Cheap Vitamins etc?

Ted_Hutchinson

I think you probably could take separate Glucosamine/Chondroitin tablets one tsp of cod liver oil one tsp of Omega juice and a high strength Vitamin d capsule zipvit do a Vitamin K I'll work out pricings tomorrow to see if it works out cheaper.

Vitamin A 120µg 15 480µg 60
Vitamin D 0.75µg 15 3µg 60
Vitamin E 1.5mg 15 6mg 60
Vitamin C 9mg 15 36mg 60
Vitamin K 20µg * 80µg *
Calcium 100mg 12.5 400mg 50
Manganese 1mg * 4mg *
Copper 1mg * 4mg *
Cod Liver Oil and Fish Oil 475mg * 1900mg *
providing
Omega 3 nutrients 200mg * 800mg *
of which
EPA 95mg * 380mg *
DHA 69mg * 276mg *
Glucosamine Sulphate 250mg * 1000mg *
Chondroitin Sulphate 50mg * 200mg *
Cysteine 10mg * 40mg *
Lysine 10mg * 40mg *
Glutathione 10mg * 40mg *

Boots Cod liver oil is £4.99 for 500ml and should provide 1tsp should provide 920mg (of which DHA – 460mg and EPA – 345mg). Vitamin A – 3,234iu (120% RDA), Vitamin D – 416iu (207% RDA) and Natural Source Vitamin E – 5.5mg (55% RDA)
That would match the omega 3 content the Vit A D and E content of the 7Seas Projoint. and would last 3 months for the cost of £1.50 month approx.
Zipvit Glucosamine Sulphate 500mg with Chondroitin 400mg - 200 cost £22.95 and would cost £6.88 to provide the same glucosamine but more chrondroitin than above.
Zipvits Vitamin K is £4.45 360 100mcg =37p monthly for more than in 7 seas.

The amount of calcium that should be consumed daily is
19-30 years: 1000 mg
31-50 years: 1000 mg
51+ years: 1200 mg
Postmenopausal women not taking hormone replacement therapy: 1500 mg
Pregnant and lactating women (younger than 18 years): 1300 mg
Pregnant and lactating women (older than 18 years): 1000 mg

You don't say how old MIL is she may be able to get calcium/vitamin d mix on prescription Some people also get Glucosamine/chondroitin on prescription but this isn't universal.

It's sunny now so I'm off out for a bit. will finish this later.

Factor25

MIL is 72, we got some Glucosimine/Omega 3/Chondroitin BOGOF in tesco and we can work out from your info what else to add to it. Personally for the benefit she gets out of it I think its worth the 50p a day.

Deals_2

i have heard a few people talk about. i was also told that stuff sold at tescos does not work. any feedback?

Ted_Hutchinson

In my view I don't think you can really tell from the price if a particular vitamin/supplement is worth it's money.

You have to understand a little about what you are buying before you can make a valid judgement.

For the most part Vitamins and minerals you need are BEST obtained from natural sources. Your body evolved to get Vitamin D from sunlight not from a supplement, calcium is best from food as are most other vitamins and minerals, there have been plenty of research projects showing that synthetic vitamins are not as effective as natural food equivalent forms.
Similarly vitamin c from food is in a natural slow release form. There is plenty of research showing Vitamin C in synthetic non slow release form isn't effective but not so much using slow release forms which more exactly replicate the natural source that enables vitamin c status to be raised and kept high, over a longer period.

I think that omega 3 is omega 3 and it doesn't really matter, providing you get sufficient, if it comes from Tesco's, Holland and Barrett or Zipvit providing you get sufficient EPA and DHA to total around 4g per person per day. Where most people go wrong is they don't take sufficient to be effective.
With Vitamin D you find that the form the Doctors prescribe is the least effective, because they use the synthetic D2 Ergocalciferol, the form D3 Cholecaliferol is much more effective and is identical to the stuff you skin makes given exposure to sunshine. So If your Vitamin D says D3 Cholecalciferol then providing it's an EFFECTIVE AMOUNT, the level your body would make itself if we had some sun and you were able to lay naked in that sun for 20 minutes, then it's worth buying, if it's D2 Ergocalciferol, the type your Dr may prescribe, then it's only contains 30% of the effective power that D3 Cholecalciferol packs.

