Vitamin And Supplement Cheat Sheet

A place to pool our knowledge and wisdom about supping vitamins and minerals, especially for reactive LO's and nursing mamas.  This is by no means a complete list, just the specialized stuff we've been most interested in in the allergies forum.

And some helpful threads:

Supplements - biotin, pantothenic acid, zinc, folate .... ???

Hiding supplements and dense nutrition in foods

Vitamins:

Vitamin A

• primary food sources - Liver, egg yolks, butter.  Beta Carotene in orange/yellow plant foods (carrots, sweet potatoes, etc) isn't converted efficiently or at all in many of us.
• can supp through milk? - yes*
• why supp? (1 sentence) - bone and tooth health, gut health, thyroid support, immune support
• preferred forms - CLO
• forms to avoid - synthetic
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage - https://westonaprice.org/cod-liver-oil/238.html#clarify
• things to watch for - balance with D, K, riboflavin

Vitamin D

• primary sources - sunlight (when you are taller than your shadow, midday summer sun), small oily fish
• can supp through milk? - yes*
• why supp? (1 sentence) - bone and tooth health, immune system health, autoimmune support
• preferred forms - D3
• forms to avoid - D2
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for - test 25 OH D levels for current status

Vitamin K

• primary food sources - K1: leafy greens; K2: grassfed butterfat, bone marrow, natto (soy)
• can supp through milk? - yes*
• why supp? (1 sentence) -
• preferred forms - for K2, most is soy derived.  HVBO and other grassfed butter is a good source. 
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy - Thorne and Carlson make synthetic K2. 
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for - balance with A and D.  Signs you need more: easy bruising, nosebleeds.  Necessary for tooth remineralization.

Vitamin E

• primary food sources - soy, sunflower seeds
• can supp through milk? -
• why supp? (1 sentence) - antioxidant
• preferred forms -
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for - High PUFA intake increases E requirement.

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)

• primary food sources -
• can supp through milk? - yes
• why supp? (1 sentence) -
• preferred forms -
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for -

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)

• primary food sources -
• can supp through milk? - yes
• why supp? (1 sentence) - Cracking corners of the mouth, bright red lips/tongue, watery eyes.  Generally enough in a b complex
• preferred forms -
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for - interacts with vitamin A for skin health. competes for absorption with biotin, B5.

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)

• primary food sources -
• can supp through milk? - yes
• why supp? (1 sentence) -
• preferred forms -
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for -

Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid)

• primary food sources -
• can supp through milk? - yes
• why supp? (1 sentence) - Adrenal support, acetylation detox pathway, mitochondria support
• preferred forms -
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for - works with biotin.

Vitamin B6

• primary food sources - rare meat, bananas
• can supp through milk? - yes
• why supp? (1 sentence) - Adrenal support, salicylate support, mag utilization, transsulfuration, general amino acid conversion, EFA conversion, cradle cap
• preferred forms - P5P
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy - Thorne capsules don't taste bad
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for - https://westonaprice.org/abcs-of-nutrition/1640-vegetarianism-and-nutrient-deficiencies.html

Biotin

• food sources - egg yolks, veggies
• can supp through milk? - yes
• why supp? (1 sentence) - Higher-than-food doses good for helping with EFA conversion, cradle cap, inflammation, yeast
• preferred forms -
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage - 5+mg
• things to watch for - can cause yeast die off.  competes with B2 and B5 for absorption.  works with B5 in the mitochondria.

Folate

• food sources - leafy greens, liver, lentils
• can supp through milk? - yes
• why supp? (1 sentence) - methylation, mood, growth support
• preferred forms - 5 MTHF (methylfolate), folinic acid (folacal).  Food has a combo of these two forms.
• forms to avoid - folic acid (can interfere with the good stuff, especially with certain MTHFR genetics)
• places to buy - Thorne, others.  5mthf is patented, so quality should be similar across brands.
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for - Interacts with B12

Vitamin B12

• food sources - Animal protein
• can supp through milk? - yes*
• why supp? (1 sentence) - horrible absorption in many.  necessary for nerves, including those that control the gut.  important for cell differentiation and proliferation (see comments).  important for methylation/detox.
• preferred forms - methyl-, hydroxy-cobalamin sublingual or drops.  Something that's not just swallowed.
• forms to avoid - cyanocobalamin (ineffective)
• places to buy - Jarrow, Perque, Yasko drops.
• ballpark dosage - 1000mcg, some go waaaay higher (1000mcg 12x/day).  Remember, it's not absorbed well at all.
• things to watch for - may need to push through a bad reaction to see benefits.  too much might cause hyperactivity.  Reactions can build over the course of a week or so, so start slow.

