I’ve gone back and forth on taking a multivitamin since I know my diet isn’t all that great. Ideally I should be working to improve that diet but let’s say due to certain circumstances that’s a bit difficult at the moment.
Would it be worth taking a 1 a day multivitamin to at least correct some possible deficiency or is it very unlikely that it would have any effect?
Not asking for professional medical advice or anything, mostly looking to see if anyone else is taking a multivitamin and if so why?
You must log in or register to comment.
If your diet lacks certain vitamins, a vitamin supplement may help. If not, it won’t. Excess vitamins are eliminated by a healthy body.
Some vitamines can be had too much too, so “overdosing” is a real possibility. A and D for example.
It’s pretty hard to overdose on D though, you have to drink fish oil or supplement heavily.
It’s pretty hard to overdose on D though
Heh
For real. i never can’t get enough D
Iron although you won’t overdose on that from a men’s multivitamin since it shouldn’t contain any and a women’s vitamin has like 18 mg or something. But if a child gets ahold of a bottle of iron they can do serious damage or die.
My sister, who did her master’s in nutrition or some related field, says multivitamins are a waste of money. She suggests getting bloodwork and seeing if you’re deficient in anything. And if you’re deficient, it’s better to change your diet than buy multivitamins (if possible).
With that being said, I still take a multivitamin…
They say you just piss away what you don’t need but I’m lazy. I’m pretty sure my gut doesn’t even get around to absorbing it. Stupid gut.
Vitamin D super dose works really well, as food high in vitamin D is already a big part of most people’s diets (fish, milk, cheese, eggs, beef livers).
Just watch your mood when you do this. My work up said that I’m deficient in Vitamin D. I added that as a supplement and it made me moody as crap (I’m male and this is not normal for me). Just decided to stop and continue exercise, which was making me feel better anyway.
A nutritionist friend of mine was big on diet but she wasn’t necessarily anti-vitamin pills. She said they can be an “insurance policy” against gross deficiencies in your diet that you’re not aware of or which happen because you’re not getting your diet right for whatever reason.
They’re not a substitute for eating right but they can be a good alternative to nutrient deficiencies.
That’s how I view them. It’s a supplement, to ya know, supplement your diet in case you missed any vital nutrients.
You just pee out the excess anyways just don’t go overboard. Looking at you B vitamins…
I always take Vitamin D in November/ December because I don’t get enough sunlight.
If I don’t I get very tired and depressed.
Just don’t take a lot or you can royally fuck up your blood calcium levels.
You’re supposed to take vitamin D and K together for this reason. They make combo pills.
Depends. Many minerals in the multivitamin are not bioavailable and some block absorption of others. Since there are so many together you can’t tell if it will have the desired effect and in which quantity.
There are some vitamins that definitely have a positive effect such as A, C, E, K and B12 but a 100% RDA of zinc with zincoxide does fuck all.
So it’ll most likely have a positive effect. That being said the cliche is true: It’s not a replacement for a healthy nutrient rich diet and balanced diet.
Eat:
- Whey protein (great amino acid profile)
- Fish oil (D and Omega3)
Limit:
- Sugar
- Alcohol
- Vegetable oil
- Processed food
Agree with everything except the vegestable oil, it’s high in good fats
There’s new studies that disagree, they are easily oxidized fats and there’s evidence that they heavily contribute to heart disease. Saturated fats from animal sources seems to be the way to go.
Then again if you don’t exercise and aren’t metabolically healthy you’ll probably still have issues regardless of what you do.
Can you post those studies? Pretty much all the studies I’ve seen show that unsaturated fats are what you want.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29174025/
Conclusions: Reducing saturated fat and replacing it with carbohydrate will not lower CHD events or CVD mortality although it will reduce total mortality. Replacing saturated fat with PUFA, MUFA or high-quality carbohydrate will lower CHD events.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0939475317302375
Most meta-analyses, except the Nurses Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow up Study combined, that have examined replacement of total saturated fat with total carbohydrate in cohort studies have found no effect on CHD events or deaths. Only when replacement of saturated fat with polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fat or high quality carbohydrate is examined is benefit shown.
There is some recent evidence that some unsaturated fats are unhealthy from another perspective, like soybean oil, but that isn’t all of them (e.g. olive oil is still healthy for you).
deleted by creator
That’s the one. :)
To add to that there seems to be a link between vegetable oil and weight gain when calories are kept equal between two groups of rodents.
Ideally you’d want to get tested for deficiencies and/or plug your meals into something like MacroFactor or Chronometer for a few weeks to see if you’re over/under in anything. Then just take those vitamins individually (OR, even better, adjust your diet).
I get taking a multi as an insurance policy, but there some vitamins or minerals that you can get in excess or that don’t really help.
If you’re wondering if they might help you live longer, the answer seems to be no:
https://ajcn.nutrition.org/article/S0002-9165(23)05424-2/fulltext
Conclusion: Multivitamin-multimineral treatment has no effect on mortality risk.
