Do you track multivitamins?

mtnmchgrl

A few questions...

I have been taking a multivitamin (Source Natural Life Force) + a magnesium vitamin for quite awhile. Does anyone track these? I'm more concerned about getting too much of certain vitamins, in noticing my "Daily" summaries on MFP.

Is it bad to go over Vitamin A, C, etc? I seem to be getting an overage on my main Vitamins but always come up a bit short in the calorie/fat part.

0PhAtDaDdY

I track all supplements in case I drop dead my family will know what I was taking...

0PhAtDaDdY

Too much A can be bad, C most of us getting what we need through our diet r healthy eating habits.. I do not supplement my C get more than enough...

rowbseat13

I do track mine, just to see how many vitamins I'm getting. I'm usually way over MFP's suggested intake on certain vitamins because of taking the multi-vitamin. Technically, too much of any kind of vitamin CAN be bad for you, but it generally has to be extremely high to make a difference (unless you have some sort of health issue). Not to mention -- there's some debate about how much of the vitamins your body ACTUALLY absorbs as such in a lot of multi-vitamins. You're probably not even getting as much as it says you are. If that's the case, then what's the point in tracking it? I don't know. I guess I just do it out of habit.

mtnmchgrl

LOL @ your first post. I plan on telling my doc what all I'm taking at my next visit. On most days I am getting what I need thru fruits/veggies, etc. but I don't eat perfectly every day, obviously, and just am in the habit of taking my multi.

mtnmchgrl

@rowbseat13, that's exactly my though process. It's so confusing, all the info about them that's out there. It's become habit for me. I started taking them initially b/c of how tired I was and because I was worried I was not getting enough from my diet. Then i started freaking out when I was reading about getting TOO many vitamins online in various health articles. And I don't know if this is a coincidence or not but everyone around me has gotten sick at some point or another in the last couple months and I have managed to not get sick at all. Might just be luck, IDK.

Thanks for the input!

treetop57

I put mine in everyday. Interesting article on "Taking too many vitamins?"

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/effects-of-taking-too-many-vitamins

. . . A few rare cases in medical journals have described, for example, an overload of vitamin A in a person who ate polar bear liver, a meat with extremely high amounts of this vitamin. Signs of a surplus of vitamin A may include nausea, blurred vision, and dizziness.

And if you eat handfuls of Brazil nuts every day, you could be way over the Tolerable Upper Intake Limit (the maximum per day that is unlikely to cause harm, as determined by the Institute of Medicine) for selenium. Just one ounce of Brazil nuts contains 544 micrograms of selenium. The Tolerable Upper Intake Limit is 400 micrograms per day -- and less if you're younger than 14.

Since polar bear liver and sacks of Brazil nuts are probably not on your menu, you'll want to think about the supplements you take and fortified foods or drinks.

I read about a case decades ago where a guy ate basically nothing but carrots and had an excess of Vitamin A from the beta carotene. Carrots are more common than polar bear liver or Brazil nuts, but you'd have to eat huge quantities of carrots.

"If you're taking a basic multivitamin, there's no need to fear taking too much," says Andrew Shao, PhD, senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs for the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade group for the supplements industry.

"Most multivitamins have such a wide margin of safety that even when you're combining them with fortified foods, it's still not going to cause you to keel over," Shao says.

. . . .

Three Nutrients to Watch

Dwyer says vitamin D, calcium, and folic acid are three nutrients you may get too much of through a combination of food and supplements.

Adults who regularly far exceed the 4,000 international units (IUs) daily safe upper limit for vitamin D might be setting themselves up for kidney stones down the road -- a health problem that may also occur with excessive intake of calcium, whose upper limit range is 2,000-2,500 milligrams daily.

Folic acid is added to enriched grain products -- white flours, pasta, rice, breads, and cereals -- to help prevent birth defects in babies due to folic acid deficiency in pregnant women..

