Vitamins & supplements

Anybody here take these for general use? (ie not for a specific injury / condition you have)

I was under the general impression (having not actually done much research into it) that these were mostly a complete waste of time / hippie bullshit / unnecessary with a reasonably normal diet, but having done some reading and watched a doco that was largely supporting them ('Food Matters'), it seems I may have been a bit hasty.

I walked past a vitamin store yesterday while at the markets, and nearly bought a multivit bottle to try it out, but if it turns out it is actually actually a hippie BS industry then I'll feel too ashamed, so left it alone pending more research :> Keen to hear about anyone else's views on the subject!

I take a vitamin B supplement, I get bad mouth ulcers when I'm run down, the vit B seems to help keep them at bay.

I think there are some specific ones that have some benefits, however multi-vits are a crock mate. Unless you like having expensive, fancy coloured urine.

In which case you're in!



gc.

I take multi vitamins from time to time - when feeling a tad under the weather or been eating too much crappy food/staying up too late etc

I am dubious about the benefits, especially for those that do regularly

to save face buy at a chemist and leave the markets to hippies

crap... so its just the extra yellow wee I get

oh well no problems there

it wisss what it wissss

Which seems like common sense but I think a lot of people forget in the quest for magic healthy

yeah, i think there are certain things that it's pretty difficult to get the right amount of in food. But this depends on the geographic region (cause it has to do with soils I believe) and of course of your diet.

One thing about multi-vits is that the doses generally tend to be way way higher than you actually need. (I guess making super small pills would kinda reduce the placebo effect). So if you are gonna take them, check out the doses on the bottles, and you might be better off taking halves or quarters instead of full pills.

Ha, wouldn't they just add more filler rather than making them super small?

I think it's more like am arms race to be honest! WE HAVE 1000MG OMG! OMG! SO HEALTHY!

In the doco 'Food Matters' they talked about this actually, saying that super high doses of vitamins have been shown to arrest or reverse many chronic illnesses (and cancers). They said that natural vitamins are typically normal doses and meant for general use, and synthetic ones (the bulk of the market) are typically high-dose and intended to treat/relieve chronic conditions.

I also got the impression that they were saying that there's an extremely small risk of any problems from having too much of a vitamin; that your body will just flush what it doesn't need etc; I can't remember exactly how they worded that claim though, so I may have misunderstood.

My old nutritionist recommended men's multis so I took them. Everything else she told me to do worked out well so I just did as I was told. Her reasoning was a bit like Neil's, NZ soil is crap and multis make up for any deficiencies. I dunno. I bought some recently though as part of an amalgamated effort to counteract feeling run down. I suspect they will sit around past their expiry date, not really in the habit.

how can our soil be crap

BEST FARMING NATION IN THE WORLD - bar the other ones

NZ was once the agri capital of the world, in both ag tech and practice/production.
Our grass (not weed) is the fucking BEST.
However, we are fucking it up, with shitty intensive farming methods (go for a swim in the waikato river then) and the proliferation of horses.

^^ our weeds pretty good too!!

commie

never fear my red friend the market will embrace organic and the world will be saved (http://www.greens.org.nz/press-releases/fonterra-cripple-organic-dairying) even if the universe is doomed (http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/5486519/Stars-fade-as-universe-starts-to-run-out-of-gas )

My understanding is the main thing deficient in our soil human healthwise is iodine, hence our salt being iodised. Various places around the world suffer from that, it hardly makes our soil "crap".

according to the internet and my extensive 25 second search

the Ukraine has the best soil in the world

it was once controlled by communists

correlation

only a commie would think so

I thought our iodine in salt was a throwover from Coro Street England, with their crappy teeth and bbc men coming to take the telly for not paying the bill.

If you're really worried you should see a doctor and get a blood test or other deficiency type tests and then take vitamins accordingly. Don't just guess and take them willy nilly because you're likely not to need them at all. Also sometimes too much of one thing can do damage (ie like Selenium). It really is better to try and increase your dietary vitamins than supplementing with pills.

I take Vitamin C sometimes, but only because I like the orangeyness

Pretty much what Just said. I occasionally take echinacea & garlic and vitamin c when I'm feeling a little run down. B12 is good for stress too.

Ya, that's very much my primary goal; but the claim is (neil brought it up but the doco I watched said it too) that because of how progressively worse the soil has gotten over the last 50 years, that it's now unrealistic to get all the vitamins you need from diet alone. Iodised salt (as kris says) is an early example of this. So essentially, I'm trying to figure out whether supplements are necessary (or at least well-advised) for 'ideal' health even if you're eating a balanced diet

Nah, genuine lack in our soil. It happens in places.

So much so, that there is some concern that we'll need to change our iodine source as people either reduce salt intake altogether or use alternatives like sea salt etc, which isn't iodised.

Read YOU: The Owners Manual, has a good section on this and highlights how some high dose vitamins are actually really bad for you as they aren't absorded/flushed from the system and accumulate in the liver/kidneys etc...breaks down the body into sections and suggests what suppliments and amounts you should take depending on what part of the body you're wanting to support/boost.

Was an overall generally interesting read, too.

Cool cheers Just started on 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' yesterday, will read through that one next..

I take nothing. Most of the time they are a crock. NZ soil is deficient in iodine so it's added to table salt. NZ used to have a huge issue with things like goiters before we added iodine to our salt.

Ive just stated reading up on this too. I havent really verified anything there seems to be a bit written that there is growing evidence that taking regular Omega-3 is good brain food.? Omega 3 is found in deep water fish etc which isnt always easy to eat fresh regulary

I also read that this is the reason the Scottish are such legendary inventors, kippers for breakfast!

Slightly off topic I also came across information about using negative ion generators where you sleep and work to "balance the city air" or w/e. Is this credible?

So what you're saying is, nuclear fallout, does in fact give you superpowers?

I always presumed it was more like drunk at breakfast -> spend all day fucking with shit

Probably just as good as the kippers theory come to think of it

I'm yet to find one that doesn't make me wee fluro. Even a B supplement.

would have more faith in the garlic - have read sciency stuff discrediting echinacea

Smoking tobacco also changes your vitamin needs (something to do with absorption/uptake my doctor explained but I've forgotten).

As has been mentioned: Everyone is different. Talk to a pro.

Antioxidants and omega oils plus a few other things. They are the main ones I consume. I don't take a multi. I do take a fair few antioxidants though and protein for general health with no additives etc. I go for powders and liquids where possible and the more natural form the better.

I've never been into multi-vits but my nutritionist makes me take "High Potency" Omega 3 capsules twice daily. I just about never eat fish.

And if you're going to take cod-liver or fish oil stuff, don't take that shit without food! Repeating fish oil - blergh! >_<

I got myself some BCAAs to try.They're good for muscle regeneration, but also for moods, energy etc. I figure a B vit is just yellow powder in a cap, so why not try these and not spend all weekend in as much agony from a hard workout boom.

Vit C during winter, mostly to help with colds et al. I'm sure the effect is purely placebo, but at the end of the day, the chewable vit c tablets are just so damn nice.

Otherwise daily fish oil caps, and thats about it.