Vitamins: awesome or useless? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

hiredgun · 10-16-2006, 12:24 AM

Really simple question that I've been wondering about for a while: does something like a daily, generic multivitamin have any tangible effect on health? Does it depend largely on what your diet looks like? Is it a particularly good idea to take one if you're on a solid workout routine?

I ask because I've heard a range of opinions on this, ranging from "A multivitamin is essential if you're working out regularly" to "a vitamin buys you nothing except for expensive urine".

stevie667 · 10-16-2006, 04:55 AM

Yes, definatly. Unless your super duper healthy with your diet then your not going to be getting all the vitamins and minerals you would otherwise need. If your on a workout routine its a pretty much given you should take them, you'll be using up your bodies resources much quicker.

Granted, some people can do without vitamins, and they're bastards for it, but i notice a vast difference between when i take vitamins and when i don't. You do often get what you pay for though, so buy a reputable brand.

As a footnote, i take daily: Multivitamin, Vitamin C and B1 (thiamin).

soccerchamp76 · 10-16-2006, 05:53 AM

Generic multivitamins are the best bet. They are inexpensive and can make up somewhat for an unbalanced diet. I buy the store-brand (not Centrum) and it is about $7 for 300 tablets, or about 10 months. It is a cheap way to potentially avoid future health problems.

These will be beneficial to you, the only "expensive urine" that you might hear about are the 10,000% B-complex vitamins. You will pee most of that out.

Sage · 10-16-2006, 01:39 PM

I totally notice a difference in taking vitamins vs when I don't. I take a multivitamin, B-6, B-12, and folic acid. The B vitamins and the folic acid really, seriously, amazingly help me with PMS and my period, and it's a very NOTICABLE difference between when I take it regularly for a month vs when I don't. Even a totally cheap, generic multivitamin is a good start

Ch'i · 10-16-2006, 01:44 PM

Multivitamins are not necissary, but they are benifitial. When you're in a thorough workout routine you should definately take them because you lose alot of vitamins when you exercise. I find it the most convenient way to attain your daily dose of important vitams; trying to do so through food and diet is probably better, but can be very tedious.

Be sure to take them with food, otherwise it will make expensive urine.

SofaKingA · 10-20-2006, 05:03 PM

Hell Yes. I have taken a MultiVitamin for the majority of my life (23 yrs old). In my biochem class the other day, our professor was basically listing off all the horrible disease that could be avoided by simply taking a multivitamin. Plus your body performs sooo many functions that you never realize and some of them could be slowed down or even halted if you dont have the right building blocks (vitamins) to carry them out. You may not feel it now, but when you get into your later years you might regret not taking a simple vitamin.

rockzilla · 10-21-2006, 02:39 PM

Like everyone else has said, getting all of your vitamins through your diet is best, but nearly impossible. A multivitamin is the best way to make sure your body gets everything that it needs.
Another thing woth mentioning is that excessive vitamin use can have toxic effects. Too much B6 can lead to nerve damage and numbness of extremities, too much vitamin A could make you go bald, a vitamin D overdose may lead to calcium deposits in the heart and blood vessels.
If you're taking a multivitamin, don't take extra thinking that it'll make you healthier. Not all vitamins are water-soluble (meaning that you pee out the excess that your body doesn't need), some just sit in your liver waiting to cause havoc.

iccky · 11-14-2006, 08:40 PM

The science suggests that taking a daily multivitamin doesn't do much good, but probably doesn't hurt either. So figure that while you should probablly take one, don't waste a lot of time or money on it.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entert...t_shopping-hed

Quote:

Studies shed negative light on use of the multivitamin
Advertisement

Harvard Health Letter

October 24, 2006

Studies have raised doubts about vitamins, but the multivitamin pill is still a good idea.

The daily multivitamin pill is no substitute for a good diet. But none of us is perfect when it comes to healthful eating. We may know all about the virtues of leafy green vegetables and whole grains, but convenience and cravings lead us astray. The multivitamin is partial protection from our lapses.

It's also an easy way to add surplus vitamins and minerals to our diets. By definition, vitamins are organic (carbon-based) compounds needed in only small amounts. Minerals serve a similar purpose but are inorganic. Historically, nutrition focused on vitamin deficiencies that cause disease. But with fortification -- the systemic addition of nutrients, chiefly vitamins, to the food supply -- and no shortage of food, the focus changed to whether vitamins and minerals in amounts larger than we need might protect us against conditions such as heart disease and cancer.

