It’s probably not a supplement sensitivity!
Let’s help you investigate how to break down when you experience a symptom and how it may or may not be connected to a supplement, what you ate that day, or that week!
There are so many extenuating circumstances that come into play when a reaction is present. Often we tend to place the blame on the easiest culprit without digging a little deeper and asking critical questions to get to the true root cause of the reaction.
Too often, I hear people claiming to have a reaction to supplements when in reality, the supplements are not causing the reaction at all. In fact, it is quite rare for supplements to cause a reaction. Check out my blog Blame For Our Chronic Illness Symptoms to learn more about what could be causing your sensitivities and symptoms.
Now, let’s dig a little deeper and understand if you are truly experiencing supplement sensitivity.
When Is It A Symptom vs. A Sensitivity?
When is it a symptom vs. a sensitivity? There are people who tell me they react to all the foods they eat. When I ask them if they have these symptoms even when they don’t eat, and their response is yes…then it is not actually food sensitivity.
In this case, it is simply the symptoms you are dealing with, and you will have those symptoms regardless of what you do in life or what you eat, until you have taken the proper steps to heal them for long enough. Food and chemical sensitivities take longer to heal.
“Freedom comes from knowing that it’s not a single or silent trigger that turns your life upside down overnight. It’s a slow build, which means it can be deconstructed. Healing from chemical sensitivities is about patience and understanding.”
Anthony William, Liver Rescue
Examples of food or chemical sensitivity with different clients:
- Clients who are healing for years before they can go fully raw or years before they can let go of fat.
- Clients who can ONLY take supplements in small dosages but can handle a wide variety of supplements (are chemically-sensitive)
- Clients who can only take 2 – 4 supplements in tiny dosages (are chemically-sensitive)
- Clients who are allergic to certain foods (this is different than a sensitivity)
- Clients with ANY chemical sensitivities: gasoline, mold, fragrance, petrochemicals, smoke, etc .
Do You React to things other than supplements as well?
Do you react ONLY to supplements, or are you sensitive to certain foods, chemicals, pesticides, fragrances, pollen, ragweed, etc.?
If you are sensitive to anything else outside of supplements, it is highly unlikely that you are experiencing supplement sensitivity. What you are likely dealing with is food or chemical sensitivity, which is very common. This comes from an overburdened liver, full of poisons. In such circumstances, the issue of the overburdened liver needs to be specifically addressed. Supplements can be very helpful for such a condition, as long as the supplements are truly clean so they can address the root cause of the overburdened liver.
Furthermore, people with these sensitivities do far better with fewer supplements. Medical Medium® writes about this in the food and chemical sensitivity chapter of Liver Rescue.
If you are indeed food and chemically sensitive, you do need to go slower with not just supplements but healing foods too.
When Do Symptoms Appear?
Do the symptoms that show up when you “react” to supplements show up at any other time in your life?… When do symptoms appear?
If you have had the same symptoms appear at another time in your life when you were not taking supplements or not taking the ones you suspect, then it is highly unlikely that what you are experiencing can be attributed to supplement sensitivity.
It is critical to be a good detective when it comes to this topic because supplements are so helpful for moving the needle forward on your health and viral symptoms. You do not want to mistakenly tell yourself that you are “supplement-sensitive” and stop taking supplements when they could actually be the answer you need to move your health forward. By no means am I disregarding any symptoms you are experiencing – I have so much compassion for your suffering – I am only saying that you don’t want to connect your symptoms to the wrong root cause. I am also not saying you should continue taking a supplement if you are not confident doing so. Keep reading, and I will explain in more depth how you can handle your symptoms.
Brand Of Supplements
What brand of supplements are you taking that you feel is causing a reaction? Are they the clean recommended brands from Medical Medium® Anthony William’s supplement directory?
Often, if you are genuinely reacting to a supplement, the reaction comes from other ingredients in the supplement rather than the actual herb itself. Make sure to look closely at the other ingredients in your supplement – for example, be on the lookout for alcohol, stearates, maltodextrin, and GMO fillers.
Knowing what’s in your supplements and how they are sourced is critical.
How Much of a Supplement Are You Taking?
What dosage are you taking of the supplements in question? If you’ve checked to make sure you are taking truly clean supplements that don’t contain ingredients Medical Medium® does not recommend, have you considered you may be taking too much of one supplement?
The next step is to lower that supplement to a minuscule amount and test it to see whether you are still experiencing symptoms. Chances are you could be connecting a symptom to a supplement that is not actually connected.
How do you reduce supplements to test your reactions?
“If you are sensitive, try one supplement a day”
– Medical Medium, Cleanse to Heal
If you are taking a capsule, you can open up a capsule and just take a pinch of the powder that is in the capsule.
If you are taking tinctures or liquid supplements, reduce to drops, and if you are nervous about drops you can put a drop in 2 – 3 ounces of water and take a small sip. This will give you only a fraction of a drop. I have had great success using this technique for sensitive clients.
For those who have food and chemical sensitivities, do not worry. You can still heal on lower doses of supplements as many of my clients do.
Even if you are starting with food and chemical sensitivities and have to go slow, a SIGN OF HEALING is when you can take more supplements over time.
So don’t give up – keep at it! So many of my clients who were unable to take average doses, in the beginning build slowly and can surpass even the average recommended doses as they heal.
Trigger Exposure
Have you recently been exposed to triggers? If so, what are those triggers? Triggers are not necessarily from the day/week/month you react. A trigger can come from a long time ago. For example, when someone has gone through a tough time emotionally, or a prolonged period of extra stress, the symptom or condition can manifest months or even a year down the road.
“The liver can’t let go as fast as the poisons enter. The trigger finally pushes the liver over the edge. It could be a visit to the dentist’s office to get a mercury filling drilled out, which out-gasses mercury into your system. It could be that walk through the condo park, getting hit with toxic weed killer. …The final triggers aren’t the cause; they’re the liver’s last straw.”
Anthony William, Liver Rescue
Connecting Things that aren’t Connected
Often, as humans, we make connections about the foods we eat, the supplements we take, or the things we do in life. It’s difficult to remember that when dealing with healing chronic illness, the connections are not always immediate. For example, just because I took a supplement and felt a symptom arise, it may not have been from that supplement. The likely scenario is that the connection was to food I ate, chemicals I encountered, or any number of liver troublemakers that could ignite such sensitivities.
It is so much easier for us to draw immediate connections, but when dealing with chronic illness, the connections are less obvious and far more nuanced. Do not jump to conclusions, and remember that the proper supplements are incredibly healing. Also remember that when a symptom arises, as Anthony states in the quote above – it is often the liver’s last straw, not what you ate or have taken in the moment.
Bottom Line
The bottom line is you must pay attention to the nuances. The worst thing you can do is automatically blame one of the most critical elements of healing…pure and clean supplements.
By understanding what’s really going on in your body, you will have a better sense of what’s actually causing your reactions. For a deeper grasp on root causes, check out my Understanding The Root Causes Of Chronic Illness Masterclass. No matter what your symptoms, this powerful masterclass will teach you the root cause.
I know this can be a confusing subject, but I am passionate about people understanding the power of supplementation when administered properly. Please leave me a comment or question below – it is my goal to make it very clear to everyone that true supplement sensitivity is quite rare.
To your health & happiness,
Muneeza
