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Ask HN: Which vitamin supplements do you take?

27 points by wesley ↗ HN
I would be interested in knowing what vitamin supplements you all take and why (Include the brand name).

I currently take: - Centrum multivitamin - Now foods vitamin D3 (2000IU)

I also just bought the Now foods omega 3 supplement. It smells rancid. I'm probably going to throw it away. Does anyone know of a good, purified brand? (Preferrably something that uses d-gamma and d-delta forms of vitamin E to prevent oxidation/rancidity)

70 comments

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SlowOnTheUptake
Why do you take vitamin supplements?

I don't take them and would only do so if I had some reason to think I was deficient in them and then only the the particular vitamins in which I was deficient.

wendroid
Vegetables
Kilimanjaro
and fruits!
wendroid
and legumes (they fix nitrogen too!)

You think carbon dioxide is bad news, wait until you find out about what all the nitrogen we introduce to the ecosystem does.

#timebomb

kilian
instead of extra vitamins, I just eat less carbs. Same effect ;)
rradu
Not at all. Vitamins are something you need to take in. Eating less of anything won't give you more vitamins.
rradu
Daily multivitamin from Costco. Got a 500-pill tub for like $10.

I eat well, but making sure I get enough of what's necessary doesn't hurt.

ahk
Kirkland's fish oil/omega-3 (this one is good enough for me, no issues)

Now/Carlsson's vit D3 (2000IU)

LEF's magnesium, taurine and super-k (vit. k1 + k2)

GNC's creatine monohydrate

I take these on and off or cyclically (some are bad combinations). I'm thinking of getting a multivitamin, but most of them have their own shortcomings.

zackattack
i take an efa pill (omega 3, flax, omega 6, omega 9, etc.) maybe placebo but i feel it enhances the quality of my dreams.
chipsy
Dear naysayers: It's straightforward enough to take supplements at breakfast and then build on that with later meals. And it's actually quite a lot of fun to experiment with something fundamental to well-being.

I currently take a multivitamin, Omega 3, 600mg calcium + 400 IU Vit D, plus 6000IU of D separately, and variable amounts of whey protein. The multi is an all-arounder, the Omega 3 is for perceived brain power benefits. I go for a lot of Vit D because it's just been amazing for mood, confidence, general well-being, and I started with the calcium to complement it. The whey protein is used to keep me on the straight-and-narrow with the rest of my diet, by controlling hunger in a form which offers few obvious downsides.

As far as brands go, I typically get supplements either from Trader Joe's or from CVS. I don't really pay much attention to which ones I'm using as I haven't seen a quality difference yet. I've been going through some Omega 3 from Trader Joe's for ages, no problems with it. For the whey I'm currently using "Designer Whey." I don't know if I'll stick with it; every protein brand seems way different.

Tichy
If you say experiment, do you protocol and measure your results?
cmars232
Vitamin D also seems to improve my mood. So does lying in the sun all afternoon, but Vit D is safer and more practical :)
zenocon
Be careful with calcium. I was taking a 1000mg / day capsule that included zinc & magnesium, and I recently ended up with a kidney stone. Not fun. My Doctor asked my why I was taking calcium being a young, healthy, individual...and honestly, I didn't have a good answer for him. I don't take calcium anymore.
cas
There is a lot of scientific research that shows that a balanced diet is all that is required to provide all the vitamins the body requires and that supplements at best are a waste of money and at worst in large doses can cause harm.

The only exception would be for people that have specific conditions that a doctor suggests supplements for.

Edit: I though i would add one example i read recently about Omega 3 that really stands out: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627601.400-omega3-fi...

seshagiric
Isn't the point of taking of supplements that you cannot easily arrange a 'balanced diet'?
zecg
Yes, but it's actually easier than people think. You don't have to make a science of it or measure doses, just ditch flavor enhancers and avoid preservatives, read the labels on stuff you buy (yes, time-consuming at first, but you'll have to do it less and less as you gain experience), favor fresh produce over junk food and get lots of sunshine.
ekanes
I think your attitude is right-on, but you proceeded to list as "easy" a bunch of things people find hard. ;)

(You might not, but many do...)

zecg
Well, what I'm saying is that the practice is easy once you muster the will. Sadly, many people realize how easy it is after a disease forces them to change their behavior.
hga
Exactly.

