Do multivitamins work?

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Do you guys think multivitamins actually work or are they a scam? How can it be proven that they do work? Do you notice any difference when you are taking them versus when you are not?
 

SirBigBell

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People use the term “multivitamins” to refer to all manner of mineral supplements, and not specifically vitamins only. Some people have been sceptical about the effectiveness of mineral supplements, for mainly the following reasons:

*most people take them to prevent illnesses and not to cure sicknesses. So their effect is not easily noticeable because they dont fix a problem

* the multivitamin industry is not rigorously regulated like the medical drug industry, so some rogue players have been known to just sell chalk dust and gotten away with it.

I will give you my personal experience with mineral supplements. I embarked on a training program 6 years ago as i was fed up of weighing 120 pounds at 5’7. My goal was to build a better physique drug free (without steroids). As part of that quest, I researched heavily on supplements and have tried a range of them over the years. Now im sitting at 221 pounds solid, drug free. Here is my experience with some mineral supplements:

Vitamin D3
I took this vitamin to build strong bones and yes it worked. How do I know? Within days of taking it, my nails started to grow stronger and faster.

Vitamin K2
This one boosts the body’s ability to produce more testosterone. I knew it was working because it also caused my nails to grow faster and my hair also.

Fenugreek
I was taking this supplement to boost my natural testosterone production. I had to stop taking it because it was giving me gyno (puffy tender nipples). So it was working, but the gyno was a side effect I wasnt happy with.

Calcium D Glucarate
This ordinarily helps your bones to absorb calcium better and to lower oestrogen levels from the male body. I took this one to fix the gyno problem mentioned above. Within 2 weeks of taking it, my puffy tits had vanished. So it works.

Boron
This mineral is known to help boost natural testosterone in the body. When i started taking it i noticed that my nails and hair also grew stronger and faster. So it works.

D-Mannose
I used to suffer from urinary tract infections on a regular basis. That stopped when I started to take this mineral. No more UTIs. So it works.

All the above supplements are available from any good health store or from Amazon. If i cant buy something from a health store or from Amazon, then i dont want it in my body, its that simple.

As I pointed out earlier, some players in the multivitamin industry are rogue and will sell shoddy or even fake stuff to make a buck. So i do my research and make sure that the manufacturer has a good reputation, a solid track record in the game and many good customer product reviews. I mainly buy my supplements from 2 key manufacturers that I trust fully - Solgar and Nu U Nutrition.

I hope my response is helpful.
 

Velasco

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I see all the supps you took were to increase your testosterone levels. for me evidence that they're working would be if I feel differently when I take them. Hornier and more aggressive and masculine in general VS "oh my nails are growing faster, so it must be working!" placebo. I know I feel amazing if I stick to my diet https://www.sosuave.net/forum/threa...we-need-on-a-daily-basis.268170/#post-2809468, not fap for at least 4 days before I plan on going out to approach some biddies, and workout 3-4 times per week.
 

SirBigBell

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I see all the supps you took were to increase your testosterone levels. for me evidence that they're working would be if I feel differently when I take them. Hornier and more aggressive and masculine in general VS "oh my nails are growing faster, so it must be working!" placebo. I know I feel amazing if I stick to my diet https://www.sosuave.net/forum/threa...we-need-on-a-daily-basis.268170/#post-2809468, not fap for at least 4 days before I plan on going out to approach some biddies, and workout 3-4 times per week.
You dont go from 120 pounds to 221 pounds solid drug free without a boost in your natural testo. Why waste my time stating something so obvious? Surely that should be plain common sense.

Look, if you dont believe in something, dont discourage those who may wish to give things a try. Their experiences may be different from yours.

If sticking to your diet is what works for you, bravo. But dont dismissively blow smoke on any experiences and views that differ from yours.
 

Focal core

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I took centrum multivitamins, it really improve my focus, overall health, stamina and feeling great all day it help me to sleep better as well.. Its an all rounder and cunning tools.
 

GT40

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I took centrum multivitamins, it really improve my focus, overall health, stamina and feeling great all day it help me to sleep better as well.. Its an all rounder and cunning tools.
I’d agree. Totally.
 

Blacksheep

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I took centrum multivitamins, it really improve my focus, overall health, stamina and feeling great all day it help me to sleep better as well.. Its an all rounder and cunning tools.
See benefits too.

Also magnesium took my muscles pain away, and improved my sleep.
 

FlexpertHamilton

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I wouldn't recommend a multivitamin simply because it's very hard to absorb everything in it all at once. Plus it's unlikely you're deficient in most of the ingredients within it. I would supplement Vitamin D, Magnesium, Zinc, B-Complex, and maybe vitamin E/K (there are numerous forms of both and its a rabbit hole to try to make sense of it all). Take Vitamin D, B-Complex, Zinc in the morning, and Magnesium at night.

scam. get your nutrients from real food.
That's very, very difficult to do. Magnesium in particular is pretty damn difficult to get in high amounts from diet. The other issue is that a lot of nutrients aren't absorbed very well and compete with others for absorption. Just because the food label says it has "100% RDA" of a certain nutrient doesn't mean 100% of it is bioavailable. Some supplements absorb quite well on an empty stomach, and it's often a better option than trying to get all your nutrients from food, especially plants which have many anti-nutrients that prevent absorption of various vitamins and minerals.
 

