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Have you ever noticed a difference by taking a vitamin or nutritional product?
If you’re anemic /iron deficient iron supplements definitely make you stronger. Make sure to take with vitamin C (there are combination pills) or orange juice for maximum absorption. However, since bringing up your levels usually takes months (and I personally followed a multi-pronged approach which included doctor administered treatment at first, as well as dietary changes) there wasn’t this “ah-ha” moment that I can attribute to supplements alone.
I also think pro-biotics work so after I eat too much sweets I pop a few to stop symptoms in their tracks. (Don’t want to divulge tmi.) Again I think it works, but both of these issues are more prevalent in women.
And fiber supplements work great for those with issues.
Yes although not a positive one. I ended up having wayyy to much iron in my bloodstream which isn’t great to put it mildly. I of course no longer take multivitamins on a regular basis; only one here or there.
Do all multis contain iron?
Do all multis contain iron?
No. Some specifically exclude supplementary iron.
Edited (fixed close tag)
As with anything in the health realm, there is valid information that has scientific merit. There is also a lot of lore. Buyer beware. There is very little accumulated knowledge about many of the supplements, whether they are effective in doing anything, whether ingesting them orally, and what kinds of side effects and interactions they have with other supplements and with medications. Similarly, there are many manufacturers whose products are not regulated in any way, making the labels on the packages close to meaningless. Consumer Reports studied this years ago, and this comment reflects their findings. Have things changed? If yes, how would anyone know?
If you’re deficient in Vitamin D you will see a difference in mood, ability to relax, even skin. Unless you’re getting 15 minutes each of full sun front and back (in a bathing suit) daily, you probably are deficient. Frum people are quite deficient in general, due to our dress code.
Unless you have medical issues, a simple standard multivitamin a day should be all you need. Drinking milk will also give you vitamin D, since milk is fortified with it.
Best bet: ask your doctor to refer you to a licensed nutritionist. Not someone who simply hangs up their shingle, but someone who works with the doctor if there are special needs. And if the nutritionist tries to sell you the supplements him/herself, run! Some supplements can put you in the hospital, and some vitamins can make you very sick if you take too much.
And yes, check if you should be taking a supplement without iron. Most men and older women don’t need it, and too much of it can also make you sick.
Midwest: “Some supplements can put you in the hospital, and some vitamins can make you very sick if you take too much.” Well that makes them safer than drugs, since many drugs can put someone in the hospital and all drugs can make one sick.
Personally I use certain supplements that I have found helpful. Primarily herbs or amino acids with limited vitamins. As with drugs everything has to be used in the proper dosage. Even too much water in too short a time period can be fatal.That doesn’t make them safer than drugs. Drugs are regulated. Many drugs are available only by prescription.
RY: you can get a prescription for iron and vitamin D, to cite two examples mentioned, if you’re deficient. So I’d assume they are FDA approved. Problem is they’re not necessarily the best supplements out there to have obtained and gotten approval, but cheap enough to be covered by some insurance carriers. Iron is the perfect example. The prescription will usually say to take with orange juice.
Orange juice is maligned as adding to the obesity crisis because of its empty calories. And many people won’t bother to drink the juice with it, or just a minimal amount. Some other supplements have the vitamin C included without so many empty calories, and are better made to prevent constipation and stomach upset. But these don’t have FDA approval, so essentially we use those at our own risk, and perhaps via trial and error.
For these companies it’s not economical to obtain FDA approval, as their product isn’t cheap enough to warrant (government for the most part) prescription insurance coverage.
Bottom line: vitamins and mineral supplements are necessary for those at risk or already deficient. The government can start reviewing at least the US made ones with ingredient testing, and give it some sort of seal if approved and ban those that don’t make the cut. Then we’d at least know that we’re getting what the label states.
Also it’s not at either or between medication and supplements. They sometimes go hand in hand. Most pediatricians will recommend taking probiotics when prescribing antibiotics to kids, although I’ve never seen a prescription for probiotics. No reason not to prescribe it when even Tylenol can be prescribed. (One added benefit of prescribing something is that the correct dosage for the individual is printed on the bottle with clear and concise directions. It’s much easier to make mistakes or be negligent when this information is given verbally or not at all. The doctor doesn’t know exactly what you’ll end up getting so it’s hard for him/her to be precise.)
… although I’ve never seen a prescription for probiotics. No reason not to prescribe it when even Tylenol can be prescribed.
I suppose prescribing probiotics makes sense for the doctors and drug companies that profit from prescription medications. From the patient’s perspective, it makes a lot more sense to buy it, e.g. yogurt, at a grocery store for a tenth of the price.