If you are Australian all ‘medications’ have a code on them whether they have been scientifically proven to do what the label says. Aust R - right on they’ll do what they say, Aust - L - loser no scientific proof. So yes some iron supplements work really well, others less so for example
How about “U” – “Unstudied” If there’s no money to study a supplement, it doesn’t get studied. Or maybe “unmonied”, because the particular studies the governments want cost $$$.
Most doctors today will tell you NOT to take iron, especially if you are a man. Apparently iron has been associated with various health concerns.
Personally I have always taken a multivitamin/mineral and my labs have been good except for occasional low iron because periods. Now that I’m old (and yeeted the uterus) my iron was fine until I had bad hemorrhoid bleeding. So I got that taken care of, and my ass doc prescribed daily Metamucil to keep it from recurring.
I like the OneaDay Petites because it’s easier to swallow 2 of those (that’s the dose, because petites) than one of the regular horse pills. Gummy vitamins do not have iron or other minerals, btw.
I don’t think it’s necessary to take any super-supplement, just enough to keep me at the RDA once I add in my food. If your diet is bad, fiber might be missing as well, so consider Metamucil for both your ass and your heart.
I think multi-vitamins are more important as you get older. Your body simply doesn’t absorb as much of the vitamins in food as it does when you’re younger. So all that advice “Just eat a healthy diet” isn’t quite as true.
For me, they do seem to have an effect. I sleep better, my nails become strong and generally I feel more enegized. The latter is of course very subjective.
Yeah I knew someone who was a real wtf in so many ways …. They gave up on multi-vitamins because their nails grew faster. Wtf, one of the few people with proof of a deficiency being helped by a multivitamin and they give up? Because inconvenient to be healthier?
If you’re deficient and the form of the vitamin/mineral is something your body can absorb, supplements can be helpful. If you aren’t deficient, some supplements have little effect (water soluble ones just get peed out, though can cause wear and tear on your kidneys and/or liver in the meantime), while others can cause overloads which can be as bad as or worse than deficiencies.
Personally, I try to meet my micronutritional needs with foods but I occasionally take supplements to “top up”, either a multivitamin if there’s no specific signs of deficiency, or specific supplements if there’s signs I might be low in that one (each has a set of symptoms that are associated with deficiency).
Yeah I respect that and I’m not suggesting anyone to take supplement - it works for my lifestyle, but it might not work for others. For me it’s easier to take a pill than eat all the foods I should.
They can help when your body is under stress,illness, dieting, moderate exercise. otherwise the don’t do much.
It’s generally not micronutrients like vitamins that are problematic for people with bad diets, it’s macronutrients that cause problems, and those can’t be fixed with supplements.
It’s pretty unlikely you’re going to notice much of anything from taking multivitamins, most likely you’re going to be paying a bunch to be pissing it right back out, but if you can trivially afford it then just buy a small pack and see if taking it makes you feel better.
Do buy the cheapest most generic one though, no reason to pay extra for fancy packaging.
Our Pharmacology prof at med school always told us, as long as you live in the western hemisphere and don’t just eat pizza you only produce expensive urine with those vitamins. Ymmv though
It couldn’t hurt. But most medical professionals I know don’t recommend it.
If you want to get a multivitamin that’s more bioavailable, consider eating an egg a day, or liver. These are some of the most available multivitamin sources in nature
yeah but I know my diet is shit and I’m definitely not going to eat those things daily, so I think a multivitamin helps me at that point lol
I have created a handy chart to follow
Did your doctor recommend you take supplements?
If yes
Take those specific supplements
If no
You do not need to take supplements
To add to this, you really need a blood test to show what you need. Some docs will talk out their ass about dieting (this is rare, but it happens). Always get bloodwork to confirm.
Also, some vitamins are water soluble, others need to be taken with food. Your doc should know though
I’m a vegetarian and people assume I need B12, but my bloodwork shows I’m fine. I did need some D though, since apparently hiding inside for 3 years during a pandemic can impact your body… who would’ve guessed??
I did need some D though, since apparently hiding inside for 3 years during a pandemic can impact your body… who would’ve guessed??
I’m always happy to share some D with those in need.
Heavily relatable ngl
D3 you smartass
I set myself up for that one though, huh?
Yes you did 😏
I’m a vegetarian, have gained weight but not to the point that it would explain why I feel like ass all the time recently. I should get blood work, I was thinking I had low testosterone or something but it could be anything really
I’m pretty sure multivitamins help me in one way - to help prevent me from catching colds and flus easily. I noticed this years ago when my kids were young. I would take one of the chewable kids vitamins daily through autumn and winter. Several winters I did not get sick. I’ve not done it since - every day, one kids vitamin. I switched to adult multis but I think they’re an expensive overload and didn’t seem to help. But chewable kids were too sugary for my teeth. Now they have the xylitol ones. I may try again this season.
