Vitamin Supplements

[Racoon]

heres my advice for DCM..

 

take a Centrum 1 a Day.. they are the best vitamin and trusted quality for your money.

 

To increase absorbtion, I would break the pill in half, drink each one 8 or so hours apart with about 16 oz. of water.

 

Once you get into oil, and garlic, and herb supplements, then you are playing a whole different ball game.

[Southtown]

I take:

 

Garlic, Flax Seed Oil, Chlorella, Spirulina, Trace Minerals, Super Green Max Plus, Alive. And eat whole wheat grains, soy milk, smart balance butter, organics and things like that. I also eat some normal junk, but I'm getting better. I've been feeling better this last year. The goal is all natural, no industrial. What I need now is exercise.

[InfiniteNow]

I take donuts, coffee, and scotch. That about covers my vitaminical needs. :cup:

[Jay-qu]

I take:

 

Garlic, Flax Seed Oil, Chlorella, Spirulina, Trace Minerals, Super Green Max Plus, Alive. And eat whole wheat grains, soy milk, smart balance butter, organics and things like that. I also eat some normal junk, but I'm getting better. I've been feeling better this last year. The goal is all natural, no industrial. What I need now is exercise.

 

Yup, I have had a go with a few of those. That is also my new plan, organics are ideal (I grow a fair range of fruit and veg), but pretty much anything not packaged.

 

I take donuts, coffee, and scotch. That about covers my vitaminical needs. :cup:

 

:)

[InfiniteNow]

:beer:

[HydrogenBond]

When I was in college, I was into fitness and got into vitamins. I was under the impression more was better, so I had a separate pill for each vitamin, mineral and all the other things that were said to be good for you. I would often take 10 or more times the daily amount of many of them. They were so many pills and caps that I had to take them 3-5 at a time to get them in me in a reasonable time in the morning. Most of this expensive pill diet went out in the urine and sweat, with the body taking only want it needed. Some were fat soluble and collect in the tissues of the body, which isn't good for you.

 

I eventully got over this "self prescribed vita-fad" and reduced the entire regiment down to one single generic one-a day multivitamin and mineral suppliment. That seems to work just as well.

 

It is better to get all these essentials from food, but who has time to prepare everything fresh, every single meal. I suppose if I could eat out in a vita-food-deli three meals a day, I would punt the one-a-day and eat right. Instead, reality is, I eat marginally healthful, balancing calorie input-output, supplimenting my marginal eating habits with a cheap generic vitamin and daily exercise. I rarely get sick and maintain good health and body weight.

[maikeru]

I take donuts, coffee, and scotch. That about covers my vitaminical needs. :cup:

 

I like that diet plan. :evil: But it might not help you live to a 100...

[InfiniteNow]

I like that diet plan. :evil: But it might not help you live to a 100...

 

Quality, not quantity. Cheers. :cup:

[Jay-qu]

Quality, not quantity. Cheers. :ebomb:

Im aiming for both :love:

[LJP07]

I believe that like all medicines, supplements are supposed to be used in conjunction with a medical problem you may have. After talking to a physician, he or she will recommend if your problem is as it is that you should take the supplements, but if you take them without this professionalism from a doctor, you will be doing long-term damage to your body by taking something that is unneccessary for yourself.

 

Also, the best diet is natural, taking your fruit and vegetables and 'Eating an apple a day to keep the doctor' away. These are still applicable to you and if you feel that you have to change your diet for whatever reason you should then consult a Dietician and let them evaluate you and give you the best food to eat to resolve whatever issues you currently have.

[gribbon]

I agree that Vitamins/Minerals, Trace elements etc are fine, but when you’re handling fatty, acids, and Oils etc, it’s quite different. There was an article a while ago in a newspaper which advocated that fish oils are just another health myth. See the link below for details.

 

The benefits of fish and linseed oils as elixir of life are another health myth - Health - Times Online

 

“Attempting to explain why Dr Burr should have reached the conclusions he did, the team suggest that fish oil may have a short-term benefit, but a long-term disbenefit, because it contains traces of toxic methyl mercury as a contaminant. Another possibility is that the beneficial effects may be limited to small groups of people — such as those with heart failure or those who have had a heart attack — who were not included in the Burr study.”

Interestingly that’s what Wikpedia said…perhaps without the counter effect of the mercury it might be possible to get some real benefit...Does anyone know how the mercury contaminates the fish in the first place? Does it just get picked by reacting with the food they eat, and build up because the cod etc tend to be top predators?

 

Hmmm….

 

Beyond that, I do vaguely remember hearing, though I do not from where, that the reasons for the declining cod stocks in the oceans are not so much the result of to higher consumption, but because of the demand for cod liver oil. I’ll have a look into that….

 

Multivitamins may rarely be toxic if large doses of various vitamins or minerals are taken. In particular, these include vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin B6, time release niacin, especially old versions over one hour, iron, and potassium. Total iron content of the whole bottle is the primary concern for child safety. Many commercial products selling multivitamin supplements usually contain the following ingredients: vitamin C, B1, B12, B2, B6, B3, B5, H (biotin), A, E, D3, K1, potassium iodide, cupric sulfate anhydrous, picolinate, sulfate monohydrate, trioxide, selenomethionine, borax, hydrochloride, folic acid, zinc oxide, calcium carbonate, magnesium, betacarotene, citrus bioflavonoids extract, iron

 

Fatty fish like mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon are high in two kinds of omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid are particularly good for this with benefits such as a reduction of cholesterol, but also anti-inflammatory properties and positive effects on body composition. However, the preferred source of Omega 3 should be from the fish's body, not the liver as the liver of fish and many animals, such as seals and whales, contains, besides Omega-3, the active form of Vitamin A, such as in cod liver oil. At high levels, this form of the vitamin can be dangerous, causing extensive peeling of the skin etc.

