D is closely linked to longer lives.

And it's cheap. Maybe two bucks for a months worth of soft gels.

and am on prescription strength Vit. D.

I also get regular B12 injections as those levels are low and my neurologist suggested magnesium to help with leg cramps which I also take. I eat a fairly healthy diet but I read that a lot of foods have been stripped of nutrition, esp processed foods so I think a multivitamin would not hurt anyone.

Ouch.

No matter how much D I take, I test low.

A nurse said fiber would be good for me, so I decided to try it.

He has asthma and came down with the flu which affected his lung function. He had the flu shot and the doctor said he would have been worse off without the shot so his temperature didn't go above 100. But the bout he had with the flu affected his lung function so his asthma/allergy doctor suggested 500 mg of Vitamin C Supplements for a couple weeks to strengthen his lungs.

I know alot of people this year have been out of commission for several weeks because of respiratory problems associated with the flu. It seems the Vitamin C helps people recover faster. But it has to be the pills. Drinking orange juice alone won't help.

A huge con job, selling snake oil.

As the author implies, most of the food we eat does have the necessary vitamins and minerals we need.

I've seen the most worthless claims from vitamin makers, pushing all sorts of concoctions on those who believe in this.

I know some people with pretty piss-poor diets, do you think they still get all the vits/mins they need?

Fast food diet? McDonalds every day? Even then? I doubt it.

Obviously there are exceptions.

McDonalds is not really known for their nutrition.
Likewise other junk foods.

My point is, we don't *NEED* to take all sorts of vitamin pills like the vitamin hucksters want us to believe.

big pharma isn't an option and I don't think I would want it anyway.

L-lysine (great at keeping cold sores at bay), and glucosamine chondroitin sulfate (keeps the aches and pains at bay).

You'll have to pry them from my cold, dead hands.

And a multivitamin every now and then when I remember.

I also take Vitamin E because I would get cramps in my legs at night. I started taking E and no more cramps. I also take Biotin for my hair and nails. When I became vegetarian, my hair starting thinning because I was not getting enough protein.

About a year or so ago I was having some funny symptoms. Extreme fatigue and weakness, low blood pressure and high pulse, sweaty, chest pains. I thought I was having a heart attack. Turned out I was low on iron and potassium. My doctor told me to change my diet and take supplements, so that is what I do.

and couldn't get thru the day without them as I do not take a stimulant for ADHD.

I also take

D
E
potassium
cranberry
omega 3
alpha-lipoic
B complex
calcium-zinc
L-carnitine

All doctor-recommended or approved.

For buoyancy.

so I take that... plus fish oil capsules

I've tried heat, otc painkillers, exercise, and calcium supplements for my osteoporosis hip pain, but glucosamine is what makes it go away.

I believe it keeps my hip pain at a level that is tolerable .... most of the time

there have been and still are lots of research and studies done on the use of vitamins and minerals in the treatment of and prevention of disease done both here in the US but also around the world.

What has become typical in America today is the way the discourse is framed is now due to pseudoscience, internet multi-level vitamin scams, self-referential 'alternative health blogs', idiots like Quackwatch, pharmaceutical corporations more concerned with profit than healing, and supposed 'science guys' who will save us all from the woo woo without critically looking at the 'science'.

First of all, check out www.lef.org. There are thousands of articles spanning decades of the positive uses of vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplement. These are M.D.'s & Ph.D.'s and the science is absolutely sound.

Then do a little real reading on the subject. Go to Google or Amazon, and start some searches for Dr. Carl Pfeiffer, M.D., Ph.D. Thirty years ago, he was treating mental illnesses with orthomolecular medicine. So was Dr. Abram Hoffer and Linus Pauling who also did extensive research on Vitamin C & cancer. Neurobiology of the Trace Elements Volume 1 & 2 by Ivor E. Dreosti and Richard M. Smith is a classic in the field. I also recommend Dr. Roger J. Williams, a imminent biochemist who wrote extensively on biochemical individuality. Modern vitamin and supplement sales are just like pharmaceutical ones. They take a single drug in high doses or a single vitamin in low doses and throw it at a million plus users. For some it does something, for others it does nothing, and for most, it doesn't do enough.

I take vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements. I take them at different times of the year for different reasons. I work with MD's, NMD's, and herbalists to determine which is best when, how much to dose, and for how long. I also do regular blood work. This has helped me to survive a tumor and chemo as well as to keep myself relatively healthy after that experience.

Sid

Why do I take calcium? Because medical experts strongly recommend it for women in my age group. My husband's calcium treatments are prescribed.

