What sort of vitamins do you take?

Flintstones.

and Vitamin B6

hrm I take flaxseed oil, but you'll be getting the same out of fish oil, I guess. I also take glucosamine for the joints.

I take Centrum and glucosamine chondroitin when I can afford it.

I try to remember to take a calcium/magnesium pill; in addition to being good for my bones, it's supposed to help with cramping.

Also, I just started with the fish oil, based on mgl's recommendation, and when I was doing research on that, some sites claimed that if you're taking fish oil, you should also be taking a Vitamin E supplement. So I started taking that, too.

Beyond that, I'm just trying to remember to eat as many different colored fruits and vegetables as I can, and figure I'm covering the rest that way.

I take most of these on a semi-daily basis:

vitamin E
vitamin A
vitamin D
vitamin C
fish oil
B complex
evening primrose oil
DL-Phenylalanine
Chaste Tree berry extract
calcium/mangnesium
echinacea
goldenseal

The last two I'm taking only because I'm fighting off a cold.

I won't go into the rest of the herbs and stuff.

Incidentally Teeps, I'd warn you about taking psyllium regularly, it can pull a bit on your lower intestine lining.

What is this glucosamine? Why should I take it?

After this thread, I want to take tyrosine, too.

isn't goldenseal the stuff people take to beat urine tests?

A multi-vitamin & mineral in a chlorella base, Vit E, Vit C, and calcium/magnesium. I should take cod liver oil, but I always forget. :/

Yeah, occhiblu, I'm very much in accord with you and the trying to eat lots of colorful vegetables and fruits. One *should* be able to get enough vitamins and minerals through one's diet. It's sometimes really hard to do so, though.

...and it's funny because I'm often very much a skeptic about supplements and suchlike (I'm looking at you, echinacea), and spend hours looking on pubmed for actual clinical trials and all that, but it only takes my friend to say "yeah, I screwed my knee up running and it was *totally* the glucosamine that helped it get better" to make me head out and buy some.

Many, many vitamin pills - especially multivitamins - are a total and complete waste of money. The ones that don't work either have combinations of vitamins that work against each other, inappropriate doses or are rendered ineffective by the wrong binders or fillers. You literally end up peeing most if not all of them out.

However.

I swear by the Emergen-C vitamin packets. You can get a box of 36 packets for 8-10 bucks at Trader Joe's or even a CostCo or something. Most folks under 40 don't need one every day, maybe every two or three days, or whenever you feel like you need one - depending on stress levels, diet, exposure. Whenever I notice I'm feeling run down or deficient I mix one of those up and I'm all vitaminated and happy for 2-3 days or a week.

The thing that makes Emergen-C different than pills is that it comes in a powder you mix with water or juice. (It's not terrible tasting). That allows them to avoid binders and fillers.

It also allows them to precisely tune the vitamins and micronutrients so that they work together, rather than against each other, and they use highly metabolizable ingredients for all their vitamins.

My mom has a neurological disorder and sees a nutrition specialist along with her doctor, and they both emphatically confirmed the wonders of Emergen-C, that one a day provided everything she needed and then some.

All in all I have found it becomes much cheaper to use Emergen-C than multivitamins or single vitamin pills - for one, I don't use it every day. Two, I don't have to buy approx. 30-odd different vitamins in precise doses, and then inspect each of those for binders, quality, effectiveness, and then remember to take *all* of them, etc.

Three, Emergen-C is really, really, incredibly effective. You notice the b6-b12 rush almost immediately, and then there's a mellow afterglow that seems to last for days. Your pee doesn't turn bright orange, so you know it's actually being used in your body instead of feeding sewer crocs.

Combine emergen-C with your flaxseed or omega-3 fishoil, or your glucosamine and whatnot and you've got an unstoppable combo.

If you haven't tried it yet, do. Check out that ingredient list. It's a thing of beauty. You could drop 500 bucks at a health food store trying to duplicate that ingredient list in the same quality/purity. (I suspect that Emergen-C is cheaper because there's no tablets, binders or bottles.)

Try it. You'll thank me later. The stuff is awesome.

Echinacea + Zinc + vitamin C.

Also, Emergen-C now comes in a number of formulas, now, including Joint Health (w/ 500mg Glucosamine and 400mg Chondroitin.) alongside all the other good stuff.

Since it's been about a week, I'm having a tangerine flavored packet right now. :)

OK, along with being the only person I know not currently or recently taking some kind of psyche meds, I also seem to be the only person I know not taking nutritional supplements.

I'm a loner, dottie, a rebel.

Now I know what to get you for your birthday! Vitamins!

One *should* be able to get enough vitamins and minerals through one's diet. It's sometimes really hard to do so, though.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that I also do take a multivitamin, because I tend to cycle through weeks of "Mmmmm, kale!" and "Mmmmm, burgers!" I working on the hope that the multivitamin evens that out a bit.

Now I know what to get you for your birthday! Vitamins!

Don't even joke like that.

I second the wonders of Emergen-C.

