Vitamins - what should we take daily?

[Randy]

I was just curious as to what others felt where the best vitamins to keep in our daily arsenal... I know they recommend a slightly different plan for men and women.

I know I am missing some, but I take the following every night before bed.

Vitamin C 1000mg
Vitamin E 400i.u.
selenium 200mcg.
milk thistle 200mg. (was left over from my M1T cycle, so I am still taking 1)
Saw Palmetto 160mg.

This is primarily what I've been taking outside of creatine and L-Glutamine.
What else should I take?

 

[Jodi]

Multi-Vitamin
B-Complex 50 or 100
Vitamin C 1000MG
Vitamin E 1000 IU
Calcium/Magnesium 1000/500
Multi-Mineral

Sometimes I take extra Potassium and Zinc.

 

[Randy]

But doesn't the multi-vitamin contain C, E and magnesium?
Plus I've always been skeptical about calcium since I've heard that you can
over do it with calcium and cause risk for osteoperosis or how ever you spell that

 

[Jodi]

Yes, but IMO, not always enough.

 

[Randy]

Well one thing I do know is that you can not over do it with Vitamin C. I've read studies where gorillas bodies when sensing that they are getting sick will automatically produce 3000mg of vitamin C a day.. That was amazing to hear that story. Now some people confuse the fact that you can get diarea from to much vitamin C, but that they have not proved that it has any harmful effects on the body by taking to much.

But I do respect your advice Jodi, I know you are very knowledgeable in the diet and nutrition department .

 

[Jodi]

That's interesting. I've never heard that.

I take alot of Vit C and I don't have any side effects.

 

[Randy]

Yeah, I thought it was interesting. I can't remember the source and for all I know maybe it is not true, but at the time it caught my attention. I had always wanted to search deeper into that subject to determine if it was indeed true. But I know that C has a wealth of positive attributes and benefits on the body. My dentist says it really helps in that department too.... something about preventing gum disease or something to that affect...

 

[DOMS]

Multi-Vitamin
B-Complex 50 or 100
Vitamin C 1000MG
Vitamin E 1000 IU
Calcium/Magnesium 1000/500
Multi-Mineral

Sometimes I take extra Potassium and Zinc.

Right on. I only missing the last two. w00t. Maybe I am learning...

 

[DOMS]

Oh yeah, and Randy, I see you swiped one of Sapphire's pics.

What a hotty!

 

[soxmuscle]

But doesn't the multi-vitamin contain C, E and magnesium?
Plus I've always been skeptical about calcium since I've heard that you can
over do it with calcium and cause risk for osteoperosis or how ever you spell that

Kidney Stones can be caused by too much calcium I believe aswell.

 

[CowPimp]

I take a multivitamin/mineral and a time release vitamin C at breakfast every morning. I figure that I get enough supplemental nutrients from the foods I eat, if I don't quite get it all in the pills.

 

[Jodi]

Yes it can. There are a few factors though.

1. You need to drink lots of water which is something we should be doing daily anyway
2. You need to take calcium with your meals
3. Take your calcium in smaller quantities throughout a few meals. It has to do with the calcium binding to oxalate and being absorbed. It can absorb in smaller quantities and of course that means less risk of stones.
4. Choose Calcium Citrate over Carbonate. It is absorbed easier by the body.

 

[Randy]

You notice that did you But actually, she provided it to me freely... Her and I are friends


Well Its late here now almost 2am... I'm going to take my vitamins and off to bed... Night everyone

Oh yeah, and Randy, I see you swiped one of Sapphire's pics.

What a hotty!

 

[Big Smoothy]

I was just curious as to what others felt where the best vitamins to keep in our daily arsenal... I know they recommend a slightly different plan for men and women.

I've always thought that taking multivitamins was best in the morning.

Am I right or wrong on this, or does it not matter?

 

[ponyboy]

Yes it can. There are a few factors though.

1. You need to drink lots of water which is something we should be doing daily anyway
2. You need to take calcium with your meals
3. Take your calcium in smaller quantities throughout a few meals. It has to do with the calcium binding to oxalate and being absorbed. It can absorb in smaller quantities and of course that means less risk of stones.
4. Choose Calcium Citrate over Carbonate. It is absorbed easier by the body.

