To think we don't need daily vitamins

[user87382294757]

Just been reading about how taking day multivitamins might not be necessary and even cause harms in some - I have taken them for a while, quite expensive and not even sure any use. Had Vitamin D test a while back at the GPs which was a bit low so maybe just take that as is ultra cheap and discard the others.

I had a raft of blood tests last autumn and, despite having been outside a fair amount over the summer and had a week in the Med in June and Sept, was very low in Vitamin D. I was very surprised but have decided to supplement since then
I wish there was more good info on which vitamins are good quality and worth taking

It is possible for fair skinned people to get enough vitamin D in the UK, without supplementation. We get enough in the summer to last & get some in the winter if spending enough time outdoors. This also relies on not being heavily covered up.

Doctors have to recommend that everyone take vit D because they would be accused of bias/racism if recommending it only for darker skinned people, plus they cannot make assumptions about lifestyle and many people either cover up too much or do not spend enough time outdoors.

A friend who is a GP said increases of deficiency are much more prevalent among darker skinned people & communities where covering much/all your skin is the norm.

Kummerspeck- were you using sun cream for much of that time? High factor suncream also reduces vit D. You get more bit D being in shade with no suncream in mid day sun than being in sun but slathered head to toe in cream. It's good to get in the sun earlier/later in day so you can have some exposure without cream on without damaging your skin.

I have a really healthy diet, but my body didnt seem to be able to keep up anymore after having kids. I started taking a daily multi vit and felt much better.

I had to have my diet assessed by a dietician some years ago because of unexplained weight loss, and my diet was quite poor then, pretty much carbs, cheese, chicken and homemade salsa I made with tomatoes, onions, and garlic, very little in the way of other fruit and veg. I was surprised to find out, that with the exception of vit D and iron, I was getting all my RDAs of every vitamin and mineral.

But vit D is needed, especially the further north you are

On the skin tone issue it seems there is a lot of difference in the time taken to make adequate vit D- someone with darker skin can take 2-3 hrs, lighter skin only a 20-30 mins stint, (from Vit D council website)

I have olive skin so maybe why mine was low

I use this site to track nutrients in food quite interesting

cronometer.com

Not necessarily OP. Even Southern European / Middle Eastern / South Asians who can pass for white often don’t produce adequate vitamin D. It’s less about skin colour and more about ethnicity and sometimes even your genetics which is why everyone is recommended to take vitamin D - because unless you’re a white person with all of your heritage dating back to Northern Europe chances are you won’t be able to produce enough vitamin d through sunlight in Northern Europe.

Interesting Teddybear.

The problem with being really fair is that it’s veryhard to judge how much exposure is enough before burning. I’m very pale, but managed to be deficient in July..... I was working in an office at the time, so missing most of the daylight hours, even though 5 out of 7 days a week I wasn’t putting any sunscreen on. Having had skin cancer twice, i’m loathe to take any chances, so prefer to get my vit d from tablets, even though it doesn’t feel as good as sun exposure.

It really is surprising how terrible a vitamin D deficiency can make you feel. It's happened to me once and is now back again. I feel like a decrepit old woman and exercise leaves me in such pain, it feels as though my joints have rusted shut (the opposite effect to how exercise affects most other conditions). It also affects my mood and leaves me feeling constantly exhausted.

It's now standard advice to take Vitamin D supplements between about October and April.

I take vitamin d as I’m low even though I spend a lot of time outside and eat lots of oily fish and magnesium as the soil is largely depleted and it helps with migraines. I think most vitamins are a waste of money and just make expensive wee. I hate hearing parents say they give their kid a multivitamin as if that means they don’t need to obtain any nutrients through food. Our bodies don’t always know how to process manufactured vitamins either.

I meant to say 'daily multivitamins' in the OP. It seems Vitamin D is an important one and I have a deficiency as well.

What i don;t like about children's vitamins is when they are made as sweets with lots of sweetener or sugar, and have tiny amounts in. I found Vitamin D drops you can use in food as mine not keen on tablets (unless sweets)

Just make a good quality bone broth (like jelly when cool) and use it in as many things as you can, or add 2 spoons to hot water, add spices and drink it. It wont give you all the vitamins you need but definitely helps. I have 2 freezer drawers full of chicken bones and feet so i never run out. Obviously only helpful for non-vegan/vegetarian

To all the people saying that everyone should just eat a balanced diet and then they won't need it. There are people with stomach issues, problems absorbing certain nutrients from food, some foods dont agree with them. Great for you if you can but not the case for everyone ( and horrible being made feel like you're fully responsible and if you take them you're unhealthy and mis manage your food).

Vegans need to take B12. I need to take B12 as can't absorb well from food. Iron when going through menopause. Both of those were in high doses that an ordinary multi vitamin wouldn't supply.

Other than that - yep expensive wee sums it up I think .

its now standard advice to take vitamin D supplements between October and April

Not something I’ve heard, but I think it’s ridiculous if that’s what the NHS are saying. Slap on the factor 50, reducing your vitamin D, then buy supplements instead. It’s wasteful x2 and just lines the pockets of the pharma companies.

I take them depending on my blood results as I have full bloods every 12 weeks so it says whether I need iron/B12 etc

I've always thought 'meh, I eat a healthy diet what do I need supplements for?' But actually I don't like fish or eggs or drink milk, so my sources of omega 3 are really restricted, which can be really serious.
As a result I've just started taking supplements for this.

its now standard advice to take vitamin D supplements between October and April

Please provide link. Who is giving this "standard" advice?

my sources of omega 3 are really restricted, which can be really serious.

Please provide link. What is the serious impact of not having those food stuff as sources of omega-3, and who is describing the impact(s)?

Vit D advice
www.nhs.uk/news/food-and-diet/the-new-guidelines-on-vitamin-d-what-you-need-to-know/

NHS link:
"The new advice from PHE is that adults and children over the age of one should consider taking a daily supplement containing 10mcg of vitamin D, particularly during autumn and winter."

Maybe I'm having a language fail. Just that if they meant "should" they should have written "should" not "consider".

Omega 3 is tricky and the main risk might not be heart attack or stroke but brain shrinkage and dementia.
Despite eating more than 836% of plant sourced omega 3 from flaxseed and chia seed, a blood test showed I was dangerously low at 3.8 .
I now take a algae sourced EPA and DHA. Omega 3 from fish oil are very often oxidised as proven from many test www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4681158/ and therefor completely inactive. A algae sourced omega 3 is the best way to ensure you get your dose. In the same way vitamin b12 comes from the bacteria the animal eats, the omega 3 comes from the algae the fish eats. Skip the middle man and go straight for the algae.

One can have an extremely calculated balanced diet and yet be deficient because of absorption issue.

About omega 3 and brain atrophy and dementia:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4404917/

I am very conscious about vitamin D and expose myself to sun every day, I am tanned most of the year and yet my vitamin D was on the very lowest in the normal range.

Have a blood test that includes the omega 3 index, and the other you might think you are deficient of, even if you have to pay for it, I paid for my omega 3 index, and only supplement for your deficiencies.

The nhs page on vit d also says
“During autumn and winter (from October until the end of March) the sun isn't strong enough in the UK to produce vitamin D. That means we have to rely on getting it just from the food we eat.

Because it's difficult to get enough vitamin D from food alone, many of us risk not getting enough. Taking a supplement helps to keep levels of the vitamin topped up during the colder months.”

If you go on a Caribbean holiday for a month every winter or eat oily fish every day you may have no need. On the other hand if you are an office worker who doesn’t get much sun exposure and doesn’t get much vit d from your diet you probably do.