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Ask HN: Which vitamin supplements do you take?

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Re: Ask HN: Which vitamin supplements do you take?

#51

Post by miri »

WesleyJohnson wrote: post #15

I'm a terribly picky eater. So terrible in fact, that there is a single green vegetable I'll consume and zero fruits. Sure, I'll eat things comprised of processed vegies (love me some pizza), but I won't sit down and eat a tomato, pees, bananas, etc. Okay, I eat potato's too, but that's a stretch. So while I haven't done any research on the matter, I'd say it's pretty conclusive I don't get a good portion of nutrient…

Hey, I can understand that. Been a picky eater all my life, though I've gotten a little "better" over the years. My parents were the same and they're doing just fine, so I don't think there's that much to worry about as long as you don't get deficient. There's a lot of vegetables I won't touch (but there's others I'll devour in massive quantities, so it's easier on me), but here's a tip that worked for both me and a friend, if you'd actually want a way to both eat more veg without it tasting awful: Make soup! I absolutely despise raw tomatoes, but cooked with thyme, basil, bay leaf, onion, garlic, pepper, and a decent amount of beef stock (or a maggi cube and water, no reason to make it too complicated) it's one of my favourite dishes. It's not even difficult to make. Same with cauliflower soup, too, or any other soup, really, vegetable or not. Having a blender does help if you don't like chunks in your soup, but otherwise you can do without. Just thought you might want to know. ~ Miri, the Soupvangelist ::P

Re: Ask HN: Which vitamin supplements do you take?

#52

Post by miri »

Tichy wrote: post #46
rarrrrrr wrote: post #43

I've been studying health and exercising with an Olympic trainer for years. First, nearly all vitamins sold at CVS, Walgreens, Costco, Walmart, etc. are cheaply manufactured. Don't even bother. These are also the vitamins pharmaceutical companies study when they wish to discredit the healthfulness of vitamins in general. Next, health requires diet, exercise, and supplementation for nutrients that can't easily be foun…

What is the difference in the "cheap" supplements and the ones you recommend? Cheaply manufactured doesn't imply that they are bad/worse.

Nope. It's just that Big Supplement wants a way to make more money off the gullible :P We really don't need that many supplements. Decent food and no absorption issues is all it takes.

Re: Ask HN: Which vitamin supplements do you take?

#54

Post by miri »

Luc wrote: post #23
WesleyJohnson wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really understand why people consider this "nonsense"? I agree with you that suppliments don't come close to doing what a natrually balanced diet would do for me, but why do people who aren't picky eaters think this is something that can just be "snapped out of"? Few people I know like or would willingly consume anything put in front of them. Surely there is something out there you wouldn't eat, don't like, e…

As a rule of thumb, by just repeatedly eating the food you don't like, you will get used to it and learn to like it. This is all it takes - just eat spinach 10 times, and you'll learn to like spinach. It's likely you'll prefer it prepared this way rather than that way, but your tastes will change. I like to make it easier on myself by putting lots of pepper or chilli sauce on the food, until I am used to the taste. B…

As a picky eater myself, that's absolute torture to go through. My father tried it on me. After a few times of retching at the table, and running to go vomit because I found various tastes so bad, he kind of gave up. No more chicken livers for me. No more brussels sprouts. No more witlof (chicory for those that do not speak Dutch). No matter how well prepared, these things taste awful. Yes, even the witlof. I'm a bad Dutch person, I know.

Re: Ask HN: Which vitamin supplements do you take?

#55

Post by rarrrrrr »

Tichy wrote: post #46
rarrrrrr wrote: post #43

I've been studying health and exercising with an Olympic trainer for years. First, nearly all vitamins sold at CVS, Walgreens, Costco, Walmart, etc. are cheaply manufactured. Don't even bother. These are also the vitamins pharmaceutical companies study when they wish to discredit the healthfulness of vitamins in general. Next, health requires diet, exercise, and supplementation for nutrients that can't easily be foun…

What is the difference in the "cheap" supplements and the ones you recommend? Cheaply manufactured doesn't imply that they are bad/worse.