These are all good points. You also have to remember with minerals like calcium that different types have different amounts of absorbability as well. Therefore 1000 mg of calcium carbonate might only give you 400mg into your body, while citrate will give you 600 or more.

Good food sources of calcium are green leafy vegetables - it is always better to get your nutrients from real food rather than a pill.

 

[DOMS]

Is it true that taking magnesium will help with the absorption of calcium? If so, what is the ratio?

Thanks

 

[Jodi]

Yes, it does

http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/showthread.php?t=35354&highlight=Magnesium

 

[Randy]

All the packages I have read just recommend to take them after any meal.
So I would say that it really doesn't matter when. I take them a few hours after my last meal before bed.

I've always thought that taking multivitamins was best in the morning.


Am I right or wrong on this, or does it not matter?

 

[Randy]

Calcium links

http://www.naturallywomen.com/newsstory25.htm


http://www.enzymestuff.com/calcium.htm

 

[Arnold]

I was just curious as to what others felt where the best vitamins to keep in our daily arsenal...

I take the following:

Multi Vitamin
Multi Mineral
Vit. B Complex
Vit. C
Vit. E

 

[Randy]

I think you get a much better value by buying vitamins individually instead of using multi-vitamins. If you were to buy them individual, which ones would you buy, and what values for each would you recommend Prince?

I try to get as many of my vitamins as I can at Costco cause I can get large quantities cheap. Kirkland makes a lot of them that seem to be of good quality too. In fact I noticed that Kirkland has their hands in just about everything these days They are becoming very successful.

 

[Arnold]

well, I use TwinLab's Daily One and I feel that it's a high quality multi-vitamin, I take the b-complex, c and e twice daily in addition to the multi. I guess I do not agree that you need to take every vitamin separately though.

 

[Randy]

I didn't mean to imply that you needed to take the multivitamins seperately, I just thought you might get a better value buying them seperately. But maybe I'm wrong. I can see how it is more convenient to have them prepackaged and ready to go.

 

[Arnold]

I just thought you might get a better value buying them seperately.

http://www.bulknutrition.com/?products_id=564

 

[Randy]

Hmmmmm that looks like a nice assortment, but looks like it is missing a few like A, and E is only 100IU when I think they recommend 400IU. Gives me something to think about though, thanks for your referal. I will search through the site as you are right, they do have some good values there.

There is one other thing that prohibits me from taking a single multivitamin is the fact that I am allergic to vitamin C (I know it really does suck). I am allergic to the acid and get like a cold sore or canker sore on my mouth if I have anything high in Citric Acid. Especially like a pinapple or something.. It is the Citric Acid that kills me. But I can have Vitamin C with rose hips and citrus Bioflavonoids. The Bioflavonoids counter act the citric acid and I'm fine. Fortunately that stuff isn't as rare as it sounds and I can buy big bottles of the stuff. So in light of that issue, the closest I can get is to buy the vitamins in those little packages and just remove the vitamin c pill and replace it with the ones that I can take .

 

[Randy]

Well Prince I ended up getting a box of vitamin packs at Costco for like 15.00 bucks..
It seems like a very good value. You get a 90 day supply/90 packets consisting of the following..

vitamin c 1000mg with rose hips
multivitamin/multimineral (over 31 important nutrients)
Asian Ginseng, (Panax) concentrate 100mg ... supposed to give you energy
Vitamin E 400 I.U.
Two Calciums 500mg
B-50 Vitamins
Chromium Picolinate
Also contains Lycopene 300mcg

Those are the main things, plus I couple those with

selenium 200mcg.
milk thistle 200mg. (was left over from my M1T cycle, so I am still taking 1)
Saw Palmetto 160mg.
Cranberry 300mg

Seems like a decent arsonal of vitamins per day don't ya think

 

[Blue-Coco]

Milk Thistle? Is this not very important to protect out body's filter for ALL supplements (LIVER)?

 

[Randy]

Body builders use Milk Thistle to help condition their liver and help counteract some of the harsh abuse it goes through when taking steroids...

I myself had tried a cycle of the legal steroid, M1T a while back and am now taking what is left of the thistle pills (1 a night) till they are gone. Thistle is an herb and can be beneficial to your liver when it is under a strain from drinking alcohol or any other matter.