truth is, in 2013, at least half of Americans were using supplements, and that has been on the rise in the past 4 years.  It’s expected to continue and for good reason.  We are taking charge of our health, and have thousands of “reputable sources” at our fingertips telling us what supplements we “should” be taking, and equally as many places selling them.

With the popularity of DNA testing (such as 23andme) and sites to parse the raw data for you (such as Prometheus), people are finally understanding exactly WHAT they need to buy.

The shocking truth about your supplements

Now, here comes the shocking truth… brace yourselves… not all of your supplements are created equally.   In fact, one brand may drastically vary in contents and efficacy from another.

Thankfully, there is a site I’ve stumbled upon called LabDoor that independently tests and verifies 27 supplement categories giving them grades based on claims on what they contain to safety and even how effective each supplement will be.

Why does this matter?  Best case scenario is that you could be literally throwing money in the toilet, and worst case is that you could be HARMING your health while pursuing it.

Why am I talking about supplements on a site about working from home?  In order to be productive and constantly learning new things, you need to be healthy.  If you’re struggling with lack of energy, focus, or fatigue, it’s very hard to stay motivated and upbeat while working from home.  You need to be operating at your peak or it’s too easy to slide into laziness or complacency.

So what should you do?  Ahh, that my friend, I have an answer for and will detail in this post.

  1. GET YOUR DNA TESTED. I’m sorry, was I shouting?  Seriously, this has been a game changer for me.  It’s pretty awesome to see your family history, but it’s life changing to find out what genes you have that can be supported by high quality and efficacious supplements.  It’s also a game changer for deciding how, when, and how often to exercise and what you should avoid.  Thankfully, I didn’t have any major concerns, but beware that you may find out that you have a high risk for some things that are a bit scary.  Don’t let this get you down, instead, take a pro-active approach and do everything you can to support the weaker links and then research how to act defensively should these genes become a problem in your future.   It’s a great tool to have to take charge of your health.
  2. See my list below of the HIGHEST rated supplements by LabDoor for each of the 27 most popular categories.  *These are affiliate links, so if you purchase them, I may get a few cents back.  
*I personally use this supplement during my morning or evening routines.  I use others as well, but Labdoor hasn’t tested those so I’m not going to post them here.
3. Go check out LabDoor to find out the details on each supplement above.  I’ve listed the BEST for each, but it’s a good idea to see if LabDoor has rated your current brands to see how they stack up. Some of these I’ve mentioned come in bulk powder form.  Don’t let that scare you!  I put glutamine powder in my protein shakes and since it’s tasteless, this is fine.
 
How about you?  Do you take supplements to increase health & productivity while working from home?  Why or why not?  Which ones?  I love a good recommendation, so comment below!