Okay Mr. Vita-man. Question:
Are multivitamins actually beneficial, or just a way to make money. Mizz K tries to make me take centrum for men, and some others and I'm not sure if there's any effect. What's your take?
Centrum is like if you had a bottle, went outside, and threw some dirt in it. It's dookie. It's synthetic. It's tablets, good luck on absorbing half of them you intake. Multi-vitamins are beneficiary though. You can knock out most of your vitamin deficiencies just by taking one. They are the most basic thing you can take for all your needs, whether for energy (B vitamins), immunity (Vitamin A,C,E/minerals such as zinc and selenium), or bone support (boron, calcium, copper).
Now I'm not saying all multivitamins are garbage, but Centrum is garbage. This is not something you do everyday, but when you look at the back of the bottle, some of the things to look for are DV% and the form certain vitamins come in. DV is the Daily Value, which is actually the minimum daily value that you can take in that vitamin/mineral to prevent deficiencies. You want to aim for 100 - 200% in A, Over 100% in C and D, as well as E. As for B vitamins, if you see any of them in the 100% DV range, that's really weak. This is because B vitamins are water soluble. These are the vitamins you end up pissing out at the end of the day, which your body does not store. Vitamin C is also water soluble (Although it comes in a fat soluble form called ascorbyl palmitate), so more realistically you should see amounts like "2100%" in certain B vitamins and "500%" in C since you can't overdose on them. Vitamin A, E, and D are fat soluble in which your body stores them. This means you can overdose on these supplements and intoxicate your body.
How much is too much? Well Vitamin A's overdose is about 30,000IU in a serving. Say your multivitamin supplies 25,000IU. That's not bad, but you should also keep track of the amount of A you're getting from your foods. Vitamin D is well beyond 5000 IU, and E is beyond 1000 despite being sold as low as 100IU.
Oh yea! Quality of the vitamins! Well minerals are pretty safe, but let's look at good names and bad names:
Cholecaciferol (sp?) - This is the most natural form of Vitamin D, also known as D3. It's produced on our skin when we are exposed to the UV rays of the sun, and taking it as a supplement, it's the best absorbed that your body will recognize.
Ergocaciferol (sp?) - Vitamin D2. This is the second best form of D you can take, which is derived from food sources. It is second best to absorption next to D3.
D5 - This is the synthetic form of D. If you buy some cheap Walgreen's brand, it'll probably have this in it.
Beta-Carotene - Most natural form of A. Yes it is derived from carrots.
Ascorbic Acid - Vitamin C. Still natural, just in an acidic form. If you have acid reflux or high stomach acid levels, consider calcium ascorbic or "Ester C".
Ascorbyl Palmitate - Fat soluble C. Stays in your system longer.
Uh..................one last thing. Popping one dose of your multivitamin probably won't give you any results. Everybody's body is different, so it may be weeks or months to see results, assuming you chose a well-absorbed multivitamin. If you're gonna try tablets, try to find "enteric coated" on the box, so you'll know they'll be better dissolved in the digestive system.