Are vitamin supplements good for you?

What is your opinion on taking vitamin supplements?

It's really difficult to get an opinion because some sites will say that they are actually bad for, whilst others will argue they can be beneficial.

You can't email a supplier because they will come back with 'of course they are good for, we use all the correct ingredients etc'.

Doctors tend to stay on the fence.

Nobody really seems to know.

What are your experiences, do you take supplements, do they have side effects?

I want to say they are good for you, but, all the same, I don't really use them. I will munch some Vitamin C gummies when I'm feeling sick, because I don't get enough Vita C in my normal diet. It seems to help me fight off whatever I have faster, but, it could also just be a placebo effect.

My g/f has taken vitamin supplements before, but to be honest, we're not really sure if they helped or not. I want to say they did, but during that time, we made so many changes to our diets, that it could be all factors in play. Sorry I'm not much help. :\

Liquid vitamins seem to work well, not the pill form.
A coworker of mine saved her daughter's life using liquid B vitamins and Folic Acid. She had that skin disease that Michael Jackson supposedly had, Vitiligo I believe, and the doctors said she was not doing well and could die from it.

When the doctor left the room, a nurse with a conscience told her to try the liquid vitamins. She tried it out, and her daughter recovered fully. It was a vitamin deficiency she was suffering from.

The body doesn't really absorb pills as well as the liquid filled capsules. Some CNA's I know call pill vitamins "bed pan bullets" because these elderly can't really break down the pills and absorb the vitamins.

I think it depends on your particular situation. If you're a vegan or vegetarian then you might look into different supplements because you might not be getting all the minerals you might get from meat. Notice I said 'might' because once more, this has to do with your personal eating habits. I take supplements because I also take antidepressants that make a demand for more omega oils and B vitamins help with mood stabilization.
I would say this: 1. Read the labels. Brand A might be more expensive, but Brand B might have more potent ingredients. 2. Consult your doctor or professional. He or she will know what medicines you are taking if any, and what supplements might not mix with them- the results could be terrible if you don't know what is going on! 3. Mind what you're eating while you're taking your supplements. There are some vitamins and minerals that build up in the body unlike vitamin C that is flushed out of the body every 24 hours. If you get too much of a good thing, the results can once more be unpleasant. Good luck in your search, and when you find what works for you, hold on to it!

i think it depends a lot on the brand of vitamin you're buying. a lot of brands use a bunch of fillers in their vitamins so you're not getting the benefits that you should.
this website has a list of 100 vitamin brands and where they rank in effectiveness. i notice that a lot of the popular brands like "centrum" and "one a day" rank pretty low on the list. check it out.
www.multivitaminguide.org...

I am one of those people who is definitely a vitamin and supplement believer.

I never took vitamins and took my health for granted, until at age 39 I became horribly ill and was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I literally thought I was dying, nobody could feel that sick or have that much pain and not be on the way to the grave.

I tried going the traditional allopathic (Western) medical route, which was an unmitigated DISASTER and did nothing to help me. It did, however, get me horribly addicted to pain pills, which was worse than the disease. The steroids they administered offered short-term relief, but made things worse by allowing the disease to continue on stronger because steroids dampen the immune system, which is the opposite of what would help.

I remember the very last time I went to a doctor for my RA. My hands had swollen to the point where I couldn't hold anything or pick anything up that was smaller than a pencil. I was practically in tears from frustration and pain. The arrogant doc walked in and rolled his eyes, and said, "So what's wrong with you this time?"

I was furious and felt demeaned and dismissed as a malingerer. He did nothing for me but tell me to take Advil and to collect the $75 payment at the door.

I started doing research and realized that my immune system was shot, destroyed, and my bodily symptoms were showing it: RA, severe allergies, exhaustion, always getting sick with colds or flu. I then began to experiment with different vitamins and supplements.

I now have an excellent regimen of vitamins and supplements, which have given me my life back, and arrested the advance of RA. Yeah, I have some deformed joints, and I still feel pain, but the difference between now and back about 5 years is like night and day. The actual vitamins are helpful, but the real champions are the herbal supplements, such as Turmeric.

