My Own Special Vitamins!

I'm always struggling to figure out which vitamins and supplements I should be taking.  We all know that it's very difficult to provide our bodies with all the necessary nutrition from food alone.  Is taking a multivitamin each day enough?  Should I be adding other more specialized supplements?  The guys who work at my local Vitamin Shoppe and GNC don't seem to know very much, and I'm always skeptical about their advice.  About a month ago, I discovered a great online tool from Bright-Buys.com (a Market America site) called the Nutri-Physical. It takes about 10 minutes to complete, and the supplement advice it gives is completely customized for you!  You do have to register with the site, but it's free and I have not received one single piece of unsolicited email from them.  Here's a quick overview of what the Nutri-Physical includes:

Section 1 deals with general information, including age, gender, and allergy information.

Section 2 asks detailed questions regarding weight and body type.  There is a great little body mass index tool that calculates your BMI (a measure of body fat based on height and weight) for you.  You are also asked about your level of motivation to lose/gain weight.

In Section 3 you'll deal with diet and exercise.  Questions on eating patterns, number of meals per day, quantity of fruits and vegetable consumed, and caffeine and alcohol intake are included.  Also included are questions regarding aerobic and weight-bearing exercise.

Section 4 focuses on the cardiovascular health/history of you and your family members.

Section 5 examines your stress level.  You'll take a look at the different kinds of stress you may be experiencing, as well as your sleep patterns.

Section 6 is entirely about blood sugar and how your sugar levels may be affecting your daily life.

In Section 7, you'll find questions about your digestive health, including specific queries about your bowel movements (gross, but important!)

Section 8 is about immunity.  Do you think you're more susceptible to viruses and infections than other people?  This is the section for you!

Section 9 asks you about your bones and joints and any body pain you may be experiencing as a result of your daily activities.

Section 10 is about sensory perception, i.e. any problems you may be experiencing with your eyes or ears.

In Section 11 you'll answer questions about your cognitive functions.  Can you remember things the way you used to?  Are you having short term memory loss or difficulty with simple reasoning tasks?

Section 12 is all about your skin!  From acne breakouts to wrinkles, it's all here.

The exam ends with Section 13, which asks a few final gender-based questions... menstrual/hormonal/menopausal stuff for the women.  I can't tell you what they ask the men.  Men, take the physical and let us know!

Based on my answers to the above questions, the Nutri-Physical gave me a suggested panel of vitamins and supplements to take.  Buying all the supplements individually would have cost me $217.80 (yes, I priced it!)  However, Market America will blend a custom cocktail of all your supplements that you can buy for a fraction of the price of buying each product by itself.  I bought it, my order was delivered within a week, and I've been taking my special, custom-made vitamins for almost three weeks now.  Cost-effective and good for my health!