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Manual for Starting Your Supplement Journey

If you’ve never taken supplements before or are finding it difficult to begin, this guide will help you with some questions you might be having.

By now, we’re sure you know the importance of nutritional supplements and the reasons to take supplements. However, while there is a vast array of benefits to taking dietary supplements, if you don’t know how to use them and take them without considering their correct dosage or use, this can have consequences on your body and do you more damage than good. It can leave you with side effects and put you off taking supplements altogether, which is frustrating when you’ve spent good money.

Before you start taking supplements, our suggestion is to always speak with your doctor. They understand your medical history and can help you determine if any new supplements you’re thinking of taking will be right for you or if they will have any interactions with the medication you’re taking.

As a supplement manufacturer, we believe it’s our duty to inform you of how to use our supplements, so this supplement guide will touch on questions like:

• How Do I Take Supplements?
• When Do I Take Supplements?
• What Do I Do If I Feel Dizzy or Nauseous After Taking Supplements?
• How Soon Will I Start to See Effects From Taking Supplements?
• Why Do I Still Feel Sleepy After Taking NMN?

How Do I Take Supplements?

Ever wondered, ‘How do I get started with supplements?’ The simplest suggestion we can give you is to always read the label of the supplement you’re taking to learn how to safely consume it. It will generally tell you what’s in it and how much, how much of it to take, how to store it and some safety considerations.

As for Xandro Lab Supplements, here’s our dosage and how to use information:

• Ashwagandha: Take two capsules each day, taking one first and then gradually adding the second. Don’t take ashwagandha if pregnant or breastfeeding. Also, don’t take ashwagandha if you have autoimmune conditions or are on medications that lower your blood pressure, are immune suppressants, are sleep aids, that lower your glucose or are thyroid hormones.
• Calcium AKG: Take one or two capsules each day, starting with one and then gradually increasing to two. This supplement is an AKG supplement and not a calcium supplement as only 90mg of the 500mg is calcium. AKG is possibly safe to use for up to three years, but to be safe, don’t take when pregnant.
• Magnesium Glycinate: Take one to two capsules each day, preferably with food.
• NMN Capsules: Take one capsule each day with food.
• NMN Powder: Take ½ a scoop (500mg) each day, then gradually increase as your body gets used to it, taking it once or twice a day. You can dissolve it in water or food but placing it directly under your tongue helps with sublingual absorption. Take it with a meal.
• Pom-Q10: Take two capsules each day, preferably with food.
• Spermidine: Take one to two capsules per day, preferably with food. Start with one capsule then gradually increase this to two once your body tolerates it, generally about two weeks.
• Trans-Resveratrol: Take one or two capsules each day, starting with one and then increasing to two after 14 days. Don’t take trans-resveratrol if taking medications that are metabolised by the liver and don’t take after you’ve just had surgery.
• Turmeric Curcumin: Take one capsule each day. If you have liver problems or use blood-thinning medication, don’t take curcumin.

Further Reading: Dietary Supplement Interactions with Medications

When Do I Take Supplements?

Other than how to take supplements, to maximise the supplement’s effect on your body, it’s important to know the optimal time to take them.

Do you take all supplements at once? This depends on the best time to take the individual supplements. Taking vitamins at night vs morning depends on the supplement and the benefit you’re taking it for, but if you have a range of supplements that are best to take in the morning with breakfast, then it’s perfectly fine to take them all while eating breakfast.

Here’s when to take Xandro Lab Supplements:

• Ashwagandha: Take with food to prevent upsetting your stomach. Take one at lunch and one at dinner to help with sleep and relaxation.
• Calcium AKG: Take Calcium AKG with a meal at midday to help you break it down.
• Magnesium Glycinate: Take one capsule at lunch, then the second at dinner or an hour before bed if you’re using it to help your sleep.
• NMN Capsules: Take in the morning or afternoon to help with all-day energy.
• NMN Powder: Take NMN powder in the morning with breakfast, but once you develop a tolerance, you can take it about an hour before breakfast on an empty stomach for better absorption.
• Pom-Q10: Take POM-Q10 at breakfast or at lunch.
• Spermidine: Preferable take with a meal. This can be breakfast or lunch. Once your body is used to this, you can take this on an empty stomach in the morning or at around 3 to 4pm if you wish to better help with absorption.
• Trans-Resveratrol: Take trans-resveratrol with food, such as at lunch at around 12 to 1pm. Some people find taking trans-resveratrol at night on an empty stomach works best for them.
• Turmeric Curcumin: Take in the morning or at lunchtime, within three hours before or after a meal. It may interfere with sleep if taken at night.

Further Reading: How-To-Guide for taking Xandro Lab Supplements

What Do I Do If I Feel Dizzy or Nauseous After Taking Supplements?

It can be easy to blame the side effects of a supplement on the supplement itself or on the manufacturer who produced it, and while there are definitely some dodgy manufacturers out there who add toxins and too many ingredients to their supplements, sometimes, a supplement just may not agree with you.

If this is you, there are a few ways to go forward. While there may be others, here are some options we recommend:

Option 1: Reintroduce the supplement at a lower dose

• Firstly, if you feel as though you’re having an adverse effect from a supplement, you need to take a one to two-week break from the supplement.
• From there, you can slowly reintroduce the supplement at a lower dosage so that your body can get acquainted with it. For example, with Xandro Lab’s Pure NMN Powder, since a serving is half a scoop, reintroduce it to your diet by taking less than half a scoop of NMN powder, about 200 to 250mg.
• If the situation does not improve, stop taking the supplement and speak with your doctor.