Some people scarf down megadoses, an approach with which most experts disagree. The daily multivitamin is the cautious wager that some extra vitamins and minerals will pay off in better health even if deficiencies aren't a problem.

Lately, though, it has been looking like they might not, as high-profile studies have come to negative conclusions.

It's well established that a dose of B vitamins -- B-6, B-12, and folate -- lowers homocysteine, an amino acid that is a risk factor for heart attack, stroke and dementia. The logical supposition: Having an ample supply of those B's coursing through your veins (and arteries) could improve your chances of avoiding cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline.

But results from a large randomized controlled trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine in April 2006 showed that while the B vitamins lowered homocysteine levels, that didn't result in fewer heart attacks or other major cardiovascular events. A second disappointing study was published in the journal in June 2006. Despite their homocysteine-lowering prowess, B vitamins were no better than a placebo at protecting people from cognitive decline.

Vitamin E hasn't been faring too well, either. Johns Hopkins researchers dubbed 2005 the annus horribilis for the vitamin because of all the disappointing studies, chief among them their meta-analysis that found that large daily doses (400 IU and up) increased mortality risk.

The National Institutes of Health convened a meeting on multivitamin and mineral supplements last May. The NIH holds these "consensus conferences" several times a year on a variety of subjects. Experts listen to presentations by other experts for a couple of days, then issue a "state of the science" statement.

In this case, the statement was extremely cautious. Present evidence is "insufficient to recommend either for or against the use of multivitamin/multimineral supplements by the American public to prevent chronic disease," was the inconclusive conclusion. The experts noted that the heaviest users of vitamin and mineral supplements are Americans who probably need them the least: People who are well-educated, have higher incomes, exercise and already have healthy diets.

Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the Harvard School of Public Health's nutrition department, has suggested that taking a multivitamin daily is a form of nutritional insurance. He still says it's a good policy, despite the spate of negative study results.

Those results have come from randomized controlled trials, which usually are regarded as the gold standard. But there are problems with clinical trials too. They often are fairly short, so a nutrient's long-term consequences may be missed. For example, Willett said that beta carotene didn't look like it was having any effect on cognition at the 12-year mark in Harvard's Physicians' Health Study, but at 18 years, benefits were detected.

There also often are questions about how applicable the results of clinical trials are. Some of the negative findings have come from studies that enrolled people who had vascular disease or diabetes. High-risk individuals tend to have more "events," so there is more data for analysis, and the results are more reliable statistically. But how relevant are the findings to healthier people? With the B vitamin research, it's the reverse: The patients in those studies had homocysteine levels that were normal or just slightly elevated, so the results may not apply to people with higher levels.

Multivitamins already are part of some official recommendations. The federal government's 2005 Dietary Guidelines suggest that people older than 50 take them as a way to ensure adequate vitamin B-12 intake. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises all women of child-bearing age to take folic acid -- and a multivitamin is also a good way to do that -- because doing so lowers the risk of birth defects. That leaves men age 50 and under as the only adult group not covered.

I was always kind of skeptical. I mean, your body is designed to take in these compounds a little bit at a time over the course of the day, in the context of normal food. We expect it to absorb and make as efficient use of these vitamins and minerals when they're dropped into our system is a single pill early in the morning? I doubt it.

snowy · 11-14-2006, 09:40 PM

I take B vitamins regularly, and up the dosage when I'm on my period (they help with menstrual cramps) or plan on drinking. For some reason the B vitamins seem to prevent hangovers.

Mmm vitamins.

Baron Opal · 11-15-2006, 01:47 AM

I tend to reccommend taking a complete multivitamin with a meal each day. I think that it helps even out the deficencies in our diet. Taking the mega doses of vitamins does nothing but make your pee glow, at best.

