Traveling with Nutritional Supplements

6 days and counting.....

Tonight I divvied up my nutritional supplements.  I take 6 different daily supplements.  (Hi, I'm 42, not 82!)  Bottles eat up a huge amount of precious packing space.  The solution?  Transferring them into snack-size zip top bags.


This required some forethought.  About 3 weeks ago, I took stock of what I already had and what I'd need to buy more of.  I buy almost everything online so I had to allow time for shipping.

I started by counting out 24 snack-size zip top bags, one for each day of the trip.  I could have/should have used smaller bags but I had these on hand.  After the first few bags, I found it was easier to do a week at a time.  I laid out the bags flat and placed my daily supplements on top of each bag.

My workshop

After I was finished divvying, I placed the daily supplements into each bag. 

Then I stuffed all 24 supplement-filled bags into a quart-size zip top bag.  I was surprised they fit! 

 

The quart-size bag will go into my shoulder tote.

 

Having each day's supplements in their own bag will make it super easy to grab & go.  I'll just grab a bag with a daily supply of supplements and throw it into my purse when heading out the door in the morning.

 

Because I like to over-share, I use the following supplements:

• Cal/Mag Citrate: 2 per day.  Good for muscle contraction/relaxation.  I just started taking this but I'm hoping it will help me recover from workouts even faster.  It supposedly helps you sleep well, too.
• Hyaluronic Acid: 2 per day.  Stops my joints from creaking.
• Nutriferon: 1 per day.  Shaklee's patented, clinically proven immune-boosting blend of plant extracts.  I swear by it!
• Vitamin D3: 2 per day.  I am low in Vitamin D so I take 2,000 IU daily.
• Cranberry Extract: 1 per day.  I am prone to UTIs; taking this on daily basis seems to prevent them.
• Aged Garlic Extract, Immune blend: 1 per day.  With severe environmental allergies, I need all the help I can get!  I have used this Kyolic brand blend for the past couple years and really believe it helps.

Note: I also take 3 daily prescription medications per day to combat my severe allergies and adult-onset asthma.  I will be bringing them with me in their original containers.  I will also be bringing various over-the-counter medications, including Zyrtec in case my allergies get out of control and I am desperate.  I learned my lesson the hard way last time I was there.  I was wrong in assuming I wouldn't be allergic to anything there since it would be foreign to my body so I didn't bring anything with me.  Big mistake.  I was miserable.  Back in 1995 you couldn't buy medications over-the-counter... at least not in Germany, Switzerland, and France.

What supplements do you take?  Do you bring them with you when traveling?  If so, what method do you use?  I admit that every other trip I've gone on I've just thrown the bottles into a grocery bag.

And... 6 days until we leave and we're now considering purchasing travel medical insurance.  Gümby's virus has us reconsidering.  She actually broke out in very itchy hives on her feet this morning.  She was miserable!  Crossing our fingers the rest of us don't get this bug.  Ay-yi-yi.