A little rant today:
I’m breaking up with vitamin supplements.
We had a sexy run ( see our relationship here ) but I’m ready to commit to eating vits rather than ingesting them in pill form.
I came to this decision while testing out the app MyFitnessPal. After inputing everything I ate for a week, the app showed my vitamin consumption higher than normal.
In particular my Vitamin A was super, duper high.
So I did some research and discovered many women received too much Vitamin A which can lead to liver problems & central nervous system disorders ( more info here ).
Yah, I know, right?!
There IS such thing as too much vitamins!!!
I am constantly juicing, eating veggies, & snacking on fruit, so when it comes to vitamin sups they’re overkill.
I mean, is it necessary to take fish oil when you can eat the actual fish?
Anyway this article pretty much sums up my relationship with vitamins now.
If your daily diet consists of Flaming Hot Cheetos, Slurpees, & cinnamon buns, by all means take a handful of vitamins. But if you’re into healthy eating, really research exactly what types of vitamins you’re consuming.
Ok. End of rant.
Happy Thursday!
x.L
FYI: I still love my monthly B12 shots, all-natural herbs, & probiotics ; ).
I mostly take multi-vitamins because I am borderline anemic. It helps keep anemia at bay. But otherwise, if I didn’t need so much iron I wouldn’t take them either. I don’t think I need them since I love veggies, fruit, and my green smoothies 🙂
I should really eat more iron-rich food so I can get away from my vitamin. I feel like a sick person!
Vitamin A is not very harmful in large doses as long as it is consumed as beta-carotene, which is the form in most veggies. It will inhibit itself from transforming into the usable Vitamin A structure if there is a large quantity of it. If it is taken in the supplement form, it can interfere with Vitamin D and Calcium absorption in the body (ie causing bone and hip problems) because it can’t inhibit itself. Just some chemistry facts for ya!
Just what I was thinking – also important to note that medical literature is leaning more and more toward suggesting that people get more like 2000IU of Vitamin D every day, which is nearly impossible to get from food and sunshine. I take a Vitamin D supplement only, and let my diet take care of everything else.
Did you know taking birth control can cause the depletion of vitamin B6? Therefore your body ends up being vitamin B6 deficient. B6 is not stored in the body so you must ingest it through foods or supplements. Most women do not ingest enough vitamin B anyways so if you are on birth control it is very important that you take a supplement. Just some info I just found out a few months ago 🙂
Andrea, WORD. So glad I am taking B vitamins now. You can read about my struggles with undiagnosed B deficiency and how to fix it here on my blog:
http://londonlikethecity.wordpress.com/2013/04/04/b12-deficiency-vitamin-injections/
Totally agree, throw away the vitamins. You can get everything you need from your foods. Eating good quantities of fresh (organic) fruits and veggies, add in some organic pesticide, herbicide free nuts(Almonds,walnuts,cashews) any nuts with a brown skin you should soak for 12 to 24hrs. This cleans away any nautural dust, tannins & residue & will give the nuts a better flavour. It also activates them. Some good oils like hemp seed oil are great for getting your omega 3, 6 & 9 and essential fatty acids. Look up hemp seed oil and benefits. So eat healthy, drink pleanty of frsh filteres water, get 20 minutes of sunshine every day (Vit D) and you will thrive.
I totally understand how taking supplements can be a bad thing and the importance of eating certain foods to get the nutritional benefits. However, for me that isnt the case, I am a very picky eater so getting the greens into my body is a huge struggle Supplements definitely help me give my body the nutrition it needs.
Interesting to read this! I take Vitamin D and EPO for skin health. But eating fruits and veggies is the way to go. Hands down. — dailycupoffitness.blogspot.com
How do you get your potassium and calcium? Those are the two things I am always low on!! It’s so annoying, and I’m not a huge fan of milk or dairy so I don’t know what to do. I agree though, vitamins are overkill unless someone eats just completely crappy or something.
Dark leafy greens, like kale, are higher in calcium than milk and also have a good amount of potassium in them as well! Broccoli also has a high amount of calcium!
Thanks for the suggestions Brooke! I will always welcome more reasons to eat spinach, I love that stuff. 🙂 I need to try kale more often too.
L- what about all the vits u miss in a day? you are an incredibly active person… many people dispose of vits they go over in natural form (running to the powder room, sweating, act.) Sometimes your body can actually crave things bc you are lacking in vits.. myfitpal is great for tracking Macros [protein/carbs/fat] but Micro[vitamins] absorption and necessity is different for everyone- not something MFP can tell you – its obvi better to consume natural sources but as long as ur taking a natural plant based vit [not an icky one a day or centrum that actually don’t absorb in your intestine tracks] that actually digest in your bod any extras your body will put in its “trash” to be taken out on your next visit… just food for thought before you throw away the idea all together…
I had to quit with the multi-vitamin, maybe TMI, but it was plugging me up! I still do the fish oil and the biotin though. Also, day 3 of the juice cleanse! Question, do you notice a sore throat when you’re doing it? Just curious if it’s my allergies or the acid levels. Thanks!!
Good idea… I pared down recently and went to just a daily multi… Way easier to maintain (and pay for)!
I mostly just take Biotin for my hair. I might be overdoing it thought, because I take 5,000 mcg a day! Looking into adjusting that.
Couldn’t agree more – these days there’s no knowing what goes into vitamins (preservatives, chemicals, colors etc…) not to mention how well we actually absorb and utilize them, or if we are getting to much. Not relying on vitamin supplements definitely forces us more mindful nutrient-eaters.
Hi Lauren! What kind of probiotic supplement do you use?
Hey Lauren,
Can you let me know what kind of probiotics you use?
I’m a firm believer in eating real, whole foods, but I also believe in supplementing too. After watching “Food Matters” several times, adding some good quality supplements makes sense, to me. I can’t trust that the whole foods we buy have all the vitamins and minerals in them they once did, and at least for me, supplementing is like extra insurance. But I totally support anyone that wants to give not supplementing a go and see how it works for them. More power to ya girl! We all just need to get really good at listening to our bodies and do what’s best for us.
As long as you consume healthy foods, there’s no need to take vits! There are just as many cons in having too many vitamins in your body than not enough, most people don’t even realize! I myself don’t take any vits except fish oils when I’m not eating enough fish.
P.S. My Fitness Pal is a great app for a heads up on what you’re really putting into your body. Love it!
Thats i must say a great idea by you…:) But eating fruits and veggies is the way to been healthy. Thanks