What should we all be taking, vitamin D3, anything else?

[Janus]

We are a family of 6, age from 9 to 50 something! I’m seriously thinking we need to take the best care of ourselves we can and have read to take vitamin D3 for adults, vitamin D on its own for children I think.
Is there something else we should have/take?
Sorry if this has been done several times but I can’t see from a quick look here.

I take liposomal vitamin C, in addition to D. I've heard it's more easily absorbed than standard vitamin C. I know some people take zinc too. I eat a lot of pumpkin seeds, which are high in zinc

Vitamin c and zinc

Can anyone recommend a d vit supplement for 8 & 11 year olds please?

Holland and Barrett do a few different vitamin d for children, ranges in age groups and type, from drops to chewy sweet type tablets. I’m off to my local one this morning but they also do online delivery. I’m sure Amazon do the same but I’m going to go to get some helpful information about how strong they should be, I’ll let you know what they say.

The Better You vitamin D kids spray is good, it’s on Amazon.

Mine take the spray, can't remember the name...bought on Amazon, we take the adult version

Just checked and it’s called Dlux junior vitamin D spray. It’s 400iU which is recommended daily amount for kids.

Vitamin D3 for all - 10ug/400IU minimum. You can take up to 100ug/4000IU but shouldn't exceed that without medical advice.

I've seen people mention vitamin K2 alongside the D3 and some supplements have them in combination.

Thank you all and @dementedpixie for giving me the exact amounts to look for.
I shall look for Birman C and zinc too. Thank you all.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-d/ this explains more about maximum amounts for different age groups but basically the standard amount is 10ug/400IU

Magnesium. You need magnesium to make the enzyme that makes vitamin d “bio available” and many people don’t get enough of it. If you don’t want to take more tablets, magnesium is also found in leafy green veg, whole grains and legumes-but you have to eat quite a lot of these to make up the RDA and the western diet is notoriously low in magnesium anyway.

It's worth looking at Victoria Health for supplements.

I take a cheap multivitamin each day which includes vitamin D (though only the RDA, not the level that some people think we need to take, but at least I am getting some). If I get any sort of sniffle I also take a vitamin C and zinc lozenge and I keep in supplies of Sambucol too.

@JeannieTheZebra

Magnesium. You need magnesium to make the enzyme that makes vitamin d “bio available” and many people don’t get enough of it. If you don’t want to take more tablets, magnesium is also found in leafy green veg, whole grains and legumes-but you have to eat quite a lot of these to make up the RDA and the western diet is notoriously low in magnesium anyway.

That's a good point. Also good for warding off headaches.

Zinc lozenges. 25mg.
I had to look after DH for a week before he ended up in hospital. He was so insanely ill and I was terrified the kids and I would get covid. The fear of both of us being brought to the brink was as stressful as trying to look after an incredibly unwell husband. It's been all sorts of awful.

BUT! What I would say is this: Keep airing your houses/flats (even if nobody is ill and there is no worry about covid, do keep airing).
Take your D3 4000-5000 iu for adults per day. The kids should take

I should add, DH takes no supplements and never does my eucalyptus steams or baths (I've been doing these since I was a very young woman... my Czech grandmother and Auntie were full of holistic advice, which I've followed). I'm just adding this because I really feel that the fact that the kids and I are dosed up on D and zinc may really have helped us to avoid covid. I can't be sure though. It may all be a placebo effect and just plain old luck.

@TheVanguardSix thank you so much, this is what I’m going to aim for!
I’m awful at opening windows at the moment as all 4 kids are gone schooling and sitting down in front of gadgets for hours so get so cold but I think I will open it for half hour every 3 hours or something and just get blankets over them!
Can I ask if you recommend a particular lozenge for the magnesium and zinc?
I hope your husband is ok now??

The vitamin D sprays are good, you may not need anything else if you are an omnivore and eat a healthy diet.

We have sambucol to take at the first sign of respiratory illness, we dont take it routinely. There is a junior version.

Speaking to my nutritionist friend she said vitamin D and Omega 3 are the only things really necessary to supplement with. Unless your family eat oily fish twice a week for Omega 3.

Everything else should be able to be found in a healthy diet. I have read that since farming methods have changed certain things such as selenium and other minerals are harder to get in our diet. Many people are magnesium deficient. But probably worth reading up on dietary sources of these.

The best thing we can do for our health and immune system is eat a variety of plants so loads of veggies/fruits/beans and pulses. I eat meat but if you don’t you’d need vitamin B12 as a supplement.

D3, K2, zinc, Krill oil, Vit C Liposomal

Thank you. We have a good diet and older 2 children only eat fish, not meat, which actually means we all eat a lot of fish and not that much meat. And we eat a lot of veggies as some meals are just veggie.
Thanks for your help, it’s a lot of information to try and work out!

You're very welcome Janus and thank you for your lovely well wishes for DH.
I highly recommend Solgar vitamin D3 4000iu (if you can find 5000iu online, even better but the 4000 is plenty). I get mine from Amazon.

For the kids, I get this vitamin D: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0082A7GUM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&ie=UTF8

We take Zahler zinc with elderberry lozenges. They can be found on Amazon.