Split the Difference: Morning and Late Afternoon Doses Yield Best Resu

With most things in life, timing is important, and the same holds true when it comes to taking your supplements.

Our bodies are busy virtually all the time – except for a short period at night when it shuts down for deep, restorative rest. Otherwise, it’s on the go, even when we’re sitting down to watch our favorite television program.

But just as in the biblically-inspired Byrds song “Turn, Turn, Turn,” there is a time for everything, and experts say knowing the best time to tackle things can help your body work at its best.

Since the beginning of mankind, we’ve been hardwired to follow an internal body clock, which lets our body know when it’s time to sleep, eat, move or ovulate, among other things.

Known as the circadian rhythm – and a cycle also followed by plants and animals – our internal clock impacts not only impacts sleep and mealtimes, but also body temperature, brain activity, cell regeneration, hormone production and myriad other biological activities.

Lots of things can throw us off – a late-night movie fest, a missed lunch, sleeping late on the weekends – potentially leading to a wide range of health risks including weight gain, depression and a host of illnesses and diseases.

“If you can get your innate body rhythms in sync with the food, activity, and rest you need, you can not only get healthier but even feel better day to day," Dr. Matthew Edlund, author of “The Body Clock Advantage,” told WebMD.com. (Ref. 1)

Improving the process

So what does this have to do with supplements?

We need fuel for all that work, and taking your supplements properly – we recommend splitting the dose between morning and late afternoon, when your stomach is empty – ensures that your body has the proper fuel on board to complete all of its functions.

Our comprehensive multivitamins for men and women are designed to feed your cells so your body is able to perform all of those biological activities better.

We've spent a long time researching the synergy behind the product – how all the ingredients work together to create one powerful whole – to determine how much of each nutrient is most beneficial and when it should be released to do the most good.

We also researched the delivery of those nutrients – and rather than the traditional tablet or capsule, our Total Balance supplements are created with a special enteric coating that ensures the nutrients aren't damaged by stomach acids during the digestion process and can instead travel to the upper intestine where they can be released.

The right amount of nutrients are packed into doses ranging from four to seven tablets, allowing them to be split between morning and late afternoon, ensuring that your body has the fuel it needs for the activities it performs during the day as well as the right fuel for those things it tackles at night while we’re sleeping. Because nighttime is such a busy time for our bodies – we rebuild muscle that we injure during exercise, we create new cells, we release hormones – providing some nutrients closer to bedtime will ensure a well-fed system that will be functioning at its best, even when we’re not awake to keep an eye on things.

As we said, timing is important.

In fact, because of our circadian rhythms, timing is a crucial element to the effectiveness of the nutrients.

Story of synthetics

Synthetics, of course, are a different story.

Most experts will say to take synthetic vitamins with food – ideally breakfast or lunch - to generate the most benefits. That’s because synthetic vitamins are ineffective and can’t be used by the body without having the essential micronutrients provided by the food on board. If you take them without food, they have to hunt for the micronutrient, and will grab it from elsewhere in the body, potentially triggering nutrient deficiencies.

According to naturopathic physician Dr. Daniel Chong, a wide range of studies have shown that some synthetic nutrients are similar to refined foods, so far removed from the real thing that they are unlikely to do any real good.

In fact, our bodies can treat them as foreign substances, and instead waste precious energy rejecting them.

Vitamins: A closer look

One of the reasons why we recommend splitting the dose of many of our supplements including Total Balance is that it contains some water-soluble vitamins such as vitamin C, which dissipates quickly in the body, so replenishing it often ensures that it will be available to your body when you need it.

Fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E and vitamin K should be taken with some kind of fat – preferably our omega-3 with DHA fish oil – so that they can be best put to use.

Our Core Wellness sets – our Total Balance formulas for cell health, our Kiwi-Klenz for digestive health and maximum nutrient absorption and our Omega-3 fish oil supplements for circulation and lubrication – are designed to work together to ensure that the nutrients you take in are used to the best of your body’s ability, creating an environment where energy and well-being will flourish.

Although, this is all depends on the person taking the supplement. Some of our customers follow a strict regimen where they even set reminders for themselves to take their morning and afternoon split doses of Total Balance.

However, for many others (including our Chairman, Warren Matthews), it’s far more convenient taking the whole lot first thing in the morning. “I really don’t think it makes a significant difference,” says Warren.

“Some people feel that they get greater benefits when they split the dosage between morning and afternoons. Others, myself included, prefer taking our supplements in one hit and we still find we’re getting the benefits of the product. The first reason is convenience and the second is that some customers find that if they take their supplements after 3pm, the nutritional boost to their system sometimes affects their sleep. Personally, I take my full daily dose of Total Balance Premium, Kiwi-Klenz, Testosterone Support and Omega 3 / QH Premium CoQ10 in one hit first thing in the morning before I start my day.”