I always take mine with a meal. I get far too nauseated otherwise.

soccerchamp76 · 11-15-2006, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iccky

The science suggests that taking a daily multivitamin doesn't do much good, but probably doesn't hurt either. So figure that while you should probablly take one, don't waste a lot of time or money on it.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entert...t_shopping-hed

I was always kind of skeptical. I mean, your body is designed to take in these compounds a little bit at a time over the course of the day, in the context of normal food. We expect it to absorb and make as efficient use of these vitamins and minerals when they're dropped into our system is a single pill early in the morning? I doubt it.

This is why you are told to take the multivitamin with a meal. It doesn't matter when you take the vitamin, during lunch would work as well. As long as your body has an ample supply of the essential vitamins, you are fine.

On another topic, for every study that says multivitamins are useless you will find another one saying they are the best thing you can do for your body.
My take on it is that the generic/store-brand multivitamins go for around $6-8 for 300 pills. That is ~2.6 cents per pill/day. Pretty cheap way to potentially ward away future ailments/diseases without any risk (as long as you don't chug down 15 pills).

Willravel · 11-15-2006, 01:49 PM

Try as best you can to get all the vitamins and minerals from your food. If you can't do that, take a miltuivitamin with your breakfast.

Plaid13 · 11-16-2006, 11:58 PM

Multivitamins are totaly worthless if you eat a perfectly balanced diet like we all do. =) If your one of those freaks that dosnt eat a perfect diet then they will help alot. Thankfully you can get all your nutriton through the basic foodgroups. pop tarts cheese puffs hotdogs and root beer. Ahh sarcasim on the internet.

If you dont eat a really balanced diet viamins will help make up for that. No matter how hard you try your most likely not going to get all the vitamins you need.

Zeraph · 11-17-2006, 08:52 AM

The point is rather moot to me, as someone above mentioned it's like maybe 20 bucks a year to take a multi each day. That's hardly expensive and it only takes a few seconds to swallow so it's hardly time consuming either. If it helps my health even only a little it's worth it, and I have a feeling it will help me long term a lot more than a little.

thingstodo · 11-20-2006, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soccerchamp76

On another topic, for every study that says multivitamins are useless you will find another one saying they are the best thing you can do for your body.
My take on it is that the generic/store-brand multivitamins go for around $6-8 for 300 pills. That is ~2.6 cents per pill/day. Pretty cheap way to potentially ward away future ailments/diseases without any risk (as long as you don't chug down 15 pills).

I heard and seen studies - but I can' place my hand on one to support what I'm saying - that you have to be very careful the source since many aren't easily absorbed.

I take DualTabs from Twinlab. They have vitamins and minerals - thus the "dual" and also include absorption agents. They have a lot of the B-complex along with everything else. The dosage is two/day but I only take one. 120 goes for $28 with shipping from http://www.vitacost.com/ . I started taking them on the advice of a personal trainer/nutritionist that was very much into quality vitamins. Since then and that was nearly 10 years ago I've hardly ever had a cold.

10-16-2006, 12:24 AM	#1 (permalink)
hiredgun Addict	Vitamins: awesome or useless? Really simple question that I've been wondering about for a while: does something like a daily, generic multivitamin have any tangible effect on health? Does it depend largely on what your diet looks like? Is it a particularly good idea to take one if you're on a solid workout routine? I ask because I've heard a range of opinions on this, ranging from "A multivitamin is essential if you're working out regularly" to "a vitamin buys you nothing except for expensive urine".

10-16-2006, 04:55 AM	#2 (permalink)
stevie667 Too Awesome for Aardvarks Location: Angloland	Yes, definatly. Unless your super duper healthy with your diet then your not going to be getting all the vitamins and minerals you would otherwise need. If your on a workout routine its a pretty much given you should take them, you'll be using up your bodies resources much quicker. Granted, some people can do without vitamins, and they're bastards for it, but i notice a vast difference between when i take vitamins and when i don't. You do often get what you pay for though, so buy a reputable brand. As a footnote, i take daily: Multivitamin, Vitamin C and B1 (thiamin). __________________ Office hours have changed. Please call during office hours for more information.

10-16-2006, 05:53 AM	#3 (permalink)
soccerchamp76 Go Cardinals Location: St. Louis/Cincinnati	Generic multivitamins are the best bet. They are inexpensive and can make up somewhat for an unbalanced diet. I buy the store-brand (not Centrum) and it is about $7 for 300 tablets, or about 10 months. It is a cheap way to potentially avoid future health problems. These will be beneficial to you, the only "expensive urine" that you might hear about are the 10,000% B-complex vitamins. You will pee most of that out. __________________ Brian Griffin: Ah, if my memory serves me, this is the physics department. Chris Griffin: That would explain all the gravity.

