Teamprovicycle

Can you suggest a few options for a must have multi vitamin brand that can take the sting off high mile riding . for people that cycle everyday training and commute , and might be missin or lacking in the foods they eat .thanks ! ?

exmechanic89

No vitamins are gonna take the sting out of high mileage riding. You have to eat correctly, that's pretty much your only option. Vitamins filling in gaps in nutrition is a total fallacy, imo.

wolfchild

Multivitamins don't work....Eat balanced diet and get all your vitamins/minerals from real food.

Machka 

Coffee

cb400bill

Thread moved from General Cycling forum to Training and Nutrition forum.

bobwysiwyg

livedarklions

A nice piece of meat, some fruit, and a nap. Vitamin supplements just make your urine more festive. Also, a lot of them don't contain the stuff they list on the label.

TimothyH

New Chapter Every Man and Every Woman

https://www.newchapter.com/

They have formulas for 40+ year olds, 55+ year olds, pre/post natal, etc.

I use the Every Man Once Daily 40+.




-Tim-

pdlamb

Michael Pollan had the right idea: Eat food. Real food. And mostly plants.

To which I'd add a piece of high quality meat (or two) every day for a high mileage/effort cyclist. (And maybe a cup of good coffee if you like that!)

Food has what your body needs. Once you decide you're going to "supplement" food, you're into territory where nobody really knows what they're doing, trying to match the nutrients of a good diet with random chemicals. And of course, since you're supplementing your diet, all the junk food you want to eat becomes OK because you're getting all those nifty chemicals in your supplement. Except, of course, it doesn't work that way. You're better off skipping the pills and supplements and eating a good diet in the first place.

79pmooney

I raced at very close to the highest level this body could achieve in the '70s. 6'1, 145#, no fat (BMI was't a concept yet). 350 miles/week typ in the summer. I was never going to be great, Cat 1 or pro - I wasn't given the tools.but I was certainly in the 0.1% of the population. I ate a lot but what was more notable was what I did not eat. I did not eat - any vitamins, meat, bleached white flour, very little sucrose (white and brown sugar). Very little processed food af any type.

What did I eat? Lots of whole grains, yogurt (and some cheese), honey granolas, whole grain bread, fruit, vegetables, eggs (pretty much only for pre-very long ride ride pancakes). And above all, just lots. Probably 4000 capories/day, just to maintain weight.

The other striking fact of those years was how good I felt. I bugged my bikeshop co-workers because I would ride my 45+ miles before breakfast and show up on top of the world while they dragged themselves out of their fogs. Walk down the block knowing no-one felt as good as I did.

And to the topic - money was tight. It was far better to spend it on essentials like food, tires and shorts than vitamins. I didn't own a single bottle of them. Now, at 65 yo, I take a 1000mg vitamin C, a regular multivitamin, a 1000mg fish oil, a 2000u vitamin D and a small asprin every night simply because I doubt they hurt (and money isn't so tight). But I have no illusion that these help my cycling at all (other than aspirin beng the wonder drug for my chrondomalcia knees but 83mg doesn't even tip the scale).

Ben

Carbonfiberboy 

As above by @78pmooney, if you ride enough you can eat enough that that you'll get all the vitamins, protein, carbs, fat, etc. that your body needs from real food. That's so true. For most of us, wimpy <100 miles/week riders, some supplements are handy. I use Twinlab Daily One caps. I also take a sublingual B12 complex and 2000IU D3.

But also as said previously, nothing's going to take the sting out of long rides except doing them. Even that won't fix it when you go longer than usual. Pain is good for you. It means you're doing the right thing. I had a strenuous ride yesterday and my legs are hurting as I type this. If they weren't, I'd know I hadn't done enough.

Good point about the coffee. It's real effect is to improve fat burning, which will reduce lactate production to some extent.

BloomBikeShop

I agree with the bunch that for most people, multivitamins are unnecessary, it's better to eat a variety of healthy foods, and I certainly wouldn't count on a multivitamin to "take the sting out of high mileage riding" by any definition.

