Why I Still Choose Food First as a nutritionist
What Supplements to Avoid and Take? And why I choose Food First
I’ll be the first to admit–I love science. I love the pathways, the mechanisms, and the emerging data on nutrients, quantum biology, and mitochondrial health.
But despite all of that, I’ll always choose food first. And that’s not just a slogan.
It’s the foundation of why I created Oath Food Co. in 2023, after years of clinical experience, and even longer spent researching what makes humans thrive.
The idea started way back in 2017. I was deep into my nutritional therapy training, sitting in lectures, and one thought kept echoing:
“How do I help people get the nutrition they need — not just in theory — but in real life?”
It had to be food. Not pills. Not powders. Not complicated stacks. Real food, designed with bioenergetics, ancestral wisdom, and practical lives in mind with nature’s barcode intact.
Let me explain why.
Food Isn't Just Fuel = It’s Information
When you eat a piece of food, your mitochondria don’t just count calories. They scan for electrons, protons, and signalling molecules. They “read” food the same way a barcode scanner reads a label. The information embedded in that food directs energy flow, repair, and regeneration. There is also a light signal, which is released in the mitochondria called a biophoton. Simply put, it is the liberation of stored energy and this biophoton has been proposed to interact with our water networks buried in the mitochondria and cytosol to regulate genetic expression and epigenetic metabolism - this study supports the theory.
🔗 Watch this short clip by Dr. Douglas Wallace — one of the pioneers of mitochondrial medicine — to understand how your cells don’t burn calories, they transport electrons.
This is why food can never truly be replaced. Not by a multivitamin. Not by a nootropic stack. Not even by a high-end NAD+ booster.
Supplements can support, but they cannot inform the body the same way a wild-caught sardine, a grass-fed liver sausage, or sunlight does.
So, Are Supplements Useless?
Not at all. In fact, I recommend them often — but only when they’re needed and when they’re the right form.
The problem isn’t supplements.
The problem is how most people use them:
👉 Blindly
👉 Without testing
👉 Without context
👉 Without first mastering the foundations of diet, light, sleep, and breath
In today’s quick-fix, biohack-heavy world, supplements have become both over-glorified and misunderstood.
Clinical Insights: How I Use Supplements With Clients
If you walked into my clinic today asking for supplement advice, we wouldn’t start with “what brand to buy.” We’d start with questions:
What are your symptoms?
What’s your diet like?
Are you on medications?
What are your goals?
What stressors are you carrying — physical or emotional?
Have you done any blood or functional testing?
In most cases, I recommend a metabolomics test after a few months of working together or initially, depending on budget — not just a basic blood panel. Why?
Because it gives us a window into your actual cellular function. Not just what’s floating around your blood, but what your cells are doing with it. That said, a blood panel is a better benchmark of system biology.
And that kind of approach to testing and supplements I take with my clients around the world often costs less than the annual spend most people drop on monthly supplements and devices stacked up across the year.
Expense Estimated Yearly Cost
Supplements (£200/month) £2400
Biohacking gadgets (yearly avg.) = £1000
Total £3400+
Imagine investing that money instead into testing, guidance, and protocols that actually move the needle.
DIY Supplementation Can Backfire
I’ve seen it too many times: Someone listens to a podcast → Buys a trendy supplement off Amazon → Ends up bloated, exhausted, or worse.
Supplementation is not always harmless. If done wrong, it can deplete cofactors, disrupt detox pathways, or even amplify symptoms. Surprisingly, supplements bought on Amazon might be counterfeit and not contain any active ingredients, as a recent study highlighted.
That’s why I created this Supplement Cheat Sheet—so that whether you’re working with a practitioner or navigating things yourself, you can make wiser, more biologically aligned choices.
The Supplement Cheat Sheet
Bioavailable Forms. What to Take. What to Avoid.
Here’s a breakdown I wish more people had access to. These are the best and worst forms of common supplements, based on absorbability, synergy with your biology, and clinical relevance.
🔹 Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)
✅ Best: TTFD (Thiamine Tetrahydrofurfuryl Disulfide) – crosses the blood-brain barrier.
👉 My go-to B1 supplement is HERE
❌ Avoid: Thiamine HCl / Mononitrate – low absorption.
🔹 Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
✅ Best: Riboflavin-5-Phosphate – the active form.
The best food source = liver.
❌ Avoid: Standard Riboflavin – less problematic, but less efficient.
🔹 Vitamin B3 (Niacin/Nicotinamide)
✅ Best: Niacin (flush), Niacinamide (non-flush), NR in moderation.
