The Big & Dandy Supplements and Your Health thread.

[Winding Vines]

I notice a lot of folks taking this vitamin, that complex, this multi-whoosey -whats it.

Being in the health and wellness industry I feel I need to share some important information.

First off, no one needs fish oil. Americans and Europeans consume more than enough vitamin A read here about the toxicity:

Acute toxicity generally occurs at doses of 25,000 IU/kg of body weight, with chronic toxicity occurring at 4,000 IU/kg of body weight daily for 6-15 months.[23] However, liver toxicities can occur at levels as low as 15,000 IU per day to 1.4 million IU per day, with an average daily toxic dose of 120,000 IU per day. In people with renal failure 4000 IU can cause substantial damage. Additionally excessive alcohol intake can increase toxicity. Children can reach toxic levels at 1500IU/kg of body weight.[24]

In chronic cases, hair loss, drying of the mucous membranes, fever, insomnia, fatigue, weight loss, bone fractures, anemia, and diarrhea can all be evident on top of the symptoms associated with less serious toxicity.[25]

It has been estimated that 75% of people may be ingesting more than the RDA for vitamin A on a regular basis in developed nations. Intake of twice the RDA of preformed vitamin A chronically may be associated with osteoporosis and hip fractures. High vitamin A intake has been associated with spontaneous bone fractures in animals. Cell culture studies have linked increased bone resorption and decreased bone formation with high vitamin A intakes. This interaction may occur because vitamins A and D may compete for the same receptor and then interact with parathyoid hormone which regulates calcium.[24]

Toxic effects of vitamin A have been shown to significantly affect developing fetuses. Therapeutic doses used for acne treatment have been shown to disrupt cephalic neural cell activity. The fetus is particularly sensitive to vitamin A toxicity during the period of organogenesis.[13]

These toxicities only occur with preformed (retinoid) vitamin A (such as from liver). The carotenoid forms (such as beta-carotene as found in carrots), give no such symptoms, but excessive dietary intake of beta-carotene can lead to carotenodermia, which causes orange-yellow discoloration of the skin.[26][27][28]

A study by Siri Forsmo et al. shows a correlation between low bone mineral density and too high intake of vitamin A.[29]

Researchers have succeeded in creating water-soluble forms of vitamin A, which they believed could reduce the potential for toxicity.[30] However, a 2003 study found that water-soluble vitamin A was approximately 10 times as toxic as fat-soluble vitamin.[31] A 2006 study found that children given water-soluble vitamin A and D, which are typically fat-soluble, suffer from asthma twice as much as a control group supplemented with the fat-soluble vitamins.[32]

Chronically high doses of Vitamin A can produce the syndrome of "pseudotumor cerebri".[33] This syndrome includes headache, blurring of vision and confusion. It is associated with increased intracerebral pressure. [34]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_a

(this can all be found via the FDA's website as well.)


Now, you may notice a bunch of propaganda of Milk and eggs with increased omega's. Don't be fooled. If you dont believe me, read:
Dr. Raymond Peat's Great Fish Oil Experiment[/URL] and how the fish oil industry is all about money money money.

Let's get something straight right now. The human body has a specific process of assimilating vitamins and nutrients. My philosophy is DONT JUMPT THE GUN. Too often supplements "jump steps" in the process of metabolizing nutrients. Like Vitamin D2, Retinols, and numerous other vitamins. The body has specific "safety nets" that protect it from becoming poisoned, but if you remove parts of the equation these are obsolete.

Vitamin C.

Absorbic Acid and Vitamin C- look the same, sound the same but where it comes from is obscenely important. Just because it quacks doesn't make it a duck.

Say you are at the health food store. You notice a very expensive vitamin and you look at the ingredients compared to a cheapo "nature's way" bottle. The more expensive one has cellulose instead of magnesium stearate and geez, it has less of everything in it so it must be just a gimmick!
Not true, ALL vitamins should be naturally derived from another veggie, fruit, legume, root etc.

This is why people have died from supplements. The cheap, synthetically derived vitamins have to contain double, triple (and EVEN more!) than the naturally derived because the human body has evolved processes of assimilating vitamins. The synthetics don't quite "fit into the key holes" so to speak and the body ends up not being able to absorb all of that shit. So it leaves it to the Liver and Kidneys to expel literally all your wasted cheap vitamins. (who hasn't had nuclear waste urine from a B complex)

Remember it is your health, and when you buy cheap vitamins, you are only making big corporations money for using cheap goods.


More to come soon!!

 

[Portillo]

Thats why i only buy GNC multivitamins! No supermarket crap.

 

[mariacallas]

*bump*

 

[Mehm]

Fish oil is only somewhat related to vitamin A. What you are referring to is fish liver oil, which is derived from the liver of the fish, not the body.

Fish oil contains omega-3 fatty acids, specifically EPA and DHA. These are both extremely important to nervous system health and other bodily functions.

Recommending a person not take fish oil because of vitamin A toxicity is incorrect. They should avoid fish liver (IE cod liver) oil.

Please edit your first post to reflect the difference as omega-3 fatty acids are ESSENTIAL for good health.

Besides supplementing omega-3, I also supplement calcium and take a really nice whole foods vitamin with a bunch of herbs and pro-biotics in it. It is called "Every Man" by New Chapter Organics.

 

[El Cubano Poco]

Hemp seed oil...nuff said%)

 

[Winding Vines]

Actually, if you review the contents of Fish Oils on the market you will notice the extreme Vitamin A content.

Regardless of this, supplementing oils are unnecessary. One only needs to consume Wild Caught Salmon, Soft Boiled Eggs, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, some fresh vegetable oils (avocado, etc), and the like a couple times a week. These provide more than enough healthy oils to maintain the needs of your body.

I actually feel the extremism of Weston A Price and other organizations to be ridiculous, and this mass brainwashing unfortunate. People are led to believe that if they are lazy with their diet they will still reap the same benefits if they supplement. If one has enough money to buy these expensive oils, claiming of course their high quality (though there is absolutely NO regulated standard of refining-- excluding common pathological, and heavy metal testing) why wouldn't they have enough money to buy the actual food?

Also, many Oils on the market claim to have all 3 oils. If you live off of a completely vegan diet- this may be necessary. However, there are recent studies that discussed chicken, beef, fish -- that have been farm raised lack the Omega 3's- instead further 6 and 9. As everyone knows Omega 3 is essential, in the name obviously.

Omega 6 and 9 over extended periods of time "lock out" Omega 3 from absorbtion, further prolonging resolution.

A good question to ask is why would farmed meat be like this? The constant stress, corn/soy fed, antibiotic usage, and growth hormone usage detriments the contents.

Literally, we are what we eat.

The way to avoid developing an Omega 3 issue is consume farm raised, organic, Non GMO or rGBH. Eat Wild Caught Salmon once a weak, use Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, a few Soft Boiled Eggs each day and an avocado if you'd like.

-----------------------------------
Next Topic: Stabilized Rice Bran - Superfood or Super Fake? ---It depends.

 

[glitterbizkit]

Absolutely agree with the synthetic vitamins thing. I have read that the worst of the synthetic vitamins is Vitamin E - you have to get the natural one or you may be causing real damage to yourself. I have never taken synthetic vit E internally, but once I used the oil on my skin, and it made me itch really bad... As opposed to natural vitamin E which I have found to be really good for the skin. So if it caused a reaction on my skin after using it once... imagine using it day in, day out internally...

I used to be really into supplements but these days all I take is Spirulina and Brewer's Yeast (excellent source of natural vitamin B)

 

[Mehm]

I just looked at my fish oil and it says nothing about vitamin A. This is probably non-conclusive with regards to the vitamin A content. However, I'm pretty sure that if vitamin A were present, it would have to be listed as supplements ARE regulated as a food.

Regardless of this, supplementing oils are unnecessary. One only needs to consume Wild Caught Salmon, Soft Boiled Eggs, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, some fresh vegetable oils (avocado, etc), and the like a couple times a week. These provide more than enough healthy oils to maintain the needs of your body.

I do eat all of these things, but don't necessarily agree that there is enough omega-3 here for an athlete concentrating on building muscle.

 

[kultron]

What about coldpressed fishoil with flaxseed oil? I have pills that have both.

 

[ebola?]

Lately:

l-selegiline (2.5 mg, sublingual, on top of fatty food after breakfast)
1-3 gram of piracetam
500 mg DMAE (divided into two doses, one right after breakfast, one in the late afternoon)
150 mg caffeine (via tea or coffee)
b-complex
multi-vitamin and mineral
magnesium (1000 mg), caclium (2000 mg), zing (I forget how much)

It's going well, but I can't tell what's doing what. I would add fish oil if I weren't a vegetarian, but I'm considering adding flax oil.

ebola

 

[Mehm]

^^there is a vegan omega-3 pill which is made from algae

 

[ebola?]

Last I checked, those were intolerably pricey.
Perhaps things have changed.

 

[p-mo]

Lately:

l-selegiline (2.5 mg, sublingual, on top of fatty food after breakfast)
1-3 gram of piracetam
500 mg DMAE (divided into two doses, one right after breakfast, one in the late afternoon)
150 mg caffeine (via tea or coffee)
b-complex
multi-vitamin and mineral
magnesium (1000 mg), caclium (2000 mg), zing (I forget how much)

It's going well, but I can't tell what's doing what. I would add fish oil if I weren't a vegetarian, but I'm considering adding flax oil.

ebola

Thats a good supplement routine (for mental focus). I loved DMAE but I've had mine for about 5 years and it smells well fishy so Im not sure about taking it any more.

I wanna add zing to my diet!

 

[Mehm]

Last I checked, those were intolerably pricey.
Perhaps things have changed.

They were when they first came out, but I think prices have come down a bit. Whatever the case, can you really put a price on the essential nutrient for the construction of mylethien sheaths in the nervous system?

 

[Clean_Cut]

Yeh my fish oil bottle mentions nothing about vitamin A: only EPA and DHA?

 

[Coolio]

Cod liver oil is a natural source of Vitamins A & D. Not 'fish oil'.