While folic acid fortification has successfully cut the number of birth defects by 25% to 50%, it might have created other health concerns in people getting too much. (There's no need to worry about foods naturally rich in folate.)

It's not that hard to get more than 1,000 micrograms of folic acid a day (the safe upper limit for adults) from fortified foods and supplements on a regular basis. Doing so might hide the signs of a vitamin B12 deficiency in older adults. Vitamin B12 deficiency can sometimes lead to permanent nerve damage if left untreated.

My doctor has told me to take a Vitamin D supplement in addition to my multi-vitamin. It's 2000 UI, which makes it unlikely I "regularly far exceed the 4,000 international units (IUs) daily safe upper limit for vitamin D." I guess I'll take a look and see what MFP says about my Vitamin D intake.

One caution: You can't believe whatever MFP tells you about nutrients that are not required to be on nutrition labels. For most of the database entries, if it isn't on the nutrition label, people enter 0 or NA, even if the food is rich in a particular nutrient. (I'm not blaming them; they don't have enough information to enter anything different.)

If a food has a lot of a nutrient but the database says zero, the reported total will be much lower than your actual intake. I first noticed this with potassium. MFP always said I was low, even though I ate lots of foods I thought had plenty of potassium.

treetop57

I guess I won't be checking what MFP says about my vitamin D. MFP doesn't track it!

Aureilie

I was actually just about to post a very similar thread, I'm not sure if I want to track my vitamins or not. I take a multi, calcium, Flaxseed oil, and green tea extract (may or may not continue with this). So far I haven't been tracking them, mainly because they have calories and I don't want to give myself an excuse not to take them. It would be easy for me to say "Well, my vitamins are X amount of calories... I'll skip them today."

eightpock

I don't. I take One a Day Men's but I've never tracked it.

everyoung

yes!

MissMaryMac33

I don't track them as far as percentages go, but I do track them in my food diary as they actually add up to 70-90 calories and afew grams of carb/sugar... I just created a recipe for daily vitamins and put them all in there...

MsBaby117

I track everything that I consume including my vitamins! :flowerforyou:

krystina_letitia9

I don't! My thought process is - I know there's a nominal amount of calories in a vitamin, but I'm not going to worry about a few calories in the vitamin if it's something my doctor told me to take. I saw a post one day about a girl freaking about the amount of calories in Nyquil. Really? If you're sick, you need the medicine! Take the medicine and for one day don't worry about the extra 50 calories! OK, over rant

thedestar

I do... but mostly so I can be reminded if I took it or if I still need too lol

saragato

I don't track my multivitamin, but then again I'm not interested in knowing that part of my intake. I think the only way I'd track it would be if I was supposed to either up a certain vitamin because of something or have less of it. For instance about a year and a half ago I was on a birth control pill that contained potassium and I was warned to watch my intake from foods/vitamins/whatever. If I was still on it I'd be tracking the vitamins and supplements just so I don't go over and hurt myself medically.

sportyskylar

I have a separate supplements section just so i can remember to take them!

eatherhey

I track them (and my meds) but only because if I don't I forget to take them.

mtnmchgrl

@treetop57 - Thanks for all the info! You gave me a good reminder. Checking on my Vitamin D levels. I'm always low on that when I go in for my yearly physical.

@Aureilie - I found the exact multi I am taking in MFP, so I went ahead and tracked it. I transferred over to MFP from WW and have been trying to keep up with the same "Healthy Checks" they had (daily servings of dairy, fruit/veg, water, oil and vitamins), so I'd just been added it in the notes. I think plugging it into my diary will help me remember to take them. Mine are very low in calories/fat but I still figure it's good to track.

@krystiosty - Oh goodness. It would have never even occured to me to track Nyquil. I think being sick is punishment enough.

@sportyskylar - Where do you keep track of this? On MFP? What section?

Thank you all for your feedback! I am going to track them, mostly to help me remember to take them and also take this up with my Doc next time I see her.