DY: I don’t think yogurt is cheaper at all, the probiotics aren’t quantified, let alone certified (that should probably be added to the nutrition facts) and most kids aren’t that crazy over regular non sugar laden yogurt.
Even for most adults if you take antibiotics 2 times a day and need to balance it, it wouldn’t be practical, although there are other probiotic foods that aren’t as mainstream. Again, quantification is key. How many live cultures in my Kosher sour kraut? I have no idea if any at all. And the timing (you’re not supposed to take both together) could benefit from prescription clarity.
But you’re always free not to fill it.
Yogurt is cheaper because you only have to buy one individual serving of plain yogurt and a bottle of milk to make more yogurt.
Actually, I take back my comment about having the option not to fill a prescription. Since most prescriptions must be sent electronically from the doctor’s office to the pharmacy, you have to tell the doctor you don’t want it sent in or to put it on hold. It’s more than semantics as it makes it harder on the patient to decide later. The laws enacted to prevent prescription abuse effect us all…
RY: even if you make your own yogurt, milk isn’t exactly cheap either. And for better or worse, if probiotics were prescribed and covered, the cost to the insurers at least would go down.
DY: I don’t think yogurt is cheaper at all, the probiotics aren’t quantified, let alone certified (that should probably be added to the nutrition facts) and most kids aren’t that crazy over regular non sugar laden yogurt.
I’ve had a doctor recommend yogurt to counter the side-effects of antibiotics.
Plain yogurt is not expensive if you get a 32-oz container.
I admit that CY yogurt is not readily available, at least in my area.
If kids (or adults) find it unpalatable, you can always mix it with fruit, cereal, salad, etc.
Ever notice that when you follow a doctor’s advice, you feel better?
Deaths from Prescription Drugs: Over 100,000 per year (one of the leading causes of death)
Deaths from Vitamins: Zero
So vitamins are waaaaay safer then drugs. Are they effective? Some studies say yes,
some say no. Remember, Big Pharma funds studies “proving” vitamins don’t work.
And all vitamin companies are not the same – natural vitamins vs synthetic.Sharks kill fewer people than prescription drugs do, so they must be safe.
Huju: Ever notice that when you follow a Naturopathic Doctor that the underlying condition is cured and you don’t have take unhealthy and dangerous side effects causing drugs for the rest of your life?
RY: Great logic! Now let’s see you get a shark for your fish tank!
RebYidd23:
Statistics show that of all people who die, more than 95% have eaten pickles.
Doomsday:
I beg to differ with your inference. There are many people who buy into the conspiracy theory that the vitamin/supplement industry circulates about scientific medicine, who die of treatable illnesses that they refuse. Yet, the industry is in total denial of this. There are also numerous adverse reactions to these products together with interactions among them that are potentially dangerous, even fatal. These are not studied (there is no financial support for research), so there are never warnings. As for natural vs. synthetic, there may be differences for certain items, but no known difference for others. It is sad that there is so little reliable data about vitamins.
From wikipedia (which may or may not have been submitted by a cr poster)
In the United States, overdose exposure to all formulations of “vitamins” (which includes multi-vitamin/mineral products) was reported by 62,562 individuals in 2004 with nearly 80% of these exposures in children under the age of 6, leading to 53 “major” life-threatening outcomes and 3 deaths (2 from vitamins D and E; 1 from polyvitaminic type formula, with iron and no fluoride).[3] This may be compared to the 19,250 people who died of unintentional poisoning of all kinds in the U.S. in the same year (2004).[4] In 2010, 71,000 exposures to various vitamins and multivitamin-mineral formulations were reported to poison control centers, which resulted in 15 major reactions but no deaths.[5]
Personally I believe that if you eat a varied diet and spend some time outdoors you shouldn’t take any vitamins (unless bloodwork shows that for some reason you’re still missing some)
UB:
You wrote “Ever notice that when you follow a Naturopathic Doctor that the underlying condition is cured and you don’t have take unhealthy and dangerous side effects causing drugs for the rest of your life?”
That overstatement is seriously false. I have observed many, many cases of these alternative medicine quacks having blocked their patients from receiving needed real medical care, resulting in death. No, not just a few. Can you please inform us of a case of a “naturopathic doctor” who cures illnesses? You may cite some peer reviewed scientific journals. If you can’t, we know your statement is simply your expectation that statements published on the internet have cyber validity, but are baseless and false.
Answer to Uncle Ben: No. What’s a “naturopathic physician,” and why do you capitalize the words? Is it a registered trademark?
And, by the way, I love your rice.
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