To Take a Vitamin or Not To take a Vitamin? That is the ques

1QueenB

Okay so over dinner and drinks tonight with friends, we were talking about me not taking a multi-vitamin daily. I have never taken vitamins and since I strive to eat more healthy daily I don't necessarily see the need to take one. But I am going to discuss this with my doctor at my appointment next month. Does anyone take a multi-vitamin and if so why and what are the benefits you reap?

leelee03

I take a multi-vitamin. It does help fill in some of my missing vitamins for the day, but the real thing I notice is that I feel better when I take it...I do sometimes go days or even a week and forget to take it (logging it into my diet on here helps me remember now)...and I always feel like I have more energy when I am taking it regularly.

Tennessee2019

I take 2 vitamins on a daily basis & both were suggested to me by my doctor
Centrum - To help my insides stay healthy while I work on the outside.
Caltrate - To keep my bones strong as I get older
I have not gotten sick for more than a day since I started taking these vitamins (knock on wood) & my nails are a lot stronger than they ever used to be. My mom even thought that I had fake nails on because they are so strong.

loriefolk

I don't currently take one, but do plan to

MissChelleBelle

I was taking Women's One A Day........ but it caused "issues".... I stopped taking it and those issues ceased. I was getting enough iron in my diet, so I didn't need the extra from the multi. I just take my vitamin D, calcium/magnesium, and vitamin B complex now. The vitamin D because I live in Northern British Columbia and don't get any sun at all in the winter (I work full time - indoors all day), and the B complex to help with stress. The calcium, well, because I'm a woman (and don't seem to get enough in my diet). I want to get a vitamin A suppliment, as I don't get nearly enough unless I eat carrots every day. I eat frozen mixed berries in my yogurt every day, so I don't worry about vitamin C unless I'm feeling sick.

goatstew

I always feel better when I take prenatal vitamins while pregnant and nursing, it may just be psychological, but I do. I wish I could get in the habit of taking them all the time. My hair and nails seem to grow faster when I do. I figure, my body will use the vitamins I need, and if I get more than I need, my body will pee out the rest, right?

nubreeze33

I take a multi vitamin and I take fish oil and I have to tell you for the first time in my life I don't have to get sculptured nails. My nails are long and strong, my skin is clear, my hair is growing out of control. It took a while for me to notice the changes but I can tell the difference. But I do hear many people say they don't see the need to take one. I don't however like those packets that have like five or six different vitamins in them, I just think that's too much.

winterjade

I take a few vitamins...one multi, a B complex (I am vegan so this is how I get my B12 ), Vitamin D (mood, especially during Winter when you dont get much sunlight), Chromium (regulates blood sugars), and PMS cranky/crampy suppressor (well lets just say that everyone is happier when these are taken regularly)

BryanAir

According to the American Academy of Family Physicians :

"The decision to provide special dietary intervention or nutrient supplementation must be on an individual basis using the family physician’s best judgment based on evidence of benefit as well as lack of harmful effects. Megadoses of certain vitamins and minerals have been proven to be harmful."

MzBug

I take a natural multi (no "issues" with it) and a B complex daily, a D e/o day and an iron and potassium once a week. Just covering my bases really. I read a british med school study that indicated that it was very difficult to get your RDA eatting less than 1300 cals a day unless you were eatting "enhanced" foods (which I am not). I know I don't always eat a balanced diet, so I figured I would take them to be on the safe side. I have noticed less winter blahs this year. Not so ready to overreact while PMSing.

wolfchild59

I take a Women's One A Day and a Viactiv calcium chew each day. But I've taken some form of a multi-vitamin most of my life, so I can't say that I've noticed any specific pluses or minuses, it's just how I was raised.

I will say that during the couple of years I slacked off and wasn't taking a multi-vitamin I did get sick a lot more and since I've been taking them again over this last year I haven't been sick once. I can't prove that it's connected, but it lines up pretty well to seem like it is.

MeghanAM

I take a multivitamin, though mostly for superficial reasons; my nails and hair grow much better when I take vitamins, as others have mentioned in this thread.

It might be a placebo effect, but I also tend to be in a better mood if I've been taking vitamins.

fitoverfifty

Watch the movie "food matters" It explains a lot about vitamins.

On another note I was reading an article that said if you you take mega doses of vitamins..it's more like a drug that can be dangerous.

The water soluble ones wash right out ....but the fat soluble ones ( A, D, E) do not, and you can overdo it on those.

I always thought eating healthy should give you all you need, but living in Alaska I need Vitamin D3, and I also take a multi vitamin...just to be sure I guess.... They always make me a little nausious when i take them...but just for a short while.

The foods we eat nowadays are not as nourishing as they used to be....as the soil they are grown in has been depleted of a lot of nutrients... There are several movies you can watch on this subject ( King corn, Food Inc....etc..)