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?
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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??
D3 you smartass
I set myself up for that one though, huh?
Yes you did 😏
¿Por qué no los dos?
which more than can be said about Giant Floppy there… he can’t get up. #bigdickproblems
Heavily relatable ngl
Vitamin D deficiency is incredibly common. I think it’s something like 1/3 or 1/4 depending on the season or where you live.
Of course, if you’re a member of the red haired master race, your body produces it for you so it’s less likely.
If you can’t make your own, store bought is fine.
Vitamin D deficiency was also shown to be a co-morbidity with COVID. So to answer the question “do multivitamins do anything?” I’d say they could potentially have saved your life and you might not have noticed.
Before COVID, my wife nagged me into establishing a primary care physician since I hadn’t gone in a while. So I did, they did a blood test, and showed that I was vitamin D deficient. I took some prescription vitamin D for like a week then my doctor told me to start taking a multivitamin. When they later announced it being a co-morbidity, I felt like I dodged a bullet.
A woman at work gave us all big bottles of vit D during the pandemic. I think it should last me until 2045.
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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
Low iron is a common one iirc.
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 random thoughts:
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For vegans it’s adviced to take certain extra vitamins, for instance B12
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Also, when you are talking about health, i would not underestimate exercise, even a brisk daily walk. I don’t know for sure, but i suspect this will have more impact on our health, than taking multivitamins.
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As someone else commented here, i think fibre is also very important. And drinking enough healthy fluids.
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As a personal aside; i did notice a difference when i started supplementing vitamin D. I was surprised to notice that my energy level seemed to go slightly up.
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Also, never mix iron (not a vitamin btw) with dairy or tea. And take it with some vitamin C
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Finally, be careful and don’t randomly start to mix and match certain vitamins. For instance, magnesium and calcium have a certain balance, where too much of one will have a negative effect on the other.
Small caveat on the iron. The body doesn’t have an efficient mechanism of getting rid of iron so that one is easy to over supplement.
At least for men. I’m very certain this is one of the cases where science is done upon men. Men don’t have good mechanism of getting rid of iron, but women do. 👍
Yes, and so do for instance vitamin A, D, E, and K because those can heap up in fatty tissues. Also, always check your personal circumstances. Dealing with periods for instance can sometimes (not always) make one anemic, so then you might need some supplementation.
Also, never mix iron (not a vitamin btw) with dairy or tea. And take it with some vitamin C
Aside from it not being kosher (milk and meat) what’s wrong with mixing the two?
Dairy and tea (though i don’t know if herbal teas count) inhibit iron absorption, so it has nothing to do with human values, so to speak :-) If you want to increase absorption, combine it with vitamin C.
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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.
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
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’ve wondered the same.
I have a poor diet. There are times where I don’t eat enough, and when I do eat it’s often very… not varied.
I know people always say you don’t need vitamins if you just eat better, or that you can just ask your doctor - but my answer to those are “I don’t want to” and “I can’t afford to”, respectively.
Are vitamins a better-safe-than-sorry option if your diet is probably insufficiently varied to give you everything you need, and you have no strong desire to change that, but you have no way of actually figuring out what’s low or not? Or even then are they probably a waste of money?
I take a multivitamin every day, because my diet can sometimes be poor, and I don’t get much sunlight. However you should understand that they’re a ‘bonus’ and not a substitute for a good diet, I always have fruit & veg in the house and make sure I eat some everyday.
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.
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.
Not usually, but if you think you might be vitamin deficient because of disease or eating habits, then they can actually be useful. Reminds me of this video, for whom they would certainly have been useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VINtwoyaF_8
TL;DW: Eat crap, get sick.
Yes, they do. They improve the profits of some companies.
A multivitamin is not bad, but different vitamins need different other substances to be available for the body. Eg. some are soluble in water (like the B group) some, like vitamin D need fat to be solved in (and it’s good to acompany it with vitamin K to make D work as intended). Be careful with vitamin A - people in developed countries usually have too much and it can cause serious problems. It’s generally good to know what you’re taking and why. But if you just need a quick fix, a multivitamin is usually ok.
A previous doctor told me that a large longitudinal study showed no benefit from multivitamins. This was 10+ years ago so there may be more recent studies.
