Nutrition and supplements can be a dizzying subject. You like to offer as much "wellness" as is practical, and that must include nutritional supplements. While most chiropractors are experts at spinal care, there aren’t enough hours in the day to also be fully educated about supplements. Every vendor has a story about why their products are the best. If you don’t study supplements full-time, it’s impossible to feel like you have your bases covered.

Shotgun Approach

Since I didn’t have a nutritionist on staff, I felt that I needed a "shotgun" effort on the nutrition front. I don’t have the time to offer individual, custom nutrition packages for each patient. But at the same time, I didn’t want to ignore the nutritional-supplement component in my practice. In today’s world, we need supplementation to our diets more than ever. I am impressed with how many ingredients intraMAX® contains in that 1-ounce serving. Instead of carrying a whole bunch of various products, I feel comfortable with intraMAX supporting most nutritional needs. Instead of confusing patients with many different bottles and dosages, we simplified our solution to one product that provides a complete shotgun approach.

Cellular Absorption

intraMAX™ from Drucker Labs contains more than 70 trace minerals that are all 100% organic microcomplexed, plus more than 415 daily essential nutrients.

One of the most important criteria I used for choosing my nutritional product was the issue of absorption. I wanted something that worked on the cellular level. If you take vitamins and minerals that are not microcomplexed, I don’t know how likely it is that those larger molecules can be absorbed into the body. If the molecules are four times the size of a red blood cell, can they be truly absorbed into your body? If you take something that just passes through the body, what good is that doing?

intraMAX is microcomplexed and has a delivery system that I don’t see in other products out there. I had read about potential problems with colloidal minerals, which leads me to avoid suggesting them to my patients.

Synthetic or Organic

Another factor I looked at in choosing what to offer my patients was whether it was synthetic or organic. If your nutrition is being offered in a manner not consistent with how nature intended, I am skeptical about how effective it might be, and it might even be harmful. The fact that this product is 100% carbon-bond organic was attractive to me.

Do as I do. I think it’s important that a chiropractor uses the same product he suggests to his patients. intraMAX is what I take personally, every day, and I have confidence about taking this complete supplement. If you truly believe in the products you request your patients to use, your advice comes from the heart. I have no problem telling all of my patients they need to take intraMAX. There is no reason to be sheepish or feel funny about telling them to take a multivitamin. I believe in what I advise them to do and have their best interest at heart.

Need for Other Products

The one additional product I recommend is for joint-specific nutrition. I feel the need for additional glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and MSM to ensure an effective joint care spectrum.

For more on nutritional supplements, go to the November 2006 article titled, "Supplement Your Practice."

One thing that I’d like to see improved is the bottle itself. As hard as you try, it seems like it’s impossible to take the product without it dripping down the bottle. I actually pour it into another dispensing bottle for my personal use. It allows for a 1-ounce serving without anything dripping down the side.

There are all kinds of health care practices. If you happen to have a nutritionist on staff, it may be practical to offer your patients customized nutrition programs. However, if you’re like me, and don’t have the luxury of extra staff to cover nutrition, it makes sense to carry a product that covers all your bases. This simplifies the whole process. I didn’t feel comfortable not addressing nutrition since it is so vital to overall wellness. It’s hard to fathom that just one ounce of intraMAX contains more than 400 different ingredients. But I know my patients and staff members feel energetic and, well, great from taking intraMAX every day.

Using intraMAX gives me confidence that we have a complete solution on our shelf. We go through it very quickly and are ordering cases on a regular basis.

Tim Pence, DC, practices in Lewisburg, WV. Contact him at (304) 645-6080.