Plus you simply don't know if e.g. the oats in that tin of oatmeal you're working through were grown in soil that had adequate (for you) amounts of selenium.

Taking a "One A Day" vitamin just to make sure you hit all the bases is a minimal reasonable precaution.

cas
A balanced diet is not difficult!

Its a no-brainer to me that if you are worried enough about your health to simply change your diet to add a bit more fruit and veg rather than spend money on magic pills without any medical or scientific basis.

this comment also echos my thoughts: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1367101

wyclif
What do you all say about Vitamin C? Specific brands? What about issues like absorbtion?
kilian
I've heard good things about fresh oranges. They're tasty, too.
miri
Vitamin C, you need it in sufficient quantities as not to get deficient and interfere with collagen synthesis. Moderate amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables will see you well covered. Extra supplementation is not helpful, no matter the belief of Linus Pauling. He has no evidence for that his megadose vitamin therapy is helpful at all. The problem with large doses of vitamin C is that it gives you diarrhoea, and may lead to kidney problems. It also increases absorption of iron, which can be a good or a bad thing. Either way: It's well enough absorbed either way. Less acidic variations may be useful to those with sensitive stomachs, but you'll get your vitamin C either way. Fruit and vegetables is still the way to go, though.
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WesleyJohnson
I'm a terribly picky eater. So terrible in fact, that there is a single green vegetable I'll consume and zero fruits. Sure, I'll eat things comprised of processed vegies (love me some pizza), but I won't sit down and eat a tomato, pees, bananas, etc. Okay, I eat potato's too, but that's a stretch.

So while I haven't done any research on the matter, I'd say it's pretty conclusive I don't get a good portion of nutrients I probably need or at the very least would benefit from.

That said, I take a "one a day" men's vitamin and then a single 1000mg Vitamin C supplement. Maybe I'm doing more harm than good? I'm not sure.

jgrahamc
At the risk of sounding like someone's mother: snap out of that ridiculous picky eater nonsense. Unless you've got an actual medical condition that prevents you from eating certain foods you are likely doing yourself a hell of a lot of harm by only eating processed food. And spending your $ on supplements isn't going to make up for all the complex stuff in vegetables and fruits that you are missing.
WesleyJohnson
I don't really understand why people consider this "nonsense"? I agree with you that suppliments don't come close to doing what a natrually balanced diet would do for me, but why do people who aren't picky eaters think this is something that can just be "snapped out of"?

Few people I know like or would willingly consume anything put in front of them. Surely there is something out there you wouldn't eat, don't like, etc. Why is it so hard to imagine that there are people out there (like me) who don't just have this adversion to eating a few things, but rather quite a few?

I'll finish by saying that in the interest of health, I most certainly should be forcing myself to eat things I don't particularly care for or even find downright disgusting. However, to assume that the reason I don't eat such things is nonsense isn't a fair assesment in my opinion.

Luc
As a rule of thumb, by just repeatedly eating the food you don't like, you will get used to it and learn to like it. This is all it takes - just eat spinach 10 times, and you'll learn to like spinach. It's likely you'll prefer it prepared this way rather than that way, but your tastes will change.

I like to make it easier on myself by putting lots of pepper or chilli sauce on the food, until I am used to the taste.

By the way, this is how culinary schools work (at least here in Belgium). The kids arrive when they're 14 and need to learn to appreciate all kinds of food, so the rule is that they need to finish their plate, no exceptions.

jgrahamc
Essentially this is how parents should educate children. Children should be made to taste all foods that are presented to them.
dalore
You can't generalize like that. I seriously can't eat vegetables. It's the texture and not the taste. I can eat them when they have been puréed and mixed into my food and I don't know about it. But if I try to eat something and I feel the "crunch" of vegetables, my throat will close up.

It's been noted that people with Aspergers sometimes have a problem with certain food textures. So this could be a manifestation of that.

Luc
Sorry, I'm just trying to be encouraging and to challenge the belief that there is no way out of this situation. It's fun to hack the brain, and to submit your lower brain systems to the will of your conscious brain. The short term may be hard and painful, but in the long term you'll feel better for it. It's not that different from studying hard or exercising.

