In other news (apolitical thread)...

[betarhoalphadelta]

I take turmeric. Heard it helps a bit with inflammation and I sometimes have issue with golfer's elbow / tennis elbow. 

Does it work? Hell if I know. 

[Cincydawg]

My wife takes all sorts of things, some tiny little pills of something her cousin told her about.  Her cousin in France is a "doctor of homeopathy", which to me is just ridiculous stuff.  My wife thinks tumeric helps her joints, it probably does not harm.  Realistically her knees are shot though.

Women seem to be more afflicted than men with hormonal shifts and whatnot.  

I started taking a multivitamin a while back, didn't expect to note any changes, it's just a safety precaution.  I do think MOST of this stuff is bunk.

[MikeDeTiger]

There is a major difference in brands of supplements, particularly in the US where the FDA doesn't regulate them, like people (me) assume they would.  You've got a double whammy, unless things have changed.  First, the amounts stated on the bottles could be fabricated.  Like I said, the FDA doesn't really oversee that.  If a Vitamin C tablet claims it has 100 mg of vitamin C.....maybe it does, maybe it doesn't.  Second, even when capsules do contain what they say they do, there's something called bio-availability, which is basically an absorption thing.  A supplement can truly contain X mg of something, but that doesn't mean your body will absorb X mg.  Depending on the bio-chemical mumbo-jumbo--CD would probably know more about that--you can swallow something, your digestive system can get a hold of it, and you may urinate (or the other thing) it out without the target chemical really getting into your body.  So you might as well not have taken anything at all. 

There are some reputable companies who have at least some amount of studies to back up their claim that you'll actually get the benefit of X mg of whatever.  Some doctor's offices sell those.  Most docs I've seen don't care one way or the other, partly because they know lots of pills are trash, and partly because they just don't care about that kind of stuff.  

I take a few supplements.  One is to combat the formation of kidney stones, one is to help joints.  I've had noticeable success with those, and the results are measurable, tangible, and repeatable.  I take a few others for other things that I honestly can't tell the difference.  But the wife is happier with me taking them, so.....

[Cincydawg]

One factor in any of this is the stomach, it's a chemical factory of considerable potency.  It tears apart just about anything it sees other than water and some other simpler things.  

It's both quite acidic of course and replete with various enzymes to break down fat and proteins.  Some of these "supplements" like get clobbered in the stomach no matter what.  

[betarhoalphadelta]

But the wife is happier with me taking them, so.....

Yeah... She has me in vitamins C and D. I've also been taking Airborne as an immune system supplement, which apparently has a bunch of vitamins C and D. So I guess I should either/or this going forward. 

Truth is that I very rarely get sick anyway, even with kids--although it's a lot easier to avoid now that all the kids are teens rather than the early years. 

[Cincydawg]

Digestive Enzymes and Digestive Enzyme Supplements | Johns Hopkins Medicine

[FearlessF]

I take capsaicin the old fashioned way. I earn it!

[Riffraft]

I take a gram of vit c, 500 iu of vit e and an old man's Multivitamin daily 

[Cincydawg]

There is a neat quote in "The Last Samurai" I always liked, "Too much mind".

When I was learning to land an airplane, I was doing that thing exactly, and not landing well at all.  This in part was because my lessons were spread out over weeks at times because of having kids to rear.  But, I'd over think, over adjust, over compensate.  You need to flare just before touchdown and if I managed a solid approach, I'd flare too early, now the plane is up in the air and slowing down too much, so you have to add a bit of power and recover, if you don't just go around (which I did often enough).

I finally reached the point of "not thinking", just feeling the airplane, and I got pretty proficient at it even in a crosswind (which really complicates matters).

I find the same true for pitching and hitting, when pitching I can get consumed with where my elbow is, or my leg raise, whatever, I have to just relax my "too much mind" and let it flow.  I can type that way, just think of a word and type it, magically, somehow.

Of late, I've tried to get back into playing the piano some.  Long ago I'd play an hour or more a day, and got fairly proficient.  I can recall playing and noting my hands and fingers were "doing their thing" and my brain was consciously not paying much attention.  I restarted with this Rachmaninof piece that is basically a lot of fairly complex chords, and initially I have to slowly figure them out, now it's starting to come back to me, the chords I see on the page just go to the fingers without "too much mind".

I find the whole thing very interesting, and wish I could control it all at will, but can't.  

Our brains are pretty remarkable.  

[OrangeAfroMan]

There is a major difference in brands of supplements, particularly in the US where the FDA doesn't regulate them, like people (me) assume they would.  You've got a double whammy, unless things have changed.  First, the amounts stated on the bottles could be fabricated.  Like I said, the FDA doesn't really oversee that.  If a Vitamin C tablet claims it has 100 mg of vitamin C.....maybe it does, maybe it doesn't.  Second, even when capsules do contain what they say they do, there's something called bio-availability, which is basically an absorption thing.  A supplement can truly contain X mg of something, but that doesn't mean your body will absorb X mg.  Depending on the bio-chemical mumbo-jumbo--CD would probably know more about that--you can swallow something, your digestive system can get a hold of it, and you may urinate (or the other thing) it out without the target chemical really getting into your body.  So you might as well not have taken anything at all.

This unknown is why I take 2 multivitamins 1-2x a day.  
I feel better when I'm taking vitamins vs when I haven't.  That could be placebo, of course.  
I put the bottle on my bathroom sink, and take 2 after going number 2 (that's where the 1-2x a day comes from).
If I'm going to get in this good? habit, I'm going to get the benefits and not shortchange myself.

[betarhoalphadelta]

I find the same true for pitching and hitting, when pitching I can get consumed with where my elbow is, or my leg raise, whatever, I have to just relax my "too much mind" and let it flow.  I can type that way, just think of a word and type it, magically, somehow.

Yeah, golf is similar. People debate what you should have for "swing thoughts". 

Some say nothing. Others say external (perhaps target) focus. Others say internal focus, i.e. some sort of physical cue that is repeatable. 

I think in all cases, even if there is a swing thought at all, it's about quieting the mind and having only one focus, not trying to actually manipulate everything that you're doing actively while swinging. 

The one thing that destroys most golf swings? Multiple swing thoughts. 

Of course, most golfers are also this: