Getting vitamins from pills vs. food

[Ketobeast1]

The thing with supplements is they’re lab created. When you think you’re getting vitamin C in supplement form you’re not getting the full thing. So it’s always better to get it from food but that’s not feasible for everyone.

Why aren’t you getting the full thing? Why is getting it from food better? Just trying to understand this better.

[Ketobeast1]

That’s what I say when people ask about exogenous ketones.

Exogenous ketones are basically a scam. Can’t really compare it with vitamins and minerals

[Shortstuff]

Chemically produced “vitamin c” isn’t actually vitamin c, it’s abscorbic acid which is similar to vitamin c but really not the same. None of the synthetic vitamins are the same as found in proper food sources, and none of them will be as well used by the body.

[RobC]

I have two thoughts on the OPs question.

I wouldn’t use the supplements as a planned crutch and I would still strive to get most nutrients from real foods. For example, avoiding the tiny amount of carbs in spinach is not worth having to figure out where you’ll get all of the nutrients within (vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, copper, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin E, calcium, potassium and vitamin C).

The other part is that the question assumes lots of supplements are safe. I do not think they are - other than maybe a well put together time release multivitamin. Most supplements are (obviously) very processed and refined - our bodies aren’t necessarily built to have 500% to 2000% of our daily vitamin C in powder form popping out of a capsule in our gut. As well, there are easy overdose situations - a quick google search gives a site which has the text below and recommends 600 IU for adults - Amazon has plenty of brands with 5000 IU per pill.

“Excess vitamin D can also damage the kidneys. Too much vitamin D also raises the level of calcium in your blood. High levels of blood calcium (hypercalcemia) can cause confusion, disorientation, and problems with heart rhythm. Most cases of vitamin D toxicity happen when someone overuses vitamin D supplements.”

[Elle79]

Ha! Knew there was a reason I lick my wounds if cut myself.

[juice]

I reckon I could probably throw him a good few feet though.

Actually, I think we could get a pretty good team together for this sport of Berg-tossing.

[charlie3]

I track with crono and keep an eye on micros. It has a function where I click one button and it displays micros minus the supliments, very useful. My goal is to get the right amount of everything from food. I started with may be 8-9 pills. I think I’m down to five. (The multivitamin is one that got eliminated.) I’ve been procrastinating on organ meats and fish. Getting into those might eliminate the remaining pills. May be the pills are just as good, may be not. I’m going to all this trouble to get macros right, why not the micros too.