I’m by no means a sup-crazy gym bro, but over the years I’ve experimented with various things like most health conscious people I guess.

Most things come and go, whey protein a good example. It was useful in some ways but I got a taste for it with whole milk and ended up drinking pints of the stuff. So what things work for you and which do you consider a waste of money?

Nowadays I mainly take just a multivit and some Vitamin C and Zinc. I’m also halfway through a pack of sea kelp capsules (iodine). No idea why, I can’t remember. And indeed that is what prompted me to start this thread. I’ve been taking an antioxidant for about ten years (NAC). So long in fact that I’ve forgotten why I started in the first place and what it even is 🙂

Oh, and a fibre supplement called Inulin which seems to do wonders for me.

High strength Vitamin D

High strength Vitamin D

Oh yeah that’s a good one. Had a run on that in the winter. Seemed to improve my mood.

I’m sure someone will be along to tell everyone that you can get all you need from a balanced diet. With the more intesive farming techniques used these days i do wonder if food contains as much vitamins and minerals as it once did

I haven’t used anything other than real foods for years. I took a supplement to increase my very mild hypothyroidism when failing to conceive for 18 months. Within a month we had a result.

I’m sure someone will be along to tell everyone that you can get all you need from a balanced diet.

There’s some truth to this I suspect. I’m fortunate to live in an area where I can eat seasonally all year round from volcanic soils though and have skin cancer as a bigger issues than Vit D deficit.

A multi-vitamin can’t hurt.

Don’t take anything, it’s all boll**s,
waits for the vit D doomsayers.

Multi vitamin just as an insurance. I don’t have the time or inclination to eat a perfectly balanced diet.

More controversially, I’ve found that a protein drink straight after a long or hard ride really seems to reduce soreness the next day. Usually just pick up either For Goodness Shakes from Tesco when they are £1 on the clubcard deal or the 99p version from Aldi.

Too much vitamin D can cause hypercalcemia.
Taking vitamin D supplements can reduce the bodys ability to produce vitamin D naturally..

Vit D. Living this far north we don’t get enough naturally

I’ve used recovery drinks when training and racing, particularly when doing hard back-to-back rides to aid recovery/ not waking up with ‘wooden’ legs, but for general riding and ultra-endurance it’s just a case of watching my diet, making sure I was taking on enough calories. As I got fitter, my efficiency improved to the degree that much of the manufacturer’s recommendations were meaningless.

I’m sure someone will be along to tell everyone that you can get all you need from a balanced diet.

You can get all you need from a balanced diet.

I don’t have a particularly balanced diet (and am vegetarian) so I take a multivitamin on the grounds of “well, it can’t hurt.” I could – and should – eat better.

Obviously this rapidly falls into the age-old argument of “what I do is right and everyone else is wrong” but I don’t see the need for a cocktail of supplements unless you’re actually deficient in something.* The answer to “what should I take?” is “whatever you need to be taking,” otherwise any and all of it is a waste of money. Including my multivitamin.

(* – brains?😁)

My diet is actually pretty good but when I had some health issues a while back one of the things the GP spotted in my blood tests was low vitamin D and low calcium. She advised that I take some Vit D and lo and behold my calcium normalised. I could probably drop it durng the summer but I think it’s easer to have a daily habit.

Other supplement is a recovery shake after hard or long rides. I just feel better in a few ways when I do it. I used to just have nesquik and milk but it wasn’t great for my guts – the SIS Rego stuff does the job though.

Now: strong vitamin B6, B9 and B12 plus D3. B9 (folate) is like amphetamines for me.

I took a blood test before Christmas and showed my vitamin D levels were 48 (normal range 50-250). That was after taking multivitamins regularly and having plenty sunshine. Did a DNA test as I have family history of lots of diabetes and burn out. I have mutations causing lower vitamin D. Two others, one impacting b9 (folate) uptake and another one causing high homocysteine levels. After taking vitamin B all my incredibly tight muscles relaxed and my energy levels doubled and I experienced what can only describe a feeling of ‘is this what everyone else normally feel like?’. The mutations are MTHFR and CBS genes. Can mitigate by taking vitamin B complex. A fairly large proportion of the population have MTHFR mutations (high in Ireland and Norway for instance).

Electrolytes and creatine to get rid of my POTS too. (Dizzy when standing up, will pass out if I stand still for too long) and messes with heat tolerance (that might be vasovagal syncope too though). Pass out when needles are stuck into my veins 🙂

Synthetic vitamins are not the same as vitamins in whole foods.

Avoid this List of Synthetic Vitamins to Protect Your Gut

Synthetic vitamins are not the same as vitamins in whole foods.

Someone selling books and alternative supplements to supplements should not be considered an unbiased source.

Any intense XC ride over 2 hours and I’ll make a whey, milk, banana, oat flour and electrolyte powder recovery shake when I get home. I don’t need to see any science behind that one; its tasty, full of good stuff, and sorts me out.

Magnesium tablets for the periods where I’m doing a lot of riding (100+ offroad miles a week).

Healthy balanced diet.

I don’t bother with gels but will take either a homemade flapjack or Clif Bar if I’m doing a big one.

Vit D 25u daily in the darker months.

That’s pretty much it. Had full blood work done for a work medical a few months back which the doctor said came back perfect. A few years ago before focussing on my health and diet I was deficient in vitamin D and B12.

I take D2, Omega 3, Ginger root & Ashwaganda root and I feel much better for taking them. I use creatine on and off for a few weeks at a time too.

I currently take a multi-vit, B complex and a C/iron tablet at least every other day. I ought to get enough D production from work and outdoor cycling until September(ish), but I must remember to get some D tablets/ spray in ready for the winter.

I can’t remember the last time I had blood analysis done on my levels.

My better half had some blood analysis done recently in relation to her Long Covid and not being in any fit state for her NHS role for almost 18 months now and it transpired her D levels were very low, so now taking high dose supp.

I’ve got a couple of pils and powders but tend to just use them to ballance things out or use them in a targeted way.

Whey protein – 25g after a lifting session a the gym + 25g extra per day if I’ve plateaued + 25g if my muscles just feel lacking, especially towards the end of a hypertrophy block and the gains are slowing down. I don’t measure protein outside of that, and it saves me from having to sit there checking the protein content of breakfast options like a lunatic and just enjoy a coffee and croissant if I dam well want one rather than have sausage and eggs every morning. I’ve also got some recipes for low-ish calorie brownies, fudge, cookies etc which blur the lines between “supplement” and “treat”.

Multivit – because why not, I’d need the B bits anyway as modern farming/cooking all but eliminates the body’s ability to make them from a veggie diet. Ditto the D in winter.

Omega 3 – because I’m veggie and CBA to have porridge topped with chainseeds and flax and wallnuts every bloody day (see sausages and eggs comment above).

Creatine – like the whey, tend to only use it in the 2nd half of a block when things are slowing down.

Some Thermosomethingorother that came as a jar of 200 pills freebie, mostly caffeine and ginger, makes 5am commutes on the bike almost enjoyable when nesecary.

Magnesium/zinc/calcium, cod liver oil, vit c.

Cod liver oil and some best selling Amazon multivitamin.

A multi-vitamin can’t hurt.

The science doesn’t necessarily agree with that. There’s zero evidence they do you any good and there is always a risk it might do you some harm (specific to you or to the supplement).

I used to take a few supplements – Cod liver Oil and Calcium / Vit-D but there appears to be no evidence either have a benefit so I stopped and don’t take any supplements now.

There was a fascinating study a few years back on anti-oxidants which at the time were thought to reduce cancer. So a massive double blind trial started. Half way through they looked at the results and were shocked to see that those taking the real thing had higher cancer rates and higher mortality rates from cancer. They stopped the trial immediately. They had expected the complete opposite. Anti-oxidants in food seem to do you good (lots of science). Big supplements were killing people.

I take a multivitamin effervescent tablet in a pint of water. For me it’s nicer to drink than a plain pint of water and gives a bit of insurance regarding vitamins and wotnot. There are a couple of variations of the supplement and I plump for what I fancy on the day.

There was a fascinating study a few years back on anti-oxidants which at the time were thought to reduce cancer. So a massive double blind trial started.

Can you remember where you heard/read about this trial? I seem to remember hearing about a similar trial that came to a different conclusion but my memory is pretty hazy.

For users of vitamin d supplements Calcification of the arteries can be avoided by taking vitamin K2.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7406600/

I take d3, K2, b12 and l Glutamine.

I suffer from psoriasis and it’s an experiment to see if it helps reduce it.

Omega 3 – because I’m veggie

Have you found a source of that which isn’t fish?

The science doesn’t necessarily agree with that. There’s zero evidence they do you any good and there is always a risk it might do you some harm (specific to you or to the supplement).

Which science?

If I were to posit “There’s zero evidence they do you any harm and there is always a risk it might do you some good” could you disprove that?

Too much vitamin D can cause hypercalcemia.
Taking vitamin D supplements can reduce the bodys ability to produce vitamin D naturally..

Are you a health expert? Someone with proper qualifications? I’ve read plenty of health papers which state that those in the Northern hemisphere really don’t get enough exposure to sunlight to make enough, and my work involves me being indoors much of the day, all through the year.
As far as other supplements are concerned, I take a Vit C & Zinc tablet every morning, and I also take a MacuGuard tablet every morning, to control the macular degeneration I’m getting in my left eye. Which is genuinely helping, and was suggested by the doctor I saw at Bath RUH when I had my eyes checked for cataracts.
Unfortunately, I was turned down for a cataract operation, which has meant I have very limited vision in my right eye, so I’m very grateful for the help the supplement has given me for the macular degeneration.

Hopefully, my next eye check next month will get a better result, vis a cataract replacement. It’s a shame there isn’t a supplement that can clear cataracts.

I had a look at the Cochrane Library website to see what comes up in relation to the use of supplements. I didn’t find anything that suggests there’s any benefits (or otherwise) to taking them for general health purposes, but plenty relating to specific conditions as CountZero says above.

Eg this:

https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD000254.pub4/full

B2 as I am a grass muncher.

Every so often some bogus scare story comes along but yes, modern intensively farmed good is just as nutritious as it was in the good old days and far less likely to kill or injure you with various pathogens too.

My wife occasionally throws a multivitamin pill at me but otherwise no supplements. I tried beetroot juice quite recently, no measurable effect.

A very good diet will cover it but you will struggle with vitamin D and if vegan then struggle with a few more.
A multi vitamin is an easy fix but it would be really worth knowing if you are actually deficient in anything wouldn’t it – including any metals and concentrating on that, preferably via fruit or veg if possible.

Still, I suppose it is cheaper to just but the multi vitamins…

Too much vitamin D can cause hypercalcemia.

Of a list of things that will cause hypercalcemia, I think most doctors would put “too much VitD supplement” on the bottom of a list that has; thyroid disorders, cancer, tuberculosis and sitting around on yer arse all day in very strong sunlight, above abusing vitD tablets. It’s very difficult to intentionally take too much Vit D. most supplements are in the 1000 IU range*, for a single tablet, and you’d need to take 60,000-70,000 IU every day for months to even get close to getting any symptoms.

*and unless you’re taking a magnesium supplement not all of that is going to be taken up by your body.

If you want to join in a conversation about the health benefits or otherwise of vitamin supplements, by all means, join in, but spreading shit via just posting videos – the only contribution you ever make to any thread; is just trolling.

If you have a halfway decent diet vit d is all you need

Ickc stop giving medical advice without the knowledge. You can get issues with too much vit d at much lower levels than you state.