I’ve gone back and forth on taking a multivitamin since I know my diet isn’t all that great. Ideally I should be working to improve that diet but let’s say due to certain circumstances that’s a bit difficult at the moment.
Would it be worth taking a 1 a day multivitamin to at least correct some possible deficiency or is it very unlikely that it would have any effect?
Not asking for professional medical advice or anything, mostly looking to see if anyone else is taking a multivitamin and if so why?
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I have created a handy chart to follow
Did your doctor recommend you take supplements?
If yes
Take those specific supplements
If no
You do not need to take supplements
To add to this, you really need a blood test to show what you need. Some docs will talk out their ass about dieting (this is rare, but it happens). Always get bloodwork to confirm.
Also, some vitamins are water soluble, others need to be taken with food. Your doc should know though
I’m a vegetarian and people assume I need B12, but my bloodwork shows I’m fine. I did need some D though, since apparently hiding inside for 3 years during a pandemic can impact your body… who would’ve guessed??
I did need some D though, since apparently hiding inside for 3 years during a pandemic can impact your body… who would’ve guessed??
D3 you smartass
I set myself up for that one though, huh?
Yes you did 😏
¿Por qué no los dos?
which more than can be said about Giant Floppy there… he can’t get up. #bigdickproblems
I’m always happy to share some D with those in need.
Heavily relatable ngl
Vitamin D deficiency is incredibly common. I think it’s something like 1/3 or 1/4 depending on the season or where you live.
Of course, if you’re a member of the red haired master race, your body produces it for you so it’s less likely.
Vitamin D deficiency was also shown to be a co-morbidity with COVID. So to answer the question “do multivitamins do anything?” I’d say they could potentially have saved your life and you might not have noticed.
Before COVID, my wife nagged me into establishing a primary care physician since I hadn’t gone in a while. So I did, they did a blood test, and showed that I was vitamin D deficient. I took some prescription vitamin D for like a week then my doctor told me to start taking a multivitamin. When they later announced it being a co-morbidity, I felt like I dodged a bullet.
I’m a vegetarian, have gained weight but not to the point that it would explain why I feel like ass all the time recently. I should get blood work, I was thinking I had low testosterone or something but it could be anything really
Low iron is a common one iirc.
This is why I take a multivitamin. I deal with low iron and it helps a bit. Gotta be careful thought if you do have an iron deficiency since many multivitamins don’t have iron. I could just take iron supplements but my doctor agreed that it was a good idea to just go with a multivitamin.
Best guide I’ve seen. saved!
And if I don’t own a doctor?
If you are Australian all ‘medications’ have a code on them whether they have been scientifically proven to do what the label says. Aust R - right on they’ll do what they say, Aust - L - loser no scientific proof. So yes some iron supplements work really well, others less so for example
Legendary info, cheers cobra
Cobber
How about “U” – “Unstudied” If there’s no money to study a supplement, it doesn’t get studied. Or maybe “unmonied”, because the particular studies the governments want cost $$$.
Most doctors today will tell you NOT to take iron, especially if you are a man. Apparently iron has been associated with various health concerns.
Some random thoughts:
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For vegans it’s adviced to take certain extra vitamins, for instance B12
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Also, when you are talking about health, i would not underestimate exercise, even a brisk daily walk. I don’t know for sure, but i suspect this will have more impact on our health, than taking multivitamins.
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As someone else commented here, i think fibre is also very important. And drinking enough healthy fluids.
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As a personal aside; i did notice a difference when i started supplementing vitamin D. I was surprised to notice that my energy level seemed to go slightly up.
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Also, never mix iron (not a vitamin btw) with dairy or tea. And take it with some vitamin C
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Finally, be careful and don’t randomly start to mix and match certain vitamins. For instance, magnesium and calcium have a certain balance, where too much of one will have a negative effect on the other.
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It couldn’t hurt. But most medical professionals I know don’t recommend it.
If you want to get a multivitamin that’s more bioavailable, consider eating an egg a day, or liver. These are some of the most available multivitamin sources in nature
One liver a day, got it!
Make sure it’s a polar bear liver (don’t do this).
don’t do this
i don’t think anyone was planning to travel to the artic circle to hunt a polar bear, and eat the liver, after reading the first half of your comment
Speak for yourself! I was half-way out the door with my snow boots and plane tickets in hand.
I’ve seen rich people do worse.