Why do I take vitamin B? Because a doctor many years ago advised me to take it and because I have pain and other problems if I don't take it.

Why do I take Curcumin? Because it helps with my arthritis just as regular doses of aspirin would. I don't take aspirin. Curcumin, like Aspirin, is a blood thinner as I understand it.

I also eat lots of yoghurt because I believe that it is healthy for the gut. I also eat lots of fruit and vegetables, almost no beef or red meat and not too much chicken. I do like cheese -- so that is beef.

I strongly disagree with the blanket criticism of supplements. It all depends on who, why, what for, and how much.

On edit, I also take fish oil because it is universally recommended.

And no, our food is not as rich in nutrients as it should be. Sorry, I also disagree on that.

Our modern diet is filled with fail, too few vital nutrients and too many bad substances!

Dx'd by doctor and mine is Rx-only strength.

don't get the RDA for iron in my daily diet.

Ddoctor prescribed, but I'm not sure if it's working, and it seems to raise my blood sugar in contravention to my diabetes meds. Gonna see here in a week or so and discuss it again.



I used to take a mulit-vitamin daily, but talied off a year or so ago as it became too expensive. I like to take the good ones, not the cheap-os. Been working more steadily so maybe I can afford it now. Was thinking about the glucosomin-condoroitin thing as I have some sketchy joints. That stuff is really expensive, though.

Mostly, I try to eat healthy (tough one to do!) and drink plenty of water. Dehydration is one of my main paths to fatigue, joint pain, and various illnesses.

I find I'm more susceptible to headaches and fatigue when I ignore my thirst during the day. And I recall reading once that it's very important to hydrate adequately with water if you're diabetic, just not to overdo it.

I hope you and your doctor can sort out the niacin or find an alternative. It's difficult when the supplement or med for one ailment interferes with another.

At minimum, D and B complex. Plus many more.

And I KNOW it makes a difference. I have blood tests done regularly that verify that, aside from my subjective analysis of how I feel.

This week so I'm hitting that 5 year old bottle of B&C stress formula. C and zinc would be better. I usually only use C too help cure not prevent. I think you get immune from the benefit with chronic use.

It's just too hard to remember to take pills.

in my smoothies. And, that's because of running, etc., and building muscle.

Unless flaxseed and chia count.

Protein powder is an option for building muscle mass & vegans. 4everFit fruit blast Isolate is good if you are worried about sodium.
Osteo BiFlex Nutrijoint supports the production of collagen - hard to support - if you have joint issues.

If you have no specific body goals, are healthy with no issues to resolve, and eat a huge mix everyday - no worries. IMHO.

I've been eating clean for decades. But want to maintain T levels and muscle mass, so I drink ginseng tea and take zinc.

I will do whatever it takes to avoid getting stuck on regular medication for issues like high blood pressure or blood sugar. You can buy a buttload of vitamins for that price and it will not do harm if you don't abuse it. Not so with pharmaceuticals.

I don't always eat healthily, I take a multivitamin.

Then it's extra Vitamin C because if I don't, I bruise easily.

Then I do extra Vitamin D3 because I'm prone to depression, especially in the winter (as part of SAD).

Ground flax seed for the fiber.

That's it.

................but I definitely do take a protein supplement after every workout, because it has been scientifically proven that taking protein immediately after a workout helps you gain more muscle.

In the past, I've taken Creatine, and it did work (I got stronger), but it also made me retain water and I didn't lose any weight while I was on it. So I stopped taking Creatine and refuse to go back to it. Plus, all the strength I gained while on it disappeared once I was off of it.

The one supplement I take that doesn't seem to make much sense is I take a couple of different fat burners (one with stimulants and one stimulant-free--a combination of CLA and raspberry ketones). I've read that they don't really do anything for you, other than a possible placebo effect, but I can't get myself to stop taking them. Why? I'm not really sure. I HAVE seen results while using them. And while the truth of the matter is that as hard as I work out, I would probably burn that fat anyway, I just can't convince myself to stop taking them. At the end of the day, if you THINK something works for you, then it DOES.

Other than those things, I stay as "natural" as possible. Two hours of lifting and 30 minutes of cardio 5 days a week, and only the bear minimum of supplements.

I'm 64 and in absolutely stunningly good health. I eat decently, including plenty of meat, thank you very much. What I never consume any more are soft drinks, and haven't in about twenty years. Neither sugar-laden nor the diet. I do like red wine. Never smoked. I do a fair amount of cooking from scratch, haven't been in a McDonald's in at least eight years.

