astonv0l

I want to eat better and give my body the right tools for recovery and I was wondering if anyone takes a multivitamin?
On the last Lance Chronicals, in his room, Lance showed the camera the pills he takes in the morning and I saw about 7. Would a multivitamin help me or should I buy specific types and take them together?

late

I take a Multi called Alive. I'd really like to know
what Lance was taking. Exercise seems to use calcium, and
cycling does not encourage bone growth. The result (this is rare)
is that you can get accelerated aging in bones. I take this https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...=A26XED0S1E7AO
I don't take the multi every day. couple times a week after the big rides. I do take the trans/min every day. Most multis contain iron, which destroys vit E.My multi has no iron. A lot of American males get too much iron. A small amout of E is good (100 iu is fine) but you need to take it at a meal when you don't have added iron. White flour, rice, most multivitamins have added iron.

https://www.intohealth.com/alive_multivitamin.asp

Ric Stern

strikes me as a strange response, you want to eat better, but are suggesting a multivitamin?

it's highly unlikely you're deficient in vitamins if you live in a western country, and indeed many other countries. vitamin deficiences result in specific illnesses/conditions, e.g., scurvy with a lack of vitamin C. Taking excess vitamins is unlikely to aid recovery or health, and generally results in expensive urine.

if you're on a weight loss programme, eat haphazardly, lack a variety of foods in your diet, are pregnant or a new mother, are elderly, or a teen you may require extra amounts of vitamins. additionally, if you train very hard (intensity or volume) this may also be the case, however, while an athlete may require extra micronutrients the added food that they must take in to cover the energy expenditure, virtually always covers those needs. In the former instances, a multivitamin tablet may be worthwhile. additionally, in the latter (an athlete) a multivitamin may also be useful and could be used as 'insurance'.

general recommendations are to purchase a multi vitamin with 100% of the RNI of each vitamin and to source the cheapest available. note, that it may be prudent to examine the ingredients on the tablets to ascertain if they are suitable for you, in case you have 'special' requirements, e.g., allergies, vegetarian, kosher, etc.

on the other hand, if you truly want to eat better, then you should follow the general guidelines for healthy eating, increasing the energy intake to match your requirements, and having ~ 50% of your diet from 'complex' carbohydrates, and the rest equally split between proteins and fats. If you race or train intensely you may need to up the carbohydrate requirement to ~ 60+ % and keep an ~ equal split between the protein and fat content of your food.

In general, you should choose complex carbs and grains, such as a variety of pasta, rice, cous cous, cereals, wholemeal grains, bread, starchy vegetables, potatoes, leafy veggies, brightly coloured veg, fungi, seeds, fresh and dried fruit. lean proteins such as white meat and fish (if you eat those), quorn and TVP, soya, legumes, and switch to low fat dairy produce (e.g., skimmed or semi skimmed milk), and use cheeses sparingly (although very tasty cheese such as mozzarella and parmesan are naturally lower in fat than e.g., cheddars). fats and oils should be used sparingly.

ric

late

Imagine that, a thread titled Multivitamins; and I talk about vitamins. Vitamin defiencies are quite common in the West.
And as you point out athletes need a little extra. You can call it insurance, but I have gotten tired of that bit of waffling. Either it's a good idea or it isn't. And if you don't think it's a good idea, why bother. The real problem here is that the basic research on what works, and when, is a long way from being finished. The discovery of bone problems among cyclists is recent. So people are talking calcium supplementation. But we won't know for years how effective that will be. Another annoyance I have is with Doctors and E. They laughed at the idea for decades. Then they got all excited over it and advised us to take a large dose. Then the results of follow up studies were disappointing so they dropped the whole thing.Classic fad behavior. We know it's a nutrient that is highly perishable. It doesn't store well (in food), it gets destroyed by cooking and other things in our diet. So adding a little extra makes sense. When people have been tested, a lot turn up with deficiencies.
But a small amount is fine.My multi has 64iu, for example. And I am pretty sure when long term studies are finally done you will see a small benefit from it. We could have started those studies 30 or even 40 years ago. It's not rocket science. There's just not a whole lot of research money going into studying health, ie, preventative measures.

Ric Stern

no they're not. at least not in the defined definition of "quite common".

they do and it's met by normal increases in energy intake to maintain weight

note my expression of the word insurance, 'insurance'. i don't think it's necessary, for the majority of people. and, as i said if you do take one, just get the cheapest.

calcium isn't a vitamin...

ric