Posted on 12/04/2009 10:28:15 PM PST by neverdem
Patient Money
WHEN I stock up on ibuprofen (my painkiller of choice), I typically buy a 500-count bottle of a store brand like Kirkland or Rite Aid. After all, ibuprofen is ibuprofen. Each pill costs me about 3 cents — or only one-third the cost of 9-cent Advil.
Yet, when it comes to vitamins — which I take only when I feel run down — I turn to name brands like Centrum or Nature Made. My thinking has been: Why mess around with quality when it comes to the essential ABCs?
But now that I’ve done some research, I might soon change my vitamin-buying ways. Read on to find out why.
Americans love vitamins. About half of adults take a daily multivitamin, according to industry data. And according to some theories, the economic downturn has inspired them to fortify themselves by swallowing more.
Sales over the last decade had been growing by about 4 percent annually. But this year, as more people are taking their health into their own hands, perhaps hoping to stave off doctor bills, vitamin sales are expected to grow by 8 percent to a total of $9.2 billion, according to Nutrition Business Journal, a market researcher and publisher.
About 42 percent of shoppers purchase their vitamins at natural and...
--snip--
But what if you don’t eat well or are chronically stressed out? Then, Professor Rimm says, there may be some benefit from taking a multivitamin. “Certain subgroups, including women of child-bearing age attempting to get pregnant, may need specific supplements, like folic acid and omega-3,” he added...
--snip--
FIND A REPUTABLE SOURCE Vitamins and minerals are commodity items, and every manufacturer has access to the same ingredients. For that reason, researchers and scientists say paying more for a name brand won’t necessarily buy you better vitamins...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Just remember, the cheap stuff is from China. Heh, heh.
All the expensivo brands insist their magical process is the only kind that’ll actually get to where it’s needed and all others just go through you like poop through a goose...
Then there are all those studies from the Medical/Industrial complex insisting that vitamins don’t do you any good anyway and may be harmful.
And that vitamins should only be available by prescription anyways.
It is the New York times where the reporter identifies himself as an idiot by saying this. “Yet, when it comes to vitamins — which I take only when I feel run down — “.
Right, vitamin pills, something that you take when you feel a little down, because we all know that a simple supplement of your everyday vitamins is like a Black Molly, it will get you going man! (sarcasm)
ConsumerLab.com each month tests different supplements from manufacturers. It often finds a subset that did not pass each manufacturers’ own standards, or had something additionally tainting them.
A membership is around $25 a year, I think. I bought a two-year membership.
It’s money well-spent if you are concerned about getting your money’s worth with health supplements.
It was discovered that I had massive malnutrition a few years ago. The dr prescribed vitamin B-1. But I’d already been taking a high-dose B complex for *years*. (And expensive one, at that!)
So we spent a few months testing. I’d take my vitamins for a month, then go back for blood work. One by one, we found vitamins that worked.
Turned out that it was the form of the vitamin that made the difference. Tablets and caplets don’t break down for me. Capsules do just fine. (The only tablets that worked were the chelated minerals; but, even then, one brand didn’t work and we had to find a new zinc.)
It was expensive as hell, but well worth it. In the long run I’ll get more bang for my buck.
I still prefer Advil. Generic ibuprofen doesn't have the coating on the outside that makes Advil easier to swallow.
GNC Mega Man Multi-Vitamins , 4 right before bed with 3 fingers of Myers Dark Rum (fights off the scurvy) ......:o)
Yeah don’t take vitamins. Only idiots take vitamins, and especially supplements. /s
Synthetic vitamins are developed in the lab from coal tar derivatives. Most of the food supplements sold today are synthetic, which are cheaper to make than natural vitamins.
Coal tar is produced by the destructive distillation of coal under very high temperatures. It may then be refined to produce Liquor Carbonis Detergens (LCD). Coal tar is also processed into many other products, such as lamp-black, for example, which is used to produce black dyes and inks.
Coal tar is a complex hydrocarbon with numerous chemical constituents, such as benzene, toluene, zylene, phenol, cresol, napthaline, anthracine, and pitch. The composition depends on the source of the coal supply and variables in the distillation process.
It pays to buy the best natural vitamins you can afford.
http://www.healthy-vitamins-rx.com/html/vitamins-synthetic-natural.html
later read
The article mentions vitamin D. Should have said we need vitamin D3, not just plain ol D.
