Quality vegetable vitamins?

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radzer0
radzer0 Posts: 20 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So im trying to find something still reasonably priced to supply my "crappy" diet that doesnt have alot of fruits and veggies.

I take vitamin code mens for a standard multivitamin but I know there are other things out there that I can suppliment to help.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Replies

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I am going to suggest a different approach other than trying to find "other things" you might need.

    Consider the timing and the combinations of vitamins and minerals to improve absorption.

    Some are water soluble, others oil based. Iron and calcium cancel each other out (both are aggressively absorbed) so should be taken at different times.

    Only so much Vitamin C and D can be taken at one time and C is not stored so taking single megadoses does nothing for you.

    As a man you have to watch you don't overdose on iron.

    Iron absorbs better when taken with vitamin C.

    Calcium and Vitamin D both absorb better when taken together. Learning this I can see why it was genius to fortify milk with A and D.

    A primer on the RDA's
    https://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm064928.htm

    But to directly answer your question there are endless "other things" you may try with dubious result.

    There are outlying amino acids. There's one only found in Quinoa.

    Glucosamine is supposed to help the joints but dosage and efficacy is not yet known.

    Fiber will help everything along digestion-wise. You may seek out combinations of soluble vs insoluble.

    Grapefruit has an enzyme that interferes (enhances) the effect of whole classes of drugs.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit–drug_interactions

    And then there's whole classes of stimulants like caffeine that I generally avoid. I figure if I've gone this far without needing them, why start?
  • radzer0
    radzer0 Posts: 20 Member
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    Mainly im just trying for dried fruit and veggie pills on this post. Without any of the extras from other sources. I get very little in both of them working 80ish hours a week. I also only drink a almond/cashew milk blend.

    Side note, grapefruit is disgusting. :)
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    Are you not willing to try adding veg to your diet?
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Hey, I understand you are looking for non fruit/veggie sourced vitamins etc. Trying to get the benefits without the fringe.

    If you are worried about what you are missing go find the grapefruit enzyme.

    But frankly I don't think you need it.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Find an almond milk that is fortified with A and D then. These "milks" often have more calcium than dairy anyways.
  • Muana1005
    Muana1005 Posts: 172 Member
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    Instead of fruit/veg pills eat fruit and veg?
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Get yourself a dehydrator and some fillable gel caps.
  • radzer0
    radzer0 Posts: 20 Member
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    Been so busy with work I forgot about this till now. Eating fruits and veggies is expensive, i get brocolli and brussels on occassion with steamfresh but thats about it.

    Anyone know if that almond/cashew blend from silk is fortified? I know it has pea protien too, not sure how much of which is in it.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    radzer0 wrote: »
    Been so busy with work I forgot about this till now. Eating fruits and veggies is expensive, i get brocolli and brussels on occassion with steamfresh but thats about it.

    Anyone know if that almond/cashew blend from silk is fortified? I know it has pea protien too, not sure how much of which is in it.

    You should be able to tell on the label. If the ingredients are only plants, not fortified. If you see vitamins in the ingredients list, fortified.

    The ingredients of Silk Protein Nutmilk: INGREDIENTS: ALMONDMILK (FILTERED WATER, ALMONDS), CASHEWMILK (FILTERED WATER, CASHEWS), PEA PROTEIN, HIGH OLEIC SUNFLOWER OIL, CANE SUGAR, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: SEA SALT, NATURAL FLAVOR, CALCIUM CARBONATE, SUNFLOWER LECITHIN, GELLAN GUM, VITAMIN D2, ASCORBIC ACID AND VITAMIN E ACETATE (ANTIOXIDANTS).

    It's fortified with calcium, Vitamin D, and Vitamin E.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,012 Member
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    If for whatever reason you would rather supplement, I'm not going to judge. But if the real issue is $$$, there are a couple of things you can do. Store brand frozen veggies are often less than $1 per serving. And if you want fresh, you have to be flexible and eat in season. For $5 I can get enough cabbage, carrots, potatoes, bananas, and kale to easily get me 2 or 3 servings a day for a week.

    The problem with supplements is there's no actual proof they work. Could you maybe drink V8? Some V8 and some dried fruit or a banana every day, and then maybe try to get one serving of legit actual veggies per day? Ya gotta have goals :)
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    Supplements are meant to supplement your diet. They are way less effective than real food. Eat your vegetables. Fruit has only some of the same vitamins, but they are more palatable to most people. But you can get used to more vegetables. We don't eat them because we hate them and ourselves. Learn to prepare them properly. Oh, and fruit and vegs aren't expensive. You don't have to eat pounds of them every day, and you can choose low end, and frozen or in season. Potato, onion, canned tomatoes, carrots, bananas, apples, oranges, cucumber, peas are among the cheapest and most versatile. Eat it up, and it's cheap. Of course, if you end up throwing it out, it'll be money out of the window. Plan your meals. Look up recipes you want to try. Don't settle for second best. Seize the opportunity to improve your quality of life.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    A bag of fresh spinach is a dollar, put it in blender with your almond milk and a scoop of pea protein and 1/2 banana. Boom! Fruits, vegetable, vitamins and takes less than one minute.
  • FreyasRebirth
    FreyasRebirth Posts: 514 Member
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    I drink green smoothies to increase my fruit/veg intake. One serving of 'power greens', sometimes a carrot, frozen berries, maybe a banana, and some (usually a half-serving) nuts/seeds. Then I use black coffee as my mixing liquid, haha. Using enough fruit is the key to making it taste decent.

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