They've given me my life back, and I haven't seen a doc about my RA since that last fateful visit 5 years ago. Do they work? YES! Unless you have been very ill and been brought back from the brink by them like I have, it is hard to gauge their usefulness, but take it from me, they work, and have made all the difference.

BTW, the regular pills that one can buy at drug stores, such as One-A-Day, are useless. The best way to know if a vitamin is a "bed pan bullet", is to place it in pure vinegar for 30 minutes. If it isn't fully dissolved, it is useless. All mine are high-quality, in liquid or powdered form, except for the vitamin C I take, but it does dissolve easily with the vinegar test.

Originally posted by Necrobile
I want to say they are good for you, but, all the same, I don't really use them. I will munch some Vitamin C gummies when I'm feeling sick, because I don't get enough Vita C in my normal diet. It seems to help me fight off whatever I have faster, but, it could also just be a placebo effect.

My g/f has taken vitamin supplements before, but to be honest, we're not really sure if they helped or not. I want to say they did, but during that time, we made so many changes to our diets, that it could be all factors in play. Sorry I'm not much help. :\

Yeah, that is one of the dilemmas.

Last 2 years or so I've been taking a fair few supplements, and at one point I was getting incredibly bad headaches- but because I was taking so many I didn't know which one etc.

I basically binned them all, I find Vitamin B complex ups your energy ever so slightly, but have also found that they give me slight heart pains if I take them for more than a few days.

B vitamin complex also makes my urine go bright yellow- like a neon colour, and even trying to research that leads to two schools of thought- those who promote supplements and those against.

It's so difficult to get a straight answer.

Originally posted by JibbyJedi
Liquid vitamins seem to work well, not the pill form.
A coworker of mine saved her daughter's life using liquid B vitamins and Folic Acid. She had that skin disease that Michael Jackson supposedly had, Vitiligo I believe, and the doctors said she was not doing well and could die from it.

When the doctor left the room, a nurse with a conscience told her to try the liquid vitamins. She tried it out, and her daughter recovered fully. It was a vitamin deficiency she was suffering from.

The body doesn't really absorb pills as well as the liquid filled capsules. Some CNA's I know call pill vitamins "bed pan bullets" because these elderly can't really break down the pills and absorb the vitamins.

edit on 6-5-2012 by JibbyJedi because: (no reason given)

Interesting, as I just mentioned, if I take B vitamins my urine goes neon colour- the problem being whether that is safe, removal of the excess, or wheter it is going straight through without being absorbed?

If it is being absorbed and just excess, is it putting a strain on my kidneys etc?

reply to post by FissionSurplus


Thanks for your post, may I ask what supplements/vitamins you take?

Vitamin D, B complex etc?

reply to post by Wonderer2012


Too much of anything can be harmful. Plus a lot of name brand vitamins contain that ingredient used in caulk sealant. Try pure liquid vitamin B and see if that affects the kidneys/urine.

Flushing your system is helpful too. Tea spoon of baking soda or Tumeric powder in warm water are my favorite flushes for my system. Colloidal silver knocks out everything I've thrown it at, that's my #1 weapon against viruses I use.

It really depends on the vitamin and the brand, if you are talking about multiples, I dont take them, I juice everyday and eat a wide variety in color of foods. I actually work in a health food store but i dont take multiples. There are some really good things in there for certain things, but personally I go for the food. However, minerals are good if you sweat alot and drink purified water.

reply to post by JibbyJedi


Thanks for the tips, I'll be sure to check them out

I was taking Vitamin D, Vitamin B6 B12, Vitamin C, Grape Seed, Fish Oil, Aloe Vera for a cpl yrs 3-4 times a week. I took the vitamin C like it was candy. I took 10,000-20,000 IU a vitamin D everyday. It never bothered me. I drank alot of water and I lost some weight, I had a bunch of energy.
I still take vitamin D, the fish oil and sometimes grape seed but for tbe most part, Ive been juicing and that is the way to go.
Natural supplements and vitamins are not going to hurt you if u take them as directed.
Take as much vitamin C as u want.

reply to post by MNnativeamer


Regarding vitamin D supplements, I think one of the dangers is that there hasn't actually been an upper limit advised that we know is true 100%.

