Your turn to help me –
Do you take a multivitamin?
I used to back in the day, but stopped years back — the rationale being that since I eat a reasonably healthy diet, I really get all the vitamins I need. Plus, I heard that the body just doesn’t absorb the stuff in multivitamins that well, esp. compared to the nutrients in real food.
But last week I mentioned to a girl at the gym I’d been feeling tired, and she suggested taking a multivitamin. This week, I don’t feel so tired — but I’m wondering if she’s right….
If you’re on the pro-multivitamin side, lemme know what you recommend. Otherwise I’ll just go with the general advice in this CNN article….
I am not pto vitiman at all, unless there is a health problem in which you are not able to absorb enough and therefore need extra. Vitamins are largely an experiment, kind of like most pharmicuticals – and we don’t really know the long term effects of taking vitamins over a lifetime. In the last ten years we have learned more about how one vitamin can cause an serious imbalance of another when taking too much.
I think it’s best to get a blood tesst, or hair analysis when not feeling well to check levels of minerals & other vitals in your body- because being tired could be completely unrelated to lack of vitamins- it could be one of a million other factors. And taking vitamins we don’t don’t need them can actually overwork your kidneys & liver eventually making your feel worse.
Comment by Leslie @ the oko box — July 9, 2008 @ 4:18 am
Siel, I recommend Juice Plus, as do many doctors. These capsules of freeze-dried fruits and veges are more readily bio-available, natural, and will give you TONS of energy. So much so, that if you take them too late in the day, you’ll find it hard to fall asleep!
For those days when you’re not eating all the suggested fruits and veges, Juice Plus helps you get your recommended dosage of healthy foods – at hardly any calories or sugar. It’s a great help for weight loss efforts, especially the green “vege” capsules which really do make you feel full.
When I’ve been feeling sick or on the verge of catching something (like with the sore throat that comes first), I take about 6 “reds” (the fruit) and it’s like a natural megadose of vitamin C. I haven’t caught a cold or the flu since starting my Juice Plus habit!
I PROMISE you’ll feel a positive difference! This product has helped my family lower its cholesterol and has regulated blood levels for people with cancer. I could go on…
My favorite book for many years has been “Prescription for Nutritional Healing” and now my favorite health supplement is Juice Plus. Without a doubt!
Comment by Trudy — July 9, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
But Trudy — Why would I pay to eat things in unappealing pill form while supporting a pyramid scheme-like biz — through which you are selling this stuff, although you don’t mention that in your glowing recommendation above — when instead I can just eat lotsa fresh, farmers’ market fruit — like I do now? This sounds a lot like the diet industry selling nasty soy protein shakes — instead of encouraging people to enjoy a good tofu stir fry dish once in a while.
Your comment actually just reinforces my feeling that if you eat a healthy diet, you have little need for expensive “supplements.”
Comment by Siel — July 9, 2008 @ 12:41 pm
around the time i was having sluggishness issues, i started taking a vitamin b12 pill in the mornings on the advice of a friend who argued that b12 in pill form would be helpful precisely because i’d recently cut out meat and that’s supposedly something that dark leafy greens can’t compensate with. i did feel an uptick in energy but perhaps it was a placebo effect? not sure that answers your multivitamin q, but it was how i dealt with avoiding bombarding my body with stuff i get plenty of in my diet.
Comment by ms.babe — July 9, 2008 @ 4:10 pm
The B12 deficiency’s def. something I’ve heard about a lot too — but most of the deficiency related stuff I’ve read concerns vegan people (I eat fish, some dairy, and some egg dishes). Are you still taking the B12, or was this a temp thin?
Comment by Siel — July 9, 2008 @ 9:32 pm
B12 deficiencies can come from alot of different things- a vegan/vegetarian diet may provoke it, but also many other facters can happen. When people age they tend to be able to absorb B12 less and less due to the wearing down of the intenstines over the years, and also people who have pernicious anemia can’t absorb it which is unrelated to diet. I had a severe b12 deficiency due to Celiac Sprue, which commonly causes anemia and had to have B12 shots at first. But I found that changing my diet to include more fish helped more then anything. Eating a healthy balanced diet, based on your body’s personal needs is best, and it sounds like you are eating really healthy. (Alcohol, cigs and other substances can interfere with absorption of vitamins though.)
Comment by Leslie @ the oko box — July 10, 2008 @ 4:17 am
Ah yes, I don’t eat fish on a regular enough basis, so I checked with my doc about it, worked it into my routine and am still taking it. I guess there’s no point where I would think, ok, I can totally afford to have a decrease in energy now, so, although I hadn’t thought of it this way, I guess it is a permanent addition.
Comment by mb — July 11, 2008 @ 8:56 am
Siel –
I think if you eat a healthy diet, which you probably do from the sound of your posts, then you really don’t need to take a multivitamin. And if you do, I wouldn’t spend a ton of money on one — probably one from Sam’s Club or Trader Joe’s is fine. There has been a lot of press lately about how too much Vitamin E can be detrimental and now there are even some negative studies about antioxidants. So, I think “everything in moderation” applies here….. I like Emergen-C if you are feeling run-down. You can buy the packets in bulk at Trader Joe’s or individually at most Whole Foods type stores. They are a pretty good deal at Trader Joe’s (I have nothing to do with the company!) Also, Greens to Go is a product you can get at Costco which has lots of nutrition and is organic (I have nothing to do with that company either!) Good for you for not falling for the whole Juice Plus sales pitch. These people will never learn! No, I would not spend $40/month on overpriced garbage that does not have a balanced complement of vitamins and is not what it purports to be!
Comment by aunt frannie — July 12, 2008 @ 11:57 pm
Serendipitously, Utne An just pub’d an article about about vitamins. Julie Hanus writes a well-balanced diet doesn’t necessary get you all the vitamins and minerals you may need — because conventional factory farmed fruits and veggies just aren’t that nutritious. What if I’m eating organic farmers’ market veggies though?
Comment by Siel — July 15, 2008 @ 1:13 pm