Which Vitamins Do You Take and Why?

[miel]

I'm just realizing that my vitamin bill is rather high but I have this deep faith in the power of vitamins to keep me from getting sick, prevent PMS, etc.

Now I'm giving my husband all kinds of concoctions--like garlic for cholesterol and essential fatty acids and coQ10. My blood pressure's already gone down (it was normal but the border of normal after being low for many years) and I think there might be something I'm taking that did that but I don't know if it was the garlic or what.

I'll get my list out but I was curious about other people's and I thought we could trade vitamin info.

I'm thinking of taking Gingko even though I'm not 100% sure if it works. I only read one study that said it might improve short term memory and that is my problem--short term memory.

I already take lots of whacky herbs too. For sleep and stress and a variety of things.

Sorry if there's already a thread like this.

So which vitamins do you take? Any vitamin mavins out there? Also, where do you get yours. I get mine from Puritan's Pride--they are the least expensive reliable place I've found.

[tlew12778]

Garlic does lower BP. As do onions and licorice. So it definitely could have been the garlic extract.

I take Fertility Blenc bc well, I'm lazy. It's got more than 100% of most of the vitamins plus some herbs to regulate my cycle. That's good enough for me :p.

[Daisy]

I take:

Multi-vitamin
Calcium vitamin
B-2 (helps prevent headaches)

[Foley42]

Daisy: Before you started taking the B-2, how often were you getting headaches? I get the often when I'm in school. Goody's Powder work super fast, but they are so bad for you. I'd like to prevent them!

[Adaya]

Good thread....I am looking for a good multi-vitamin.

Currently, I'm just taking garlic and fish-oil.

[Daisy]

Foley42 - I'm happy to say that I get headaches much less often than I used to (which was about 1-2 times a week). Now I get them, usually, during times of unusual stress or during my period (this includes headaches and migrains).

My mom gets regular migrains and she started the B-2 as one of the many attempts to curtail them and she thinks it's helping her, hence I started taking it.

A nice side-effect is healthier hairs and nails. :D

[BTB]

An NIH panel review on vitamin overload, very timely - just out today:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/05/17/diet.vitamins.ap/index.html

To answer the OP, I take a prescription vitamin supplement because I have a genetic disorder that leaves me without the enzymes necessary to recycle certain cofactors.

Besides that, just a Centrum. :)

[Foley42]

Thanks Daisy. I would say my HA are as frequent as every other day...sometimes everyday for several days in a row. I've talked to my Dr. about it but will again if B-2 doesn't seem to help.

[emmasart]

I take Flintstone Chewable multi-vitamins with extra calcium. :o
The regular grownup mulivitamins make me really nauseous, so my doctor recommended just taking a kid vitamin instead.

[twinnyme]

I take Women's One-A-Day daily and DH takes the men's version daily. We also each take Vitamin C (chewable) daily. He's always done that, and I recently started (about a year ago). He is rarely sick, and I find it helps me, too - plus the chewable ones are pretty tasty!

[LeslieandPaul]

I take a calcium supplement (because I can't drink milk), a multi vitamin (because I have really bad eating habits and need to get the vitamins somewhere), and folic acid (for whenever TTC time arrives). I try to take them regularly, but if I forget, I don't worry about it.

[Foley42]

LeslieandPaul: The daily requirement for Folic Acid is 400mcg. My multi vitamin includes 100%. Might want to check... :)

[karina]

i take b complex (for stress and mood) and folic acid (for overall well being)

[Winter Biscuit]

When I am not pregnant or TTC, I usually take a Centrum multi-vitamin and a calcium supplement.

When I am/was TTC, pregnant, and nursing, I took prenatals and a calcium supplement.

Currently I am taking chewable prenatal vitamins in the morning (we're TTC ;)) and a calcium supplement in the evening. I take them at separate times because the calcium can interfere with the absorption of iron in the prenatals. I avoid dairy products in the morning when I take my prenatal, and instead fill up in the evening with milk, cheese, etc.

[jenjunum]

I just take a multivitamin to make sure I get some extra calcium (even though I think I get enough from what I eat) and because I have a tendency to have low iron (too low to give blood, not medically low per my doc).

Jennifer

[miel]

I take them at separate times because the calcium can interfere with the absorption of iron in the prenatals.

I didn't know that! Does that mean you shouldn't take a multi or prenatals with milk I wonder?

Do you have a specific brand of prenatals you like? I always used Solgar. They are expensive. I don't know why I picked them except when I take their vitamins I seem to actually feel more energetic and get sick less but this might be true of a lot of brands. All the prenatals I found cost a fortune but I think they are now carrying prenatals at Trader Joe's and they seemed more reasonable so maybe I'll switch to those when we TTC again.

Another thing I did when pregnant was take EFAs (essential fatty acids). Right after I had my baby they had these studies that suggest that these are really good for babies and women should eat certain fish when pregnant (avoiding those that are high in mercury). I took them because I take them for PMS and being pregnant felt like a hormonal roller coaster like PMS so I thought they might help. (They are molecularly distilled so that there is no mercury or anything in them.) My baby turned out great...so maybe those studies are right. ;)

[emjay]

I just take a Wal-Mart brand multi-vitamin every day after lunch. I have an Outlook reminder set up so I don't forget!