Velasco

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That's very, very difficult to do.
nah.
I would supplement Vitamin D, Magnesium, Zinc, B-Complex, and maybe vitamin E/K
Vitamin D = Sun exposure.
Magnesium = sunflower seeds, steak/ground beef/salmon, raw almonds, potato/rice, avocado.
Zinc = cow liver/salmon/ground beef/steak, greek yogurt.
Vitamin B = Cow liver/salmon/steak/ground beef, potato.
Vitamin E/K = EVOO, avocado, sauerkraut, raw almonds.

I personally don't focus on micros tho. Just balanced macros (protein, healthy fat, healthy carbs) on every meal tbh.
 

Bible_Belt

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Sunlight activates the vitamin d in your body from your diet. Tuna and fatty fish have a lot. In many countries, it is added to milk and orange juice. I take it as a supplement, as well as grapefruit seed extract and another antioxidant mix as well, with the thinking that I will get covid eventually and want to be full of antioxidants when that happens.

Also, if you drink alcohol, milk thistle is supposed to speed liver repair.
 

Kotaix

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They're not a scam, they do actually contain vitamins and they sure as hell would prevent/cure scurvy in someone that had a vitamin C deficiency.

Do you NEED the vitamins that are in it? No, probably not. You can't even process all of them
Are you getting ALL of the vitamins that you need from your food? No, probably not.

It doesn't hurt to take them, but they're not some kind of miracle snake oil that is going to do much of anything for you unless you eat really unhealthy.
 

FlexpertHamilton

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nah.

Vitamin D = Sun exposure.
Magnesium = sunflower seeds, steak/ground beef/salmon, raw almonds, potato/rice, avocado.
Zinc = cow liver/salmon/ground beef/steak, greek yogurt.
Vitamin B = Cow liver/salmon/steak/ground beef, potato.
Vitamin E/K = EVOO, avocado, sauerkraut, raw almonds.

I personally don't focus on micros tho. Just balanced macros (protein, healthy fat, healthy carbs) on every meal tbh.
Lots of places don't have adequate sunlight 6 months out of the year.

None of those foods have particularly high levels of magnesium, and would you need to eat a LOT of them EVERY day, it takes forever to correct a deficiency and maintain optimal levels even with supplementing.

Also there are numerous B vitamins... I don't think even calf liver has all of them. But maybe.

For vitamin E/K again it's not exactly clear which forms are best and most bioavailable so I'm not sure about that one.

If you do indeed eat all of those things every day and are able to get sunlight 12 months out of the year, it's still probably a good idea to supplement magnesium. Go get a blood test and tell me what your levels are at.
 

Lookatu

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Personally for me it does. I have noticed though that some multi-vitamins work better than others. Some are more targeted for older males which have varying degrees of the various minerals and vitamins in it.

There are very valid points to all the posts above though.

Some of the multi-vitamins that have high concentrations simply can't all be absorbed by the body. You'll definitely notice it as your urine will be neon yellow and some multi-vitamins will practically produce glow in the dark pee. LOL

Also some vitamins blocks the absorption of others so they either have to be taken separately throughout the day or the amounts have to be tailored so they aren't fighting each other.

If you eat correctly, you probably don't need a multi-vitamin. However if you don't or if you are older, there is no harm in taking them. Think of it as a topper. Say you eat healthy and your body has 80% of what it needs. Mutli-vitamins will fill that extra 20% you need. The rest will be flushed out of your body through your urine.

Personally for me, the one's I've been taking help me focus, stay alert and give me energy throughout the day. I think multi-vitamins and/or supplements get more important to assist you the older you get. I've tried several multi-vitamins over the years but the Rainbow brand I've been taking over the past 3 years seems to work the best for me.

 

Alvafe

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thing is depending the ammount, it can do nothing to actually be bad for you, more is better really is not a thing here, get blood test and see if you really need extra vitamins or anything really, if you don't need then yes you are wasting money in the best case
 

Velasco

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Lots of places don't have adequate sunlight 6 months out of the year.
Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs; covering requirements of ≥97.5% of the population) for vitamin D, RDAs of 600 IU/d for ages 1-70 yr and 800 IU/d for ages 71 yr and older.
Based on the dietary tables, it is suggested that salmon contains approximately 400 IU of vitamin D3/3.5 oz.

Get the remaining 200 IU from eggs and milk
None of those foods have particularly high levels of magnesium, and would you need to eat a LOT of them EVERY day, it takes forever to correct a deficiency and maintain optimal levels even with supplementing.
as long as you're not getting more than 350 mg of magnesium per day from supplements and/or medicine and are getting some magnesium from foods (like whole grains, nuts, beans, and green leafy vegetables) you can satisfy the RDA without exceeding the UL.
Just 2 tablespoons of dried pumpkin seeds contain 96 mg of magnesium

100mg in a 1lb steak
One ounce of almonds has 80 mg
48.4mg per potato
58mg per avocado


100mg (eat pumpkin/sunflower seeds as your snack throughout the day)+100mg+50mg+30mg (58/2 cuz I slice my avocado in half)(steak+potato+avocado for dinner)+80mg (almonds as part of my lunch) = 360mg of magnesium.
Also there are numerous B vitamins... I don't think even liver has all of them.
very high in all except for B6. but that's why you add avocado+potatoes in the mix.

>he did the math
 
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FlexpertHamilton

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^Those Vitamin D levels are nowhere near high enough...I don't have sources on hand but I remember that the RDA set for Vitamin is very low, the actual number you need is closer to 10,000 UI per day.

Magnesium thing seems fine I guess but you do need more if you exercise/sweat a lot. Who eats steak and pumpkin seeds everyday anyway?
 
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