Jon Barron\'s Supplement Guide

Check out our chart on recommended dietary supplements, and then come back to this page to read Jon Barron's full description of what supplements he takes for his own health:

Digestive Enzymes, Trace Minerals, and a food-grown multivitamin supplement are pretty much my sine qua non of health. If I do these regularly along with proper eating, periodic juice fasting, detoxing, and exercise, my health is going to be pretty darn good.

At one time, I used to consider a broad-based vitamin/mineral supplement the cornerstone of the Baseline of Health^® Program. Nowadays, I'm not so sure. Personally, I probably use more digestive enzymes than any other single supplement. If I had one single supplement to take, it would probably be digestive enzymes with every meal.
It may no longer be number one on my list, but a broad-based vitamin/mineral supplement is still a major component of the program. It's virtually impossible to get everything you need from the modern diet. I recommend a bio-dynamically grown, living-food, multi-vitamin/mineral complex.
A liquid trace mineral supplement -- preferably one that contains electrically-charged micelle colloidal particles that help break surface tension and make the trace minerals more bio-available.

The rest of the items in this list are somewhat "optional." To put it another way, the more you do wrong in your daily life (i.e., eat badly, no exercise, etc.) the more of the following items become mandatory in terms of basic maintenance. If you're looking for optimum health, then the more of the following you do the better regardless of how well you're living. For what it's worth, I do virtually all of them.

The more I use proteolytic enzymes between meals, the more attached I become to their benefits. I now consider their regular use essential for optimum health.
Superfoods should become a regular part of your diet -- if not daily, at least 2-3 times a week. Look for superfood mixes that combine things like hypoallergenic rice and pea protein, ultra long chain carbohydrates, green foods (chlorella, spirulina, barley grass, wheat grass, etc.), good fats, and tons of antioxidants. Either mix them in juice, or blend them in fruit smoothies.
Water soluble fiber in the form of freshly ground golden flaxseed or psyllium seed husks should be used to supplement most diets.
If you eat any grains or moderately high glycemic carbohydrates, you definitely want to be using a fiber based metabolic sugar enhancer to block receptor sites and slow the glycemic response. Look for fibers such as konjac mannan, nopal cactus, fenugreek, and gymnema sylvestre.
A full-spectrum antioxidant is essential to control free radical damage, prevent disease, slow down the degradation of organs such as your eyes, and extend life.
The best sources of Omega-3 fatty acids are fish oil, krill oil, and high lignan cold-pressed, organic flax oil. Each has features that make it unique and invaluable. I use all three, mixing them up to get my 3 grams worth each day.
A good probiotic to keep beneficial bacteria populations at optimum levels.
Vitamin D deficiency is emerging as a major source of age related conditions. 1000 IU a day of D3 is not too much -- particularly if you don't spend much time in the sun. And even if you spend time in the sun, it's still worth supplementing -- particularly as you get older.
Despite the odd (flawed) dissenting study, numerous studies have shown that high quality vitamin E supplementation promotes health. Make sure you use a full spectrum E that emphasizes gamma E and all of the tocotrienols.
L-carnosine is an expensive supplement, but it's also one of the reasons I don't look 60 years old. Dosage is age-related. At my age, I use 1500 mg a day in combination with DMAE and Acetyl-l-carnitine.
For cardiovascular health, I use ubiquinol CoQ10 at 50 mg a day.
I rotate through immune boosters such as echinacea formulas, AHCC, and, colostrum. I also use pathogen destroyers such as garlic, olive leaf extract, and oil of oregano semi-regularly (a couple of times a week) and on an as needed basis.
I like brain enhancers like gingko biloba and bacopa monniera. They definitely improve my short term concentration and maximize the outlook for long term cognitive function.

Daily for those over 30

If you're over 30 and living anywhere on earth, I don't think you have much choice. By the time you're 30, because of exposure to chemical estrogens, your hormonal system is out of whack. You need to consider supplementation with progesterone crème and testosterone balancing formulas. The only caution on progesterone formulas is to not overdo it. The idea is to mimic nature, not blow it away. (Note: for women. If the progesterone crème doesn't do the trick, you might want to consider estriol crème. It's mild and cancer protective and may be all you need. If not, talk to your doctor about bio-identical estrogen.)

Also, if you're over 30, a good HGH secretagogue makes sense. If nothing else, 2000 mg a day of an arginine/ornithine supplement will help. (Note: if you have herpes, don't use the arginine as it can stimulate the virus.)

As for the other hormones -- melatonin, pregnenolone, DHEA, and 7-Keto -- use them as needed. Incidentally, daily here means on-again/off-again as described in Lessons from the Miracle Doctors.

Periodic

There are those who say (and I'm one of them) that any health program should begin with a thorough detoxing. It will maximize the benefits of any supplements you take. I also understand the reality that most people are either afraid of the detoxes or find them too inconvenient. Keep in mind that whether you start with them or not, at some point, they are an indispensable part of the Baseline of Health^® Program. My recommendation for most people is:

2-4 times a year: a colon cleanse combined with a good heavy metal detox.
2-4 times a year: a blood/liver detox -- immediately preceded by a stone softening program that also works as a kidney flush.

