Please tell me about your vitamins/supplements...

[MamaRBH]

Please share what vitamins/supplements you take... why do you take them? Do they work?

I have been reading on them for months and the information out there is so inconsistent. I'd really like to hear from the people actually taking them about successes or a lack of success.

I am interested in supplements that specifically address....PMS, Blood Sugar, Constipation, Headaches, Energy. However, other information more than welcome!

[floiejo2]

I take mostly shaklee vitamins. There have been many scientific studies to determine efficacy and safety with them and I personally do notice a difference. They carry all kinds of different supplements for almost anything you'd want. I personally take a multi vitamin/mineral with iron, a b complex for energy, a bunch of immune boosting stuff right now, an herbal sleep aid, a glucose regulator... I also have just started one called natural calm or mama calm from www.calmnatural.com for sleep assistance and regularity and it seems to be working wonders for both.

(If you're interested in shaklee products pm me, I'm a distributor. Not in it to make money, just love the supplements and cleaning stuff and want to get it discounted.)

If I can add a question for people though, I'm looking for a good vitamin for my kids. Shaklee carries a great one but my kids will NOT take it, they think it's spicy (which means sour) and it is. It tastes horrible. So for those of you who have done research, what are the best and safest vitamins and immune boosting things for kids?

[Mrshawwk]

Check out this thread, lots of great info on which supplements to take and why. Also addresses some of your concerns specifically.

"My story, my cure"
http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1077629

[FairyRae]

I just posted what I've learned from MDC a/b supping w/ mostly whole foods here. We are gluten/dairy/corn/soy free, which has made finding supps that work for us a bit difficult.

Vit A + D--cod liver oil, and Carlson's Baby D drops (if I want extra D--just coconut oil and vit. D in those, no corn)

B Vits--I really rely on liver--a/b 6 oz a week (snuck into ground meat), along w/ other meats for these.

Vit C--I've found a corn-free sodium ascorbate just by googling, (you can sprinkle it on food or into drinks) but I also *believe* goji berries (a/b a tsp? daily) have TONS of Vit. C--I'm still looking into this.

Magnesium--Natural Calm is what I'm *planning* to add in (hoping to make a nightly mix of my oatstraw infusion [good source of calcium], natural calm and perhaps milk thistle [liver support] tea. I'm working on it!) Currently we use Concentrace to supp trace minerals (added into water, bone broth) but it's still small amounts

Zinc--so far we rely on pumpkin seeds and other food sources for this. The pumpkin seeds I've been grinding into a 'flour' and baking with using lots of elana's pantry recipes (we also have thread on this topic in this forum)

Selenium--2 brazil nuts daily for me, 1 (in theory ) for ds. I've been thinking of creating a muffin recipe that incorperates many of these things so that I can actually get this stuff into him on a regular basis...(If I do it, I'll post!) You can also make brazil nut parmesian, just mix grated or food processed brazil nuts w/ garlic powder and salt...

Iodine I'm working on--sea seasonings kelp and kelp noodles are good sources, and you could also do lugol's--although iodine is an in depth process and not something to take lightly--check out THE Iodine thread to learn more about it (it can mobilize lots of stuff which isn't good unless all your detox pathways are super supported...)

Calcium--bone broth, and I do green smoothies daily (blend of various greens w/ fruit, plus some bee pollen--not GAPS friendly though) for calcium (the greens) plus lots of other goodies.

Probiotics--juice kefir, homemade cultured veggies, homemade coconut milk yogurt, and bubbies pickles...

Also, here is a gem of a post by Pat/WuWei on whole food supplements with multiple awesome links. Also, whfoods.com is an awesome resource for figuring out what foods carry which vitamins/minerals...

HTH!

[Sativarain1]

good information and links thanks for sharing!

I always keep acidophilous in the fridge for when me or the kids get sick. We take it right when the illness/cold starts and it helps a lot.
I've also used Floradix in the past to get my supply of iron, b6, and b12 but wasn't always diligent about taking it. I would like to do this again.

[punkrockmomma]

This is a great line of supplements. http://www.truebotanica.com/ My DD's ped. is one of owner's, and he is a very sought after/respected ped. in the area. I know almost all True Botanica's supplements contain no milk, eggs, fish. shell fish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, or soybeans. I also like that that a lot of the herbs they use are locally, and bio-dynamically grown, and the one's they can't get here in WI, they are really strict about the quality. Check out the website it's very informative. I currently take 3 of their products for my ADD. I would take more, for different things, but they are kind of expensive.

For energy I would look into taking a locally sourced raw bee pollen. I take it and love it! I get mine from a bee keeper at our local farmers market.

[mama k nj]

I've found a b-complex vitamin to be helpful for low-energy. I took Floradix during my last pregnancy and it made me feel so much better! I think it has B vits along with iron and a bunch of herbal things. It's pretty expensive though so I won't be taking it anymore.

Mostly we take multi's, fish oil for the Omega-3's/DHA and then bump up our D level with extra D3 supplements during the winter months only. (In the summer we are outside a ton.) The D is supposed to help immunity and so far so good. None of us got more than a cold last winter so hopefully we can ride out this flu season too.

[MamaRBH]

Thanks for the links, Mamas... I'll check them out next!

mama k nj 0 can you tell me a little more about the fish oil? I've heard it to be beneficial for emotions, as well. Do you find that to be true in your experience? I have PMD and go through a couple of very dark days right before my period...I have wondered about the fish oil for this. I've also heard that it comes in different forms - some better than others which is a bit intimidating.