Training & Nutrition - What's the best daily multiple vitamin for me?

What's the best multiple vitamin for daily use for a 50-year-old male?

How can I be sure I am getting all the vitamins that the product claims to contain?

Does it matter where a vitamin is manufactured of marketed? Do you know what kind of vitamins are dispensed in hospital or clinical settings?

I going to make a purchase in the next week. What's the better deal?

I don't know the answers to those questions, kid. Personally, I take those big horsepill multiples from Trader Joe's. Good price, good ingredients IMHO. They have one with and one without iron. That's kind of a religious question. I get the one without iron and then take an iron supplement, being an atheist. Actually there's a reason - you're supposed take 2 of those suckers a day, and I prefer to take iron only before bed. But the crazy runs deep in these waters.

The best thing you could do is have your doctor take a blood sample and screen for any deficiencies and/or overages. Then either change your diet and or take a multi or individual supplements to compensate.

Personally, I'm not that concerned. I just take a multi (Kirkland) broken in half for morning and evening doses along with a glucosomine/msm supplement and an omega oil capsule at each time.

What's the best multiple vitamin for daily use for a 50-year-old male?

The same as the best one for a 30 year old, maybe some extra calcium or drink milk.



How can I be sure I am getting all the vitamins that the product claims to contain?

Take twice as many as the bottle tells you to.



Does it matter where a vitamin is manufactured of marketed? Do you know what kind of vitamins are dispensed in hospital or clinical settings?

Whatever they get a good deal on...and the deal often means what schwag the pharmaceutical salesperson threw in for the doctor making the decision.



I going to make a purchase in the next week. What's the better deal?
Just take a Centrum or two every day. Unless you're an elite athlete you won't notice the difference, and likely not even then.

Personally, I look for Gel Caps rather then pressed pills. I've heard too many stories of the pills not getting absorbed and just becoming expensive poop. With the gel cap, absorption should be almost 100% in the gut.

What's the best multiple vitamin for daily use for a 50-year-old male?

How can I be sure I am getting all the vitamins that the product claims to contain?

Does it matter where a vitamin is manufactured of marketed? Do you know what kind of vitamins are dispensed in hospital or clinical settings?

I going to make a purchase in the next week. What's the better deal?

Although I know you're just bored and trolling, I'll bite with my usual, standard response. :lol:


Eat a healthy diet!!!! :D

I don't know, Machka. Aliens may have taken him over.

Lance once said something to the effect of, "Vitamin C and sleeping high are performance enhancing. Everything else either doesn't work or is illegal." Some of you may remember a big hoohaa here about antioxidants last year. A study claimed that taking antioxidants pretty much zeroed out the positive effects of aerobic training. So I did my own little study on myself. A few months without any antioxidants and a few months with. I couldn't tell the slightest difference, except that the more and the smarter I trained, the faster I got. Duh. So there's that.

The only interesting thing I know about clinical trials with vitamins is the AREDS study of dry-type macular degeneration. (easy to google for more info) I know about that because my mother has the dry type. She started taking the vitamins, and the progress slowed noticeably. In the trial, these vitamins proved to help slow the progression:

500 milligrams of vitamin C
400 international units of vitamin E
15 milligrams of beta-carotene;
80 milligrams of zinc as zinc oxide
two milligrams of copper as cupric oxide

This combo works because it's all forms of antioxidants that support eye tissue. One might think that they might support other types of tissue as well, eh?

There are also many studies which established MDR of various vitamins, but like Machka says, MDR are really easy to get from real food if you eat fruits and vegetables, especially green and yellow, and especially green leafy. So the only question for me is: is there any advantage for an endurance athlete to take more than MDR and if so, how much and which? Hammer has their own vitamins and their own theories. Worth taking a look. They call 'em Premium Insurance Caps:
http://www.hammernutrition.com/za/HNT?PAGE=PRODUCT&PROD.ID=4045&OMI=10130,10047&AMI=10130#info4

Lot of pills, though.

No - the post is actually a set of questions designed - or at least intended - to provoke thoughful discussion about the nature and value of the common "daily vitamin" supplement.

With respect to manufacturing practices - if you understand drug regulations - you would know that not all these "private labels" make anything themselves. There are only a few facilities that actually take raw ingredients and create "base vitamin paste" which in turn is resold to other companies for additional marketing and formulation.

And that was the "setup" as to why the question about hospital or clinical usage for vitamins. Obviously, one would assume professionals know which manufacturers are trust worthy.

Finally, no matter how you perceive the need or value of vitamins or supplements in general - you must concern yourself with the fact that you going to "ingest" or otherwise eat these pills or powders or whatever - and with tainted per food, tainted toys and tainted water in the news its only common sense that you should be suspicious on anything you buy.

I'm surprised. No one even mentioned this...... http://www.usp.org/USPVerified/dietarySupplements/

You don't need vitamins if you are young and eat a balanced diet. In fact they could be harmful to you.

You could look here if you wish: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/jeremy-laurance-what-you-should-know-before-you-pop-a-vitamin-pill-1801672.html

I take 1 centrum daily. Previously, I relied on diet. However, after taking the multi-vitamin, I do "feel" better and i've also noticed my sweat rate is higher during exercise. Previously there would be days where I would go out, and things just felt "flat" - HR hard to get up, hard to break a sweat and legs felt dead. I rarely get days like this now. I assume it must have been due to mineral depletion.

Well recent studies have shown that most of those pills probably don't do much of anything but just take a look at your diet and see if you are missing anything then grab a pill to fill the gap if you can't do it through alterations in your diet. I only take a basic multi and fish oil because I don't think I eat well at all and I "believe" the fish oil is helping me out and I "feel" better so I will just stick with it. Also you can check this page out for some info on what some experts take....http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/11/13/ep.vitamin.primer/

But Jordie, do they make my genitals larger? Can I add inches in just a month?
Let me know, this is of critical importance for my health.