To make things easy, I do the detoxes on a seasonal basis -- spring, summer, fall, and winter.

Spring is the colon/heavy metal detox.
Summer is the liver/blood/kidney detox.
Fall repeats the colon/heavy metal detox.
And winter, right after the holidays are over, is the perfect time for a repeat of the liver/blood/kidney detox. As a side note, we now do the post holiday detox as a worldwide group event with people from countries all over the world doing the detox at the same time and support each other. Check it out at our natural detox program.
Note: if seriously ill, the detox programs need to be done immediately -- back to back. Then, take one week off and repeat, and repeat again as long as necessary.

As needed

If needed, take a colon activator daily to avoid retaining fecal matter. Also, the worse you eat and/or the more contact you have with toxins, the more often you need to cleanse and detox. Other "as needed" formulas include stress reducers, energy enhancers, and joint support formulas.

Lifestyle changes

Daily Exercise

Even if you are ill (especially if you are ill), you must exercise. If all you can do is hobble around the bed with a walker, do it. Do one lap around the bed the first day, and two the next. Ultimately, get to a place where you are doing some weight bearing exercise, some cardio, some stretching, and some breathing exercises. Cycle through them on a day-by-day basis, but do something every day.

Relaxation

Meditate daily, or pray deeply -- morning and evening. Watch your breath. Use bio-feedback devices. In other words, use whatever works for you to help you relax. At the end of each session, practice healing visualizations and affirmations. Use a nerve tonic as needed.

Water

There are people who say you get all the water you need in the foods you eat. That's simply not true. You need to drink a minimum of 64 ounces of pure, pH optimized water every day. Note: soda and coffee do not count.

Juice Fasting

I'm really big on juice fasting. I think the single best investment you can make in your health is a good juicer. Both fresh vegetable and fresh fruit juices are great, but I would definitely recommend emphasizing the vegetable juices as they are more alkalinizing and contain less sugar. My basic recommended protocol is:

Fast one day a week on juice and one of the super foods.
Every month do a 3 day juice/superfood fast.
And twice a year, as part of your bi-annual liver detox, do a 5-6 day juice/superfood fast.

Here's an interesting thought to keep in mind. If you fast just one day week, in seven years, you will have fasted for one entire year. It's amazing how it adds up. What do you think a year of fasting every seven years would do to optimize your health -- let alone slow down any weight gain you might otherwise have experienced.

And finally, if seriously ill, start a juice fast immediately. Drink up to a gallon of diluted fresh juice a day -- an 8 ounce glass every hour you're awake.

Diet

You know what to do. If you can't be perfect in your dietary habits, at least be better than you are now. If you have a really bad day (filled with chili dogs, beer, and ding dongs), do a one day juice fast the next day. Your body has a remarkable ability to repair itself -- if you give it a chance.

And once again, if you are seriously ill, you have no choice. You must totally clean up your act until you are well. No cooked foods; no processed foods; lots of fruits and vegetables -- especially fresh juices. And remember, once you are feeling better, don't jump right back into your bad habits. Continue on your high level health program for at least six months after symptoms clear before doing any back-sliding. In other words, make sure the disease is absolutely gone before allowing it a chance to jump right back.

Conclusion

When you look at this list, you can see it follows the entire Baseline of Health^® Program. Everything in Lessons from the Miracle Doctors fills out the details, so I highly encourage you to read it.

Before I close out here, let me make one final comment. Although I have taken my shots at modern medicine, I'm actually very optimistic about some of the things I see coming in the future. We've certainly got a long way to go, but I believe that many of the treatments that we consider barbaric will go the way of the dinosaur and that many of the worst pharmaceutical drugs will be replaced with high level metabolic moderators and immune enhancers. Cancer research is already turning in this direction. But that said…

No amount of medical advancement will make:

Unhealthy fast food into health enhancing nutrition.
A plugged colon incidental.
An overtaxed liver beneficial to your health.
A body filled with hundreds of toxic chemicals and heavy metals healthy.

And even if it's coming in the future, it doesn't help in the here and now. Ultimately, if you want optimum health, if you want to overcome illness, you have no choice. You cannot wait for some magic bullet that is unlikely to ever come, and is certainly not here now. You must take charge of your own health.

And don't count on the medical system in your country to take care of you. You don't have to be a genius to see that no amount of tinkering and funding can stop the inevitable train wreck barreling towards us. How can any healthcare system survive one third to one half of its population living for 20-30 years with severe diabetes -- let alone the other half that will suffer from cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's, and MS? There isn't enough money in the world to cover it. The only way that healthcare can survive -- the only way you can survive -- is if you take back control of your health and start doing those things that allow your body to stay healthy. In other words, the only way to save healthcare is to stop using it.

Bottom line: you need to start living the Baseline of Health^®.
http://jonbarron.org/read-the-guide