Hi! I was wondering if anyone uses a daily vitamin supplement. I know we are eating more healthy, but was wondering if this is something everyone takes? I wouldn't want to loose hair or anything.
I take a multivitamin -mostly to make sure I get enough calcium. I prolly don't need it, but it's pretty easy to do.
Isn't hair loss related more to a super low fat or low calorie diet? If you are eating a fairly clean minimum of 1200 calories a day, you shouldn't be losing hair.
I haven't lost any hair. But sometimes you read these post of people who say they have and it makes me nervous. I am the manager of a kitchen in a county jail (not a dietician) and I know all of the fruit and vegetable things, but I was just wondering what everyone else does. I do need a calcium supplement, as I have had broken bones, (no osteoperosis), but maybe I should just get a vitamin with the calcium in it, instead of a calcium pill.
I take a calcium and multi-vitamin supplement almost every day. I am a vegetarian (26 years) as well. It helps ease my mind if I get in a "rut" or just feel like an unbalanced diet for a day or two. With eating fewer calories each day, there isn't as much "wiggle rooom" to make sure that I am getting enough of ALL vitamins and minerals every day.
Last edited by CountingDown; 11-11-2007 at 03:56 PM.
I take a multivitamin as well, just in case of. Since you're never sure of how much of your vitamins percentage goes away depending on the cooking mode (and frankly, aren't we doing enough math as it is already?), I figure out it can help.
The sad thing with hair loss, by the way, is that you don't even need to do a VLC diet to have it. Creating enough of a deficit -- or, among other things, switching from a completely unbalanced diet to a healthier one -- can be enough for your body to go into 'metabolic shock' and start shedding the useless stuff, such as hair. Or else, someone has to explain to me how on earth going from eating cookies and buttered pretzels to eating 5+ fruits/veggies per day, whole grains, fish and lean meat can make you lose hair and be less healthy than before. (Yeah, can you guess it has happened to me. Great.)
I take a multi and fish oil. I have a tendency to get sick anytime a virus comes within a five-mile-radius, so it's a precautionary measure.
On the hair loss front. I had problems with that on a 1500 cal a day diet (mostly whole foods) and approx 30% fat. Sometimes shedding weight just puts your body into shock, regardless of how healthily you go about it. The good news is that it stopped after a few months and no one noticed except me.
Last edited by zenor77; 11-13-2007 at 01:24 AM.
Reason: how not hoe! oops!
I take a multi-vitamin. Would I consider it necessary? Probably not. Years and years ago, my doctor at the time suggested that I take a daily vitamin while dieting, and I've always done so. My current doctor approves (though not of multiple supplements and I agree).
I've recently started taking a fish oil supplement (not cod liver oil, that can be toxic by way of a vitamin A overdose if I remember correctly). The fish oil is an experiment. There's quite a bit of reputable research that seems to indicate that fish oil supplements can reduce inflammation and reduce or eliminate the need for NSAID pain relievers. Losing prescription drug coverage until the beginning of the year, I was pretty desperate to find cheaper alternatives to the medications I was on. So, I begain taking the supplement, stopped taking my relafen and hoped for the best. I've also been able to stop all of my asthma medications, because apparently the asthma symptoms were being caused by the relafen (my mother recently had to stop taking relafen because it was causing a bad cough. I had never associated the two symptoms, but the pharmacist told me that developing asthma after years of NSAID use was fairly common). This makes a lot of sense because I never had asthma or severe allergies before taking NSAIDS, but I never suspected them because the asthma/bronchitis didn't develop until I'd been on ibuprofen or other NSAIDS for over ten years.
The fish oil seems to be a great success. I haven't felt this good in a very long time. My pain days are a little more frequent and severe, but definitely not worth going back to the astma and chronic bronchitis. I've tried going off relafen or other NSAIDS in the past, and within three days I was in so much pain that I came crawling back. I've been off the NSAIDS for about two weeks now, and feeling better and better.
Personally, I consider vitamins medications, and feel they should be treated as such when not obtained solely through food.
I take a daily multi and also Viactiv Calcium (500 mg twice a day). A daily vitamin does not give you enough calcium if your my age (over 50) and don't drink much milk. I also take a fish oil supplement, daily aspirin, and a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement for joint pains. Since starting the glucosamine, I have eliminated most of my annoying joint problems.
Personally, I consider vitamins medications, and feel they should be treated as such when not obtained solely through food.
Do you support having vitamins & supplements being regulated by the federal government? This would eliminate your ability to choose for yourself as you would have to have them prescribed by your healthcare provider? This issue is being discussed in Congress.
Vitamins regulated? I suppose I could see some justification for regulating megadoses of some of the more dangerous fat soluble vitamins, or at least requiring warnings on the labels, however generally I think this would cause more problems than it's worth. In principle, I'm generally NOT in favor of the government micromanaging our lives.
When I said vitamins should be considered a medication, I was not referring to it being regulated or treated as a prescription drug. I've encountered many people who believe all vitamins are harmless even in quantities far exceeding the rda. Although I do see the same misconception about OTC drugs, as some people seem to believe that if a substance is available without a prescription it is harmless and completey safe in any amount and circumstance. Tylenol, a very safe drug if used appropriately, but is one of the most dangerous OTC drugs if abused, as an overdose or use with alcohol can result in serious injury or death.
My comment was meant to address personal responsibility. Users of vitamins, especially megadoses of the fat soluble vitamins, should really know
why they're using it, and what the possible adverse effects are. Just as a person should for any OTC medication, herbal product, prescription medication, alcohol, nicotine (whether alone or in tobacco), and for that matter even caffeine.
Personally, I am not overly concerned with food additives, though I try to eat food in as natural a state as possible, but I respect people who are (at least if they're as concerned with the other substances mentioned. I think it's absurd for a chain smoker, heavy drinker or user of illegal drugs to be concerned with food coloring).
Knowledge is power, and I believe in being well-armed.
I don't take a multivitamin. I have a strong committment to getting my vitamins through food. Every day when I track my foods in FitDay, I run the report to see which vitamins and minerals I am short on, and adjust my menus if I am really low on something. The only one I really have a hard time getting enough of is Folate, though I probably fall short on calcium or iron once a week. I just try to do the best I can and make sure that my monthly average for most/all vitamins and minerals is at least 95% of the RDA.
Do you use a daily vitamin supplement?
(Yeah, can you guess it has happened to me. Great.)