*eyes numerous bottles of vitamins thoughtfully*

*lights cigarette, pops beer*

I'm still going to outlive you all.

I am not taking any vitamins also. I used to, while I was pregnant and lactating but after that, no. I should tho'. That said, I realize that I eat pretty "healthy". I add flax seeds and flax oils in salads cereal etc and since I cook for the kids, I eat healthy too. I am planning to add some multivitamins (calcium/magnes.) and maybe folic acid (if I ever want to have that coveted third child). But also biotin --I took it for a few months once and OMG nice hairs and skin! Really, try it.

ha! I don't take any meds, either... maybe I should...?

Women's Ultra Mega Active from GNC

I took those for awhile, goml. When I was taking them, they were quite large. I hate large vitamins :-(

I took biotin for awhile, too, carmina, at a time when I was trying to grow out my hair. Maybe I should take that again, too...

Soon I'll be taking 25 pills a day mwahahahahahahahahaha!

Q-10 is expensive as hell but it prevents AGING! Sorta.

well, then keep it away from me! I'm looking forward to aging. I get to be grumpy and smell bad and bitch about modern life and nobody'll care. Plus I'll get to hike my boxers up to my neck.

I get to be grumpy and smell bad and bitch about modern life

Sounds like you're old already.

*hits pinky with cane*

jon, my man. you're looking at it the wrong way.

don't think of it as granola and beansprouts. ignore the tofu shops, ignore the smelly hippies.

think about it as advanced chemical hot-rodding for your body. better living through chemistry, man!

and you know what your body does, right? that's right!! it drinks beer! it smokes happy stuff! it carries you around from show to show! it grabasses! it gets on with the fucking!

speaking as someone who can probably drink and smoke you sideways, let me tell you it's all about that advanced chemical hot-rodding.

oldschool ravers have known this for years, that's what the whole "smart drugs" thing was about. it was simply advanced nutritional supplements (many now commonly available OTC) designed to rev up the old brain and body chock full of happy amino acids, proteins and neurotransmitter precursors so that we could party all that much longer and harder, and just get that much higher.

'cause, y'know, what's the point of getting high on anything (be it booze or whatever) if your brain and body can't even get off on it and enjoy it?

My aversion to supplements is not logical I realize. But I'm perfectly content with my beer and cigarettes and junkfood. I don't want to be superhuman. It's too much work. It's too much work being human. I'm aiming for sentient furniture bulge, ultimately.

pink, the thing with biotin as well as other vitamins is that you see the results after 3-4 months of taking it. A lot of people get discouraged sooner and stop, which is obviously not the way to go. It is always good to ask a physician or search online because there are conflicts of certain vitamins with certain foods. For instance, you should not take vitamin C with milk, you are better off taking it with orange juice, but calcium is better when consumed with some milk.

...and you shouldn't take iron with milk either, as the calcium cancels out the iron-adding-bit. But for iron nothing beats blütsaft (which I'm sure I mentioned here before because I swear by that stuff - it's a great way to get iron and all the Bees).

When I was taking them, they were quite large

Uh huh, say it with me now: STINKY STANKY HORSE PILL!

No kidding!!! Ugh, I took these Hair & Nail pills from GNC a few years back, and they were DISGUSTING and huge. Couldn't even take them with water, because they had a nasty pill taste.

I take

- zinc
- flaxseed oil
- turmeric capsules
- green tea extract

and a big swig of pure aloe vera juice.

All of these are for psoriasis treatment.

I take Emergen-C and vitamin E regularly, a B multivitamin and beta carotene somewhat less so. And after those ringing endorsements from the other day, I'm giving fish oil a try.

They should put vitamins in twinkies. That is all.

I put vitamins in Twinkies! They tend to growl and bite, though, so I might stop. (yuk, yuk, yuk).

Most evenings:

Calcium
Magnesium
Arginine

Occasionally:

Tyrosine (take a conservative dose. the stuff can make you hyper.)

Zinc
Sublingual Melatonin

I am a huge fan of Omega-3s. They really helped me with my depression and I started losing body fat, found my pants getting looser. So I try to eat Omega-3 foods like salmon, walnuts and ground flax seed whenever it's practical. (Other than that, my diet pretty much sucks. Too much fast-food crap eaten on the go.)

I think I've only lived THIS long thanks to countering my lifestyle with a few nutritional hedge-bets...

vitamin C
omega 3 fish oil
small-dose aspirin
taurine (only because I'm so fond of the Guinness)
ginkgo biloba

and a "One-A-Day" vitamin for men.

Hasn't done any harm, and I rarely get sick anymore.

small-dose aspirin

ummm, hi BP. I would really really like you please please to talk to a doctor about taking aspirin. Even small amounts of it. I've had terrible experiences in my family. Aspirin is a blood thinning substance and will get you (ok, maybe) in trouble if you get off it. sorry if I am too panicky/maternal here...

My doc knows. She does approve of dietary supplements, unlike a lot of doctors, which is one reason I go to her. Thank you for the lookout, carmina. :)

ok, that's good.