Vitamins - Can they really work

Ted_Hutchinson

tara747 wrote: »

Er, what?????

So what diet is healthy in your opinion?

In the same way the NATURAL vitamin D status is the one the human body evolved over many years living outdoors naked to naturally attain and maintain so the diet best suited to humans is composed of those foods that were readily available to our hunter gatherer ancestors and which our body's evolved to deal best with.

There has, over the generations, been acquired a traditional cultural knowledge of how to best to deal with other potential food sources. Stephan explains about the benefits of sourdough fermentation, Yoghurt making and the value of home made stock so although we should be basing our diet on Low Carbohydrate, high fat foods there is the possibility of extending that range safely.

A good place to start learning about we have been deceived is by watching all the clips from Fathead the movie

If you want to understand more may I suggest you read Stephan Whole Health Food Source. His latest blog Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture is particularly interesting.

grastgirl

I agree that all the fruit/veg portions should not come from just fruit because of the sugar and acid content in relation to enamel erosion of teeth. I think the recommended proportion is 2 fruit to 3 veg/3 fruit to 6 veg with no more than one portion from fruit/veg juice. Personally I suspect most people are way off getting a HIGH fibre diet, I think it's much more sensible to eat everything, even things that are supposedly good for you, in moderation.

Not sure about the above ground vegetables thing, plenty of tribes in Africa eat wild tubers and I'm sure primitive humans would have eaten lots of berries (small quantities every day) when they were available as a convenient source of calories.

mazza111

Well I love my man made vitamins, have just been diagnosed as having pernicious anaemia. Got a prescription for B12 tablets, and i'm as high as a kite on them. Can't ever remember having so much energy :j I go onto 3 monthly injections next month, but i think i would rather stick with the tablets

Ted_Hutchinson

grastgirl wrote: »

Not sure about the above ground vegetables thing, plenty of tribes in Africa eat wild tubers and I'm sure primitive humans would have eaten lots of berries (small quantities every day) when they were available as a convenient source of calories.

If you read Stephan's blog he explains how primitive cultures use certain carbohydrate sources carefully to extract the nutrients from them in a safe way. There is a huge difference between the SEASONAL availability of fruit as would have been the case at this latitude for most of our evolution and the current availability of supermarket fruit.

It's not really that difficult to learn from history

Ted_Hutchinson

mazza111 wrote: »

Can't ever remember having so much energy :j I go onto 3 monthly injections next month, but i think i would rather stick with the tablets

I think you may be wise, Read what RoseAnnster quotes from the definitive work on B12 deficiency treatment In fact it may be an idea to print it out and take it with you to your next appointment.
Methylcobalamin has some advantages neither of the other types do. It is the natural form of B12, made by the bacteria that must form natural B12. It does not need to be converted, and it has been proven very helpful not only for those who can be shown deficient in B12 but in many who with correct testing cannot: including some ALS and MS cases.

My objection isn't to using individual vitamins/supplements to correct known or predictable deficiency states. For the most part vitamins/minerals/nutrients are best sourced from food than pills and where food isn't able to provide sufficient then using the evidence we have from such sources as the PUBMED database should enable people to find out which form of that vitamin/mineral/nutrient is known to be most well absorbed/utilized.

lynseydee

I didn't think asking what I thought was a simple question would start a debate about vitamins.

grastgirl wrote: »

OP, I think fruit and vegetables are always going to be the best source for vitamins (and fibre), so you should try to eat them as much as possible, even if your OH doesn't like them. Although the government recommendation is for 5 a day, most nutritionists would want it to be closer to 9! Now I know this and still struggle for five sometimes, and I'm not about to keel over, so don't worry yourself unnecessarily.

Does your OH not eat any fruit or veg? No juice, dried fruit etc? I think it's important that you both eat them, so maybe you could try to hide vegetables in sauces, for instance I add finely grated carrot to my bolognese sauce and once it's cooked you hardly notice it's there, this could also apply to onions, courgettes etc. If this isn't an option you need to eat your portions anyway as Nicki says and perhaps give him the vitamin supplement, a general multivitamin with no more than the RDA, so there's no way he can be having too much.

Grastgirl, my OH doesn't do fruit or veg apart from potatoes. He will drink fruit juice but that's about it. I have now got a hand blender and I did mention about making my own bolognase (sp?) sauces and the like and blending the vegetables so he wouldn't see them. Don't know how serious he thought I was about it but it's something I will try and do when I get the time to make some sauces up, thanks for reminding me.

lynseydee

Nicki wrote: »

Why can't you just eat veg with your meals even though your husband chooses not to? It takes no effort at all to throw together a fresh green salad for example which goes with most evening meals, or to boil a couple of portions of frozen veg for one person, or to use a bag of preprepared vegetables as crudites with a dip.

Leaving aside the vitamins in fruit and vegetables, your body also needs the natural fibres they contain, which can't be replicated by a pill. Most other forms of fibre you may be getting in your diet, through for example wholemeal bread or breakfast cereals, will be through processed foods, which are not ideal as your sole source.

I suppose after living together for the last 4 years I've kind of gotton out of the habit of eating and even buying veg as I tend to plan all our meals around what doesn't contain veg without thinking about what meals I can do with a separate portion of veg on the side (I know I haven't explained myself very well).

As I have said above I am going to try and blend some veg to put in sauces.

I did grow my own cut and come again lettuce last year which was a lot nicer than shop bought and meant I wasn't buying salad stuff which then ended up getting thrown away because it wasn't being eaten quick enough. I am also going to try and grow my own veg again this year and freeze it so I can just help myself as and when I need it but the last time I tried to grow my own veg it didn't go very well.

I do have a freezer full of raspberries though which work seem to appreciate when I make an apple and raspberry cake.

suki1964

Lynseydee, those bagos of steam veggies you buy from the freezers are great for one - no waste. And if you stock up when a bag is on special for a pound its 25p per portion which isnt bank busting

Asda has the best selection of small individual fruit bags ( from the choice of supermarkets I have) and once again a small fruit salad can be got as little as 30-40 pence - cheaper if you get the whoopsies.

Im like your boyfriend and dont like fruit and veg, however I will eat some - mainly root veg - as I know its good for me ( or so Im told). I find roots are easily roasted or mashed so arent so bad in either taste or texture. If he likes potatoes have you tried a sweet potato (actually yummy) or mashed swede? Both of those veg are so similier in texture to potato he may just like them enough to try something else

shopaholic.lady

may partner doesnt eat much veg atall fruit may be a bananna or apple once in a blue moon.. he also suffered from mouth ulcers ....i went to the doctors who said multivitamins would help the mouth ulcers as they are lack of fruit and veg sleep and stress !! hes been taking them for a month or 2 now and they have worked great he doesnt suffer with ulcers anymore!! untill he stopped taking them and the ulcers have now started to come back.... !! i think they work !1

lynseydee

Well are you ready for this revellation. Hubby came home from work the other night and said his boss had treated him to lunch as they had been out working together. He had chicken and chips and it also came with peas. I asked him if he ate the peas and he said he had a few. When I asked him what he thought he said they were alright as they didn't really taste of anything.

I feel some seed sowing happening this weekend so I can stock up on freshly grown peas :j