Multi-Vitamins....Important or Overrated?

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polar5554
polar5554 Posts: 576 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Discuss....Please.

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  • Kelsey214
    Kelsey214 Posts: 24 Member
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    I think anything with this much hype tends to be overrated, but I'm sure there are some pretty significant benefits to taking them.
  • Kelsey214
    Kelsey214 Posts: 24 Member
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    I think anything with this much hype tends to be overrated, but I'm sure there are some pretty significant benefits to taking them.
  • Joaninha777
    Joaninha777 Posts: 52
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    I have been taking them for about 2 weeks now and I do feel a difference! I have more energy and I feel better!
  • RachVR6
    RachVR6 Posts: 3,688 Member
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    I have been taking them for about 2 weeks now and I do feel a difference! I have more energy and I feel better!

    Agreed. I added a multi-vitamin, super-b complex, and calcium/vitD chew to my days and I feel more 'awake' and focused. I'm sure if I got completely away from the processed foods and was eating good nutritious meals I may not need them as much, but for now it's making a HUGE difference for me.
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
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    During a routine Dr. visit, my blood work showed I had dangerously low B12 levels- I always ate plenty of veg and lean meats and had a well balanced diet, so I was shocked. My Dr. has me on a multi plus a B12 supplement and now my levels are good. So I would say vitamins are very important. I would also encourage you to have blood work done next time you go for a general physical to see if you are lacking in anything.
  • TripleJ3
    TripleJ3 Posts: 945 Member
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    I think it all depends on your diet. I eat such a high variety of veggies, fruits lean meats and whole grains the only vitamins I take are calcium, vitamin D and fish oil.

    I get a physical every year and the calcium and vitamin D were suggested as a just in case because they are so important, especially in women.

    The fish oil has a lot of benefits including keeping joints and things loose. It has really helped with sciatic pain for me anyway.
  • Joaninha777
    Joaninha777 Posts: 52
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    I eat veggies and fruits everyday as part of my life change, and I still take them! It can't hurt but do better!
  • JennDoesKeto
    JennDoesKeto Posts: 244 Member
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    i take a multi vitamin cause i know im not eating all the vitamins i should have daily.

    I was extremely tired and went to the dr and she had blood work done for me and dr said I didn't have enough vitamin d so now i take a vit d supplement.. I feel better not so tired. and the vitamin d helps with skin and hair issues that come accross when dieting. occasionally i will take a vitamin B12 dissolvable dot to get a boost of energy
  • kmeekhof
    kmeekhof Posts: 456 Member
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    I eat veggies and fruits everyday as part of my life change, and I still take them! It can't hurt but do better!

    actually you can overload your system with vitamins.... and get toxic levels.
  • RachVR6
    RachVR6 Posts: 3,688 Member
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    Your best bet is to consult your doctor, as previously mentioned, and see where your deficiencies are. :flowerforyou:
  • shreddingit
    shreddingit Posts: 1,133 Member
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    oh my gosh my multi vitamins have been wonderful to my body, hardly ever been sick this winter, my energy has been super plus it supplements the fruit i dont eat...score!!!....mine are the gummy kind:bigsmile: , pills suck!
  • FrankyOsage
    FrankyOsage Posts: 275
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    I usually add or subtract supplements after blood work and my docs advice to make sure I don't go toxic. I take the GNC Active Women Plus, a calcium supplement, and Super B Complex +Folic Acid. My doc really recommended the latter. He told me to get at least 750mg of Folic Acid a day if you ever want to have kids and its good to start early on the supplements. I've always taken multi-vitamins but once I switched to higher quality ones I could absolutely tell the difference.
  • ShrinkinMel
    ShrinkinMel Posts: 982 Member
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    I think they can be useful. I don't always take them though because so many make me sick from the iron. I'm going to take them daily for the next couple weeks because I just feel so tired and run down. It take Slow Fe but not daily because it starts to be "too much" iron. I know for a fact I do not always meat my iron or calcium.

    I take niacin daily per Dr's order and she also wants me taking fish oil but the cost got to be too much but I do put flax seeds in my food and aim for 2 Tablespoons a day which gives me 2800 mg omega 3. I might start taking a lower dose of fish oil but she wanted me taking 4 of them a day and it just added up. Even the niacin she recommended 2 a day but I dropped it down to 1 a day. She has me on it to drop triglycerides. Hoping for the exercise habit I have built up will help with that too. I'd like to raise my good cholesterol and balance it out even though my totals were fine and my triglycerides was only 3 over so its borderline.
  • dalscruf
    dalscruf Posts: 30 Member
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    I take One-a-day women's active mind and body. My regular dr and gyno both recommend taking vitamins and I know I wouldn't get enough of the vitamins that I need if I didn't take them. I honestly can't say if I feel a difference or not, I don't really pay much attention and I've been taking them for years now. I have chronic fatigue though so I always wonder if I didn't take them how it would make me feel, I really don't want to find out though lol
  • RockVixen
    RockVixen Posts: 63 Member
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    I've been taking a prenatal multi-vitamin with DHA since September 2008 and I haven't gotten sick since! I did get a cold this week when I started working out again but my body always reacts this way when I try to do something healthy hahaha. It's as stubborn as me :)

    BTW I take the prenatal because I was TTC then pregnant then breast feeding and will start TTC again. So it works for me, but I'm sure other multi-vitamins would be beneficial as well.
  • Sara1978
    Sara1978 Posts: 213 Member
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    I take the gummy multivitamins daily, and I feel that they have been very helpful. The kind I take has a lot of Vitamin D, and being in the Pacific NW in winter time, I need that-- I found my mood improved very shortly after I started on them.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    the thing to remember is the body doesn't normally expect vitamins in minerals in this fashion, and the supplement companies don't have to comply to any regulations regarding the delivery of the product. What does this mean? It means that while they can tell you they're giving you a certain percentage of a vitamin or mineral, they don't have to tell you whether your body can actually use that nutrient in the form they are delivering it. There are lots of micronutrients out there that have multiple forms that our body cannot digest and just pass right through out system. Also, our body was meant to slowly digest food, breaking out and transporting vitamins over hours, not in a few minutes, for many (in fact most) vitamins, if you have to much of it, the body will just expel it. There are a few that can be stored in fat and other cells, but they aren't the norm.

    I say take a multi if you want, but remember it should be used to "top off the tanks" not to replace missing parts of your diet.
  • RachVR6
    RachVR6 Posts: 3,688 Member
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    Agreed. Our bodies were built to extract vitamins out of a more natural form...

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/vitamins-and-minerals-good-food-sources

    Here are some good food sources where essential vitamins can be found.

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