Vitamin supplements: suggestions/feedback

[serious_fun]

I'm almost ready to restock supplements for the family, and wonder if any of you have feedback re: these brands which my local apotek normally sells:

Sakatonik for children's supplements

Imboost for adult's supplements

I'm just looking at multivitamins at the moment.

makasih

 

[serious_fun]

 

[Banana72]

For Daily supposedly Blackmores is good. I occasionally mix half Redoxon Fortimum with homemade veggie juice.

 

[LRB]

Pharmacies here often stock a brand called Zegavit. I go with that or Blackmore's. Seems okay. Not cheap though.

 

[gemima]

Good morning!
I'm not anti-vitamins and I take a basic multivitamin (centrum bought in the EU, I am not sure I trust local ones...maybe I shouldnt be so silly about that) a couple of times per week but this was interesting:

ZOE Podcast: The Truth About Vitamin Supplements

In this episode, Jonathan speaks with Prof. JoAnn Manson and Dr. Sarah Berry to better understand how vitamin supplements affect our health.

joinzoe.com

The link has the transcript if you dont like listening. I found it an interesting podcast. I listen to Zoe regularly and they are sensible/ responsible doctors/ scientists/ researchers (no wild theories/ conspiracy crap).

 

[serious_fun]

Makasih atas balasannya.

I picked up some very reasonable 250mg Vitamin C tabs (box of 100) for Rp 27 ribu.

... homemade veggie juice.

excellent! Once we get settled in the new place we'll probably locate our blender/juicer.

 

[fastpitch17]

Makasih atas balasannya.

I picked up some very reasonable 250mg Vitamin C tabs (box of 100) for Rp 27 ribu.


excellent! Once we get settled in the new place we'll probably locate our blender/juicer.

Doesn't your body only accept 1mg of Vit C and anything else in you is rejected and discarded? Vit C is readily available in many foods so isn't taking it above 1mg a waste of money?

 

[Hawk256]

Doesn't your body only accept 1mg of Vit C and anything else in you is rejected and discarded? Vit C is readily available in many foods so isn't taking it above 1mg a waste of money?

I've had numerous doctors tell me that almost all vitamins give you is expensive pee. If you need a specific vitamin it's a different story but most people don't have that need.

 

[MamangDudul]

I've had numerous doctors tell me that almost all vitamins give you is expensive pee. If you need a specific vitamin it's a different story but most people don't have that need.

Just interested, with all that unhealthy living and eating wouldn't actually more people need vitamins? When I see what some kids or even adults eat all day. I also could imagine that the food quality, no matter if we talk about meat, veggies or fruits, didn't get much better in recent history.

 

[serious_fun]

Doesn't your body only accept 1mg of Vit C and anything else in you is rejected and discarded? Vit C is readily available in many foods so isn't taking it above 1mg a waste of money?

1mg ?? Perhaps that's a typo. The lowest recommended Vit. C dosage that I've seen for adults is 70mg per day for women/100mg for men.

I take Vit. C in different ways, fresh fruit if available, but always supplement. It's an antioxidant and attacks free radicals, so I assume that slightly higher doses are fine. I believe that ultra-high doses aren't useful unless one is suffering from disease...there is lots of research into Vit. C as you know.

I've had numerous doctors tell me that almost all vitamins give you is expensive pee. If you need a specific vitamin it's a different story but most people don't have that need.

I don't trust medical doctors too much. I question everything that they say / write. Someone who would "prescribe" expensive (and often harmful) pharmaceutical sludge and who then states that vitamin supplements aren't worth the cost is a bit much for my cynical brain. The doctors that you've spoken with may be different, but that's my default position/opinion.

If lower levels of certain elements/nutrients are associated with negative conditions, it seems to me that supplementation of said elements/nutrients makes good sense. Classic example: Vitamin D.

Just interested, with all that unhealthy living and eating wouldn't actually more people need vitamins? When I see what some kids or even adults eat all day. I also could imagine that the food quality, no matter if we talk about meat, veggies or fruits, didn't get much better in recent history.

Agreed. Dietary recommendations haven't been updated in years, and one presumes that food quality hasn't improved too much over time...generally speaking.

I respect the opinions of those who don't take supplements, but I'll err on the side of additional nutrients.

p.s. - I don't/won't spend a fortune on them.

