Author Topic: Spending money on vitamins and minerals  (Read 5074 times)

BOP Mustache

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Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« on: December 16, 2018, 01:17:29 PM »
Health is wealth.

There is no point slogging away saving, investing, etc if our health deteriorates.

However, between my wife and I we have spent approx $40 a week in 2018 on vitamins, fish oils, probiotics, oils, etc. We want to ensure we are living a healthy life to make the most of our time now but also as we age. However $2000 can buy a lot of other things, or get us to financial goals quicker. We have built a home gym and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables each day.

How does one balance optimal health with optimal mustachian wealth?

wenchsenior

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2018, 01:48:43 PM »
If you are eating a varied diet I wouldn't worry too much about supplements, unless you know you are deficient (e.g., many people deficient in Vit D).  I went down this rabbit hole b/c of some sudden unexplained health issues that occurred when I was 40.  For several years I tried supplementing all kinds of things, thinking I must be deficient in something.  And I ended up making things worse, even by not technically overdosing on anything.

For example, I took Vitamin D and accidentally increased my risk of kidney stones (b/c in people prone to kidney stones, elevated D seems to increase the risk of some kinds AND the calcium that you are supposed to take with Vit D to help absorb it ALSO increases kidney stone risk, although apparently natural calcium doesn't).

But far worse was the B-complex I started taking 2x per week.  Only 2x per week, but it turned out to be far too much.  You know how B6 is supposedly water-soluble and excess clears your system via urine? Well, come to find out there is a subset of the population for whom that isn't true and excess B6 causes nerve damage.  So then I had MORE crazy symptoms on top of the ones I was originally taking the B6 for. After my endocrinologist warned me to stop taking it, a bunch of the new scary symptoms gradually went away.

Currently, I take very minimal supplements. Some supplemental magnesium citrate & B2 when I'm at risk for a migraine (as rec'd by my doctors), and vitamin D with natural calcium only if I go 3 days with no natural light exposure.

I would suggest only taking things that your diet is obviously deficient in that can't be corrected that way, or those id'd by your medical records as deficiencies.

Rob_bob

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #2 on: December 16, 2018, 02:33:30 PM »
I used to take supplements, I never noticed any health benefits.  I stopped spending the money and I feel the same.

Dee18

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #3 on: December 16, 2018, 02:58:25 PM »
Check out https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/
So sorry that I can’t recall who posted about this last week on the forum.  I read several articles on the site that clearly and concisely explained which supplements are worth taking (for me, vitamin D) and which are not (most of them).
Unless you are taking the supplements on the advice of your physician, I would reconsider them.

mozar

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #4 on: December 17, 2018, 01:59:43 PM »
I take zinc and iron because I'm deficient (per doctors orders) and magnesium at night because it's supposed to help with sleep. You can immediately stop fish oil because the studies have mixed results. I found that taking probiotics helped clear up some issues (or it was placebo affect) but I'm not continuing. I take b complex once a month when I get my period because supposedly i become deficient at that time. I also wasn't eating eggs for a while which has b if I remember correctly.
Instead of probiotics eat yogurt and if are serious about your health focus on sleep and exercise. Oh and lay off the bacon.

Scandium

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #5 on: December 17, 2018, 02:19:11 PM »
Vitamins and supplements are a scam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA0wKeokWUU

(before someone come charging; yes for 99%, medical conditions excepted)

GuitarStv

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #6 on: December 17, 2018, 02:34:08 PM »
Not exactly a scam (the vitamins and minerals are in the bottles), but they're just not necessary and won't make you healthier or better off for the vast majority of people.

Kahooli

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #7 on: December 17, 2018, 02:56:44 PM »
Oh and lay off the bacon.

How dare you!

slow hand slow plan

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #8 on: December 17, 2018, 03:06:44 PM »
You can always have a doctor or lad test your blood to see if your actually deficient in anything. Then take those. Most commonly would be vitamin D and Magnesium. Some people do good with Fish Oil , CoQ10 etc...for heart health but first see what you need.

SimpleCycle

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2018, 03:17:41 PM »
You can always have a doctor or lad test your blood to see if your actually deficient in anything. Then take those. Most commonly would be vitamin D and Magnesium. Some people do good with Fish Oil , CoQ10 etc...for heart health but first see what you need.

Even if you test "low" on Vitamin D, there is not a lot of evidence for supplementation at levels between 20 and 30.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/10/health/vitamin-d-deficiency-supplements.html

ketchup

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2018, 03:20:33 PM »
$40/week is really high.  We just take cod liver oil (and lay off it when we're eating more fish than usual that week).

As far as probiotics, make some homemade kimchi or kombucha.  That's the good shit.

OtherJen

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #11 on: December 17, 2018, 03:30:13 PM »
I take a calcium/magnesium/zinc supplement most days because it makes my periods less difficult and helps prevent the corners of my mouth from cracking. I take a general women's multivitamin a couple of times per week to make sure I'm getting enough folate and iron. I maybe spend $40 per year. $40 per week seems excessive.

Lanthiriel

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #12 on: December 17, 2018, 03:57:27 PM »
I seem to get sick less since I started taking a daily gummy multivitamin. I recently added a gummy Vitamin D (gummy = yummy = incentive to remember to take them) because I had a rough winter last year, and it seems to be helping, though I also have a much better job that is contributing greatly to my happiness. I have zero data that they actually help, but I spend $100/year on supplements, so it's probably worth it even if it's just for the placebo effect. I can't imagine spending $2000.

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #13 on: December 17, 2018, 07:30:55 PM »
I sit on both sides of this fence.  OTOH, it's a better bet to spend your money on the highest quality, most nutritious food you can buy - you'll probably cover your nutrient bases better that way.  On the other hand, I carry 2 copies of APOE4 and just about every other Alzheimer's gene that's been found, and one parent and 3 grandparents have (or had) it. So I take Vit. D, K, magnesium, zinc regularly, and take some occasional with B's (which I struggle to tolerate), fish oil (which gives me nose bleeds), and a handful of less common supplements that have shown promise for cognitive decline. But I spend more like $500 per year on supplements, tops. Probably spend the other $1500 on organic whole foods though.

Abe

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #14 on: December 17, 2018, 10:04:48 PM »
If you’re eating healthy (fruits and vegetables, some nuts, some meat, etc) and exercise regularly (some amount in the sun) there is little probability you’re deficient in anything (even ideal Vitamin D levels are arguable and probably don’t need to be as high as most labs think).

As others noted some vitamin supplements in extremely high doses can be dangerous (just like any other thing put in your body, even water!) A normal multivitamin won’t have enough to harm you, and are cheap, so take that if your diet is deficient for whatever reason.

Scandium

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #15 on: December 18, 2018, 10:03:59 AM »
So I take Vit. D, K, magnesium, zinc regularly, and take some occasional with B's (which I struggle to tolerate), fish oil (which gives me nose bleeds), and a handful of less common supplements that have shown promise for cognitive decline. But I spend more like $500 per year on supplements, tops.

Are there controlled double-blind, reduplicated tests on humans that show these work for alzheimers? (I honestly don't know, just curious. Had two grandparents with it.) There's a constant flood of things that "might" help with it, but nothing ever seems to come of it.. And $500 is what we saved by cutting cable, and felt like that was worth it. So not like it's nothing either.

Supplements are the ultimate "well it can't hurt". Many are comfortable with that , but personally I feel that's a pretty weak justification. My wife took some during pregnancy, and holycrap those tings are expensive!

Scandium

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #16 on: December 18, 2018, 10:06:42 AM »
Not exactly a scam (the vitamins and minerals are in the bottles), but they're just not necessary and won't make you healthier or better off for the vast majority of people.

As Oliver points out this isn't even always the case! Since there is virtually no regulation, thanks Mel Gibson!

slow hand slow plan

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #17 on: December 19, 2018, 03:10:22 PM »
Not exactly a scam (the vitamins and minerals are in the bottles), but they're just not necessary and won't make you healthier or better off for the vast majority of people.

As Oliver points out this isn't even always the case! Since there is virtually no regulation, thanks Mel Gibson!

that is not really true.... How Vitamins are Regulated. Vitamin products are regulated by FDA as "Dietary Supplements." The law defines dietary supplements, in part, as products taken by mouth that contain a "dietary ingredient" intended to supplement the diet. 

Any good vitamin or supplement will also be 3rd party tested USP stands for the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention, which is an organization that bridges the gap between lack of government scrutiny of dietary supplements and the consumer's need for safe vitamins. ... The USP independently evaluates supplements for quality, purity and potency.

so you do get what is in the bottle


hops

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #18 on: December 19, 2018, 04:03:11 PM »
The wisest financial approach for me is to let my doctors monitor my labs and tell me what to take. Anything else would be throwing my money away.

