Hi Sazz,

I agree with you that Dr A's book can be pretty confusing about the supps.

I really don't know what is the best thing to help with energy for workouts. perhaps if you look at the sticky threads in the exercise forums, there will be something there to help you.

I can help with the others though.

Firstly, we should all be taking a multivitamin. Secondly, most of us need to supplement calcium and magnesium. We need at least 1000mg calcium and 500mg magnesium daily - 1500 and 750 if postmenopausal. As it happens, these two minerals work best if taken together. I believe you can get 330:166 mg tabs (where I come from we get 250:125 ). They don't last for more than 12 hours, so it's best to divide the dose. One with each meal seems a good idea.

We can also lose a lot potassium when low carbing. It is suggested (by the Drs Eades of Protein Power) we supplement with 400mg daily (again in divided doses) while losing weight, reducing to 100mg when maintaining. You can buy 99mg tablets or you can use a potassium salt such as No Salt and simply sprinkle it on your food.
If you take the tablets, do take with food as they can irritate the tum, and anyone taking diuretics or BP meds should check with their pharmacist before supplementing with potassium.

Sweet cravings (oh my, I had my share of those ) can be prevented by taking L-Glutamine. Dr A suggests 500-1000mg ½ hour before meals. It really did wonders for me! If you are working out, you might like to buy the powder rather than the tablets, as glutamine can also help remove post exercise muscle aches. For that you'll need at least 2g.

Believe it or not, the best way to remove fluid retention is to drink more water. Lots and lots of water.

HTH!

Rosebud