Marie: I had read a University of Chicago study that hard vitamins (e.g., Centrum) often go unbroken dowm through yoyr system (found almost whole vitamins in autopses_. Capsules or even liquid vitamins are far better.
Cost? Aspiron/ibuprofen are not identical. The binders in cheaper pills can hurt the potency and actually break down inefficiently. If you feel that Kirkland is great, go for it!
But I tske a StJo’s aspirin and a couple of Advils. A liquid vitamin, flaxseed oil and Resveratrol every day. If I die tomorrow, don’t take them!
I prefer the old fashioned pills, they store better. I consume lots of NSAIDs due to my back problems. I’ve started using naproxen, because it’s stronger than ibuprofen and lasts longer, but it’s not very gentle on the stomach.
try iHerb.com for a vitamin source. We take Purity Plus Multis that are in a gel cap with actual green powder inside... We take Q10, fish oils, garlic, D3, and I also take NAC. If the sniffles come up, its Umcka liquid drops. For a little pick me up, its B12 drops under the tongue... We have been healthy—knock on wood!
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I usually get mine at Whole Foods. I use New Chapter Organics and Solgar. Neither of those brands contain coal tar. I don’t remember the last time I was ill.
There are soem essential minerals and Vits that people might- and hte key word here is might... need IF and only IF they are low on them- Vitimin D dificiency causes problems, Vit B-12 dificiency can cause soem pretty nasty problems, especially in peopel who can’t absorb it in intestines who have itnestinal problems, and peopel with blood sugar problems might need to suppliment with chromium picolinate to help regulate both high and low blood sugar levels- however, the vast majority of people get all the vitimins andm inerals they need throuygh their diet- even if that diet isn’t exactly the healthiest in the world
The vitimin industry is a huge rip off for most people- and they know people are desperate for that ‘magic pill’ that ‘miracle cure’, and they play on people’s emotions in order to sell their products- but the fact is that most vitimins in excess are pissed out of the system, doign very little and infact, possibly doing harm to those with compromised immune systems or hormonal problems.
Vitimins and minerals and herbs are a very tricky business if you don’t know what you’re doing- people with overactive immune systems are playing with fire by taking immune boosting vits and mins, and people with hormonal problems or imbalances hear that so and so vit or min or herb is ‘good for so and so hormone ‘balance’ however, whiel that might be true, boosting one hormone level might trigger another hormone to go out of whack, and messign with hormones aint a good thing- it can really screw someone up, especially when you start ‘adjusting hormones’ by using hormone altering vits mins or herbs artificially
There are also several vitimins that when taken in excess can cause problems, and some, like Selenium, and Vitimin E, can actually accelorate the cancers they are purported to ‘help’ or ‘cure’ (some unscrupulous vitimin suppliers are still using ‘cure’ or hinting at ‘cures’, again, playing on people’s fear)
sinanju brings up a good point too- buying cheap vitimins- you never know how the actual active ingredients are made, what they are made from, or what the inert ingredients are- stuff from china in the past has proven to be very questionable, and even dangerous in certain items and goods- IF you are goign to buy vitimins mins or herbs, do so from reputable busiensses here i nthe states who aren’t goign to lie or scrimp or cut coerners because to do so 2ould ruin them
Puritan’s Pride company often has great sales- buy 2 get three free, buy one, get 2 free etc -worth checkign out for htose who need vits mins or herbs- they’ve been around a long time, very fast shipping, good service, etc, and are quite reputqable
Marie also brings up a very good point- only certain forms of vits and mins really do any good i nthe body- especially in people with problematic stomachs or intestines- which make it difficult to digest, absorb, or convert certain vits mins and herbs- Take B-12 for isntance, peopel with bowel problems can’t absorb B-12 in the form usually found in vitimins, but they can absorb more readily what B-12 converts into (B-12 Methylcobalmin)(sp?)
and another point, peopel with htigns liek Crohn’s disease often have vitimin malnutrition- however, adding vits willy nilly can be quite bad for the person, as they can leech calcium from bones, and increasing blood calcium, causing more frequent kidney stones which peopel with Crohn’s are susceptible to anyways (that’s why they need to be careful of meds that leech calcium from bones- like prednisone which is often prescrivbed for Crohn’s- But Vitimin D suppliments have also been known to increase kidney stone occurances too)
Bottom line- finetuning by suppliminenting is a risky busienss, and a confusing one- be careful, and do some homework- but try to get most of your nutrients out of good foods, and most people will be fine, perhaps only occasionally needign to add certain suppliments
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