Vitamins: where do I start?

KarlyHK

I dont know where to start with vitamins. Right now I take pre natals (I'm NOT pregnant). I chose to take them cause I know they have large amounts of vitamins.

Anyway. If I wanted to get off the pre natals. Where would I start with vitamins?
Do I get A, D, E, K, C. Everything?
Folic acid? Omega?

Ah! So many questions!

Hornsby

Well, what vitamins and minerals are you short on? Answer that and you have your answer.

KarlyHK

Well I can look at my log and see. But I suppose I should have worded it better.

If I'm getting into muscle building do I need to take more vitamins of a certain kind? Or do I take the same amount of vitamins whether i am working out hard or barely working out?

marm1962

most people start with a generic multivitamin.............We must have been posting at the same time and mine got put under yours. So just ignore this post.

Alatariel75

Vitamins don't have anything to do with working out. Taking vitamins is only useful if you have a deficiency - any excess comes out in your urine. You don't get extra healthy for taking extra. If you're concerned, get your bloods done and see if you have deficiencies.

I take Vitamin D because I have been severely deficient in the past, and a huge number of people are D deficient because you don't get much through food. It mostly comes through sun, and for various reasons a lot of people don't get out in it a lot.

elphie754

Get a blood test from your doctor and see what vitamins you are actually deficient in. Other than that, most vitamins are just a waste of money.

lorrpb

Your log won't answer the question because the database does not always have all the micronutrients listed, or listed accurately.

KarlyHK

Thanks guys I wasn't sure! I know I need Vitamin D because of battling depression in the winter.

I'll probably switch to a multi vitamin instead of pre natal.

elphie754

KarlyHK wrote: »

Thanks guys I wasn't sure! I know I need Vitamin D because of battling depression in the winter.

I'll probably switch to a multi vitamin instead of pre natal.

Unless you have had a blood test to confirm this, you actually don't know this. There are many causes of depression.

KarlyHK

Try living in Oregon.
It's something most of us go through. And when I take vitamin D during the winter my quality of life is better.

vingogly

I take a Centrum multivitamin, plus an extra 2000IUs of D every morning because I have prostate cancer and D has been shown to help with active surveillance outcomes. Also, I don't get much sun, especially in the cold months here in northern Illinois.

veggie16mfp

Had a similar chat with the hubby today. I also take a pre natal vitamin everyday, a v D and a calcium with D vitamin everyday. I take the pre natal because it was the best vitamin I could find. However the longer I am in the healthy eating zone the more I would love a vitamin tailored just for me. Correct amounts of vitamin D & all the Bs with some healthy oils thrown in. Don't know why I cant just get some made up especially for me!

KarlyHK wrote: »

Try living in Oregon.
It's something most of us go through. And when I take vitamin D during the winter my quality of life is better.

jgnatca

If you are still of childbearing age, a prenatal is not a bad idea because it has extra Folic Acid. This prevents a specific birth defect that happens in the first few weeks of pregnancy, often before the woman even knows she's pregnant. So Folic Acid is a pretty useful preventative.

So is vitamin D for those of us in the northern latitudes, so good call there.

The rest, well, as others have said, all depend if you are deficient or not. It can get quite expensive to try and adjust your vitamins to specific deficiencies, so the multivitamin is looking good for that, too.

canadianlbs

i don't think you should take anything just because someone else on the internet does, personally. i do take glucosamine, but that's because i already have rheumatoid arthritis and i don't want to add osteo if i don't need to. and magnesium, but only when night cramps get me. calcium for bones since i don't do milk and there doesn't seem to be much point in doing weight-bearing exercises for their bone-density benefits, and not give your body the means to dense up your bones. i try to keep some kind of vitamin c thing going, because connective tissue. but i don't do it with pills. as others have mentioned, vitamin d is a thing because we don't see the sun from november to april round here.

those are the only things that are even indirectly related to me lifting. and i take them for my reasons, not just because i lift, so your needs might be different.

Wynterbourne

I take a prenatal multivitamin while I'm dieting. I'll probably drop it once I'm in maintenance. Vitamin D for doctor diagnosed deficiency. Finally, fish oil because I loathe seafood and can't get it the old fashioned way.

KarlyHK

I think I'll stick to my prenatal (maybe switch to multivitamin) and D vitamin.

I use to take fish oil.
I should do that too probably cause I also don't like seafood. I'll eat canned tuna every now. Sometimes I go weeks between eating cans of tuna so fish oil would probably be good for me!

amgerbin

get a complete work up with a doctor. Unless you do, you are just guessing at what your body needs.

HealthyBodySickMind

I take a prenatal, calcium, magnesium, and vit D. Calcium (and the vitD to use it) is a must for me because my daughter is still nursing.

avskk

I'm in the "only supplement your deficiencies" camp. I take an iron supplement because I'm wildly anemic; I don't take anything else because I get plenty of the other micronutrients from my diet.

salembambi

I take a couple supplements vitamin c , msm ,spirulina , a probiotic and I need to find a vegan vitamin d to take for winter

Oh I also sometimes take b12 but I don't take it often cause I react to it

I take the msm to help my joint pain and also for beautiful skin

avskk

@salembambi This is the vitamin D all four of my vegan friends swear by -- it doesn't look prohibitively expensive and it's a high dose. Hope it helps!