Vitamins for riding

read “The Health Delusion”

contains trails based conclusions.

We are all short of Vitamin D and the RDA for vit D is too low in this country – Canada have it right.

Food has a lot less nutrients in it than it used to.

It’s unlikely you get enough Vitamin D from your healthy diet (unless you eat a LOT of fish) and indoor jobs and crap weather mean most people don’t get enough from the sun either.

Low Vit D is linked to all kinds of nasty stuff including MS.

Missus is an Endocrinologist. We take Vit D.

Also, Depression and SAD 😥

Anywhere better than Holland and Barrett to buy stuff from? Any trusted online suppliers?

Anywhere better than Holland and Barrett to buy stuff from? Any trusted online suppliers?

For anything in particular?

Any trusted online suppliers?

What are you concerned about? That the tablets won’t contain the correct level of [insert trace element that is found in sufficient quantities in any normal diet]? You can’t trust anyone that tells you that supra-normal levels of Vitamin C ‘boosts your immune system’ or Vitamin B for tiredness. So, in conclusion, they’re all quacks including Holland and Barrett. Does that help?

We’re fantastically well-off in this country. All the metrics show that despite the recent recession, we’re still far better off with more free money than we were 30-40 years ago. And yet we choose to spend the spare cash on stupid things we don’t need. Here’s an idea: Cancel your monthly order with H&B and give the money to a charity that supports people who are actually unwell. Or send your vitamin tablets to Africa where they might be needed rather than getting 100% pissed out in the urine of mindless Brits.

P.S. There are a small proportion of people who do need supplementary dietary vitamins / minerals, and of course these people should take things if they’ve been medically advised to do so. I’d actually extend that to vulnerable people and those with illnesses that might affect absorption. But the worried well 30-somethings on here? Save your money.

Magnesium the night before in a fairly large dose otherwise I’d be contending with a migraine from hell post ride.

Oh and High 5 magnesium tabs in the bladder as well.

Superficial – I disagree with your post. There are many people who aren’t ‘fantastically well-off in this country’ and you’re doing them a disservice.

Do you consider that buying vit d is a waste of money? Your post would indicate that money is more important than good health which is of course absurd.

Presumably you’ve spent part of your fortune on having an array of blood tests to reassure yourself just in case you’re branded the ‘worried well’ ?

😐

Magnesium, zinc and vit d at the moment. Thinking b12 may be worth it also.

I’m so far away from fantastically well off it’s not even funny. What I choose to spend my hard earned on and which charities I support are none of your concern. I simply wanted to know if those who choose to take supplements have found a better value supplier.

And just to add to what CG says above, we are not talking vast sums of money here.

I take multi-vitamins, vit C, omega 6&9 and vit D. I steer clear of the supermarket stuff for the reasons given previously. But even buying good quality stuff costs me less than £20 a month.

Given how much people on here spend on their bikes, just to have the latest kit when what they’ve got is perfectly fine (me included) then less than £20 a month is small change. And if it contributes towards staying fit and healthy then its well worth it. And even if its only the placebo effect, does it matter. The mind has a powerful affect on the wellbeing of the body. So even if supplements do nothing more than make you feel better and that makes you healthier, then to my mind they serve their purpose.

At the end of the day it’s personal choice.

Dai,

I tend to stick to Biocare or Lamberts as they were recommended to me by a nutritionist when i was ill.

So i normally just shop around on the web for the best price.

I usually find Bodykind or Dolphin fitness to be the cheapest.

even if supplements do nothing more than make you feel better and that makes you healthier

What if they don’t make you healthier but they make some people think it doesn’t matter about their unhealthy diet because they’re taking supplements?

(Having said that, the same could be said of exercise: a colleague tucked into chips and beans for her lunch because she was going to circuits that night, despite trying to lose weight.)

As mentioned earlier I take Vit D over the Winter months and know that it staves SAD, maybe it is pacebo but if it works I will keep taking it.

My missus uses PurePharma and swears by them for general health.

I reckon we have a very healthy and varied diet for instance my fruit and veg combined isn’t 5 a day it’s closer to 10. We eat fish twice a week and lean meat 4 times, porridge for brekkie (with chocolate protein powder) mixed nuts and fresh fruit BUT still I can get plagued with SAD it’s no nice – Vitamin D has eradicated it for me!

PS. We both take ZMA at night before bed and sleep is dramatically improved – no I’m not selling any 🙂

Wow. We’ve even got vitamin snobs now…

Dai – agree with FieldMarshall re Biocare and Lamberts. May I also add Jarrows Formula.

Yes, there are cheaper but I believe quality needs to be looked at, as mentioned by jonba.

I’ve been seeing magnesium mentioned a fair bit recently. As regards zinc, have seen that it should be taken with copper.

This may be of interest:

http://b12d.org/

@ crikey – haven’t you got some patients to deal with?? 😉

Oh god good, /edit or indeed, good god…. Diet, and only diet, please ignore totally bogus nonsense about vitamin D, zinc, iron insert whatever you’ve been conned into being ‘deficient’ in.
Total rubbish, the food you eat, and only the food you eat.

Just finished nights. It’s interesting that we tried vitamin and trace element supplementation on ITU, but gave it up because of a lack of sensible evidence. We do use Pabrinex in people who are obviously malnourished, but no other stuff.

Do you consider that buying vit d is a waste of money? Your post would indicate that money is more important than good health which is of course absurd.

You’ve made a leap of logic there. Your assumption is that spending money on vitamins leads to good health? An assumption which is, at the very least, inaccurate and in fact if you read the above articles the very opposite may be true (My assumption is that you’re healthy and young – apologies if that’s not the case but I already covered excluding vulnerable people in my previous post). Vitamin D supplementation is probably the one with the most evidence behind it, but it’s still far from conclusive. A recent Lancet article has shown no evidence of benefit on bone health. Admittedly there are some other reasons why vitamin D deficiency may be relevant but unless you have reason to suspect you might be deficient (I.e. risk factors or biochemical evidence) then I’m not sure why you would waste your money.

I’m so far away from fantastically well off it’s not even funny. What I choose to spend my hard earned on and which charities I support are none of your concern.

How you rate your personal finances against others is a different matter though – My point is that (and I’m making an assumption here, correct me if I’m wrong) most people have a roof over their heads, food to eat and enough spending money that they can afford a car / a hobby / to go out / do things they enjoy. By any realistic metric, we are very well off compared to people in this country from just a couple of decades ago. In the example Field Marshall gives, £20/month or £240 / year on something that has no health benefit beyond placebo and in fact may make you die earlier? That’s absurd.

Lamberts as they were recommended to me by a nutritionist when i was ill.

I prefer Benson and Hedges

there are some other reasons why vitamin D deficiency may be relevant but unless you have reason to suspect you might be deficient (I.e. risk factors or biochemical evidence) then I’m not sure why you would waste your money.

Scotland. Low levels of Vitamin D, statistically high levels of MS.

Since my own wife is apparently trying to con me with “totally bogus nonsense” maybe I should ask my good mate, diagnosed with MS at 35, now practically blind in one eye and likely doomed to an early death, if he thinks it’s a waste of money?

There is a good reason that the government actively recommends Vitamin D supplements to all children under 5 and pregnant women. Really quite a lot of us would benefit from it:

“A recent nationwide survey in the United Kingdom showed that more than 50% of the adult population have insufficient levels of vitamin D”
— http://www.bmj.com/content/340/bmj.b5664

Scotland. Low levels of Vitamin D, statistically high levels of MS.

Indeed. I’m not sure how informed your mate is, but Omega 3 as fish oil is definitely worth a punt as well as an extremely low sat fat diet.

Swank has his fans and detractors, but IMHO he was definitely onto something – http://www.swankmsdiet.org/20years

I just Googled vitamin D supplements for young children, because I’d not heard of it despite having reasonably young kids; looks like it was only introduced as guidance in 2012.

The page also pointed out that not everyone with a VitD deficiency will get a disease thought to be related to it, and that not everyone with one of those diseases was it cause by VitD deficiency.

But, given what I read on there, VitD supplements might be a reasonable idea, especially for darker skinned people in more northerly latitudes. Although, if that’s the case it seems strange that the guidance essentially says not to bother with supplements after the age of five…

Oh, that page also warned against long-term use of multi-vitamins as vitamin A is toxic in large doses, so multi-vitamin users could be poisoning themselves…

Ahh good old STW. Have we posted up that the world is still flat?

Put down the crack pipe, the amount of evidence for vitamin D supplementation vs against is laughable.

Next someone will post up that the traditional food pyramid is the healthiest diet 😆

But, given what I read on there, VitD supplements might be a reasonable idea, especially for darker skinned people in more northerly latitudes. Although, if that’s the case it seems strange that the guidance essentially says not to bother with supplements after the age of five…

IIRC existing guidance is about preventing rickets (spelling). UK guidance is under review and may include consideration for autoimmune conditions in the future.

Just for information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypervitaminosis_D

Put down the crack pipe, the amount of evidence for vitamin D supplementation vs against is laughable.

Maybe for general health, but it has its applications.

List of peer-reviewed references at the bottom of this link.

http://www.overcomingmultiplesclerosis.org/Recovery-Program/Sunlight-and-Vitamin-D/

Of course, there is also the issue of funding RCTs for the benefits of Vit D by big pharma.

IIRC existing guidance is about preventing rickets (spelling).

As I and my children* don’t have rickets, can I safely assume that I and they get sufficient vitamin D in our diets and from sunlight?

*and my parents and grandparents, despite my granddad being Scottish

As I and my children* don’t have rickets, can I safely assume that I and they get sufficient vitamin D in our diets and from sunlight?

I think you need to read what you can and make your own choices – but it’s definitely not all about rickets any more.

What i find amusing is that the organisations who claim that supplements are of no benefit are the same ones that tell you that you must take a whole host of drugs to lower your risk of heart disease, stroke etc when there is masses of evidence showing that exercise and a good nights sleep are just as effective.

If you were at all cynical you’d almost think that the whole British medical system/government health organisation was being controlled by the big pharmaceutical companies. 😆

As has been said you need to review the “facts” and make your own mind up. And also find what works for you.

What i find amusing is that the organisations who claim that supplements are of no benefit are the same ones that tell you that you must take a whole host of drugs to lower your risk of heart disease, stroke etc when there is masses of evidence showing that exercise and a good nights sleep are just as effective.

What i find amusing is that the organisations who have a great deal more responsibility to the public can only use the best research that is available to make recommendations based on that research claim that supplements are of no benefit and are the same ones that tell you that you that research suggests that you can must take a whole host of drugs to lower your risk of heart disease, stroke etc when there is masses of evidence showing that exercise and a good nights sleep are just as effective pretty useless when you already have hypertension, peripheral vascular disease, atherosclerosis and so on.

As has been said you need to review the “facts” and make your own mind up. And also find what works for you.

Of course, we also pay an awful lot of money for research and for medical training to allow people to understand and apply the things we find out about, but yes, you find out what works for you…

As has been said you need to review the “facts” and make your own mind up. And also find what works for you.

Or, stop trying to chase the latest fads and phases and stick to eating and exercising sensibly. All that they’re doing is making small changes to the last few percentage point chances that you’ll develop some condition or other rather than changing absolute certainties.

Maybe for general health, but it has its applications.

You’ve got the wrong end of the stick. I’m talking about the overwhelming amount of research in favour of vit D supplementation for people who don’t get enough sunlight all-year round.

You’ve got the wrong end of the stick. I’m talking about the overwhelming amount of research in favour of vit D supplementation for people who don’t get enough sunlight all-year round.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypervitaminosis_D

As with so many ‘simple’ things, there’s rather more to it than that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypervitaminosis_D

As with so many ‘simple’ things, there’s rather more to it than that.

I can tell you have really done your research posting links from wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication

Guess I had better stop drinking water!

I can tell you have really done your research posting links from wiki

..and you’ll be telling me all about the research you’ve done into the toxicity of Vitamin D will you?

..or maybe not?

I’m pointing out that the situation is not as simple as is being portrayed.

I’m addicted to placebos. I’d give up but I don’t think it would make much difference.

..and you’ll be telling me all about the research you’ve done into the toxicity of Vitamin D will you?

..or maybe not?

Anyone who has done any research into vit D will know that it is possible to have too much. Varies depending on who you listen to, but under 10’000 iu is generally considered safe.

I’d assume the majority of people who consider supplementing anything would realise it is possible to overdo it, just like drinking water.

A bit of common sense generally helps in these situations, although because this is STW, that can sometimes be lacking.

Anyone who has done any research into vit D will know that it is possible to have too much. Varies depending on who you listen to, but under 10’000 iu is generally considered safe.

I’d assume the majority of people who consider supplementing anything would realise it is possible to overdo it, just like drinking water.

A bit of common sense generally helps in these situations, although because this is STW, that can sometimes be lacking.

The situation, therefore, is not as simple as is being portrayed, as I said before you had to comment on the use of Wikipedia?

The situation, therefore, is not as simple as is being portrayed, as I said before you had to comment on the use of Wikipedia?

Most things in life are not simple. Posting wiki articles about toxicity of vitamins is like posting articles of water toxicity, a waste of time.

Let me guess you either work in traditional medicine or believe in it wholeheartedly?

Medicine is a bit like religion, lots of dogma and black and white thinking. I cannot really be arsed with getting into a debate about supplementing certain vitamins.

To the OP and everyone else who is interested, do some research, look at both sides of the picture and make your own mind up.