 

[Hawk256]

Just interested, with all that unhealthy living and eating wouldn't actually more people need vitamins? When I see what some kids or even adults eat all day. I also could imagine that the food quality, no matter if we talk about meat, veggies or fruits, didn't get much better in recent history.

That is probably a valid point. I haven't done the research but I would guess that some vitamins we are probably getting plenty of but surely there are some that are lacking in a modern diet. My wife believes vitamins and herbal concoctions are the greatest thing in the world and she isn't spending a crazy amount on them, so I just let it ride. I certainly don't see them hurting anything but I don't know how essiental they really are either.

 

[gemima]

That is probably a valid point. I haven't done the research but I would guess that some vitamins we are probably getting plenty of but surely there are some that are lacking in a modern diet. My wife believes vitamins and herbal concoctions are the greatest thing in the world and she isn't spending a crazy amount on them, so I just let it ride. I certainly don't see them hurting anything but I don't know how essiental they really are either.

this was something touched on in a book I recently read about processed foods (I linked to it in another thread here ).
One theory the guy writing it has (or people in the anti-processed food camp have) is that a lot of what people eat now is not "real" food, its processed so much its missing some essential parts. People end up overweight yet still craving nutrients, possibly leading them to eat even more food - leading to a vicious cycle of weight gain/ cravings.

I think if you eat home prepared foods - sensibly, lots of fruit/ veg and meat/ dairy/ eggs without going to extremes you probably get everything you need in your diet. People who exclude food groups (like vegans/ vegetarians or people with food allergy/ intolerance) or older people (less efficient absorption of nutrients) prob do benefit from a supplement.

 

[fastpitch17]

I don't doubt vitamin supplements can be a good thing, just the kinds and amounts taken.
Why take a vitamin that states on the lable that it provides 140% of your daily need?
Why would someone want to take a multiple vitamin when they probably may only need a portion of what's in them on a given day?
Is it just a, lets hit all cylinders even if they are already getting enough fuel?

There are some vitamins that accumulate in the body that can do harm eventually.

With the amount of sunlight one gets here, why add additional vit D?

Wouldn't it be better to do the research having an understanding of what vitamins you are getting in your food and then only taking what you are not getting that particular day? You didn't get enough vit b6 or b12 so you pop one of those. Just to be safe should we add a garlic pill? A ginger pill? Down some fish oil. Chew on some metals?

What the stores carry here seem limited but I remember walking in stores in the US and seeing entire isles of vitamins and supplements which always made me think that the vitamin/supplements industries were just rackets that needed no actual testing as long as they didn't contain illegal ingredients.

 

[centurion]

I don't doubt vitamin supplements can
With the amount of sunlight one gets here, why add additional vit D?

Because by age you lose capability of absorbing vitamin D from the sun. Plus the darker is the skin, the higher is vitamin D deficiency.

 

[Hawk256]

What the stores carry here seem limited but I remember walking in stores in the US and seeing entire isles of vitamins and supplements which always made me think that the vitamin/supplements industries were just rackets that needed no actual testing as long as they didn't contain illegal ingredients.

We don't always agree on everything but I couldn't be more in agreement on this. Too many people get taken advange of by the system. People paying crazy prices for a magic pill that is nothing other than some plant ground up with some copper and given a cool sounding name.

 

[harryopal1]

"......Plus the darker is the skin, the higher is vitamin D deficiency."

I haven't heard that before. Does this mean all Africans and other dark skinned people including Indonesians who work outside are vitamin C deficient?

As for the general thrust of the debate about the worth of vitamin supplements, I became interested in health fundamentals at the age of about 20 and became a vegetarian. In Melbourne I used to go to a Sanitarium place for lunch and they had shelves of vitamin supplements. It seemed to me that with a balanced diet one could have adequate vitamin intake without buying and taking relatively expensive supplements.

At the age of 84 I have never had a doctor suggest I am vitamin deficient so never got into supplements. This doesn't mean I am anti vitamin supplements but clever and continuing advertising creates the impression that the key to good health is buying supplements. Globally we are talking of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of sales each year most of which I suspect are not really necessary.

 

[centurion]

I haven't heard that before. Does this mean all Africans and other dark skinned people including Indonesians who work outside are vitamin C deficient?

At the age of 84 I have never had a doctor suggest I am vitamin deficient so never got into supplements. This doesn't mean I am anti vitamin supplements but clever and continuing advertising creates the impression that the key to good health is buying supplements. Globally we are talking of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of sales each year most of which I suspect are not really necessary.