This is my humble opinion, and your mileage may vary...

miri
As a picky eater myself, that's absolute torture to go through. My father tried it on me. After a few times of retching at the table, and running to go vomit because I found various tastes so bad, he kind of gave up. No more chicken livers for me. No more brussels sprouts. No more witlof (chicory for those that do not speak Dutch). No matter how well prepared, these things taste awful. Yes, even the witlof. I'm a bad Dutch person, I know.
thejash
If you force yourself to eat more of something, you will grow to like it. I've heard this before, and I've definitely noticed it with myself, my friends, and my family, but I could not find a scientific article to back it up (though I didn't look that hard)

So your picky eating is literally "nonsense" because there is no logical, sensible reason for it--if you would only force yourself to eat other foods (for an extended period of time), you would almost certainly begin to like them.

EDIT: and while I looked for those articles, someone else posted the same comment. Oops.

WesleyJohnson
So however outlandish this may come across, but your assesment everyone could learn to love tree bark, tar, asphalt, fecies, freshly sprayed skunk, hair, etc? Yes, there are people society likely considers "weird" that would eat this stuff, but surely not - everyone - could love this stuff if they'd just try it once, twice, 10 times?
dalore
It might not be his/her fault. Some people with Aspergers have a problem with certain food textures. It might even be a mild form of Aspergers that hasn't been diagnosed.

I myself have a problem with the "crunchiness" of vegetables and can't eat them. I've tried to overcome it but my throat closes up when I feel the texture and know that I'm eating it.

So I can't eat vegetables. I joke around that I'm a meatarian since I eat everything but vegetables (defined as exclusive, since vegetarians are people who eat anything but meat, also exclusive). But it's not really a joke.

As a consequence I've had to make sure I'm eating healthy with this extra restriction. I used to do what they did and just eat what I like and take a supplement plus 1000mg of vitamin c. But I've changed and now eat lots of fruit and no snack food. And I've decided not to take the supplements anymore.

Supplement also tend not to be absorbed well into the body so their use is questionable. But is it better they take a vitamin supplement vs not taking one on the the same diet?

jgrahamc
As I said in my post: unless you have a medical problem that prevents you.
dalore
Yes, but it might not be diagnosed.
miri
Hey, I can understand that. Been a picky eater all my life, though I've gotten a little "better" over the years. My parents were the same and they're doing just fine, so I don't think there's that much to worry about as long as you don't get deficient. There's a lot of vegetables I won't touch (but there's others I'll devour in massive quantities, so it's easier on me), but here's a tip that worked for both me and a friend, if you'd actually want a way to both eat more veg without it tasting awful: Make soup! I absolutely despise raw tomatoes, but cooked with thyme, basil, bay leaf, onion, garlic, pepper, and a decent amount of beef stock (or a maggi cube and water, no reason to make it too complicated) it's one of my favourite dishes. It's not even difficult to make. Same with cauliflower soup, too, or any other soup, really, vegetable or not. Having a blender does help if you don't like chunks in your soup, but otherwise you can do without. Just thought you might want to know. ~ Miri, the Soupvangelist ::P
ssharp
I take an Omega 3 pill (not picky here, I've gotten these from Whole Foods, GNC, WalMart, Walgreens, wherever) and Centrum Men's every morning. I also usually eat a protein bar for breakfast. On lifting days, I drink a Gold Standard Whey (GNC) shake w/ skim milk. On cardio days, I don't take additional supplements. If I'm doing intense cardio, I'll drink a glass of Accelerade (think Gatorade w/ added protein) after.
Erwin
Just vitamin D -- deficiency (if you're not getting enough by being out in the sun) may cause all sorts of mild but strange nervous system symptoms, like passing numbness in various parts of your body and weak muscles (unfortunately these are also symptoms for anything from brain cancer, Lyme disease to Multiple Sclerosis, so I recommend seeing your doctor before spending too much time on Wikipedia).
rosejn
If you are younger than 40 and in good health you should focus on a varied diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables rather than supplements. They will provide the vitamins and minerals you need while also providing lots of anti-oxidants and micro-nutrients which help fight cancer, and help to make better use of the standard vitamins. If you search around you will find numerous reports of daily use of supplements causing higher instances of cancer. It probably couldn't hurt to take a multi-vitamin sporadically just to make sure you get everything, but the focus should be on your diet and exercise. In terms of omegas, start throwing flax-see oil or ground seeds on your cereal in the morning. It's the best (and possibly only) non-animal source for the stuff, and it also provides you with a lot of fiber.
uuid
Most important: Folic acid (B9).

