Multivitamins: How much nutrition, how much hype?

dmix

New member
Awards
0
Hey guys. I just ran out of my multivitamin - I was using Men's Health one-a-day.

I'm aware that there are a lot of multivitamins that use 4000, 5000% of daily values, or use obscure ingredients that I've never heard of. I've also heard that certain multivitamins dissipate faster, and some are time-delayed, so that you get a steady stream of nutrients throughout the entire day...anyway, since I am as scientific as a bowl of oats, I was hoping to ask you guys what's true, what's BS, and what some good, quality multivitamins are.

Thanks!
 
\_JIMBO_/

\_JIMBO_/

Member
Awards
0
I think they have their place, but good nutrition cannot be ignored. My personal favorite are - Now's Adam mens multi
 

dmix

New member
Awards
0
Everyone raves about Animal Pak. Is there any scientific backing for that?
 
alan aragon

alan aragon

Member
Awards
0
Hey guys. I just ran out of my multivitamin - I was using Men's Health one-a-day.

I'm aware that there are a lot of multivitamins that use 4000, 5000% of daily values, or use obscure ingredients that I've never heard of. I've also heard that certain multivitamins dissipate faster, and some are time-delayed, so that you get a steady stream of nutrients throughout the entire day...anyway, since I am as scientific as a bowl of oats, I was hoping to ask you guys what's true, what's BS, and what some good, quality multivitamins are.

Thanks!
The current scientific understanding of micronutrition is crude and in its infancy. Many companies would love for consumers to believe that more is better when it comes to micronutrition, but that's just not true. Your best bet is to get a low-to-moderate dose multi that's been verified by the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP), they've set the standard for the drug industry for the past 150+ years, and a few companies (I use Costco's Kirkland brand) have multi's that are USP verified. Here's more info:


USP Verified Dietary Supplements

Verified supplements

Verification process
 

dmix

New member
Awards
0
Too late, I already bought 120 tabs of NOW Adam. Hopefully, this doesn't turn into post-workout Surge debacle pt. 2.

Advertising vs. Den = :trout:

Then again, I imagine that any basic multivitamin does the same thing, provided it's decent - and NOW Adam's got good peer reviews, so I'll use your advice in sixty days. Thanks again, Alan.
 
East1600Plus

East1600Plus

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
i've been told many times that the best form of multi is liquid...then caps...tablets last b/c they dont dissolve that well
 
alan aragon

alan aragon

Member
Awards
0
i've been told many times that the best form of multi is liquid...then caps...tablets last b/c they dont dissolve that well
Liquid vitamins can potentially be irrigated too quickly for various nutrients to get a chance at absorption along the lower GI tract. If it ain't one thing, it's another. There's nothing special about liquid V's other than their use for those who don't swallow pills well.
 
livebono

livebono

Member
Awards
0
Everyone raves about Animal Pak. Is there any scientific backing for that?
Animal Pak has a really good reputation, but I don't think their multivitamin pak is necessarily any better than others. Also, they throw a lot of other things in with the pak, and it might just be overload
 
evoVIII

evoVIII

New member
Awards
0
I've been debating ADAM vs. Costco Kirkland (double dosage).

Presumable ADAM is made up of more bioavailable forms and additional herbal and other micronutrients. Kirkland is dirt cheap, literally dirt cheap.

At the same time, compared to other supplements ADAM is still relative inexpensive. So saving here doesn't have as much impact as say changing brand or source of protein.

As far reputation goes, Now has been to me widely known and verified as a good manufacturer unless someone would like to point out otherwise. I'm glad that aragon pointed out that Kirkland has been independently verified since obviously they don't make the vits themselves but source it out.
 

dmix

New member
Awards
0
Yes, Newbies to supplements like to spend money on hype and pretty labels.
What are you talking about?? The guy on the label is HUGE! And wearing a sleeveless shirt! That's enough for me.

If I keep taking my Animal Pak and following my 6 day chest/bi split, I figure I'll look like him in...well, let's be conservatve...6 months.
 
John Smeton

John Smeton

Legend
Awards
4
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
  • First Up Vote
Shhh quit telling people about Adam's NOw. we have to keep it a secret because I had to order else where because NP ran out. lol

Ive heard too much Vitamin A can cause VIt A Toxicity. Alan Aragon do you know anything about this?