A zany aunt who's in a vitamin MLM cult and fancies herself a "wellness adviser" has clients she sells hundreds of dollars worth of this crap to every month. She has no idea what she's talking about when it comes to health or nutrition. It's part of her business model to trash physicians but her head would explode at the sight of a med school metabolic pathway chart.

It's bewildering that people put their trust in her. She most recently tried to sell me her products when I was in the middle of a Crohn's flare. If you're unfamiliar with how bad those can get, crazy weight loss and severe dehydration can happen very rapidly. She didn't understand why I would rather take steroids than be cured by vitamins and kale. She didn't think it was possible to not absorb nutrients.

Abe

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #19 on: December 19, 2018, 09:02:50 PM »
Not exactly a scam (the vitamins and minerals are in the bottles), but they're just not necessary and won't make you healthier or better off for the vast majority of people.

As Oliver points out this isn't even always the case! Since there is virtually no regulation, thanks Mel Gibson!

that is not really true.... How Vitamins are Regulated. Vitamin products are regulated by FDA as "Dietary Supplements." The law defines dietary supplements, in part, as products taken by mouth that contain a "dietary ingredient" intended to supplement the diet. 

Any good vitamin or supplement will also be 3rd party tested USP stands for the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention, which is an organization that bridges the gap between lack of government scrutiny of dietary supplements and the consumer's need for safe vitamins. ... The USP independently evaluates supplements for quality, purity and potency.

so you do get what is in the bottle

That is only partly true:

From NY Times https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/107141/

"Last week, the New York State attorney general’s office uncovered another example of what appeared to be widespread fraud in the dietary supplement industry. The office accused four of the country’s biggest retail stores of selling herbal products that in many cases were contaminated or did not contain any of the herb listed on the label."

Regarding certification by the USP:
"For one, you can look for products that receive a seal of approval from the United States Pharmacopeial Convention, an independent, nonprofit organization of scientists that sets high standards for medicine, food ingredients and dietary supplements. The United States Pharmacopeia has a voluntary program through which supplement companies can have their products and facilities tested and reviewed.

Companies whose supplements meet the group’s standards – which ensure purity, identity and potency, among other things – are allowed to carry an official “USP Verified” seal on their labels. The group maintains an evolving list of the brands that have received its seal and the places where they can be purchased. That list can be found on the group’s website.

But keep in mind that there are some companies that print the letters “USP” on their labels without the official USP Verified seal."

Note that only a small fraction of supplements have been verified by the USP. This is the complete list of verified supplements to date: https://www.quality-supplements.org/verified-products/verified-products-listings


Regarding laws on this:

"That law – the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, or DSHEA – was spearheaded by legislators with strong financial ties to the industry. It allows companies to attach general health claims to their products without providing evidence of their effectiveness, and it protects supplements from the strict premarket approval rules that apply to prescription drugs."

Another article about this topic from The Atlantic (ignore clickbait URL):
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/06/supplements-make-tobacco-look-easy/488798/

Finally, from the FDA website:
In general, the FDA regulations for dietary supplements are different from those for prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Unlike drugs, which must be approved by the FDA before they can be marketed, dietary supplements do not require premarket review or approval by the FDA. While the supplement company is responsible for having evidence that their products are safe and the label claims are truthful and not misleading, they do not have to provide that evidence to the FDA before the product is marketed.

Dietary supplement labels may carry certain types of health-related claims. Manufacturers are permitted to say, for example, that a dietary supplement addresses a nutrient deficiency, supports health, or is linked to a particular body function (like immunity or heart health). Such a claim must be followed by the words, “This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”

Manufacturers must follow certain good manufacturing practices to ensure the identity, purity, strength, and composition of their products. If the FDA finds a product to be unsafe or otherwise unfit for human consumption, it may take enforcement action to remove the product from the marketplace or work with the manufacturer to voluntarily recall the product.

Also, once a dietary supplement is on the market, the FDA monitors information on the product’s label and package insert to make sure that information about the supplement’s content is accurate and that any claims made for the product are truthful and not misleading. The Federal Trade Commission, which polices product advertising, also requires all information about a dietary supplement product to be truthful and not misleading.

Note that the FDA requires, but does not test for, purity of the product (as is done with over the counter and prescription drugs).