❌ Avoid: Overpriced NAD+ precursors (NR, NMN) in high doses—often unnecessary.
🔹 Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid)
✅ Best: Pantethine – the active form used in adrenal and energy metabolism.
❌ Avoid: Calcium Pantothenate – less effective.
🔹 Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)
✅ Best: P-5-P (Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate) – especially for neurotransmitter support.
❌ Avoid: Pyridoxine HCl – can accumulate and cause nerve issues.
🔹 Vitamin B9 (Folate)
✅ Best: Methylfolate (5-MTHF) – especially important with MTHFR gene issues.
👉 Best obtained through food: liver, greens, and Oath Burgers with salad.
❌ Avoid: Folic Acid – synthetic, poorly converted by many.
🔹 Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)
✅ Best: Methylcobalamin & Adenosylcobalamin (50/50 blends ideal)
❌ Avoid: Cyanocobalamin – contains a cyanide molecule and requires detox pathways.
🔹 Magnesium
✅ Best:
Glycinate (calming/sleep)
Malate (energy/ATP)
Bicarbonate (hydration & mitochondrial function)
Taurate (heart & detox)
👉 My favourite magnesium is HERE (For 15% off, use my discount code LIVEVITAE15)
❌ Avoid: Magnesium Oxide – poorly absorbed, often just a laxative.
🔹 Vitamin D
✅ Best: Cod Liver Oil or real sunlight (without sunscreen during safe exposure times)
❌ Avoid: D2 (Ergocalciferol) – synthetic, weakly absorbed.
🔹 Zinc
✅ Best: Zinc Picolinate or Bisglycinate – best absorbed, gentle on the gut.
Food sources include oysters. If you’re not a fan of eating them raw or struggle with logistics, you can find them HERE from Ape Nutrition with 10% off discount using my code LIVEVITAE10
❌ Avoid: Zinc Oxide – cheap and not well utilised.
🔹 Omega-3s (EPA/DHA)
✅ Best: Cod Liver Oil, seafood, krill oil (in some cases)
👉 I stick with food but if at a push, Cod Liver Oil – more nutrient-dense and food-based, or Krill oil (This brand is good - HERE (For 15% off, use my discount code LIVEVITAE15)
❌ Avoid: Ethyl Ester fish oils – unstable, oxidise easily.
🔹 Iron
✅ Best: Heme Iron (from animal foods), Iron Bisglycinate, or Lactoferrin (gentler + supports immunity)
I would opt for real food - Highly recommend Oath Food Co
❌ Avoid: Ferrous Sulfate – irritating to the gut and less bioavailable.
🔹 CoQ10
✅ Best: Ubiquinol – already in its usable form. Especially important with age or statin use.
I like liposomal delivery - Quicksilver Scientific has a good formulation with liposomal and quality assurance.
❌ Avoid: Ubiquinone – must be converted, and that process weakens with age or stress.
🔹 Choline
✅ Best: Phosphatidylcholine (PC) – vital for liver detox, bile flow, methylation, and cognitive health.
👉 My favourite Choline supplement is HERE (Use my code LV15 for 15% off)
❌ Avoid: Choline Bitartrate – poorly absorbed, can increase TMAO in some people, although not a huge concern with the market.
🔹 Vitamin C
✅ Best: Whole-food sources like Acerola Cherry, Camu Camu
👉 The brand I personally recommend HERE. A practical vitamin C method is adding citrus fruits to your water. A squeeze of lime goes a long way.
❌ Avoid: Synthetic Ascorbic Acid on its own – lacks natural cofactors.
In Closing: Supplements Aren’t the Enemy but They’re Not the Answer Either
Supplements can support your journey. But they are tools, not foundations.
🍖 Food first, always
🧠 Supplements should be personalised, not random
💊 Know what form you're taking—bioavailability matters
🧬 Testing is cheaper than guessing
📩 Want help? That’s what I do—connect the dots so you don’t have to
And unless you're a clinician or working with one, it’s easy to waste money, feel worse, or take the wrong thing at the wrong time. I’ve seen DIY supplement stacks backfire time and time again. It even happened to me when I started on my health journey 10+ years ago, when I did not know any better.
If you're serious about long-term health, start with real food nutrient-dense, bioavailable, and grounded in nature. That’s why I built Oath Food Co. To give you real ancestral nutrition without overwhelming you.
If this guide helped, share it with someone. Or better yet, save it for when you’re tempted to buy another random bottle on Amazon. (Because yep—some of them don’t even contain what they claim. That’s not a theory; that’s science—and firsthand experience from working on the frontlines with clients as a nutritionist.
– Ryan
Live Vitae | Oath Food Co.