[LJP07]

Excellent article FxZeu, my thoughts exactly concerning fats and oils.

 

It's true to say that people must take into account the consequences of taking such supplements and should seek to learn more about them before taking the risks and enduring the consequences.

 

Maybe the media has more of a role to play in stoping this from happening!

[Southtown]

Quality, not quantity. Cheers. :hyper:

That's why I try to avoid slow degradation. :hihi:

[maikeru]

I agree that Vitamins/Minerals, Trace elements etc are fine, but when you’re handling fatty, acids, and Oils etc, it’s quite different. There was an article a while ago in a newspaper which advocated that fish oils are just another health myth. See the link below for details.

 

The benefits of fish and linseed oils as elixir of life are another health myth - Health - Times Online

 

“Attempting to explain why Dr Burr should have reached the conclusions he did, the team suggest that fish oil may have a short-term benefit, but a long-term disbenefit, because it contains traces of toxic methyl mercury as a contaminant. Another possibility is that the beneficial effects may be limited to small groups of people — such as those with heart failure or those who have had a heart attack — who were not included in the Burr study.”

 

I've also read about similar studies about fruits and vegetables or fiber not having an effect on cancer rates on the BBC. But I think one needs to look at the overall evidence. Many studies suggest benefits, and the effects of DHA and EPA (the primary omega-3 oils in fish oil) metabolism and use in the body are known, to a certain extent, and what is known about them also seem to point to better health and functioning as long as not overdone (like taking more than 3+ grams of fish oil). A quick search on Google (preferably Google Scholar) reveals a lot of studies and interesting insights.

 

Omega-3 fatty acid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Docosahexaenoic acid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The EPA article isn't really informative, so I won't link it, for the sake of discussion.

 

The Wiki article does recommend getting "pharmaceutical-grade" distilled fish oil, which should be free from mercury and other contaminants. BTW, the liver, unfortunately, is very inefficient in converting ALA (the predominant omega-3 in flax seeds and flax oil) to DHA or EPA. Only 2% efficiency, IIRC, from a Wiki article I read about it. It may be possible that changes, though, if one has a diet rich in ALA.

 

Does anyone know how the mercury contaminates the fish in the first place? Does it just get picked by reacting with the food they eat, and build up because the cod etc tend to be top predators?

 

Yes, because many of the fish who are collected for fish oil tend to be top predators. Whatever contaminants exist in low levels in krill, phytoplankton, or small fish tend to be stored and concentrated in fish higher up the food chain. Fish which often contain high levels of mercury include swordfish, shark, cod, farm-raised salmon (if fed fish pellets, as most are), trout (if from polluted lakes), etc. The mercury often comes from industrial waste pumped into the seas. It's not so different from PCBs, dioxins, lead, or radioactive contaminants.

 

For example, wild salmon feed on krill, zooplankton, and small shellfish and gradually work their way up to small fish when they get larger. They're exposed to less toxins overall than farm-raised salmon, which are fed fish pellets made from fish which are trawled and then ground up, often being sardines, mackerel, sharks, or whatever gets caught in the nets. The constant feeding of higher-level-food-web organisms to the farmed salmon can increase their mercury content significantly. Also, this goes for PCBs and dioxins as well. There was a report in Science on this a while back, and a warning issued based on that report.

 

Salmon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

I stopped eating farm-raised salmon after I found out what they did and what the effects on the fish were. And this is coming from a guy who likes his seafood. :hyper: It's nauseating, really, what they do with current salmon farming and much of aquaculture.

[InfiniteNow]

It's nauseating, really, what they do with current salmon farming and much of aquaculture.

Much of many current food production and farming techniques that have in millenial years past offered us survival benefit but now stretch even the most morbid imagination cause me such tendency toward emesis. That, however, is worthy of a thread in and of itself.

 

Translation: Makes me want to vomit how we treat animals now so we can feed the masses.

 

Oh yeah, vitamins... Uhmm... I drink wine and eat cheese, too, Jay-qu. :hyper:

[Jay-qu]

 

Oh yeah, vitamins... Uhmm... I drink wine and eat cheese, too, Jay-qu. :)

 

Wine is ok, if you where to drink alcohol that is the only one that I would recommend, apparently it has anti-aging properties too! (thats anti-oxidants)

 

Cheese = dairy, which I steer away from..

[Monomer]

Oh yeah, vitamins... Uhmm... I drink wine and eat cheese, too, Jay-qu.

 

 

Well, red wine is good for the heart, colon and lungs:

Resveratrol in red wine could cut colorectal cancer risk

News in Science - Now red wine can help the lungs - 29/10/2003

ScienceDaily: Red Wine's Health Benefits May Be Due In Part To "Estrogen" In Grape Skin

 

Cheese is full of vitamins:

National Dairy Council - Health Benefits of Cheese

 

Coffee could prevent the development of type-2 diabetes:

More support for coffee’s anti-diabetes benefits

 

Scotch may even have some health benefits:

UMIM: Healing Food Pyramid: Alcohol

 

And as far as the donuts go, red wine consumption may negate the high calorie effects:

Red wine compound may extend life, says mice study

 

I wouldn't advocate a diet of wine, scotch, coffee, donuts and cheese, but it's interesting when you break it down and look at it closely...:cup: