Vitamins

My GP told me to take minerals daily. He said multivitamins shouldn't be necessary with a varied diet but quite often your diet can be lacking in
Minerals. So I take one tablet a day. I get mine from Asda. I do feel a great deal better but I don't really feel it's down to the minerals! When you feel really lacking in energy anything is worth a try.

Blood test showed I was low on vitamin d, NHS prescribed version much stronger and cheaper than ones on chemist shelf. Teenage son was also very low on vit d back in the day, but he was nocturnal at that time.
Do remember when I was young and doing a press trip with a media doc who said all the multi vits and extra things I was taking cos I'd read about them in the press were basically just being peed out by my body. A good diet was the key.
However, tonight, I have eaten just Cheeselets -'remember them?

Just been to dr to see if I should buy vitamins or minerals ..cos it's a minefield of how do you know what u need .. blood tests shown very low in vit D.. So am going with that .. also bought a nutribullet..

Ps.. I remember cheeselets!

loved cheeselets and can get something similar here in France, so have been munching them all Christmas.

have not come across the natural snake venom or Ebola here! However some mushrooms can be lethal. I love the way the pharmacists here have a display of them during the Autumn, and all pharmacists have to do regular training in fungi and can identify them if you take them in. Another things the French are good at. Probably saves their wonderful health service a pot of money.

how did we get from vitamins to cheeselets and mushrooms?

annifrance while I am not a vegetarian, I have friends who are, and I respect their choice not to eat dead animals. I find the phrase 'anti-vegetarian' offensive and unneccessay.

You eat what you want to eat and let others choose for themselves.

Something which is becoming clearer the more we learn is the function that gut bacteria play in our general good health. Certain conditions, such as a tendancy to diabetes and/or obesity, is being linked to poor variety of gut flora.

What is uncertain is which comes first. Or how much we can influence our gut bacteria ....hmm]

Sorry have to ask, what does one do as an active anti vegetarian ?

My solution to bit D deficiency is to go on cruises to sunny places. If that doesn't work I'll consider tablets! ( prefer cruises)

I take Calcium and also Vitamind D. I don't take Vit D in the summer. I also take Co-enzyme Q10 because it is recommended if you take Statins ( which I do) and a VitB complex.
I think it is best to get a blood test for the GP to see if you are low on any of the vitamins before taking any. I also find the more exercise I do, the less tired I am and sleep better too.

I agree somewhat with your comment Ajanela - but so much of our food these days is processed and generically altered that much of the goodness we hope for isn't necessarily available from our food any more - hence the rise in popularity of eating organic everything! It just gets harder and harder to get the necessary vitamins we need from our food. I do believe in vitamin supplements and I start everyday with a green shake made from kale or spinach, a banana, and some berries and all blended together with almond milk. To that I add a concoction of vitamin D, a probiotic capsule, a garlic capsule and a cumin capsule - all mixed with the green shake. This is my daily breakfast and has been for about 4 years. It's a wonderful start to the day and - for me - this vitamin routine has improved my energy level, my joints and aches and pains, my resistance to colds and flu, and my outlook on life. I have to say I feel better now than I did a decade ago. Us grans should just do whatever works for them - and this concoction works wonders for meat 73.

Emelle19 I only take cod liver oil. I never get colds either. All those pills and other stuff must cost you a fortune - but not as much as a cruises I guess.

Oh .'eck! Anya's post about gut bacteria has reminded me. I bought some jollop just before Xmas which you swallow down first thing in the morning to encourage the good bacteria. Ana probably remembers what I mean. The reviews say it tastes horrible, so I really don't want to drink it. Why did I go and buy it?!

It'll probably be out of date now anyway, jingl. Is it in the fridge?

Oh no! It's on top of the chest of drawers in the spare bedroom. (out of sight, out of mind) I'd better check that!

Regarding good gut bacteria, I have read that eating whole natural foods help to keep it healthy whereas ready meals and junkfood destroy it because our body is confused by additives. Don't know if it's true or not, but eating proper food and lots of veg has to be good. They also recommend probiotics and fermented food, especially if you have been on antibiotics as that destroys the good bacteria apparently.

I wouldn't lump ready meals together with junk food. You can get excellent ready meals, with no artificial additives at all. Just add your own vegetables and you're away.

starbird Who are "they" and what are probiotics?
They also recommend probiotics and fermented food, especially if you have been on antibiotics as that destroys the good bacteria apparently.

Sweetness I cannot imagine what the response of your GP was if you visited to ask him/her if you should take supplements.

The supplement industry is alive and doing well on GN.

Good ready meals are natural foods, but prepared ready to eat. They are not all stuffed full of fat and additives.

There are good additives (ie ascorbic acid or vitamin c) and not so good ones. There is a tendency to tar all of them with the same brush, and to want to call all additives "E-numbers" and avoid them all, but those with E numbers are those additives which are permitted by the EU.

The Good the Bad and the Ugly of Food Additives lists separately the useful additives and those that are known to have drawbacks.

Nelliemoser I suspect older women are their biggest target market.

Older women are not stupid nor are they victims. Many choose to supplement for good reason and it's their money to spend as they wish. Most supplements do no harm unless taken in overlarge doses and it's worth reading the information on the labels to make sure you're not taking, as an example, too much fat soluble vits such Vit A, E and D. Most of the others are water solubile and will be excreted in urine.

Re antibiotics destroying some good bacteria that is very true and one of the reasons that some people develop thrush after a course of antibiotics. They can alter the balance of bacteria especially in the vagina.

Whether probiotics can adjust the balance, especially of gut flora, is under investigation.

Elegran is correct about the hysteria surrounding 'E' numbers and that this simply refers to those permitted by the EU. Part of this is perhaps due to tartrazine also known as E102 which seems to cause hyperactivity in some children. It was found in some fruit squashes and fizzy drinks.

The Nutrient Reference Values (NRVs) are a set of recommendations for nutritional intake based on currently available scientific knowledge. Taking any more than this unless a clear deficit has been established and prescribed for is at best a waste of money and at worst will make you ill.

A bottle of multivitamins from Boots (£8.99 for six months supply - and on 3 for 2 at the moment) contains all that most people need.

Each daily dose has -

Vitamin A 400 μg RE (50% of Nutrient Reference Value) -
Vitamin D 5 μg (100%)
Vitamin E 12 mg α-TE (100%)
Vitamin K 75 μg (100%)
Vitamin C 80 mg (100%)
Thiamin (Vitamin B1) 1.1 mg (100%)
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) 1.4 mg (100%)
Niacin 16 mg NE (100%)
Vitamin B6 1.4 mg (100%)
Folic Acid 200 μg (100%)
Vitamin B12 2.5 μg (100%)
Biotin 50 μg (100%)
Pantothenic Acid 6 mg (100%)
Calcium 200 mg (25%)
Magnesium 60 mg (16%)
Iron 14 mg (100%)
Zinc 10 mg (100%)
Copper 500 μg (50%)
Manganese 0.5 mg (25%)
Selenium 55 μg (100%)
Chromium 40 μg (100%)
Molybdenum 50 μg (100%)
Iodine 150 μg (100%)

My rheumatologist advised me to take no vitamins/mineral supplements because she feels my liver and kidneys have enough to do when processing prescribed mediation.
I do take prescribed Vitamin D after blood tests a couple of years ago confirmed my levels were low. I live in the north west, the rheumatologist told me that random blood tests of our population in February would indicate very low Vitamin D levels throughout the population.
I hand't put together the possible link between me taking the Vitamin D supplement and the general reduction in joint pain.

I eat priobiotic organic and full fat yoghurt because I like it but also because I'm persuaded there may be a connection with healthy gut and over all health.

Elegran does it specify anywhere is the Vit K is K1 or K2?

K-nine?