Multivitamins

[softlips]

...
As best as I can understand it your recommendation for older guys, like most of us here, is to take some vitamin D - I wonder how much - and that the rest (of vitamin and mineral needs) should arrive via a varied diet. Would that be correct?

Current NHS advice on vitamin D including dose:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins- ... vitamin-d/

Jonathan

PS: I personally think that it's wise to supplement with that dose all year round. And i wouldn't be surprised if that appeared in the NHS guidance quite soon.

Agree entirely. I would expect the recommendations to change.

[Pinhead]

As my doctor says "the only thing you get with vitamin supplements is expensive pee"

Eat a proper diet

[Jdsk]

NB date.

As I said earlier I take a multivitamin and mineral tablet every day, and to me its a catch all. Is there any evidence that taking that pill is in any way harmful given that the rest of my diet is pretty healthy?

I don't know what you mean by a "catch all".

If the pill contain "antioxidants", beta-carotene, vitamin A or vitamin E then the answer is "Yes, there is some evidence".

My recommendations for adult men are posted upthread: follow the NHS guidance with one variation, supplementation with vitamin D all year round rather than only in the winter months.

New study:
"Multivitamin Use and Mortality Risk in 3 Prospective US Cohorts":
Loftfield, O'Connell and Abdnet (2024)
doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.18729
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamane ... le/2820369

Accompanying commentary:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamane ... le/2820375

Guardian coverage:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/art ... tudy-finds

Jonathan

[axel_knutt]

Individuals with fully functional digestion who eat a normal diet, consisting of the recommended variety of ingredients are unlikely to benefit from 'supplements'. Plenty of studies to back that up.

I take high strength vitamin D because a blood test found me to be 'severely deficient'.

I have a spreadsheet that calculates all the nutrition data for my diet, and that not only shows that it provides insufficient vitamin D, but also that it meets or exceeds all the other published recommendations for a healthy diet. Finding foodstuffs that would have made anything but a trivial difference to the deficit was all but impossible.

I haven't noticed any difference in how I feel, but I had broken bones in a fall previously.

[simonineaston]

I think too, that at the end of the day, well-being can be a very personal thing, all other things being equal, and if one particular regime or strategy works better than others for you, then it makes sense to stick to it.

[toontra]

Rather than multivits I take daily individual tablets of magnesium, zinc and D4 (+K2) as I believe these are all things that will directly benefit my health and training.

I dont want to be ingesting anything I don't need/want - or even know what it contains.

[re_cycler]

I'm coming to the conclusion that supplementing without blood testing is pointless unless you have obvious symptoms of a deficiency. Even then you run into arguments around adequate and optimal levels.

[Jdsk]

I'm coming to the conclusion that supplementing without blood testing is pointless unless you have obvious symptoms of a deficiency. Even then you run into arguments around adequate and optimal levels.

It depends which vitamin (or other micronutrient) you're considering. There are several where supplementation for prevention is very sensible.

Jonathan

[re_cycler]

I'm coming to the conclusion that supplementing without blood testing is pointless unless you have obvious symptoms of a deficiency. Even then you run into arguments around adequate and optimal levels.

It depends which vitamin (or other micronutrient) you're considering. There are several where supplementation for prevention is very sensible.

Jonathan

I would broadly agree, although as someone who managed to over supplement Vit D @ the NHS max of 4000iu / day, I only found out after a blood test.

[briansnail]

I take high strength vitamin D because a blood test found me to be 'severely deficient'.

In my cycling magazines they sometimes warn.The only people who benefit are the manufacturers who take your money.That said due to the low levels of sunlight vitamin D tablets are a good idea outside summer.Google to find the best as they come in different chemical forms.
A good diet is cheaper than pills.Your GP on your next visit would confirm if needed.
***************************
I ride Brompton,Hetchins 531

[Paulatic]

A good diet is cheaper than pills.Your GP on your next visit would confirm if needed.
***************************
I ride Brompton,Hetchins 531

Some of us have bodies which don’t seem able to get enough vitD from a good diet or rays from above. Especially it seems in the northern hemisphere.
I keep hens and eat at least 1 dozen fresh eggs/ week. I eat/ love oily fish I worked outdoors all year around and yet years ago when I was loosing unintentional weight the last thing they looked for and found I was deficient in Vit D.

[axel_knutt]

I take high strength vitamin D because a blood test found me to be 'severely deficient'.

That said due to the low levels of sunlight vitamin D tablets are a good idea outside summer.

Back in 2012 when I spent long hours out in the sun my vitamin D levels were still low.

A good diet is cheaper than pills.

As I said in the post you're quoting from, my diet easily meets all other health requirements. The reason vitamin D supplements are so widely recommended is that it's present in too few foodstuffs, and difficult to get enough.

Your GP on your next visit would confirm if needed.

The blood test I had was ordered by the GP.

[axel_knutt]

I keep hens and eat at least 1 dozen fresh eggs/ week. I eat/ love oily fish I worked outdoors all year around and yet years ago when I was loosing unintentional weight the last thing they looked for and found I was deficient in Vit D.

I'd need to eat 5 eggs a day to get enough vitamin D without supplements, or alternatively, 60g of salmon a day.

[Pinhead]

I remember a doctor once saying, vitamins for a normal person just means expensive pee

[Pendodave]

I listened to this podcast recently. I found it interesting, and thought that others might too :
https://zoe.com/learn/episode-the-truth-about-vitamin-d
Disclosure: I am not a doctor(!), and have no connection to any part of the supplement industry, or with this organisation.

Apart from the specifics of the subject, a couple of other things made me pause for thought:
- the increasing move to look to pharmaceuticals to address issues that might be more appropriately approached through lifestyle changes.
- the time lag between medical research and the advice given by public health bodies and GPs (remember cutting out eggs to reduce blood cholesterol).