There are a thousand low level details in the answer to this question; I'll try to cover some of the basics.

A high end vitamin tries very hard to package nutrients from actual food sources (i.e. extracts and concentrations of something you would really eat) instead of just cramming in raw materials. This tends to mean that the bioavailability (i.e. how much you actually absorb instead of just pass through) is much better. For example, sourcing calcium from ground up oyster shells provides plenty of the mineral, but the absorption rate is terrible. Much research goes into finding the best bioavailable forms.

In general, the ingredients are significantly better quality. Packaging B12 as cyanocobalamin may cost 1/10th as much as hydroxlcobalamin, but isn't nearly as good for us.

The ingredients are plentiful. The FDA's recommended daily allowance numbers are WAY off in most cases. For example, my multivitamin packages over 3000% of vitamin C, and over 8000% of B1.

Finally, a high end multivitamin includes a huge range of stuff beyond just the basics. For example, look at the ingredients list for the LEF Mix Tabs. It's 4 pages long in my browser. If you're curious, I suggest Google or Google Scholar around for the specific chemical forms of all the vitamins and minerals mentioned.

Re: Ask HN: Which vitamin supplements do you take?

#56

Post by graugrau »

If you want an easy way to add more greens to your diet, try a green smoothie. Just blend together a bunch of frozen spinach+banana+apple (my default), or spinach+banana+frozen blueberries (tastes chocolatey for some reason...), or whatever combo of leafy greens+fruit you want. It tastes awesome, and it makes it super easy to get a pound or more of greens every day.

Has anyone actually felt noticeably different when going healthier, though? Or is it more a long-term thing? I went from a pretty average lifestyle (macaroni and cheese everyday, and no exercise except walking everywhere) to a super healthy one a couple years ago, but I can't say I feel any different. [Though I haven't been objectively measuring myself in any way.]

Re: Ask HN: Which vitamin supplements do you take?

#57

Post by JangoSteve »

I've been somewhat weary of taking supplemental vitamins ever since reading this study that indicates taking supplemental antioxidents may "undo" some of the benefits of exercise: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8043456.stm

Of course there are always going to be new studies suggesting this and warning against that, but it's just a constant reminder that no one really has a full understanding of what the hell is going on in our bodies. And that makes me hesitate to spend a bunch of money on man-made supplements.

Re: Ask HN: Which vitamin supplements do you take?

#59

Post by gte910h »

If you want omega 3, it's far easier to get it by eating 1> Grass fed beef (Didn't you know? Our beef is only missing Omega 3 because we feed them corn instead of grass) 2> Fish, 3> Flaxseed (or flaxseed oil)

It quickly goes rancid out of food, (and hell,we keep flax oil and flax seeds in the fridge). Every pill of it is going to be rancid most likely.

Uncle Sam's Cereal (which I believe was the inspiration for the SNL skit "Colon Blow", is full of flax): http://www.usmillsinc.com/usmills/productview_description.ph... (manuf website, sold in many grocery stores).

Re: Ask HN: Which vitamin supplements do you take?

#60

Post by dalore »

hga wrote: post #41
dalore wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got told me quite the opposite, from people with actual medical degrees. That multivitamin supplements aren't all that useful since the body tends to not absorb much of it and excretes it. It's better to get the vitamins from your food. If vitamins get fully absorbed why is my piss bright green when I take a multivitamin?

Have you tried to take the vitamin with food? Me, I split my "One A Day" type vitamin/mineral pill into two and take one half with breakfast and lunch. I avoid dinner for minerals to give any excess the best chance of getting excreted during the day when I'm pushing a lot more water though my kidneys. As for your problem ... are you sure that's not just some dye in the pill? I don't know of anything that would be "br…

I've tried various vitamin pills in different countries. All the same.

Now I just eat lots of different fruit. No more supplements unless my doctor prescribes.

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