Ive heard somewhere, I think aol health, that too much Vit A can cause hip fractors. Also it said that anythign above 10,000 UI's of Vit A isnt good. That that is the upper limit.My Multi had 10,000 ui's alone in it plus the additional vit a consumed,Carrots, spinach, etc. I wrote Skip La Cour and he says no research can back that Too much Vit A causes hip fractors. He also didnt comment on too much Vit A so I take it he thinks is it safe, and I do believe he knows his stuff. Im not saying he is right because everyone could be misinformed at one time or another.
 
xtraflossy

xtraflossy

Board Supporter
Awards
1
  • Established
Shhh quit telling people about Adam's NOw. we have to keep it a secret because I had to order else where because NP ran out. lol

Ive heard too much Vitamin A can cause VIt A Toxicity. Alan Aragon do you know anything about this?

Ive heard somewhere, I think aol health, that too much Vit A can cause hip fractors. Also it said that anythign above 10,000 UI's of Vit A isnt good. That that is the upper limit.My Multi had 10,000 ui's alone in it plus the additional vit a consumed,Carrots, spinach, etc. I wrote Skip La Cour and he says no research can back that Too much Vit A causes hip fractors. He also didnt comment on too much Vit A so I take it he thinks is it safe, and I do believe he knows his stuff. Im not saying he is right because everyone could be misinformed at one time or another.

I do not know what upper limits there are, but I was tought: CAKE. Vitamin C, A, K, E are ones with potentional health risks when taken in crazy amounts (again, what these amounts are, I cant say).
 
thesinner

thesinner

Recovering AXoholic
Awards
2
  • Legend!
  • Established
Yes, Newbies to supplements like to spend money on hype and pretty labels.

I don't care what it is, if it works, or what's even in it: just so long as it has a badass name and a shiny metalic label.

I do not know what upper limits there are, but I was tought: CAKE. Vitamin C, A, K, E are ones with potentional health risks when taken in crazy amounts (again, what these amounts are, I cant say).
I know there's some health risks involved in crazy amounts of A and E (I think it's due to the fact that they are not water soluble, so your body can't remove excess that well). C has been safely dosed in gram quantities. Not sure about K. Some of the B vitamins (i.e. B6) can get kinda dangerous in high amounts.
 
xtraflossy

xtraflossy

Board Supporter
Awards
1
  • Established
I don't care what it is, if it works, or what's even in it: just so long as it has a badass name and a shiny metalic label.



I know there's some health risks involved in crazy amounts of A and E (I think it's due to the fact that they are not water soluble, so your body can't remove excess that well). C has been safely dosed in gram quantities. Not sure about K. Some of the B vitamins (i.e. B6) can get kinda dangerous in high amounts.
MAybe it had to do with your body being able to effectivly USE the vitiamins.
I know C can be dose VERY high, but its something like 500mg per (time variable) can be absorbed.

Once you have huge amounts of any vitamin floating around not being able to be absorbved, you have the potental for a problem.

Funny story,.. you know that vitamin A in carrots was used as an excuse durring WW2 for giving Britsh piolets better eyesight?? It was total BS, as England did not want to tip off that they had developed and were using radar against invading air forces.
So they just said it was all the vit. A from carrots that gave their piolets improved eyesight that gave them the edge over the opposing piolets.
course, whatever NOW backs up vit A woudl just be luck on the government's part :dance:
 
bioman

bioman

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
One has to really go overboard to develope an actual vitamin toxicity. The FDA has admitted that it automatically puts a 10-fold redundancy into it's RDA's and toxic exposure guidelines.

In the case of vitamin A, the RDA is 10,000 iu's per day but if one looks at the Merck Manual on vitamin toxicities, you'll find that virtually no reports of vit A toxicity occur unless you dose well over 100,000 iu's per day for weeks and months at a time. Most cases of A toxicity come from either freaks who eat bottles of vitamins per day OR people who eat polar bear fat or seal livers. So yeah, not real likely.

Many of the other RDA's are antiquated being based on 60 year old research of dubious qulaity. RDA's for most B-vitamins and iodine desperately need to be updated IMO.

As for this latest study, it's eerily reminiscent of the "Vitamin E Causes Death" study put out by Johns Hopkins that came out last year and was heavily criticized for poor methodology.