How do I start taking new supplements? This is also the framework for taking new supplements. Rather than taking the supplement at a lower dose, slowly introduce a new supplement into your stack about two weeks after a previous one. This is to allow you to track which supplements are causing certain effects on your body, if any.

Option 2: Isolate the supplement

You can isolate the supplements in one of two ways.

• Space out the time of consumption. Instead of taking all your supplements together, space them out by two hours. You can also use breakfast and lunch as supplement intake times.
• Second, you can take one supplement for two weeks, measuring any observations or differences in your body. If you’re not experiencing any effects, add the second supplement into your routine. If you’re feeling side effects, stop taking the supplement, then wait another week before introducing the next supplement.

How Soon Will I Start to See Effects From Taking Supplements?

How long it takes to see results from supplements often depends on factors such as your age, health, diet, whether you smoke as well as the individual supplement.

It can also depend on the form of the supplement you’re taking, such as whether it’s a powder, liquid or capsule, but read more about that here.

It’s always important to understand that if you have a deficiency in a vitamin or mineral, you will experience that individual supplement’s effects much faster as your levels improve.

Also, it might take you longer to feel the benefits of a various supplement, depending on what you’re taking it for, so keep that in mind.

As for Xandro Lab’s supplements, here are the general time frames for when you will see results. Make sure to take the supplements consistently to maximise benefits.

• Ashwagandha:
  • Reduced stress: within 4 to 6 weeks
  • Better sleep: within 4 to 6 weeks
  • Reduced anxiety: within 6 to 8 weeks
  • Improved testosterone levels: about 2 months
  • Weight loss: about 2 months
  • More energy: within 2 to 3 months
  • Improved focus: within 2 to 3 months
  • Muscle gain: within 2 to 3 months
• Calcium AKG:
  • Improved energy: after 2 weeks
  • Nail health: within 2 to 3 months
  • Bone health: within 3 to 6 months
  • Hair health: within 4 to 6 months
  • Longevity: after 7 months
• Magnesium Glycinate:
  • Reduced stress and anxiety: within a day to 3 weeks
  • For depression: within 2 weeks
  • Reduced muscle fatigue/cramping: within 2 to 4 weeks
  • Bowel regularity: within 1 to 2 months
  • Improved sleep: within 2 months
  • Less migraines/headaches: within 3 to 6 months, some in a few days
• NMN:
  • Improved energy: within 2 to 4 weeks
  • Better sleep: within 2 to 4 weeks
  • Muscle and mobility improvements: within 12 weeks
  • Skin health: within 3 to 6 months
• Pom-Q10:
  • Improved digestion: within 4 to 8 weeks
  • Reduced arthritis symptoms: Within 2 months
  • Improved blood pressure: within 2 months
  • Improved physical performance: within 6 to 12 weeks
  • Improved cardiovascular health: within 8 weeks
  • Improved cholesterol levels: within 3 to 6 months
• Spermidine:
  • Joint health: within 2 to 4 months
  • Hair growth: after 3 months
  • Weight loss: after 4 months
  • Cell regeneration: 6 to 12 months
  • Fewer age spots: within 6 to 12 months
• Trans-Resveratrol:
  • Weight loss: After a month
  • Skin health: within 4 to 8 weeks
  • Exercise endurance: within 6 to 12 weeks
  • Lower cholesterol: after 6 months
• Turmeric Curcumin:
  • Reduced inflammation: within 2 to 4 weeks
  • Clearer skin: within 2 to 4 weeks
  • Cognitive benefits: after 4 weeks
  • Joint health: within 1 to 3 months
  • Digestion: within 2 to 3 months

Remember, these are general estimates and while some studies can back up these timeframes (read more on that, here), some of these time frames are based on anecdotal experience. It might take you quicker or longer to experience the effects of these supplements.

Why Do I Still Feel Sleepy After Taking NMN?

This is a common question we get, and the answer isn’t so straightforward.

Firstly, one of the side effects of NMN that some people report is actually fatigue, so you might be one of the people experiencing that. It might be best to lower the dosage of NMN to reduce the fatigue effect and then slowly increase this over time.

As mentioned above, NMN takes time to build up within our bodies, so make sure to consistently take the supplement to build up your levels.

Another factor is the time that you’re taking it. While we recommend taking NMN in the morning to help with your energy levels during the day, some people experience better benefits on fatigue and physical performance when taking it in the evening. Each of our bodies is different, so how a supplement affects you might be different from others. Safely experiment with the supplements you’re taking to see what works best for you.

In relation to the fatigue side effect, some people have reported that taking TMG (betaine or trimethylglycine) along with NMN helped the fatigue and sleepiness disappear but speak with your doctor before adding this to your diet. This is because some of the side effects that came with NAD+ precursors, like NMN and NR, tend to come from the niacin portion messing with the methylation.

It’s also important to remember that NMN is not a wonder supplement. You can’t simply take it and expect it to fix your health issues without improving other areas in your life that affect your sleep, such as sleep time, stress levels and other deficiencies you may have, like a magnesium deficiency.

End Note

We hope this has given you some insight into how to start or restart your supplement journey. If you’re reading this, then you know that you’re on the right track to improving your health with an open mind and with the right knowledge.

No supplement is a miracle cure. Our bodies are a natural wonder, with so many systems and processes occurring at once. it takes time to figure out what might be wrong with your body and then even more time to fix those issues, so be consistent and patient and look forward to learning more about how your body functions.

If you want to experience any of the benefits mentioned in this post, check out Xandro Lab’s supplements to see how they can benefit you!