People say 10,000IU is safe each day etc but what they don't realise is that when you take it, it is ready as D3, hence your body will keep storing it. It is fat soluble.

I was taking 5,000IU capsules each day for about a year, at one point I woke up and simply had no feeling in my private parts. Embarrassing to share but true

Basically, I could not get an erection at all- it was just limp with no feeling.

I stopped taking the Vitamin D3 and about a week later I was back normal and having sex again.

I thought perhaps it was just coincidence so started taking the Vitamin D3 again about a month later and within 2-3 days, the exact thing happened again. So it was almost certainly related to the vitamin D3. I'm not just talking being hard to keep an erection, I'm talking complete lack of feeling, I wasn't even getting slightly hard in the mornings, which a big red flag IMO.

I guess my point is you can't trust what is actually in your product- it doesn't matter who says what, you simply do not know what goes into it, it isn't FDA or government approved etc, you've got to be careful with fat soluble vitamin supplements. I would argue the same goes for vitamins with Vitamin A, if you're getting 100% RDA from a capsule, and then eat Vitamin A rich foods, you're body is likely storing too much Vitamin A.

Going back to Vitamin D, when you go out in the sun, your body will produce as much D3 as it needs, you can't overdose on D3 from the sun, whereas taking it as a capsule, your body has no say in how much D3 is being stored.

It is very difficult to actually work out how long the body stores D3- if you top up over the summer, nobody can give a definitive answer as to whether that will last you through the winter etc. Through sheer evolution and having white skin to allow more D3 in, you would think if you get enough sun in the summer then our bodies will be OK for the winter months with enough stored.

With the erection problem as a result of taking supplement form of Vitamin D3, I find actually going out in the sunshine has a positive effect on that 'area', so it's kind of strange a capsule would have this negative effect.

I've tried researching it and a few people have mentioned it, so I'm not the only case that it happened to. I doubt there's going to be an indepth review into that from trusted sources, so Vitamin D3, despite all the wonder claims (and I have no doubt of the benefits of D3), that is one supplement I have decided to leave alone.

reply to post by Wonderer2012


Thanks for the info, bud! Definitely don't want any problems in that area! My woman tends to get a bit stressful and cranky if she doesn't get a steady dose of good ol "Vitamin D"

Vitamin supplements work well when taken with food, they have trouble getting absorbed on empty stomach and might cause gastrointestinal problems(minor).

im not sure what percentage but Vitamin supplements are not 100% absorbed into the body. If you normally eat + take supplements, most of them just go down your toilet, for example, eating a fruit and taking Vitamin C will cause excess vitamin C to go down your pee (it will be neon yellow colour), same thing happens to other excess supplements.

reply to post by Wonderer2012


Take note of your typical dietary habits. If you have to travel a lot, for example, you may find that you are eating more processed foods than natural foods. In such cases, it is almost inevitable that your body stores of minerals, especially magnesium, are too low. Magnesium is the most important mineral for heart health. I take an easily-dissolved form of magnesium tradenamed "magnesium optimizer" from the following company:

www.jarrow.com...

I don't take it every day, but I always bring it with me on traveling days.

If you take Vitamin E, be aware that most inexpensive supplement forms of E include only alpha tocopherol. However, Vitamin E contains a total of 4 alpha tocopherols and 4 alpha tocotrienols. Thus the cheap E's will do very little for your health, if at all. Here's one company that makes the complete E in a capsule:

www.carlsonlabs.com...

For Vitamin D, it's best to get a blood test to find out whether you are deficient in D. Many people are, these days. Recently, I heard somewhere that there is an expensive vitamin D blood test as well as one that is more affordable. So find out what the range of your blood test options is before you pay the big bucks.