That said, there are plenty of difficulties surrounding eating that proper diet that's going to provide all your vitamins and minerals. For example, I don't eat fish, so I supplement with fish oil. Also, a number of people will face certain deficiencies (get a blood test to see if you are deficient). So, if it makes you feel better about your long-term health, you might want to consider taking a multivitamin. I use Greens Plus as my version of a multivitamin, along with a few other supplements.

mnsam

DrIsotope

I take a One-A-Day multi every morning with my other handful of pills because... what does it hurt? A 6-month supply is about 8 bucks. I think most of the contributors so far likely think they eat a lot better than they actually do. I have a involuntarily restricted diet, which I compound by eating junk.

All that aside OP, the answer here isn't any vitamin, it's protein. There's a 99% chance you're not getting enough. If a ride is particularly long or of high intensity, my lunch is usually 2 cans of tuna (78g) followed by 5oz of greek yogurt (12g.) That's more protein than a person will typically consume in a day.

wolfchild

With the abundance and variety of food we have in our modern first world countries, I wouldn't even worry about being deficient in any vitamins or minerals...The only people who are in danger of vitamin/mineral deficiencies are radical vegans who avoid all kinds of nutritious foods. I doubt that human body can absorb artificially made vitamins/minerals..Then there is a question of proper ratio, it doesn't make sense to take the same pill with the same amount of vitamin/mineral in it, day after day after day, "one size fits all approach doesn't work", most of it will end up in the toilet when you pee.

Teamprovicycle

I usualy get 64 gs after any ride. My diet needs help , i know to eat food just wondering if any specific brand is reccomened of the regular essential vitamins .

rubiksoval

As a cat 1, I eat everything. Lots of pizza and sweets. I've gone back and forth on supplements multiple timea because they don't seem to do anything and they get expensive, so I'll stop for a while when I run out of whatever new thing I tried. I almost always use powders though, and mix them in smoothies or drinks.

I do like best root powder and spirulina powder though, and generally use it year-round. And caffeine is always good.

Carbonfiberboy 

I go for the nitty gritty and use sodium nitrate instead of that wimpy beet root powder . Beta alanine works, but most folks don't realize that one needs to do 2-3g daily for a couple months. One should be sure to take ~800mg of taurine a day with it. Spirulina works. I remember one time my wife and I had to do an all-nighter at work. We took a couple homemade 00 caps of spirulina and at 2am my wife was smiling and humming a tune. But mostly I do about like you. If it doesn't seem to do anything, I drop it and pick up something else. My current project is assessing PQQ for 3 months.

Way off topic, though. My doc said more D3 off a blood test. I do B12 because it seems to help performance, maybe not because I have a deficiency or maybe because I do have. My eye doc wants the exact stuff that's in the multiple I take and I sure as heck can't guarantee the vitamin and mineral assay of the my usual diet.

rubiksoval

Beet root powder lowers my blood pressure. I'm not sure what sodium nitrate would do in that regard, but seems most medical advice would be to avoid it.

jon c. 

I used to take a lot of supplements, but became convinced there was no point. I now rely on blood tests and will take a supplement for a period if any levels are below norm. Otherwise, the only thing I take now is red yeast rice to lower cholesterol.

Carbonfiberboy 

The active ingredient in beetroot is nitrate. Nitrate-depleted beetroot extract has been shown to have no effect on athletic performance or blood pressure. Sodium nitrate has been used in many studies of the efficacy of nitrate supplementation:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4008816/
and many similar studies and articles, google sodium nitrate athletes studies

Teamprovicycle

Ive seen people rave about spirullina or how ever you spell it lol , ive seen the 100 plus bucks for like 30 days raw packets and dissmissed it, wjat ones should i use , even the placebo effect could boots results just not fpr 100 amonth .

Carbonfiberboy 

Go on Amazon, search for "spirulina powder," then for "capsule filling machine 00," than for the 00 capsules themselves. Quite inexpensive to fill your own. Dose is two 00 capsules.

Seattle Forrest

over heard that if your legs are sore on the bike (after enough rest from the last time) it means you're not getting enough protein.

DrIsotope

Took me two years to figure that out. I had sore quads almost every day for 2 years. I thought that was just how things were.

Now I buy cans of tuna fish in Costco quantities, and I'm the only person in the house that eats it.

Not that I'll pass up any chance to eat a 12oz steak, or like six tilapia filets. I have a constant excuse to do so.