10-16-2006, 01:39 PM	#4 (permalink)
Sage hoarding all the big girl panties since 2005 Location: North side	I totally notice a difference in taking vitamins vs when I don't. I take a multivitamin, B-6, B-12, and folic acid. The B vitamins and the folic acid really, seriously, amazingly help me with PMS and my period, and it's a very NOTICABLE difference between when I take it regularly for a month vs when I don't. Even a totally cheap, generic multivitamin is a good start __________________ Sage knows our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's She answers hard acrostics, has a pretty taste for paradox She quotes in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus In conics she can floor peculiarities parabolous -C'hi

11-14-2006, 09:40 PM	#9 (permalink)
snowy Kick Ass Kunoichi Location: Oregon	I take B vitamins regularly, and up the dosage when I'm on my period (they help with menstrual cramps) or plan on drinking. For some reason the B vitamins seem to prevent hangovers. Mmm vitamins. __________________ If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

10-16-2006, 01:44 PM	#5 (permalink)
Ch'i Artist of Life	Multivitamins are not necissary, but they are benifitial. When you're in a thorough workout routine you should definately take them because you lose alot of vitamins when you exercise. I find it the most convenient way to attain your daily dose of important vitams; trying to do so through food and diet is probably better, but can be very tedious. Be sure to take them with food, otherwise it will make expensive urine.

10-20-2006, 05:03 PM	#6 (permalink)
SofaKingA Crazy Location: Erie, PA	Hell Yes. I have taken a MultiVitamin for the majority of my life (23 yrs old). In my biochem class the other day, our professor was basically listing off all the horrible disease that could be avoided by simply taking a multivitamin. Plus your body performs sooo many functions that you never realize and some of them could be slowed down or even halted if you dont have the right building blocks (vitamins) to carry them out. You may not feel it now, but when you get into your later years you might regret not taking a simple vitamin.

10-21-2006, 02:39 PM	#7 (permalink)
rockzilla Junkie Location: The Kitchen	Like everyone else has said, getting all of your vitamins through your diet is best, but nearly impossible. A multivitamin is the best way to make sure your body gets everything that it needs. Another thing woth mentioning is that excessive vitamin use can have toxic effects. Too much B6 can lead to nerve damage and numbness of extremities, too much vitamin A could make you go bald, a vitamin D overdose may lead to calcium deposits in the heart and blood vessels. If you're taking a multivitamin, don't take extra thinking that it'll make you healthier. Not all vitamins are water-soluble (meaning that you pee out the excess that your body doesn't need), some just sit in your liver waiting to cause havoc.

11-15-2006, 01:47 AM	#10 (permalink)
Baron Opal Crazy Location: Oregon	I tend to reccommend taking a complete multivitamin with a meal each day. I think that it helps even out the deficencies in our diet. Taking the mega doses of vitamins does nothing but make your pee glow, at best. I always take mine with a meal. I get far too nauseated otherwise.

11-15-2006, 01:49 PM	#12 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	Try as best you can to get all the vitamins and minerals from your food. If you can't do that, take a miltuivitamin with your breakfast.

11-16-2006, 11:58 PM	#13 (permalink)
Plaid13 I want a Plaid crayon	Multivitamins are totaly worthless if you eat a perfectly balanced diet like we all do. =) If your one of those freaks that dosnt eat a perfect diet then they will help alot. Thankfully you can get all your nutriton through the basic foodgroups. pop tarts cheese puffs hotdogs and root beer. Ahh sarcasim on the internet. If you dont eat a really balanced diet viamins will help make up for that. No matter how hard you try your most likely not going to get all the vitamins you need.

11-17-2006, 08:52 AM	#14 (permalink)
Zeraph Banned Location: The Cosmos	The point is rather moot to me, as someone above mentioned it's like maybe 20 bucks a year to take a multi each day. That's hardly expensive and it only takes a few seconds to swallow so it's hardly time consuming either. If it helps my health even only a little it's worth it, and I have a feeling it will help me long term a lot more than a little.