For Vitamin B-12, there is also a blood test that is worthwhile, since many people are low in B-12. Recently I had a consultation with a macrobiotic counselor, and even he says to get blood tests for D and B-12 levels.

Also check out Kyolic, which is a supplement form of aged garlic, proven in many clinical tests to be a powerful immune system booster. Kyolic is best taken on a schedule, however (so many days on, then a few days off before resuming).

I don't know much about vitamins, I have a basic idea, but lately I've been wanting to learn more. If somebody could fill me in on whether this is enough or not I would appreciate it very much I'm a 25 year old male. These are the vitamins & minerals I'm currently taking, along with the exact amounts.

Vitamin A - 300 mcg (1000 IU)
Bera Carotene - 900 mcg (1500 IU)
Vitamin E - 18 mg (40 IU)
Vitamin C - 180 mg
Folate - 0.4 mg
Vitamin B1 - 4.2 mg
Vitamin B2 - 4.6 mg
Vitamin B6 - 5.5 mg
Vitamin B12 - 271.6 mcg
Vitamin D - 1,800 IU
Niacinamide - 16 mg
Biotin - 54 mcg
Pantothenic acid - 12.5 mg
Vitamin K1 - 25 mcg
Calcium - 950 mg
Iodine - 0.15 mg
Iron - 6 mg
Magnesium - 84 mg
Copper - 0.9 mg
Manganese - 5.5 mg
Chromium - 35 mcg
Selenium - 55 mcg
Zinc - 11 mg

I am concerned that I'm taking too much vitamin D and calcium, as I have read that taking too much of either can cause kidney stones, but I have also read that taking too little of either can also cause kidney stones. I think this happened to me last winter when I wasn't taking any vitamin D or calcium at all. I got a kidney stone which was probably caused by a deficiency in both. I wasn't getting any vitamin D from the sunlight either, due to it being winter and all Also, is my B12 intake okay?

One other thing. Say for example a bottle of vitamin B12 says 250 mcg on the bottle. The directions on the back advise to take 1 to 4 capsules a day. Does this mean that it takes four capsules to equal 250 mcg, or does one capsule contain that?

Thank you in advance for any helpful replies

I've been doing quite some research over the last two years and by now I'm seeing the vitamins as part of my life.

I have not been ill in quite a long time and can not actually remember the last time I was.

First of all I will take away the doubts of yes/no on vitamins and minerals and give the answer as a definite YES.

You have skeptics who will say that if you eat plenty of vegetables and fruits you won't be needing any supplements but what they probably do not know is that our foods are not what they used to be.
Due to mass production the food you get in the supermarket can not possibly contain any significant amount of nutrients as the companies use chemicals to either fast grow the food or put preservative chemicals in it so it doesn't spoil. (they do this by actually poisioning the food, look up on aspartame.)
In short, these days our food is processed beyond recognition and is just focused on healthy looks instead of it actually being healthy sort of like what happens in the real world with people,

These are the vitamins/minerals I take, and some vitamins I take morning or evening as they would conflict each other when taken together like with vitamin K2 and vitamin E.
Vitamin K2 will coagulate your blood contracting every cell in your body while vitamin E will do the opposite.
But the body needs both contracting and expanding like yin and yang.
Vitamin D3 in itself will cause you calcify your arteries and possibly develop kidney stones as it allows the body to absorb high amounts of calcium. When taken together with vitamin K2 and Vitamin A however your body will direct all the calcium to the needed areas.

Vit A: 10.000 IU Morning
Vit B: 100+/- RDA Only significant to me during sports
Vit C: 1000 IU Morning/evening
Vit D3: 25.000 IU Morning
Vit E: 200% RDA Evening
Vit K2 500 IU Morning

Ashwagandha
Maca
Magnesium/ Calcium
Omega 3
Iron
Selenium
Zinc

What a great post to all of you.But somewhere i am not gree with you. I do not think that any kind of vitamin supplements are good for health. May be i am totally wrong but according to me supplements have too many side effects. And causes some different disease.