Multi vitamin instead of Vitamin D + fish oil?

[JEDI]

Currently i take Vitamin D and fish oil.

annual blood tests came back w/low Vitamin D. doc says i need to take vitamin D supplements, so I bought vitamin D3.

now i'm thinking why not just buy a multi vitamin instead like centrum complete?

 

[DougoMan]

Centrum® Ultra Men's Tablets only have 600IU. You probably want to take around 10,000IUs for a couple of months if you're deficient.

Also why would you take vitamin A?

 

[eits]

no.

i'm actually pretty anti multivitamin.

definitely take the d3 and fish oils. i tell every one of my patients to take them daily.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Centrum® Ultra Men's Tablets only have 600IU. You probably want to take around 10,000IUs for a couple of months if you're deficient.

Also why would you take vitamin A?

When I was deficient I was taking 50000 IU once a month.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

A multivitamin really isn't gonna do much for you. You're Vitamin D deficient so you need to supplement Vitamin D specifically. As others have said, Vitamin D and fish oil is much more proven in research than a given multivitamin. On top of that, you need to be taking much more Vitamin D than is in a multivitamin to get your levels up. As stated before, 10,000IU is not unheard of when trying to raise levels to normal.

 

[JEDI]

Centrum® Ultra Men's Tablets only have 600IU. You probably want to take around 10,000IUs for a couple of months if you're deficient.

Also why would you take vitamin A?

whoops.. meant vitamin D.

10k IUs?!

1k IU is 250% daily value. doc told me to take 2k worth/day.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

whoops.. meant vitamin D.

10k IUs?!

1k IU is 250% daily value. doc told me to take 2k worth/day.

Actually, the suggested daily intake is under much debate with Vitamin D. 400IUs helps, but research has shown that doses closer to 2000IUs for maintenance are better. Depending on how deficient you are, the amount you'll supplement will vary. If your doctor said 2k, take 2k.

 

[DougoMan]

Vitamin D is neat because it stays in your body for a couple of years so you can take 100,000IUs in one dose once and be good for a year.

Or so I've read. I wouldn't actually do it.

 

[Lamont Burns]

That daily rec on Vit D is gonna change one day, the science is there the powers that be are just slow.

 

[mikelish]

i've never had a blood test that tells me info like that. sounds like it could be useful. how do i get one?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Vitamin D is neat because it stays in your body for a couple of years so you can take 100,000IUs in one dose once and be good for a year.

Or so I've read. I wouldn't actually do it.

Also a very negative thing with people who take high doses of Vitamin D without consulting with a physician - if you consistently take high doses, it gets stored in your adipose tissue. If you, at any time, go into a caloric deficit and you have to mobilize a lot of fat for energy, you could kill yourself via Vitamin D toxicity.

 

[mb]

i've never had a blood test that tells me info like that. sounds like it could be useful. how do i get one?

Call pretty much any general doctors office and make an appointment for a routine physical. You can have your blood tested by nearly any of them.


My doc was shocked at how high my vitamin D levels were when I was tested. He asked if I worked outside all day but nope, just supplements.
I had been taking two 2,000 IU D3 pills a day along with the 600 IU I get from my multivitamins. I dropped it down to one of the 2,000 IU pills about 4-5 times a week now.

 

[Zen0]

Wow, how do you guys get Vitamin D deficient?

 

[mb]

Wow, how do you guys get Vitamin D deficient?

Anyone who does not supplement, does not spend many hours in the sun, does not drink a lot of fortified milk, and/or does not eat fish on a regular basis probably is deficient to varying degrees.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Anyone who does not supplement, does not spend many hours in the sun, does not drink a lot of fortified milk, and/or does not eat fish on a regular basis probably is deficient to varying degrees.

Yep. Essentially if you work inside without supplementing, you're below optimal levels. That is, unless you spend a lot of time outside in your free time daily.

 

[Zen0]

Anyone who does not supplement, does not spend many hours in the sun, does not drink a lot of fortified milk, and/or does not eat fish on a regular basis probably is deficient to varying degrees.

Interesting, I don't do any of those except drink milk sparingly and a multi-vitamin, and have never had any deficiencies. My Multi-vitamin has 500 IU of Vitamin D.

NIH recommends 600 IU daily intake for males 19-50:

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/#h2

I guess my Multi-vitamin is sufficient...

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Interesting, I don't do any of those except drink milk sparingly and a multi-vitamin, and have never had any deficiencies. My Multi-vitamin has 500 IU of Vitamin D.

NIH recommends 600 IU daily intake for males 19-50:

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/#h2

I guess my Multi-vitamin is sufficient...

Ever actually been tested for it?

 

[mb]

Interesting, I don't do any of those except drink milk sparingly and a multi-vitamin, and have never had any deficiencies. My Multi-vitamin has 500 IU of Vitamin D.

NIH recommends 600 IU daily intake for males 19-50:

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/#h2

I guess my Multi-vitamin is sufficient...

Have you actually been tested or are you just assuming you aren't deficient?

I have no idea if I've ever been deficient or how much I might have been - I've only been tested once and it was well after I started supplementing.

 

[Zen0]

Ever actually been tested for it?

Have you actually been tested or are you just assuming you aren't deficient?

I have no idea if I've ever been deficient or how much I might have been - I've only been tested once and it was well after I started supplementing.

Aren't they part of your yearly physical blood tests?

 

[mb]

Aren't they part of your yearly physical blood tests?

I guess it should be. I had one ~6 months ago, but my one before that was probably 12+ years ago.

 

[eits]

When I was deficient I was taking 50000 IU once a month.

Still probably not enough, unless its summer time.

I took about 8000-9000 IU per day in the fall and winter. Summer and spring, I bring it down to about 5000 IU per day.

 

[eits]

whoops.. meant vitamin D.

10k IUs?!

1k IU is 250% daily value. doc told me to take 2k worth/day.

He is an idiot.

 

[eits]

Aren't they part of your yearly physical blood tests?

Nope.

Also, because of where most Americans live in relation to the equator, you probably will always have a vitamin D deficiency unless you heavily supplement on a regular basis.

 

[Zen0]

Nope.

Also, because of where most Americans live in relation to the equator, you probably will always have a vitamin D deficiency unless you heavily supplement on a regular basis.

Why would that matter?

Europeans with light skin have lived just fine with Vitamin D deficiency it appears throughout history. I don't think there was much fish, sunlight, or fortified milk around then.

 

[eits]

Why would that matter?

Europeans with light skin have lived just fine with Vitamin D deficiency it appears throughout history. I don't think there was much fish, sunlight, or fortified milk around then.

you can survive just fine without normal levels of vitamin d. i didn't say you couldn't. you just won't be as healthy or be able to fight off or prevent as many diseases.

equatorial countries have a far better historical track record when it comes to being healthy than europe does. it comes largely in part due to how much vitamin d they get.