Not to belabor the point, but peer-reviewed studies have shown heavy metal contamination in supplements sold in China, Australia, and Lebanon. No such study has been published on supplements in the US, but they emphasize the need for strict quality controls. It's one thing to bite off a leaf of some plant and chew it, another to purify them to high concentrations (which is what most supplements purport to do). Here's an editorial article from the authors of the Australian study:

https://www.businessinsider.com/study-reveals-chinese-medicines-contain-trace-amounts-of-toxic-substances-2015-12
« Last Edit: December 19, 2018, 09:21:10 PM by Abe »

Scandium

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #20 on: December 19, 2018, 09:27:59 PM »
Not exactly a scam (the vitamins and minerals are in the bottles), but they're just not necessary and won't make you healthier or better off for the vast majority of people.

As Oliver points out this isn't even always the case! Since there is virtually no regulation, thanks Mel Gibson!

that is not really true.... How Vitamins are Regulated. Vitamin products are regulated by FDA as "Dietary Supplements." The law defines dietary supplements, in part, as products taken by mouth that contain a "dietary ingredient" intended to supplement the diet. 

Any good vitamin or supplement will also be 3rd party tested USP stands for the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention, which is an organization that bridges the gap between lack of government scrutiny of dietary supplements and the consumer's need for safe vitamins. ... The USP independently evaluates supplements for quality, purity and potency.

so you do get what is in the bottle

That is only partly true:

From NY Times https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/107141/

"Last week, the New York State attorney general’s office uncovered another example of what appeared to be widespread fraud in the dietary supplement industry. The office accused four of the country’s biggest retail stores of selling herbal products that in many cases were contaminated or did not contain any of the herb listed on the label."

Regarding certification by the USP:
"For one, you can look for products that receive a seal of approval from the United States Pharmacopeial Convention, an independent, nonprofit organization of scientists that sets high standards for medicine, food ingredients and dietary supplements. The United States Pharmacopeia has a voluntary program through which supplement companies can have their products and facilities tested and reviewed.

Companies whose supplements meet the group’s standards – which ensure purity, identity and potency, among other things – are allowed to carry an official “USP Verified” seal on their labels. The group maintains an evolving list of the brands that have received its seal and the places where they can be purchased. That list can be found on the group’s website.

But keep in mind that there are some companies that print the letters “USP” on their labels without the official USP Verified seal."

Note that only a small fraction of supplements have been verified by the USP. This is the complete list of verified supplements to date: https://www.quality-supplements.org/verified-products/verified-products-listings


Regarding laws on this:

"That law – the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, or DSHEA – was spearheaded by legislators with strong financial ties to the industry. It allows companies to attach general health claims to their products without providing evidence of their effectiveness, and it protects supplements from the strict premarket approval rules that apply to prescription drugs."

Another article about this topic from The Atlantic (ignore clickbait URL):
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/06/supplements-make-tobacco-look-easy/488798/

Finally, from the FDA website:
In general, the FDA regulations for dietary supplements are different from those for prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Unlike drugs, which must be approved by the FDA before they can be marketed, dietary supplements do not require premarket review or approval by the FDA. While the supplement company is responsible for having evidence that their products are safe and the label claims are truthful and not misleading, they do not have to provide that evidence to the FDA before the product is marketed.

Dietary supplement labels may carry certain types of health-related claims. Manufacturers are permitted to say, for example, that a dietary supplement addresses a nutrient deficiency, supports health, or is linked to a particular body function (like immunity or heart health). Such a claim must be followed by the words, “This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”

Manufacturers must follow certain good manufacturing practices to ensure the identity, purity, strength, and composition of their products. If the FDA finds a product to be unsafe or otherwise unfit for human consumption, it may take enforcement action to remove the product from the marketplace or work with the manufacturer to voluntarily recall the product.

Also, once a dietary supplement is on the market, the FDA monitors information on the product’s label and package insert to make sure that information about the supplement’s content is accurate and that any claims made for the product are truthful and not misleading. The Federal Trade Commission, which polices product advertising, also requires all information about a dietary supplement product to be truthful and not misleading.

Note that the FDA requires, but does not test for, purity of the product (as is done with over the counter and prescription drugs).

