Multivitamins and supplements

So my local Pharmacy has changed to a Walgreens and no longer carries the GNC multivitamin I had been taking.  

Since I need to go online or to a different store, I figured I'd probe the hive for their knowledge and experience with vitamins and supplements to see what knowledge could be harvested. 

After some regression during the last few months, I'm getting back to eating a Keto type diet with lots of protein (beef, fish, chicken, pork, eggs) and fresh veggies (mainly broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, salad). Eliminating added sugar and high carb foods like bread, pasta, and processed foods.

Im also going to be getting back to exercising with a mixture of cardio and interval training.

Not looking for miracles, just trying to make sure any gaps are covered. If there's something that will help my 47 year old body feel younger and help slow the effects of age, even better  

I found a few old threads:

Multivitamin thread

Supplements

Let's hear what you found works or doesn't work for you

For years I've taken a multivitamin, but can't tell any difference.  I usually take one of th Centrum brands or the Costco equivalent.  I also take an additional vitamin D (at my doctors advice) and a B12.  A fish oil capsule rounds it out.  

In reply to No Time :

Congrats, that's a pretty serious lifestyle commitment.  I've tried similar programs in the past and didn't have the self discipline to keep it going for more than a couple months.

I share my kids gummy vitimins, but would be very interested in the advice of the hive here.

My dad orders from puritans pride and enjoys them.. the company has been around for over 40 years and makes a lot in the US.

When picking a multivitamin, look at the percentages on the back. For some reason, nearly all multivitamin manufacturers seem to pick one random element to include like 4000% of the RDA for it. 
 

I shop for the ones that don't do that. 
 

Zinc, 1000mg "C", Milk thistle.....cuz I have a propensity for 'adult' beverages....oh and B12 complex, cuz the doc says I'm anemic......and cranberry juice with pomegranate to keep the 'stream' flowing in the morn.....late

In reply to nderwater :

I started doing keto last July and once I made it through the first month it was easy. There were some things I missed, but nothing like the habits and craving when I quit smoking. 

I dropped almost 45 lbs but relapsed around New Years, then got back on track until I started working from home. When I started working from home in March I had trouble social distancing from the fridge and pantry so gain about 10-12 lbs back.

The biggest changes were drinking coffee black, and avoiding the snacking on the kids goldfish crackers and cheez-its.

It helps that my wife is so doing it, so there's accountability and someone to commiserate with when adjusting to it.

spitfirebill said:

For years I've taken a multivitamin, but can't tell any difference.  I usually take one of th Centrum brands or the Costco equivalent.  I also take an additional vitamin D (at my doctors advice) and a B12.  A fish oil capsule rounds it out.  

I'm also using Fish oil  and B 12 for getting tired quickly even after doing light work and fish oil for dry eyes.. Still no difference..

Many years ago my dad was an Amway cult....um, consultant.  They were serious about their vitamins and one of the things I remember is that what your vitamins are coated in matters.  Sugar coating (ie Flintstones chewables) allow in air and cause the vitamins to oxidize and break down (you'll remember that they get soft and darker with age).  On the other end the shellac coating on the "adult" vitamins (Centrum and the like) mean that the vitamins are locked into the pill for too long to be properly absorbed.

For years we took the Amway XX horse pills and I can say I definitely had colorful pee.

Nowadays I take Nature's Blend Men's 50+ multivitamin.  Still have the colorful pee and the blend isn't too out of whack.  

note: be aware of the difference between water soluble and fat soluble vitamins,  too much of the water soluble ones and you get colorful urine.  Too much of the fat soluble ones and it can be toxic.

I've been taking omega 3 oil supplements (flax oil in my case as I can't stand fish oil) at my doctor's advice due to cholesterol tests. If you're already eating a balanced diet with a lot of vegetables, I'd only bother with a supplement if it's something for a specific issue, and discuss it with your doctor. It sounds like you probably already get plenty of vitamins. Although if there's no milk or liver in your diet, you may need a source of vitamin D.