From Dr Ray Sahelian's site;

3. Danger: Relying on nutritional information through headlines may be hazardous to your health

A new study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association claims that taking antioxidant supplements such as beta carotene and vitamin E can shorten lifespan. This study is worthless and I will explain why.
Researchers first included 68 studies involving 232,606 people and found no significant effect on mortality -- neither good nor bad -- linked to taking certain antioxidants. When they eliminated the "lower-quality" studies and looked only at the most trustworthy ones, they actually found a higher risk of death for people taking vitamins: 4 percent for those taking vitamin E, 7 percent for beta carotene and 16 percent for vitamin A.
My comments: Who determined which studies were "lower quality?" It is possible that another group of researchers may have had a different opinion on what constitutes lower or higher quality. I can already sense a bias. Donald Berry, chairman of the department of biostatistics at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, said of this study "There are so many choices you can make when you're doing these analyses."

Final findings were based on an analysis of 47 studies involving 180,938 people who were randomly assigned to get real vitamins or dummy pills. Some involved very high doses far exceeding the recommended daily amount of the vitamins; others involved normal or low doses.
My comments: The pooled studies were too diverse to make any sense. The trials ranged from a three-month study of 109 elderly nursing home residents to a 12-year study of 22,071 male doctors. And the vitamin dosages varied significantly from study to study. What if I analyzed various studies on the benefit or harm of drinking wine and pooled studies that included the health effect of one glass of wine a day and other studies where people drank a bottle of wine a day. It's possible that those who drink one glass of wine may live longer while those who drink a bottle of wine a day may die sooner due to liver damage. But when the results of the one drink and the full bottle studies are pooled, the statistical analyses could indicate that drinking wine shortens lifespan. Meir Stampfer, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, agrees with my viewpoint. Dr. Stamfer said the studies were too diverse to pool together because they looked at various combinations and doses of antioxidants tested in different groups of people. "This study does not advance our understanding, and could easily lead to misinterpretation of the data," said Stampfer.

The study's senior author, Dr. Christian Gluud of Copenhagen University Hospital, said, "The main message is that prevention by beta carotene, vitamin A and vitamin E cannot be recommended. These three antioxidant supplements may increase mortality."
My comments: Dr. Christian Gluud should take a sabbatical from interpreting research results from nutritional supplement studies and go back to school to take a course in nutrition 101. I can, without hesitation, say that this doctor is ignorant. Firstly, Dr. Gluud, does not seem to recognize that different dosages of supplements can have different effects. There is also no mention that most people who took vitamin E in the past, and also currently, take a synthetic version of one form of vitamin E, dl-alpha tocopherol, whereas there are several forms of natural vitamin E. It is possible that high doses of synthetic vitamin E may not be helpful, whereas low doses of a natural vitamin E complex including alpha, delta, and gamma tocopherol could be beneficial. This is also true of beta carotene. There are many forms of carotenoids, and taking a high dose of a single carotenoid, such as beta carotene by itself, is not the answer.

Bottom line: There is no proof at this time that taking vitamins will help you live longer, nor is there good evidence that they will shorten lifespan. In order for us to know how vitamins influence longevity, several well controlled studies have to be done on individual vitamins in varying dosages for at least a 20 to 30 year period while keeping dietary intake similar in all the study participants. This is not practical and not likely to be done soon. For the time being if you do plan to take antioxidant supplements, take products that have a wide range of nutrients in low amounts as opposed to just 2 or 3 in high dosages. I am not convinced that taking megadoses of a single form of synthetic vitamin E or single carotenoid is a good option. One good daily formula with lots of different nutrients and antioxidants in small amounts is MultiVit Rx which can be taken at one, two, three, or four capsules a day depending on your preference."
 
dsw222

dsw222

Member
Awards
0
anyone have input on GNC's Mega Men Gold (no iron)?

I've been taking Mega Men for a while now (either regular, sport, or gold) and havent had any complaints. Of course I doubt I would be able to tell if it wasnt working as well as it should be....
 
thesinner

thesinner

Recovering AXoholic
Awards
2
  • Legend!
  • Established
anyone have input on GNC's Mega Men Gold (no iron)?