[Winter Biscuit]

I didn't know that! Does that mean you shouldn't take a multi or prenatals with milk I wonder?

I'm not sure. I do think it depends on high the intakes are. Seems like the interference is more likely to occur with really high intakes (like "super" vitamins). It also seems like this info is not widely publicized (at least, I have only heard it from a few people which is the only reason I know about it - the info sheet that came with my prenatals don't even mention anything about other vitamins/minerals that may interfere with the absorption of the nutrients in the prenatal). I tried doing a google search and found a few things:


When there is a large amount of calcium as in cow's milk, the calcium bumps the iron out of the pathways resulting in less absorption. From http://www.kidsnutrition.org/consumer/archives/formula-iron.htm (although this article was specifically about iron and calcium in formula for babies, though)


Calcium competes with zinc, manganese, magnesium, copper and iron for absorption in the intestine and a high intake of one can reduce absorption of the others. From http://www.symmcorp.com/info/calcium.htm

FWIW, I try to avoid dairy products in the morning and take my prenatal with a glass of water. Then I try to remember to take a calcium supplement with a glass of milk at dinner time. I haven't been very good about following this, but I'm trying :)


Do you have a specific brand of prenatals you like?
I can't remember what I took last time, but they were HORSE PILLS and very difficult to swallow. They constantly got stuck in my throat. I am currently taking PreCare chewable tablets. They're OK. They are somewhat chalky and taste fruity. Like Rolaids or Tums, I guess :p I just found out I am pregnant so they are tolerable now (I'm barely 5 weeks along), but I really question whether they will be difficult to chew once the morning sickness and food aversions kick in. I bought a bottle of the Target brand prenatals just in case.

Interesting about the EFAs. I'll have to do some research on those :)

[amd218]

Daisy - that's a great tip about the B-2!! I get headaches often, so I should try that. I'll have to look at my existing vitamins too.

I'm horrible at taking vitamins - I used to take Iron b/c I was anemic (but my doc switched my BC and I've greatly improved). I've sort of fallen off that track though. I wanted to get a simple vitamin and some folic acid, but got suckered into this multi-super-pack at GNC. There are 6 friggin' pills in there and it's so annoying!! They're all huge too. I hate the thought of taking them, so I'm counting down until my monthly pack is over so I can go back to just a normal multivitamin.

[Rico'sAlice]

I normally have a couple of Emergen-C packets per day. I'll have four+ if I'm feeling ill or going into a stressful/germy situation (travel, hospital visits, etc.)
There are certain aspects of my diet that IMO (I recognize it's all up for debate) offer superior nutrition so I don't worry about it all too much. I personally consider raw pastured milk a super food. And my meat and eggs are all pastured as well. (Cage free does not in any way guarantee pastured.) I know there are other things I should be getting (like more cultured/fermented foods) that I'm not yet, and have started doing some research.
I don't think about iron though, since I threw/gave away all my Teflon pans I am using my cast iron more often and I believe that leaches some into the food. And when I donate blood, I never show up anemic, so I don't worry.

ETA: Soil testing in my area comes out low for selenium, so I try to work Brazil nuts into my diet to make up for it.

[ignutzz]

Emmasart Thank you for mentioning that the multis made you sick. I haven't taken any kind of vitamin since college because they made me feel so nauseated that I actually got sick. I'd never heard anyone else mention this happening to them so I thought I was just a weirdo. :)

The B-2 sounds good since I have terrible nails. I'm also starting back up with Acidopholous since AF has started to throw my system seriously out of whack each month.

[miel]

Calcium competes with zinc, manganese, magnesium, copper and iron for absorption in the intestine and a high intake of one can reduce absorption of the others.

OK, this might be a reason to cut down our daughter's milk intake. She drinks SO MUCH milk! It's hard to tell her 'no, you can't have milk' when she really, really wants it since milk is nutritious usually and she doesn't eat much (she's a toddler). She hates soy milk so I can't think of another substitute.

I was reluctant to give her multivitamins since I read there are some statistics suggesting multivitamins in children cause allergies. I don't know what age that stops being true.

[Hello Kitty]

Bump! for Ahavnes :)

[AlenaCal]

I don't take any vitamins on a regular basis, but when I think I'm getting sick, I take Vitamin C and Ecchinacea once a day; I really believe it shortens the length of colds, etc.

[amew]

I take folic acid and a calcium supplement. Folic acid b/c all women of childbearing age are supposed to, and calcium because I have always heard that very few women actually consume enough calcium without a supplement. I think when I am out of what I have, I may just start taking a multivitamin instead.

[kimthebride]

I used to take regular women's multi-vitamins, Magnesium/Calcium/Zinc multi & Fish Oil to aid in regulating my PMS/cramps (MCZ) and vision (FO) plus supplement the fact that I don't eat meat/seafood (WM-V & FO).

Now I only take Nature Made prenatals & Fish Oil. My OB/Gyn said to just keep taking them even after I weaned from BFing - they had enough Magnesium etc to help me with my PMS & the additional vitamins/minerals in there along with the FO would be enough to manage any deficiency due to my quasi-vegetarian lifestyle.

I do eat chicken breast at times, and an egg now and again but I just don't like the taste/texture of any other poultry, meat or seafood.