Apparently has strong correlation with IQ. Makes me wake up instantly in the morning. Less tired. Better concentration.

Don't take more than ~400mg /day.

hga
With all the suplimentation going on limiting it to 400 mcg (NOT mg) is going to be hard.

The key is to limit it to 1,000 mcg/1 mg; above that the symptoms of pernicious anemia (Vitamin B12 problems) can be masked until you've gotten irreversible nerve damage.

terra_t
Purified Omega-3 1000 mg, 4000 IU Vitamin D, 100 mg CoQ10, 1000 mg Calcium, 800 mg Magnesium; thinking seriously of capping up KCl and taking that too... idiots that kill themselves with potassium overdoses mean you have to pay prescription prices for what ought to cost a few pennies a day.
retube
As far as I understand, the vast majority of vitamin supplements have no independently demonstrated or scientifically evaluated benefit whatsoever. In fact, many supplements have been shown to do more harm than good. They are basically a huge con. Eating a balanced diet of meat, fish, staple cereals/crops, vegetables and fruit is the best thing you can do for yourself.

The _only_ supplement I am aware of that genuinely has a benefit is Folic Acid, which pregnant and planning-on-getting pregnant women should take. This is available free on the NHS.

zecg
None. I try for lots of sunshine all year round, eat fruits & nuts & veggies and live scoby-produced foods - I have a pet kombucha that produces fizzy health in potable form.
vlado
My candidate-mother-in-law (as she likes to call herself) says artificial vitamins are bad. Vitamins and minerals in the form of pills get fully absorbed by the body, even if they are not needed in such big quantities at the moment.

Examples: If you bring more calcium in the body it can subside in kydneys in the form of sand-particles.

If you bring more vitamin D into the body, the body starts to pull out calcium from the bones and sends it to the kidneys and to the heart-muscle.

She's a pediatrician and а homoeopath and feeds us (my girlfriend and me) with blue-green-algae additives, because they contain all the stuff in it's natural form, so the organism can take whatever it needs out of it and excrete the rest.

Her supplier of choice is AquaSource (a multi-level-marketing company), but there are many other companies that offer similar stuff.

Sorry for my ("medical") english, had a gard time translating it from my native language.

dalore
I got told me quite the opposite, from people with actual medical degrees. That multivitamin supplements aren't all that useful since the body tends to not absorb much of it and excretes it. It's better to get the vitamins from your food.

If vitamins get fully absorbed why is my piss bright green when I take a multivitamin?

hga
Have you tried to take the vitamin with food?

Me, I split my "One A Day" type vitamin/mineral pill into two and take one half with breakfast and lunch. I avoid dinner for minerals to give any excess the best chance of getting excreted during the day when I'm pushing a lot more water though my kidneys.

As for your problem ... are you sure that's not just some dye in the pill? I don't know of anything that would be "bright green" that you'd likely be taking.

dalore
I've tried various vitamin pills in different countries. All the same.

Now I just eat lots of different fruit. No more supplements unless my doctor prescribes.

rarrrrrr
I've been studying health and exercising with an Olympic trainer for years.

First, nearly all vitamins sold at CVS, Walgreens, Costco, Walmart, etc. are cheaply manufactured. Don't even bother. These are also the vitamins pharmaceutical companies study when they wish to discredit the healthfulness of vitamins in general.

Next, health requires diet, exercise, and supplementation for nutrients that can't easily be found in our modern food supply. Supplements alone won't do it.

That said, the best quality supplement companies I'm aware of are (in descending order for price and quality) Wellness Resources, the Life Extension Foundation, and Vitacost. Prepare yourself for sticker shock. The best protein supplements I know of (fermented or sprouted brown rice base, no animal or soy sources) are from SunWarrior and Boku Superfood.