I've been taking Mega Men for a while now (either regular, sport, or gold) and havent had any complaints. Of course I doubt I would be able to tell if it wasnt working as well as it should be....
IMO GNC tries to put too much in their multi, and pushes their multi's way too much. Every time I get the displeasure of walking into a GNC store, they try to sell me multi's and try to hype up some unnecessary ingredient that make's Mega Men a must-have.
 
dsw222

dsw222

Member
Awards
0
IMO GNC tries to put too much in their multi, and pushes their multi's way too much. Every time I get the displeasure of walking into a GNC store, they try to sell me multi's and try to hype up some unnecessary ingredient that make's Mega Men a must-have.
my friend works at GNC and they get money for each product they sell... and they happen to get a lot for multi's which is why they always press them so much

i was visiting him at work one time and a young kid came in asking for a quick energy burst. the kid was talking to another guy working there about those energy shot drinks, but the guy convinced him to buy multi's instead because "they will give you more energy"

never listen to someone who gets commision on products (thank goodness for boards like this one!)
 
thesinner

thesinner

Recovering AXoholic
Awards
2
  • Legend!
  • Established
my friend works at GNC and they get money for each product they sell... and they happen to get a lot for multi's which is why they always press them so much

i was visiting him at work one time and a young kid came in asking for a quick energy burst. the kid was talking to another guy working there about those energy shot drinks, but the guy convinced him to buy multi's instead because "they will give you more energy"

never listen to someone who gets commision on products (thank goodness for boards like this one!)
Oh seriously, I sometimes want to rebuttle the people who work there: a lot of them don't have a clue.
 
somewhatgifted

somewhatgifted

Registered User
Awards
1
  • Established
I know a guy working for a plumbing company, who said of all the stuff you find plugging peoples toilets undisolved multis were the worst offenders, some were allegedly still legible, weird.
 
bioman

bioman

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
I've never been a fan of tablets for that reason. Just trying to break open one of those Mega Man tablets requires some hardware lol.
 
Steveoph

Steveoph

NutraPlanet NinjaMonkey Rep
Awards
2
  • Legend!
  • Established
Lol I don't know anything about the multis coming out our rear ends, but I remember reading in the paper how floss was causing a problem with our water system here in Toronto because it doesn't break down well and gets caught in the filters. Random aside :dance:
 
John Smeton

John Smeton

Legend
Awards
4
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
  • First Up Vote
Lol I don't know anything about the multis coming out our rear ends, but I remember reading in the paper how floss was causing a problem with our water system here in Toronto because it doesn't break down well and gets caught in the filters. Random aside :dance:
Thats why you put floss in the can
 

d00d00

New member
Awards
0
Vitamin A in beta-carotene form also makes it safer as it only gets converted to A through the liver. Only thing that will happen if you have too much beta-carotene is your skin might get an orange hue, or so they say...

GNC Mega Men's Gold or any of their derivatives isn't bad or anything either, I just think it's a bit costly for what you get... feel free to use if it you must, though there are cheaper and as good alternatives.

Question for those who use NOW Adam; you guys take one tablet or two? Considering the percentages on the nutrients, it looks like one would be enough though some people swear by two's the charm.

PS: Sorry to revive an old thread...didn't notice the date, though I hope there are some posters that still use the above mentioned.
 
Iron Warrior

Iron Warrior

Registered User
Awards
1
  • Established
I personally take each vitamin individually and adjust it to my needs. I use more vitamin D and you don't get what I'm getting from multi's.
 
John Smeton

John Smeton

Legend
Awards
4
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
  • First Up Vote
I do the same. high Vit D levels are important year round.

studies show in only half the population, a study in hawaii, that people absorb the Vit D from the sun. thats about 50 % of people who dont
 

leung3644

New member
Awards
0
I never understood how much doses were enough or not enough. Now I use Nutrilite Double-X because that stuff is clear. I heard many factories create mult-vit. are dirty (environment and their machines). Nutrilite an't popular in bodybuilding world but I trust that brand.
 
Bolanrox

Bolanrox

Well-known member
Awards
0
I know a guy working for a plumbing company, who said of all the stuff you find plugging peoples toilets undisolved multis were the worst offenders, some were allegedly still legible, weird.
that would be the centrim brand for you :)
 

Similar threads


Top