I've had a pretty revolutionary change the past few days, and if it can help someone else, I felt it was worth sharing.
Simply, I had reached a place where the things I were taking were not giving me the same anxiolytic and mood-lifting effects I was accustomed to.
When that happened with K@, I realized it had to be a tolerance thing.
But when it happened with Kava, I felt like something was up.
I researched mal-absorption, on the hunch that it SEEMED like my body wasn't processing stuff the way it should.
(My FIRST thought was that my liver was failing... or something extreme like that.)
Seeing that caffeine can interfere with vitamin/supplement absorption, I quit drinking my cups in the morning.
The next - and BIGGEST - thing that helped, was to add oil to my supplement routine.
A super kind and helpful member here shared some info with me about sunflower lecithin. I was pleased to learn of it, because I didn't want to be taking soy lecithin every day.
While picking up some sunflower lecithin, I also grabbed a bottle of MCT (Medium Chain Triglyceride) oil. It's derived from coconuts and extremely easy for the body to absorb.
I know terms like "game-changer" are often thrown around too quickly, but I'm telling you... this stuff has been HUGE for me.
SIDE-BENEFIT, and one I didn't even notice, because I was more blown away by how GOOD I feel:
Within a week, my dermo was gone. I'm no longer slathering Amlactin all over myself at night.
What I'm accustomed to is waking up feeling "low", getting a little boost from supplements for an hour or so, and absolutely dragging through work by 2pm.
Previously, I would look forward to my after-work Kava session, but that got to a place where I was not only not feeling the positive effects - it would even sometimes leave me feeling worse than when I started the session.
I wanted to come here and post the day after this new change, but felt like I should wait and see if it wasn't a fluke.
(I'm also more of a pessimist, and when things are going well I find myself almost waiting for things to NOT go well. I know that's not the way to be.)
Granted, cutting out the one or two cups of coffee in morning may be playing a bigger factor in this than I anticipated.
But I really think it has more to do with the addition of oil/fat.
For the curious: I take a tablespoon (15ml) in the morning when I take my supplements. I also add just shy of that when I drink Kava in the evenings.
This whole experience made me think of Julia Childs: "You need some fat in your diet, or your body can't process your vitamins."
Simply, I had reached a place where the things I were taking were not giving me the same anxiolytic and mood-lifting effects I was accustomed to.
When that happened with K@, I realized it had to be a tolerance thing.
But when it happened with Kava, I felt like something was up.
I researched mal-absorption, on the hunch that it SEEMED like my body wasn't processing stuff the way it should.
(My FIRST thought was that my liver was failing... or something extreme like that.)
Seeing that caffeine can interfere with vitamin/supplement absorption, I quit drinking my cups in the morning.
The next - and BIGGEST - thing that helped, was to add oil to my supplement routine.
A super kind and helpful member here shared some info with me about sunflower lecithin. I was pleased to learn of it, because I didn't want to be taking soy lecithin every day.
While picking up some sunflower lecithin, I also grabbed a bottle of MCT (Medium Chain Triglyceride) oil. It's derived from coconuts and extremely easy for the body to absorb.
I know terms like "game-changer" are often thrown around too quickly, but I'm telling you... this stuff has been HUGE for me.
SIDE-BENEFIT, and one I didn't even notice, because I was more blown away by how GOOD I feel:
Within a week, my dermo was gone. I'm no longer slathering Amlactin all over myself at night.
What I'm accustomed to is waking up feeling "low", getting a little boost from supplements for an hour or so, and absolutely dragging through work by 2pm.
Previously, I would look forward to my after-work Kava session, but that got to a place where I was not only not feeling the positive effects - it would even sometimes leave me feeling worse than when I started the session.
I wanted to come here and post the day after this new change, but felt like I should wait and see if it wasn't a fluke.
(I'm also more of a pessimist, and when things are going well I find myself almost waiting for things to NOT go well. I know that's not the way to be.)
Granted, cutting out the one or two cups of coffee in morning may be playing a bigger factor in this than I anticipated.
But I really think it has more to do with the addition of oil/fat.
For the curious: I take a tablespoon (15ml) in the morning when I take my supplements. I also add just shy of that when I drink Kava in the evenings.
This whole experience made me think of Julia Childs: "You need some fat in your diet, or your body can't process your vitamins."