Vitamins

trailingspouse

serena9 wrote: »

in reality nobody eats a perfectly balanced diet, even most of the time,

It doesn't need to be 'perfect', it just needs to be balanced.



The vitamin industry is an industry like any other - and it profits from people who want a quick fix without the bother of actually thinking carefully about what they eat. Almost all the vits that are on sale in the UK are synthetically produced. If you get them through your food you're getting the real thing.



And more isn't better - you can become seriously ill if you take too much Vitamin A, any Vitamin C that your body ingests that is surplus to requirements is literally flushed away. You need Vitamin D to help your body access the calcium in your diet - but if you're not getting much calcium in the first place, more Vitamin D won't make up for it. Taking iron tablets could mask anaemia in blood tests, which could be fatal. And so on.


Instead, go for unrefined carbs (wholemeal bread, brown rice etc), avoid fizzy pop like the plague, ditto processed foods, cut down on coffee and alcohol, eat fruit and veg in abundance, have a small amount of meat, plenty of fish (both oily and non-oily), and enjoy time in the fresh air even in the winter. Fats are OK in moderation (they lubricate the joints) - but stick to real butter rather than a spread that wouldn't know a cow from a canary.


If, after you've done all of this, you have a deficiency in a particular vitamin, then supplements might be the way to go (for example, as we age our bodies don't assimilate our food in the same way, so we might need a bit of help despite a balanced diet) - but get the diet right first.

joey88

Could anyone tell me more about Collagen supplements? I never realised you could get those! Do they work?

BananaRepublic

Retrogamer wrote: »

It's all fine and well saying that a balanced and healthy diet will provide enough vitamins but barely anyone in the UK has an ideal diet.

Even if you do have a healthy and balanced diet you'll find it difficult to get enough vitamin D a lot of the time.

I take Cod live oil and a fish oil supplement every other day for a top up in vitamin D and omega 3's as i don't like fish.

I find it hard to believe that hardly anyone has a good diet. I don’t want to use the term ideal for reasons explained by another poster. People I know eat well as do I. Lots of fresh veg, brown bread, fish etc. Vitamin D is easily obtained from a little sun exposure, unless you have dark skin. And foods such as soya milk usually have additives. The one that is hard to get is B12 is you are veggie or vegan.

A lot of youngsters I know seem addicted to MacDonalds and that spicy chicken place. Yuck. I guess our palates improve as we age.

Some research I saw indicated that some vitamins are best taken naturally and that pills can be harmful. However, the fish oils you take will do no harm, and may well be very good. Odd that you don’t like fish but take capsules. I love fish, but find fish oil capsules too fishy!

Retrogamer

trailingspouse wrote: »

It doesn't need to be 'perfect', it just needs to be balanced.



The vitamin industry is an industry like any other - and it profits from people who want a quick fix without the bother of actually thinking carefully about what they eat. Almost all the vits that are on sale in the UK are synthetically produced. If you get them through your food you're getting the real thing.



And more isn't better - you can become seriously ill if you take too much Vitamin A, any Vitamin C that your body ingests that is surplus to requirements is literally flushed away. You need Vitamin D to help your body access the calcium in your diet - but if you're not getting much calcium in the first place, more Vitamin D won't make up for it. Taking iron tablets could mask anaemia in blood tests, which could be fatal. And so on.


Instead, go for unrefined carbs (wholemeal bread, brown rice etc), avoid fizzy pop like the plague, ditto processed foods, cut down on coffee and alcohol, eat fruit and veg in abundance, have a small amount of meat, plenty of fish (both oily and non-oily), and enjoy time in the fresh air even in the winter. Fats are OK in moderation (they lubricate the joints) - but stick to real butter rather than a spread that wouldn't know a cow from a canary.


If, after you've done all of this, you have a deficiency in a particular vitamin, then supplements might be the way to go (for example, as we age our bodies don't assimilate our food in the same way, so we might need a bit of help despite a balanced diet) - but get the diet right first.

The thing is though, the large majority of the people in the UK will not have a healthy and balanced diet most of the time.
Everyone knows that is the best and no one is disputing that but if you have a busy lifestyle, with a poor work / life balance or lots of commitments you don't have the time or will to spend any free time cooking.

What do you think is healthier?
Someone who doesn't have a varied diet so they are missing various vitamins / minerals almost daily

Or someone who doesn't have a varied diet and supplements with vitamins / minerals etc to make up for the good groups they are missing?

Kim_kim

joey88 wrote: »

Could anyone tell me more about Collagen supplements? I never realised you could get those! Do they work?

I’m interested in those too.

jenniewb

Apparently the jurys out on internal collagen, it's not proven either way, I wouldn't waste large amounts of money hoping for amazing things, anything outstanding would have been picked up long before a scientific study IME. Collegen has been around for quite a few years now, at least the last 15 years.

Ohthatglow

Vitamins play a vital role in the human body, Both male and female needs to consume different vitamins according to their health requirements. Without vitamins, their body never grows up and develop normally. As we know vitamins C and E both are beneficial for our skin.

donnac2558

Collagen suppliments are bovine. One of the TV shopping channels sells one and then had to admit it came from dead cows. :rotfl: Could be worse grave robbing.:D

coffeehound

Vitamin D supplements advised for everyone

TomokoAdhami

Bumping this thread again because we are living in this pandemic and individuals, especially women, must use vitamins. I am not saying to start using vitamins from supplements, but you can also include them into your diet. Especially vitamin D is essential, and NHS also recommended to use 10 micrograms of vitamin D especially when we are spending all the day in our homes. You can consider the following articles in this regard:

https://www.insider.com/new-reports-evidence-on-vitamin-d-and-coronavirus-2020-7

http://learningiseverything.com/post/vitamin-directly-connected-to-all-almost-all-diseases-including-covid-19

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-52371688

Even most of the people who died because of Covid-19 had a deficiency of vitamin D. People are who are over 70 preferably go with a 20 microgram dose of vitamin D. It doesn't cure the illness but still strengthens your immune system.