The same would go with Glucosamine Sulphate, the important thing is to take a sufficient amount, to be effective, 1500mg/d, I doubt it makes much difference how much or how little you pay. If you buy the cheapest and it doesn't appear to be working then maybe it would be worth buying from a different source but maybe it's because no amount of that particular supplement would help your condition. I think you've got to be careful not to be sucked in by the hype that surrounds many of these claims. I always use Pubmed to check that the supplement I am considering buying has any research based information supporting it's use for the purpose I intend.
However most of the research shows that food sources are best.

New Scientific Findings on Whole Foods versus Supplements: disctopics

That is of course excluding Vitamin D3 which is best obtained free from sunlight and if (as is the case this year in the UK) sunlight is not available then the nearest equivalent is Vitamin D3 Cholecalciferol so don't be tempted to waste your money on the D2 Ergocalciferol the most frequently prescribed form.

Ted_Hutchinson

Toots wrote: »

Some vitamins and minerals are time-release so that you don't just pee out any excess in your system when you go to the loo. These are better for you as they stay in your system longer.

But surely time release formulations are only relevant where time is a factor. If we consider glucosamine sulphate with a half life of glucosamine sulphate may be as much as 58 hours in which case it doesn't make a significant difference if it is absorbed over one hour or 8 hrs, providing you are taking it daily then it will average out. It may in fact work out cheaper to buy 3 x 500mg Glucosamine and take one every 4hrs with food and thus safe the additional cost that time release formulations often entail, and still have a good take up and availability over the 24 hrs each day.
The only Time Release I buy is Vitamin C and that's because it's half life is measured in minutes.
As the half life of Vitamin D3 is around 10 days it's totally pointless buying time release. You can (providing you are not pregnant or breast feeding) take vitamin d once a week and have the same effect (breast feeding mums need to take an effective amount daily or vitamin d in breast milk is variable)

melancholly

when i was put on a restricted food diet i had to take lots of multivitamins to compensate - not sure how true it is, but i was told not to buy the cheapest make and that you get 'better quality' for your money. i went and bought jumbo packs at costco instead!!

i guess the biggest difference will be in what exact combinations each multivitamin has - or if you're buying separate vitamin packs, what the dosage is relative to the RDA.

imported_goldie

There is a test you can do on omega 3 capsules. If you put one in the freezer for 24 hours it should stay the same colour. If it goes white and/or cloudy it says you are just eating fat and not true omega 3 oil. The tesco one i tried actually went white so i stopped buying them but the zipvit ones stayed the same - and they are cheaper too!

belfastgirl23

Ted Hutchinson can I be nosy and ask what you do? You know so much about all this stuff

On the supplements I find cheaper omega 3s give me indigestion and fish burps (sorry to be indelicate) but I go with boots own brand for regular vit supplements.

footyfan

Can anyone recommend a good website for vitamins online?

I'm thinking of Glucosamine, Chondroitin etc for joints. These seem to cost a small fortune in Boots and Superdrug, even with 3 for 2 deals. But, is the quality better than cheaper products from online stores and therefore worth paying extra?

I know the vitamin content (mg) can vary.

A quick Google search found healthydirect.com - anyone used them and can recommend or otherwise?

Any other suggestions appreciated.

mum2one

footyfan wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a good website for vitamins online?

I'm thinking of Glucosamine, Chondroitin etc for joints. These seem to cost a small fortune in Boots and Superdrug, even with 3 for 2 deals. But, is the quality better than cheaper products from online stores and therefore worth paying extra?

I know the vitamin content (mg) can vary.

A quick Google search found heathydirect.com - anyone used them and can recommend or otherwise?

Any other suggestions appreciated.

Hi.

I personally use

Healthspan - there really good value, and they get shipped within a week, have used them for over 5 years and have had absolutely no problems with them at all.

The other company I would recommend (used them once they were good, ordering between both now)

Zipvit

Just put the word in google - again there really good.

Hope that helps
x