Yes, it means all people with high melamine are vitamine D defficent in most of cases.Their bodies and skin were made for prolonged exposure on the sun, and if they are outside for many hours, they get their vitamin D doses. However, due to modern life and staing too much in officess and confined spaces (as in Indonesia), or are fully covered from cultural/religious reasons, or living in countries above the equator(where theri is autumn/winter and not enough sun exposure), they cannot absorb the vitamin D effectively. Lighter skinned people synthetize vitamin D more fast, but as mentioned declines with age. Above 40 you should check your vitamin D levels and start supplementing accordingly.

At age of 84 you shoud check your vitamin D levels and they are for sure bellow any acceptable levels. If you hav Indonesian spouse, her levels will be in the bottom. These tests are not done often as the test itself is expensive (several hundreds of thousands Rp). The best vitamin D is in form of claciferol D3.

 

[Shadrach]

I haven't heard that before. Does this mean all Africans and other dark skinned people including Indonesians who work outside are vitamin C deficient?

As for the general thrust of the debate about the worth of vitamin supplements, I became interested in health fundamentals at the age of about 20 and became a vegetarian. In Melbourne I used to go to a Sanitarium place for lunch and they had shelves of vitamin supplements. It seemed to me that with a balanced diet one could have adequate vitamin intake without buying and taking relatively expensive supplements.

At the age of 84 I have never had a doctor suggest I am vitamin deficient so never got into supplements. This doesn't mean I am anti vitamin supplements but clever and continuing advertising creates the impression that the key to good health is buying supplements. Globally we are talking of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of sales each year most of which I suspect are not really necessary.

Hi Harryopal, I agree about the over abundance of supplements being pushed. But the basic ones like Vitamin C, B, and D maybe necessary depending on your health condition,and age. I am afraid to say but the food that is produced nowadays in soil that has been depleted after years of overuse without being enriched with good healthy compost, manures, calcium, minerals, etc. And with the use of chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, I think the food maybe not efficient in supplying us the basics we need. I am a big fan of learning how to enrich our soil with seaweed, oyster, and clam shells, plankton, and so much I don't even know. If we can start repairing our soil then the food produced will again supply us with the basics we need and we won't need supplements to make up for it.
But until then a few basic supplements might help.

 

[fastpitch17]

Yes, it means all people with high melamine are vitamine D defficent in most of cases.Their bodies and skin were made for prolonged exposure on the sun, and if they are outside for many hours, they get their vitamin D doses. However, due to modern life and staing too much in officess and confined spaces (as in Indonesia), or are fully covered from cultural/religious reasons, or living in countries above the equator(where theri is autumn/winter and not enough sun exposure), they cannot absorb the vitamin D effectively. Lighter skinned people synthetize vitamin D more fast, but as mentioned declines with age. Above 40 you should check your vitamin D levels and start supplementing accordingly.

At age of 84 you shoud check your vitamin D levels and they are for sure bellow any acceptable levels. If you hav Indonesian spouse, her levels will be in the bottom. These tests are not done often as the test itself is expensive (several hundreds of thousands Rp). The best vitamin D is in form of claciferol D3.

Great argument to encourage outdoor nudity in Indonesia.

 

[serious_fun]

Wouldn't it be better to do the research having an understanding of what vitamins you are getting in your food and then only taking what you are not getting that particular day? You didn't get enough vit b6 or b12 so you pop one of those. Just to be safe should we add a garlic pill? A ginger pill? Down some fish oil. Chew on some metals?

It would be wonderful to have an accurate assessment of nutrients consumed...I'd love to be able to afford a complete work up (is that the correct term?) of my nutrient levels to see what would be best for my specific biochemistry.

Re: taking supplements at higher than recommended amounts, remember that many of them actively attack cancer cells, block/slow the growth of tumors, etc., so in my opinion it's not really a case of taking "more than one needs". The body needs a certain amount. That is the recommended intake. Anything above and beyond that (to a certain degree - no megadoses!) is probably beneficial...unless the research tells me differently. Classic example: antioxidants which scour for free radicals.

It seems as if we all agree that the main source for our nutrition should be whole foods!

Back to the O.P.: I'll keep shopping for multivitamins for the kids...and report back FYI.