Four years ago I tripped in my driveway and sustained a hairline, non-displaced fracture of my right ulna, just below the elbow. The ER doctor who looked at the x-rays told me I had absolutely no signs of osteoporosis nor any bone thinning whatsoever. In case you don't already know, the chemicals in the diet soft drinks are known to leach calcium from the bones. No wonder we're having an epidemic of osteoporosis in this country. As for my broken bone, ER doctor put me in a splint, and I saw a regular doctor a few days later. He told me I could be in a cast for a few weeks or keep the arm ace-bandaged and faithfully use the sling. I went for the latter. Two weeks later I was back at work, in a job involving a lot of typing and a small amount of hand writing. At the end of the first day, which was fortunately a Friday, my arm ached. Then I was off the weekend, and it didn't hurt again.

I don't get why so many people are so nutritionally unsound, and need or think they need all kinds of supplements. I do have several hypotheses on the topic, but have no way of researching them. But in many cases I think fake ingredients and fake foods are at the heart of a lot of these things.

I can still do headstands. And no, I don't do yoga and I get lazy about going for a walk when it gets cold. In a few weeks when it's a little warmer I'll go back to walking every day.

I used to get my annual respiratory infection that kept migrating from nose to head to throat to lungs and back again. Since I started taking vitamin D, I rarely get sick, and when I do, I have only mild symptoms.

Also, I find that taking B-complex and multiminerals helps me focus and concentrate. It may be a placebo, but it works like nothing else.

whenever I think about it because my orthopedist told me to for my arthritic knee. I'm not very religious about it, though.

My need for Vitamin C became clear one summer when I stayed at a friend's house for a weekend. We hadn't been eating very well, and spent an entire day drinking beer on a pontoon boat on a lake. The next day I noticed that my gums were sore and bleeding. I looked down at my legs and thought "Oh good, I got a tan". Then I looked closer and realized that every surface capillary that had been exposed to the sun was broken. It was what I imagine hemorrhagic fever might look like. I knew I needed Vitamin C and took a Centrum, which is what they had in the house. The bleeding cleared up quickly.

Then I went home and took One-A-Day vitamins, which is what I had on hand. The bleeding sore gums returned. So I went to the store and looked at the labels. The One-A-Day had 100% of RDA, while the Centrum had 5 or 600% of RDA (it doesn't anymore). I started taking the Centrum and the bleeding gums stopped. Then I went back to my grapefruit juice habit. Sometimes a quart a day plus 3 or 4 grapefruits.

As a child I was addicted to orange juice, and drank it all the time. In high school and beyond it was grapefruit juice. I knew I needed a huge amount of Vitamin C, but I didn't associate my grapefruit juice addiction with Vitamin C because, if you asked why I drank so much, I'd answer that grapefruit juice taste like a wonderfully compelling and complicated Dom Perignon champagne I had once.

Well, several years ago I saw an ad for extended-release 1000 mg. Vitamin C pills. I tried them, and WOW! Totally lost interest in grapefruit juice. This was a BIG deal for me. Not only that, but that's when I realized that grapefruit juice doesn't taste like a wonderfully complex Dom Perignon, it tastes like grapefruit juice. Good, but not the incredibly compelling flavor my brain had been tricking me into believing it was. I mean... my brain lied to me!

So I take Vitamin C and Omega-3 pills, plus the occasional B-Complex and Vitamin D when I'm not out in the sun. To get the RDA of every vitamin and mineral from food I would have to eat so much I'd be morbidly obese!

I take Ubiquinol (a form of Co Q-10) for blood pressure. After 4 weeks on it, both my numbers dropped by about 10 points.

I take Vitamin D because I had an extreme deficiency (normal is between 30 and 74 ng/mL, and I only had 5 ng/mL). Even with supplements for over a year, I still stay on the low end of normal.

I take Flax Seed Oil because it has been shown to help with my blepharitis. My ophthalmologist said that and doxycycline are really the only things that help much.

I take the multi because I still believe they help with minor deficiencies in diet, and B-12 because I think it helps me feel more alert in the morning.

I know there are a lot of supplement fads that come and go, and I have tried other things at times. I believe many have a positive effect, and many others and bunk.


Edited to add: The reason I take Ubquinol for BP is that I had tried 3 prescriptions and had very unpleasant side effects on all three. I have no side effects on the Ubiquinol, and it seems to work for me.

Did this quote make anyone else laugh? "As a pharmacist I have a simple goal with my patients: improve health by improving medication use."

"Follow the money" applies here.

curcumin/bromelain cap every day. I add a good mushroom blend to boost immunity during the winter.

Does he eat bread? It's supplemented with a dozen vitamins and minerals.
Does he use salt? It's supplemented with iodine.
Does he drink tap water? It's supplemented with flouride.