The supplements I use are mostly plants, and include chlorella, spirulina, tumeric + black pepper, CoQ10, resveratrol, and LEF's Mix Tab vitamins (9 per day; a wide range of things are included.)

I also include flax oil, maca root, and pure chocolate directly in meals, along with an abundance of colorful fruits and vegetables, nuts, and occasional good quality meats.

Previous comments on supplements and diet:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1007392

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=829701

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=726914

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=585575

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=516538

Tichy
What is the difference in the "cheap" supplements and the ones you recommend? Cheaply manufactured doesn't imply that they are bad/worse.
miri
Nope. It's just that Big Supplement wants a way to make more money off the gullible :P We really don't need that many supplements. Decent food and no absorption issues is all it takes.
rarrrrrr
There are a thousand low level details in the answer to this question; I'll try to cover some of the basics.

A high end vitamin tries very hard to package nutrients from actual food sources (i.e. extracts and concentrations of something you would really eat) instead of just cramming in raw materials. This tends to mean that the bioavailability (i.e. how much you actually absorb instead of just pass through) is much better. For example, sourcing calcium from ground up oyster shells provides plenty of the mineral, but the absorption rate is terrible. Much research goes into finding the best bioavailable forms.

In general, the ingredients are significantly better quality. Packaging B12 as cyanocobalamin may cost 1/10th as much as hydroxlcobalamin, but isn't nearly as good for us.

The ingredients are plentiful. The FDA's recommended daily allowance numbers are WAY off in most cases. For example, my multivitamin packages over 3000% of vitamin C, and over 8000% of B1.

Finally, a high end multivitamin includes a huge range of stuff beyond just the basics. For example, look at the ingredients list for the LEF Mix Tabs. It's 4 pages long in my browser. If you're curious, I suggest Google or Google Scholar around for the specific chemical forms of all the vitamins and minerals mentioned.

terra_t
High end multivitamins scare me.

Most of them want to create the perception that you can "feel" the results of taking the supplement, so they contain stimulants like gotu kola, synephrine, etc. Some of these, like synephrine definitely are not safe (raise your blood pressure... small doses of that get me to 180/115) and other ones are questionable.

hga
WRT to omega 3 supplementation (which I think is a good idea to balance out the surplus we get post-WWII of omega 6 fatty acids due to the shift to vegetable oils) I recommend Nordic Naturals. I buy half a years supply at a time (to avoid excessive heat or cold in shipping and to get a volume discount) and they maintain their freshness.

If you detect any rancidity you need to find another source.

For what it's worth, I too take essentially what you're taking: a private label knock off of the Centrum mature multivitamin (unless you're a menstruating woman you probably don't need iron supplementation and it can be harmful) and a fair amount of Vitamin D3, which I will be adjusting based on blood tests to figure out what's right for me.

miri
Vitamin B12 and folic acid, relatively large doses to prevent recurrence of deficiency, since regular dietary intake wasn't enough. Brand doesn't matter, since it's prescription-only. Non-vitamin supplements is Omega-3 if I haven't eaten much fatty fish lately, and fairly low doses of haem iron to keep my ferritin where it is.

I see no reason to take any other supplements, as my diet is fairly balanced, lots of vegetables, fairly good amount of fish (but could be better). I take enough pills already as it is due to chronic illness.

Besides, there's so much NONSENSE out there. NO, large doses of Vitamin C will not help for a cold. It will give you the runs, and harm your kidneys in the long run, but you're wasting your money. Get out in the sun in summer, eat vit D-rich foods in winter if you live in places such as Norway like I do, and otherwise take it easy. Eat vegetables, try to eat less processed food, remember that vit B12 only comes from animal sources (milk, eggs, meat - spirulina does NOT contain B12) and you should be good.

sirsean
I take Damage Control Master Formula from Primal Nutrition; in the last six months I've lost about 30 pounds, find myself considerably less hungry than I used to be, and have a lot more energy than I did before. (That all may also be related to the fact that I switched to a high-protein/low-carbs diet at the same time.)

Primal Nutrition also offers Omega 3 supplements, which I also take. I have not had the rancidity problem.

It's all pretty expensive, though.