I take take vitamin c to fend off scurvy for the months at sea without citrus fruits as i plunder unsuspecting crafts of their booty

We get Standard Process brand everything, seems to be a good quality

I take a multivitamin daily, I like the ones that include ginseng. I can tell a difference in mental alertness when taking it, and some studies have shown an increase in VO2 max as a result of ginseng dosing over time. That seems like a plus for cycling.

Right now I'm also taking echinacea daily and zinc every other day.  From past years' experience, echinacea seems to give me some additional resilience to getting sick while traveling and speeds my recovery if I do start getting sick.  Maybe it will help with resisting the current plague, maybe not, but it doesn't have any bad side effects so I'll chance it. I'm taking the zinc for the same reason - some studies show it provides a cellular level resistance to viral infiltration. Maybe it will, maybe it won't, but at his dosage it doesn't cause me any issues so why not. 

Getting your RDA of vitamins and minerals is a good idea. Any more is a toss up as to effectiveness, but with a few exceptions it won't hurt you to do so. Herbs and botanicals are likely as much placebo effect as real, but if you feel better and they don't hurt you, what's the harm. Believing them to be a miracle cure in place of real medicine would be problematic.

I take a multi every day, plus a glucosamine supplement for my aging joints. My assumption is that there isn't a huge difference between brands, and Kirkland is generally pretty high quality, so I just get the giant bottles at Costco.

KyAllroad (Jeremy) (Forum Supporter) said:

On the other end the shellac coating on the "adult" vitamins (Centrum and the like) mean that the vitamins are locked into the pill for too long to be properly absorbed.

Thanks for pointing this out. I was under the impression there have been numerous studies that show you don't really absorb much of the content of multi-vitamin pills. Eating the foods with those vitamins is a much better strategy.

Except like MadScientistMatt pointed out, you have a specific reason. Like my girlfriend takes Folic Acid supplements because of her immune suppressant drugs. 

My wife, the Dietitian, says as a GENERAL STATEMENT, not for everyone but probably most people, a daily multivitamin won't hurt and might help. She also says that basically everyone should be on Vitamin D. 

More important, the brands. We get Kirkland, which I assume means she's done the research and found it is a good one, but many of the brands don't actually have what they say they have in them. Daily multivitamin and vitamin D. 

But the best way to get it should be from food - and by food, I mean plants. My wife never felt better than when we were nearly-vegan (Plant-Based) with our diet. I didn't notice a damn difference, but my blood pressure sure was low. We keep saying we're going to work back to that, but damnit if you cannot substitute anything for Cheese. 

I've been ordering from purevitaminclub.com for years. Their vitamin D supplement is suspended in pure EVOO. Their b complex is a sublingual that dissolves under your tongue and it's just a little calcium that holds the tablet together. Multicap only has what you need nothing extra etc. 

Vinnie Tortorich is the guy who started the company when he couldn't find any vitamins without crap fillers in them. He also promotes the NSNG (No Sugar No Grains) lifestyle which is pretty similar to eating a keto diet. I started following his advice in 2016 and lost 30lbs.

OK.

Zombie canoe revival, but I thought to myself, Hmm, I didn't know Duke's Wife was a dietitian.

Peabody said:

OK.

Zombie canoe revival, but I thought to myself, Hmm, I didn't know Duke's Wife was a dietitian.

Lol, hadn't logged in since I decided to be a jackass this weekend. Changed it back.

No Time said:

In reply to nderwater :

 

 

It helps that my wife is so doing it, so there's accountability and someone to commiserate with when adjusting to it.

 

I'm down 40 pounds since February on Weight Watchers.  I consider it to be my mother.  Every time I open the app to record my food, I hear a little voice that says, "Do you really need that, Jim?"  

It works for me.  I really didn't think it would, and was curious what the scale was going to say when I finally gave up and did something.  Turns out 286 is the number.

And I know I'm going to have to eat like this for the rest of my life, and I'm mostly ok with that.

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

I take take vitamin c to fend off scurvy for the months at sea without citrus fruits as i plunder unsuspecting crafts of their booty

Aw, suck on a lime, ye scalawag!

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

I take take vitamin c to fend off scurvy for the months at sea without citrus fruits as i plunder unsuspecting crafts of their booty

This comment is worthless without pictures of said "booty."