Does anyone doing Ideal Protein buy their own supplements as opposed to buying/using the ones our diet coaches sell? I'm tired of spending sooo much on the supplements and i've found ones that are comparable, if not better and much less expensive...

I actually have ones that cover everything but potassium, because of a digestion issue I have... And they didn't have a problem with me using my own. I say as long as it's comparable, go for it!

Yep, I kept my own pills from GNC (I was getting more than the IP pills deliver) but the potassium that is IP is extra strength and it is really hard to find something that concentrated. I'm just doing it with my smaller potassium amount and doing okay.

Perfect timing for this thread. I was just comparing my vitamins to the ones I bought from IP. I have a calcium and mag that apprears to be better. I will have to shop for the potassium and the omega. I'll stay tuned for advice.

Several people have asked about what to take and what the Ideal Protein vitamins offer. Some haven't been able to get these vitamins through their coach.

Here is the little I know.

Supplements:
Calcium citrate/magnesium citrate/zinc citrate /vitamin D:600mg/300mg/20mg/260mg
This volume is delivered in 4 tablets taken 2 at dinner and 2 a bit before bedtime

Potassium bicarbonate/calcium:800mg/200mg
This volume is delivered in 1 tablet taken in the morning

omega oil 1600 mg to 4000mg depending on who you talk to. UDO's more than covers all needs. I use it and only count it as a supplement.

Multivitamin: Taken as 2 tablets one in the morning and one with dinner
vitamin a : 3320 iu
vitamin c : 200 mg
vitamin d : 150 iu
vitamin e : 140 iu
thiamine : 30mg
riboflavin : 6mg
niacin : 30mg
b6 : 30mg
folic acid : 260micrograms
b12 : 134 micrograms
biotin : 260 micrograms
pantothenic acid : 150 mg
calcium : 84mg
iodine : 76 microgram
magnesium : 42 mg
zinc : 5mg
selenium : 100mg
manganese : 5mg
chromium citrate : 90 microgram
molybdenum : 100 microgram
potassium bicarbonate : 20mg
vanadium : 100 micrograms
choline : 20mg

all minerals except potassium are in citrate form.


The hardest thing to find will be the potassium. Contact ideal to go and explain your coach isn't offering it. maybe you can get it from them. Most potassium is 100mg doses and just not enough in 1 pill.

You can supplement the others easily. My favorite brand for a better than IP quality match is Source Naturals, Life force for women! EXCELLENT quality there! They have the calcium/magnesium too. And a potassium if you want it but you will need to take more tabs a day.

ALSO REQUIRED: 1-2 tsp of olive oil per day and 1/2 tsp salt in the form of unbleached real sea salt. I use the real salt brand but others that retain naturally occurring minerals are fine.

I think that as long as you are getting good quality supplements it is fine to get them elsewhere. I use supplements from my local health food store and they cover everything.

Xanthia

I remember Pita saying that too much potassium at one intake can cause heart attack (This information was coming from her brother, who's also a doc if I remember correctly?). Since this day, and because I'm always taking my morning pills with a big coffee, I'm slicing mine in half, and I take one half, and the other 30 minutes/1 hour later. I'm not sure if this information was real or not, but I prefer to do it this way just in case.

The pharmacist I went to see to have some conselling on equivalent of IP vitamins but less pricy said something like that to me, that the potassium we're taking is too much (at least for my young age, I'm 21).

So maybe it's ok if you're taking a smaller amount.

I found a really good Omega 3 at Walmart, and a GREAT deal. I'll put the specs up when I'm at home tonight.

GNC has a Cal/Mag supplement called Calcium Citrate Plus. Each pill has 200mg Calcium, 100mg Magnesium, 200 IU of Vit D. I take 2 with dinner and 1 with my evening snack to match the IP supplement.

You can also get Potassium Gluconate 99 at GNC, but it means taking 8 pills in the morning. Cost was virtually equal to what I can get from my coach, even with the discount I get at GNC for being a gold card member (20% off the first 10 days of the month. It costs to join, but you recoup it quickly buying vitamins, shaker bottles, etc), so I buy the Natura because 1 pill is easier to swallow than 8.

Apparently there is an FDA regulation that limits Potassium to 99mg per tablet. I've been unable to find anything as concentrated as the Natura Pot/Cal. Has anyone found anything with more than 99mg anywhere?

As far as too much potassium, the 800mg is only about 1/3 of the recommended daily intake (most people need about 2400mg). 1/2 C. of French Beans have about 1100mg of potassium. To be at risk of heart attack, you'd have to be ingesting 15,000 - 18,000mg. Tha's A LOT!

WOW thanks for this really useful info ! I was really worried about my potassium intake !!

what is Natura? I can see you talking about potassium in paragraph 2 but I don't see a concentration or dosage for natura. All I can see is the name reference.

I have only found one generic brand at 200mg per tablet, still 4 tabs a day. I am uncertain of the quality because it is a private label.

Natura is the brand of vitamins my IP coach sells me.

Natura is the "brand name" of the supplements I get from my doc/coach. They're from the same lab as the food packets. The label from my pot/cal says the potassium is potassium bicarbonate, not potassium citrate. I've used both the stuff from my coach and the stuff from GNC with no noticeable difference. But I haven't used citrate. Can you verify that your IP potassium is CITRATE, not BICARBONATE? Interesting...

THANKS! I feel like such an idiot. I had grabbed an old bottle, back when I started, (it was labeled Ideal Protein) and wrote down the details. Yes, back then there was a difference and it was only 600mg. Sometime early this year I noticed the dosage go up but I didn't catch the change to BICARBNATE (or the natura thing). You are right. I will edit my posts to reflect that. Sorry, and thanks again.

I just verified my post last night on vitamins against current bottle labels and all the rest seems to be the same.

Point about too much potassium in IP pills is too much in one dose which is not an extended release tablet.