Oh yeah? Prove it
With some fava beans and a nice bottle of Chianti
happy Hannibal noises
Blended
Liver shake! Liver shake! Liver shake!
yeah but I know my diet is shit and I’m definitely not going to eat those things daily, so I think a multivitamin helps me at that point lol
You definitely can’t eat a single egg daily? It takes 5 minutes maybe to cook and eat a single egg, unless you have an allergy to eggs it’s pretty hard to say you can’t do it
Just wanna scoot in here and mention that yes, it can be very difficult for some people to do very mundane tasks, such as cooking an egg. Trust me, I know how depression fucks with your system and it indeed sometimes makes you incapable of spending five minutes on boiling an egg :(
You don’t have to boil it and wait for that, put a pan over heat and crack an egg into it. If depression stops you from doing that then your depression will starve you
Yes, depression can starve you. When I was depressed I couldn’t keep pans clean, never mind crack an egg and stand by the stove whilst it cooked.
People who haven’t been through it don’t seem to understand it. When my depression was really bad I lost 60 lbs in a few months and couldn’t gain any back for 2 years. Even grabbing a premade salad out of the fridge or putting a microwave meal in the microwave was too much work.
You can hard boil a bunch of eggs at once, then keep them in the fridge for a daily pick me up
Yea it takes maybe half an hour to do a half dozen hard boiled eggs on your day off.
I’d be lying if I said I put that much effort in daily
My dude you heat a pan and crack an egg, it’s the easiest way to feed yourself there is. Even getting fast food is more effort unless you doordash every single meal, I fear for your wallet if so
If your diet lacks certain vitamins, a vitamin supplement may help. If not, it won’t. Excess vitamins are eliminated by a healthy body.
Some vitamines can be had too much too, so “overdosing” is a real possibility. A and D for example.
Basically, it could prevent vitamin deficiency. But in developed countries, vitamin deficiency is pretty rare, and many forms take years of constant deficiency to really show up.
Basically, it probably won’t hurt. The research is very vague about it because we generally don’t wait until someone actually gets a vitamin deficiency disease before correcting it. Nor can we deliberately starve someone of a vitamin for years and watch the effects. Any subtle effect is often masked by larger issues like genetics, diet, exercise, etc.
But in developed countries, vitamin deficiency is pretty rare, and many forms take years of constant deficiency to really show up.
Depends. Some people (myself included) simply don’t absorb vitamin D as easily as others. I had my vit D tested and it was so low that they couldn’t accurately give a result. Had to take a supplement once a week for 8 weeks which contained about 300 times the amount which is in a normal daily supplement, which I now take daily.
Personally I have always taken a multivitamin/mineral and my labs have been good except for occasional low iron because periods. Now that I’m old (and yeeted the uterus) my iron was fine until I had bad hemorrhoid bleeding. So I got that taken care of, and my ass doc prescribed daily Metamucil to keep it from recurring.
I like the OneaDay Petites because it’s easier to swallow 2 of those (that’s the dose, because petites) than one of the regular horse pills. Gummy vitamins do not have iron or other minerals, btw.
I don’t think it’s necessary to take any super-supplement, just enough to keep me at the RDA once I add in my food. If your diet is bad, fiber might be missing as well, so consider Metamucil for both your ass and your heart.
Fibre is important. You can get many high fibre foods these days, but they aren’t necessarily what you’d think is high in dietary fibre. Pears are awesome.
I think multi-vitamins are more important as you get older. Your body simply doesn’t absorb as much of the vitamins in food as it does when you’re younger. So all that advice “Just eat a healthy diet” isn’t quite as true.
It’s generally not micronutrients like vitamins that are problematic for people with bad diets, it’s macronutrients that cause problems, and those can’t be fixed with supplements.
It’s pretty unlikely you’re going to notice much of anything from taking multivitamins, most likely you’re going to be paying a bunch to be pissing it right back out, but if you can trivially afford it then just buy a small pack and see if taking it makes you feel better.
Do buy the cheapest most generic one though, no reason to pay extra for fancy packaging.
Yes, they do. They improve the profits of some companies.
I take a multivitamin every day, because my diet can sometimes be poor, and I don’t get much sunlight. However you should understand that they’re a ‘bonus’ and not a substitute for a good diet, I always have fruit & veg in the house and make sure I eat some everyday.
The ones I take make my pee yellow. So it’s definitely doing something.
Those are excess vitamins that your body is eliminating.
so, it is doing something
Making the pee more expensive, yes.
For me it’s green.
I’ve wondered the same.
I have a poor diet. There are times where I don’t eat enough, and when I do eat it’s often very… not varied.
I know people always say you don’t need vitamins if you just eat better, or that you can just ask your doctor - but my answer to those are “I don’t want to” and “I can’t afford to”, respectively.
Are vitamins a better-safe-than-sorry option if your diet is probably insufficiently varied to give you everything you need, and you have no strong desire to change that, but you have no way of actually figuring out what’s low or not? Or even then are they probably a waste of money?
Removed by mod
TL;DW: Eat crap, get sick.
I find they take the edge off my food cravings. But if you have a balanced diet with no natural deficiencies then you’re probably fine.
A previous doctor told me that a large longitudinal study showed no benefit from multivitamins. This was 10+ years ago so there may be more recent studies.