Choline

• food sources - egg yolks, liver, wheat germ.  Indirectly, beets, spinach, folate foods
• can supp through milk? -
• why supp? (1 sentence) - high triglycerides, low acetylcholine, low dietary intake
• preferred forms -
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for -

Vitamin C

• food sources -
• can supp through milk? - yes
• why supp? (1 sentence) -
• preferred forms -
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for -

Minerals:

Calcium (cal)

• food sources - Dairy, bone broth, small bones (canned salmon, etc), leafy greens
• can supp through milk? - no, fixed amount in milk
• why supp? (1 sentence) - hard to get enough if dairy free
• preferred forms -
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for - Oxalates bind with calcium and prevent absorption.  Some react poorly to calcium.  Balance with magnesium

Magnesium (mag)

• food sources - hard water,
• can supp through milk? - depends.
• why supp? (1 sentence) - Necessary for most enzymes and to regulate cells.  Most are somewhat/very deficient.  Some have greatly increased need.  Adrenal support, focus, anxiety, sleep, bedwetting, noise sensitivity, sensory issues...
• preferred forms - epsom salt baths, mag oil (mag chloride/nigari flakes), mag glycinate, mag citrate
• forms to avoid - Mag oxide (poorly absorbed, hit bowel tolerance too soon)
• places to buy - Natural Calm,
• ballpark dosage - most are likely deficient.  Orally, go to bowel tolerance (diarrhea) and may still benefit from more transdermally.
• things to watch for - balance with calcium.  Some kids get hyper after epsom salt baths.

Molybdenum (Mo)

• food sources - Legumes/lentils, other nitrogen fixers, liver?
• can supp through milk? - no
• why supp? (1 sentence) - Sulfite sensitivity, asthma, salicylate sensitivity, sulfate detox pathway, connective tissue, sulfur sensitivity
• preferred forms -
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy - Nutricology drops, bodybio drops
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for - it's hard to OD, extra just gets peed out.  Interacts with zinc, copper.

Zinc

• food sources - oysters, red meat, pumpkin seeds
• can supp through milk? - no
• why supp? (1 sentence) - Sensory stuff, beet pee, hangnails, mouthing stuff, biting nails, white spots on nails
• preferred forms - 
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage - not more than 30mg adult/15mg kid w/o testing.
• things to watch for - High zinc supps can block absorption of other minerals like copper (and heavy metals).  Can make you nauseous if you take it on an empty stomach.

Iron

• food sources - red meat, legumes
• can supp through milk? - no
• why supp? (1 sentence) - low ferritin, iron deficient anemia
• preferred forms - lactoferrin is from milk, and not an iron supp, but may improve iron absorption.  Iron availability varies widely with heme (animal source) vs non-heme, vitamin C, phytates, etc
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for - unabsorbed iron can feed bad bacteria in the gut.  Low ferritin despite decent intake points to damage to the gut lining/high turnover.

Supplements:

Glutathione

• food sources - Cruciferous veggies, raw whey, raw egg whites
• can supp through milk? -
• why supp? (1 sentence) - glutathione detox pathway, oxidative stress
• preferred forms -
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage - increase until you feel slight stomach burn, then drop back
• things to watch for - needs selenium to do its stuff

GABA

• food sources -
• can supp through milk? -
• why supp? (1 sentence) - glutamate/GABA imbalance, language development, seizures, sensory issues
• preferred forms -
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for - bad reaction (generally weepiness) might indicate need for B12

Grapeseed Extract

• food sources -
• can supp through milk? -
• why supp? (1 sentence) - to reduce ammonia levels
• preferred forms -
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for -

copy this template to add more:

Substance Name

• food sources -
• can supp through milk? -
• why supp? (1 sentence) -
• preferred forms -
• forms to avoid -
• places to buy -
• ballpark dosage -
• things to watch for -