OT Should I buy rip-off supplements for a friend of mine

She is an adult who has asked you to do her a favor. Honor her own personal and life decisions.

Do not help her to attain any medications that aren't properly prescribed by her doctor. Even over-the-counter herbal products can be a problem with certain people and/or other medications or supplements. Advise her next-of-kin / POA / caregivers as you are able. John T.

You are reminding me of this 80 year old guy I know of who is showing obvious signs of dementia.

He wants me to vote for him. Should I?

To the best of your ability, you need to decide if you believe that she is of sound mind. Because she used to work in a health food store suggests that she may have long standing minority opinions favoring unconventional medical practice. However, her current interest in products that you would not purchase or use does not make the diagnosis of her being mentally incompetent. Forget about her age. Irrelevant. People can suffer premature dementia much earlier than 82 and some centenarians are of completely sound mind.

If you believe that she is of sound mind, grant her the agency she warrants. You are not a physician. You can share your opinion with her about what she wants to buy with her own money, but if she remains adamant, it's not your role to deny her her agency. If you have doubts about her mental status, I'd defer helping her to probably waste her money and possibly even endanger her health. Sounds as though you have a long standing relationship with her and care about her. If you can obtain a point of contact for a close relative, perhaps you would be willing to contact that person and express your concern about her. If you don't have or can't obtain a point of contact for a close contact, perhaps there's a social agency or AARP sponsored resource you could contact to express your concern as a friend and ask if or how they might go about trying to assist/assess her. Just remember, you are not her legal guardian nor are you obligated as a friend to do her bidding. Keep us informed about what you do and how it plays out.

Sadly, the only other choice is a 77 year old that is starting to show signs too.

The country would be better off if both dropped out

Good advice, I added that too. Docusate Sodium, not recommended if she takoil for constipation. No others listed other than don't take over a week straight. It's an 'as needed' thing. The leafy greens are fair game though!

My mother told me that my father, born in 1892, tried to eat sauerkraut every day. She seemed to think it was so he could live long, and since he died at 63, she thought it didn't work. But maybe she was wrong about the purpose.

That's great.

Same hold true for yogurt. Most of what's available in the dairy case has been pasteurized, killing all those beneficial lactobacilli and contains added sugar. I've been making my own yogurt for decades. It takes just a little more than an hour to prepare after dinner and I let it ferment for 12 hrs. overnight. I use 2 Tbs from the last batch as a starter for the next. Haven't had to use a fresh envelope of starter for almost 5 years now. What I make is also much healthier than what's sold in stores and much cheaper. My recipe: 28 oz. skim milk, 1/3 cup non-fat powdered milk, 2 Tbs starter. I use a vintage Salton electric yogurt maker which has 5 ceramic cups with plastic caps, each holding just a little more than 5 oz of liquid. It also comes with an idiot-proof thermometer with 2 lines embossed on it. I also have an immersion cooking thermometer that clips to the side of a saucepan. Technique: Pour milk into saucepan. Place on cooktop on moderately high heat. With continuous stirring with a silicone spatula, slowly add the dry powered milk stirring vigorously to dissolve. Continue stirring continuously until temp = 200 F. If you've stirred continuously, you won't burn milk on the bottom of the saucepan whether non-stick or not. (I have an induction cook top so I use stainless steel saucepans.) Turn off heat, move off the hot cook top burner, remove the cooking thermometer and replace with the idiot-proof thermometer. Cover. Set timer for about 50 minutes. At 50 minutes, take starter out of the fridge and plug in the yogurt maker to pre-heat the ceramic cups. Check the thermometer about every 7 minutes. When the line drops below the top line but is still above the lower line, spoon all the starter into one of the cups, fill the remainder of the cup almost to the top with the cooling milk, and stir until the starter is completely dispersed - about 30 seconds. Pour the entire contents of that cup back into the saucepan and stir thoroughly to disperse the starter - about another 30 seconds. Take the lids off all 5 of the cups, pour the liquid yogurt into the cups to within about 1/4" of the top, put on the lids, and put the cover on the yogurt maker. 12 hours later, unplug the maker and put the 5 cups into the fridge. The yogurt maker I use is available from several sources on ebay. Search for "vintage Salton yogurt maker". The price of the maker pays for itself (compared to buying commercial yogurt) after making about 6 batches.

Sorry, tht was mineral oil.

I think the last time I made yogurt it was from a recipe in The Last Whole Earth Catalog. iirc it had gelatin in the mix too. I don't remember how many years my kefir has been going. It must be a real lab experiment by now but it hasn't killed me yet. It's not as fussy as yogurt.

I make fresh kimchee now and again. Unfermented.

Yes, find out first. Docusate is only 50mg so fits a low-salt diet.

The greens have to be specific. DARK leafy, not head cabbage.