Multi-Vitamin/Mineral intake and RDA

[chainsaw]

I was looking at my nutritional totals on fitday.com and of all the vitamins and minerals the list on there I get aleast 150% or above the RDA. My question if I get all my vitamin and mineral needs from my diet, should I take a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement?

 

[Mulletsoldier]

No. I cannot say I do. However, I do take B Complex/C/E everyday

 

[BUCKNUTS]

I take one every morning the rda doesn't take weight training etc. into account.I read a report a while ago that said multi-vitamins aren't digested well and I have crushed mine or taken a liquid vitamin ever since.Both ways taste like liquid death.

 

[yeahright]

The RDAs are set at levels for deficiency disease prevention - NOT optimal health. You should do some research on various vitamins and then make decisions for yourself of what levels you want to be taking. B vitamins for th emost part will simply be excreted in your urine if you take too much but Vitamin A and Iron will build up in your body and can cause health problems if you take too much for an extended period of time.

 

[Mulletsoldier]

The consideration on the RDA is a good one, but that is also countered by our diets not being tailored for the average Joe either. If a weight lifter's diet is sound it should be fulfilling all of his nutritional requirements as well.

 

[John Smeton]

somone shuld research and come out with a bodybuilders rda. or hard training athelete

 

[Funny Monkey]

Also you have to consider that the vegetables and fruits you eat might not of been grown in the most optimal conditions and the most fertile soil this would also introduce some error in your calculations

 

[Mulletsoldier]

Also you have to consider that the vegetables and fruits you eat might not of been grown in the most optimal conditions and the most fertile soil this would also introduce some error in your calculations

Not I, Jedi. Buy my grocery schwag at a Natty Market

 

[bioman]

RDA's are relatively arbitrary and with the exception of a few nutrients like iron, selenium, vitamin a, they can be exceeded with no cause for concern. I take in 500X the rda for folic acid and it has not brained my damage.

 

[NO HYPE]

RDA's are relatively arbitrary and with the exception of a few nutrients like iron, selenium, vitamin a, they can be exceeded with no cause for concern. I take in 500X the rda for folic acid and it has not brained my damage.

Absolutely. Bump that comment.

Besides, in my opinion the pharmaceutical industry and the US government maintain a close relationship wich is based on our wallets and from a political standpoint as well. This is why I feel you will never see the proper RDA on the label of a nutritional supplement.

The pharmaceutical companies are well aware of the overwhelming dependence of OTC's in this country and so is the government. The government is also well aware of the effectiveness of the products we use. If the government's RDA were to be increased to actual effective doses, less people would rely on the OTC's.

I mean think about it. Let's say half of America (figure might actually be low), is taking a statin drug only to find out that LDL can easily be lowered via nutritional supplementation, just as effectively.... but at a fraction of the cost.

Why would the government risk such a loss by being a part of the problem? Why not set RDA's at ineffective levels and run television commercials all day long suggesting that everyone.... "needs".... OTC's? :think:

 

[RenegadeRows]

Let me pose another question,
Do the "One-A-Day" formulas cut it when it comes to multi-vitamins in a workout regimen?

 

[bioman]

It's my opinon that most do not..particularly the hard tablets. I just don't think they absorb well enough. Pay a little more for either capsules, powders like LEF's Life Extension Mix, or buy and take the key nutrients like folic acid, magnesium, vitamin D, selenium, chromium seperately(this is what I do).

 

[NO HYPE]

We can easily get enough nutrition from our diets without having to supplement however, when a person want's to adress a specific health issue via supplementation, the need for much larger amounts of specific nutrients becomes evident.

The way that I view supplementation of vitamins, depends on the issue (or lack of an issue) at hand.

When all things seem fine, I just run a maintenance dosage, once a day.

If there is any kind of a problem, I run multiple dosages, spread evenly throughout the day. This is where a multi-vitamin is just about worthless. There is no possible way to fit enough of the much needed nutrients in one pill.

Besides, I'm not gonna let some multi-vitamin manufacturer decide what nutrients are important to me or how much I should be consuming.

 

[bioman]

Good point No Hype. To be clear, I supplement with the vitamins and minerals I have listed before because I have persistent depression and allergies. The supplements I take are mainly to address these issues but most are cheap and have multiple preventative benefits. I do believe that a proper diet will take care of most people, but for some of us extra supplementation goes a long way towards keeping us off drugs.

 

[John Smeton]

ive heard folic acid is good. whats it good for?
b-complex is for stress.


What vitamans are harmful in excess doses , and how many mgs and above are harmful?

 

[NO HYPE]

ive heard folic acid is good. whats it good for?
b-complex is for stress.


What vitamans are harmful in excess doses , and how many mgs and above are harmful?

Folic acid is important for the synthesis of DNA, RNA, and proteins. It has been proven to prevent certain birth deffects (this is why in 1998, the FDA mandated the addition of folic acid to all enriched cereal grains). It has also shown significant protection against cadiovascular disease and some forms of cancer.

If you are supplementing a quality B-complex, the amounts supplied should be sufficient. I take a B-complex twice a day. On a side note, while B vitamins work great for reducing stress, they are very important for proper neurological transmissions.

To answer your question, various minerals contain metal ions, which can build up in the body, so you might want to avoid larger than normal dosages. I think Bioman also pointed a few out like vitamin K, selenium, molybdenum, ect. Unless deficient, the amounts supplied in a balanced diet should be sufficient.

All in all though, determine wether or not you have a problem that you can adress specifically, and then adress it with larger amounts of the target nutrient.