OMG How many vitamins/supplements is too much? Am I taking to many? Please help!

(Jodi) #1

OMG! I’ve been reading and listening to so many different people and they recommend lots of vitamins and supplements. Currently I’m taking D3, C, B12, milk thistle, turmeric, collagen, probiotic, multi vitamin, biotin & magnesium. My husband thinks i’m taking way too much…think so? I’ve been reading that taking D3/K2 is good, a super B complex, potassium citrate and N-Acetylcysteine.
Any advise, thoughts, suggestions would be much appreciated :slight_smile:

(Keto in Katy) #2

My opinion: don’t take any supplements unless you are certain of a deficiency in something. Why else do it?

I used to take various vitamins and other things, and I always wondered whether it was doing any good. Did I need them? I didn’t feel any different from taking them. I already feel great on keto so I don’t take anything now.

I think we sometimes make this more complicated than it is. Eat real food, exercise the body, reduce stress as much as possible, sleep well, be grateful, love your life.

(Jodi) #3

Thank you for your opinion, it’s much appreciated! I am deficient in Vitamin D so I guess I need that and I’d rather be taking at least a multi but that’s just me :smiley: It can be so confusing with all the information out there on what to take and what you don’t need. I’d definitely be saving some money :smiley: LOL! Thanks again!

(Chris) #4

It’s important to distinguish the difference between paper values and actual bioavailability of vitamins in different foods / pills. Not in every case can you actually absorb every micronutrient on the supplement label. D3 and B12 are good to take, the rest IDK if I’d bother unless actually deficient. Red meat prevents scurvy or removes the need for vitamin C treatment. Also has the best iron.

Note: I’m not here to bash plant based foods, regardless of my diet. Just want to make sure that the point about bioavailability hits home!

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(Jodi) #5

Thank you very much for your input. I’ll defin check out the video you attached :grin:

(Daniel Crispin) #6

I am not a big fan of vitamin supplements. I have read so many times that they are useless, and some company actually don’t even put the vitamins they are supposed to be selling you in the pills, they just use cheap fillers like soy.

I think if you want a good answer, stop taking all your supplements for a month, have a doctor do a blood test to see if you are deficient in any of them.

Personally I take 1 multi-vitamin per day. And I do not see any difference from when I did not do that. I also take fish oil supplements, because Omega 3 is harder to get in the food I eat and I don’t want to eat a lot of fish because of the mercury they contain.

When my bottle of multi-vitamin runs out, I probably won’t replace it. Every time I take one I am wondering if I am wasting my time and money on it.

Do a google search for vitamins and research the subject. I remember one article I read calling vitamin supplements a great way to make very expensive pee :wink:

Daniel

(KetoCowboy) #7

You’ve already gotten the most important answers I can think of.

But FWIW I’ll add that Morley Robbins (aka “The Magnesium Man”) cautions people against taking supplements until they’ve had hair mineral analysis done. Cattle ranchers use hair analysis of their livestock to determine what minerals need to be added to their feed, and some people believe that hair analysis is an effective way of telling whether humans have enough magnesium, too much mercury, etc.

I don’t have an opinion one way or another, but you can read about it and see if you think it would be useful.

https://liveto110.com/what-is-hair-mineral-analysis/

(Karen) #8

I believe there is a place for targeted supplements. If you read from all the gurus, you’ll most likely find that they all agree on some key items like Vitamin D3, Fish/Krill Oil, a good probiotic and a good multi vitamin. Then there are other add ons depending on your personal biochemistry and health conditions. I add magnesium for sleep at 320 mg nightly. I add no-salt (potassium) to my water daily. I take 5000 mcg B-12 once a week sublingually. I am working on healing leaky gut issues so I add l-glutamine, collagen and a few essential oils. I take HCL with Pepsin if I have a heavy meat meal. I have taken turmeric and black pepper extract and supplements for liver cleansing in the past. My NMD prefers to work on an issue or two at a time with confirmation from testing and recommends supplements and or essential oils to support the efforts. This is really an individual thing. All the data and articles floating around can be overwhelming though when a good case is made for a particular herb, supplement and such. The key for me is “DO I need it and why?”.

(Jodi) #9

Thank you, I do wonder the same thing, if they are doing anything and am I just wasting time and money. Thanks for your feedback!​

(Jodi) #10

Thank you KetoCowboy for the information, will definitely read the article on the hair mineral analysis!!!​

(Jodi) #11

Thank you Karen! I have read so many articles and yes, most of them do agree on a good multi, fish/krill oil, probiotic and vitamin d. I guess I need to see my doctor and see if she can run some tests to see if what I need/should be doing :slight_smile: ​

#12

From what I’ve seen, it’s best to include K2 with your vitamin D supplementation (as you mentioned in your first post).

(Elizabeth) #13

I went to a functional MD and she ran a variety of tests on me. One test determined if I had any mineral deficiencies. Once we discovered what those were, she put me on some supplements that are very “clean” (no sawdust or other added junk in them). They are prescription and I spend about 200 per month on them. However, I’ve been taking them and eating Keto for about a month and I feel MUCH better than before. Good luck!

(Jodi) #14

Unfortunately there are no functional MD’s in Columbia, SC :frowning: Oh how I would love to go to one to get tests run! Yikes, $200 a month is quite high but if you are feeling good, guess you can’t put any amount of money on that :slight_smile: ​

#15

I have been taking quite a few supplements lately. Some I’m sold on, some I’m not. I’m going to stick to my current regimen for awhile as the last month I have never felt better in my lift. Here’s what I’ve been taking:

Morning:

  • L-carnitine
  • desiccated beef liver
  • 81mg aspirin
  • milk thistle
  • apple cider vinegar

After dinner

  • multivitamin
  • cal/mag/zinc
  • vitamin d3
  • niacin

Periodically

  • fish oil
  • gut garden resistant starch

Overall I feel great. The most noticeable effects come from the fish oil, multivitamin and D3. They make me feel way better overall and I can tell when I don’t take them. I sleep way better when I supplement magnesium so the cal/mag/zinc helps there ( I also use calm in my ketoade sometimes). I usually do OMAD and that has been easier since I started taking l-carnitine I’ve noticed.

I think it’s probably smart to get tested and tailor supplements to individual needs but until I go that route I’ll keep experimenting.

(Jodi) #16

Awesome! Thanks for the info :slight_smile: I was running out of my D3 so I went to Vitamin Shoppe last night and got D3 with K2 which also has calcium, think that will be good! Also got Calm and will use that at night instead of doing my magnesium pill…worked pretty good last night, only woke up once. ​

#17

Probiotics can cause constipation, despite what all the gurus say.

#18

I add calm and lite-salt to carbonated water as my daily ketoade, it’s become one of my favorite beverages. And I know for a fact upping my magnesium intake has helped immensely with achy legs and sleep issues.

(Karen) #19

Never had a problem with constipation but I also take magnesium. I would bet those probiotics causing constipation might have fillers in them or possibly the constipation is related to dehydration. Just some thoughts…do what works for your personal microbiome.

(mike) #20

You can always try remote care with a Functional Medicine Dr. I believe if you go to Dr Will Cole’s website he has a form where you can see if you are eligible to see him via skype.