Multivitamins, minerals, supplements...

[jephtoothhurts]

Whats everyone's opinion on multivitamins/minerals/other supplements here? Do any of you continue to take these after switching to a traditional foods diet? I've been told by some people that it's actually bad to get vitamins and minerals from supplements because your body will begin to depend on them...

[raksmama]

 We still take vitamin D even though we take CLO as well as a probiotic.  I take extra vitamin C and zinc only if I feel a cold coming on, but I am not entirely convinced it even works anyway.

[lolar7]

I'm curious myself. Since my son is now on whole milk I have been looking into vitamins for him. And the more I research the more confused I get. I am going to have my first consultation with a naturopath tomorrow. I'm hoping she can shed some light on the topic. I will keep you posted! 

[Piglet68]

I've been eating a whole foods diet for 3 years now and refuse to use supplements. I feel that if I eat properly I will get all the nutrients I need from my food. The vitamin D issue has piqued my curiosity, but I have never been one to slather on the sunscreen, and I all but stopped using it a few years ago. I also get outside a lot, even in the winter. I also find too many supplement companies come across like snake-oil salesmen, and that turns me off. I'm sure there are good reasons to supplement if one has certain health problems, but for me personally I tend to place it in the category of "more stuff people try to sell us that we don't need". JMO.

[flightgoddess]

I live in MN, so vitamin D in the winter is a must. I have switched to freeze dried raw liver capsules this pregnacy for my 'iron' intake. I take magnesium occasionally if I need help with 'regularity' And there are 'whole food' vitamin and mineral supplements out there too. And I take fish oils. I give my son gummy vitamins and omega fishies (my husband insisted, the other 'whole foods' chewables were too much fun to suck and turned his hands red from the beet juice color. I'll swich back when he's older)

right now I feel I need the extra, I've had too many food adversions this pregnancy to keep my diet 'balanced' though now that summer/garden produce is coming, it will be easier. I can't let all those fresh veggies rot :) In the winter its harder, becuase I can't break the budget buying food, and ethically, I don't like to splurge too much on stuff shipped from Chile in the middle of winter...so winter diet is not as ideal as I'd like, and I'm ok with supplementing if I need to.

[sosurreal09]

Our holistic Dr said supplements are a must. DD and I both take a multi and vit D (we buy plant derived vitamins)

My thinking on it is that if I completely self sustained so all of my food was fresh and had all it's real nutrients I don't think I would worry about it. If produce you bought was picked a week ago and you ate it 3 days after you bought it how much nutrients are left? I *think* they say after a week it looses like 50% of it's original nutrients.

[Koalamom]

I do take some supplements as I feel that with my body personally, I need it. Having gotten lyme disease, that uses up nutrients that I can't always get from food. I take a whole food vit C daily, 4000 iu's vit D as I tested low even with sun exposure, magnesium occasionally, and I drink bone broth or nettles infusions for minerals. I used to take handfuls of supplements a day and am better feeling without them.

[jephtoothhurts]

What I've learned though is that a lot of these vitamins and minerals are not "bio-ready" or something like that, not easily/readily able to be absorbed by your body. I know for instance that when I take centrum sometimes I end up feeling kind of sick and when I go pee it's really yellow and strong, probably cause most of it just went to waste. Doing a google search I know I'm not the only one that gets that feeling after taking one of those multis, some think that the sick feeling is your body trying to filter out all those vitamins/minerals you can't use. I now know that there are different forms of vitamin C also and that companies usually use the cheapest and crappiest forms of vitamins to fortify their products like orange juice with vitamin C or milk or CLO with vitamin D. Do any of you pay attention to these things when shopping for vitamins?

[Piglet68]

I should say that there is one supplement I take on occasion and that is Emergen-C. I take it whenever I feel a cold coming on, 2 - 3 packets a day until I'm better. I have also found it is great for dehydration (say I've exercised a lot or haven't drunk enough liquids that day) because it's full of minerals and other good stuff. But it's not something I take all the time, just when needed.