Not to belabor the point, but peer-reviewed studies have shown heavy metal contamination in supplements sold in China, Australia, and Lebanon. No such study has been published on supplements in the US, but they emphasize the need for strict quality controls. It's one thing to bite off a leaf of some plant and chew it, another to purify them to high concentrations (which is what most supplements purport to do). Here's an editorial article from the authors of the Australian study:

https://www.businessinsider.com/study-reveals-chinese-medicines-contain-trace-amounts-of-toxic-substances-2015-12
*slow clap.
What I would have said, but 100 times better.


Only sort of related, but I know they have found heavy metals in protein powder sold in the US, which has similar lax regulations.. Not saying all self-regulation must be bad, but often seems to be.

pressure9pa

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #21 on: December 20, 2018, 08:28:33 AM »
FWIW, I recently learned that multi-vitamins, fish oil, and others are covered by my health insurance plan once I got a doctor recommendation for them (which consisted of telling her I was already taking them when my most recent labs came back).  So now they're free to me. 

slow hand slow plan

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #22 on: December 20, 2018, 09:35:14 AM »


Not to belabor the point, but peer-reviewed studies have shown heavy metal contamination in supplements sold in China, Australia, and Lebanon. No such study has been published on supplements in the US, but they emphasize the need for strict quality controls. It's one thing to bite off a leaf of some plant and chew it, another to purify them to high concentrations (which is what most supplements purport to do). Here's an editorial article from the authors of the Australian study:

https://www.businessinsider.com/study-reveals-chinese-medicines-contain-trace-amounts-of-toxic-substances-2015-12
[/quote]

I agree with most of what you said but.... Yes... If you are worried about supplement testing and regulation you can buy supplements in the US from Canada from brands like Natural Factors that are tested and regulated differently then supplements in the US. People should always look into what they are taking and the track record of the comapnaies producing them .

And if that is not safe enough feel free to use  food products (ginger, mushrooms,  turmeric, sardines, herbal teas, bone broths, etc) To say there are no supplements that are helpful is not accurate. I think people should talk to their doctors read up and make an informed decision.

My son is allergic to almost every type of antibiotic and some things like honey, elderberry, zinc, wild cherry bark are a godsend for the issues he has with his health.

The big issue is soil health and that is why there are more heavy metals and less nutrients in the food we eat. That is why people supplement to begin with.

The protein powder heavy metal issue is primarily from plant based proteins since you are concentrating anything natural the mineral/metal component will go up. Especially in legumes (pea, soy , etc)


Abe

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #23 on: December 20, 2018, 10:28:49 AM »
I agree that there are some brands that provide purer forms of supplements, (though their utility is still unproven in most cases). In general, with a few exceptions that cause liver dysfunction or interact with certain medications, most of them are safe if there are no contaminants. If you can procure uncontaminated ones, have a problem that isn't fixed with proven medications, and don't have underlying liver disease, there's probably little harm in trying them (or as slow hand mentioned, the base ingredients the supplements concentrate) with the supervision of your physician. That's a different and safer scenario than unsupervised experimentation with supplements one reads about on the internet. It's probably also cheaper (main point of the thread).

I also agree that a lot of this contamination is probably not from the manufacturing process, but from soil contaminants that the plants absorb. It may be worth growing the plants in your own garden or box with uncontaminated soil. That may be the cheapest option!

wenchsenior

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #24 on: December 20, 2018, 12:08:57 PM »
Speaking of, I do use protein powder (a small amount) with my breakfasts.  Does anyone have links to show which brands are confirmed to be uncontaminated?

slow hand slow plan

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #25 on: December 20, 2018, 12:54:11 PM »
Speaking of, I do use protein powder (a small amount) with my breakfasts.  Does anyone have links to show which brands are confirmed to be uncontaminated?

Biochem (country life ) is what I used for Whey when i was lifting more. Jarrow, Natural Factors are all good brands


There was a huge test done at clean label where they have tested them all by third parties. https://www.cleanlabelproject.org/product_category/protein-powder/

wenchsenior

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #26 on: December 20, 2018, 01:16:12 PM »
Speaking of, I do use protein powder (a small amount) with my breakfasts.  Does anyone have links to show which brands are confirmed to be uncontaminated?

Biochem (country life ) is what I used for Whey when i was lifting more. Jarrow, Natural Factors are all good brands


There was a huge test done at clean label where they have tested them all by third parties. https://www.cleanlabelproject.org/product_category/protein-powder/

Thank you.

Rimu05

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #27 on: December 26, 2018, 02:03:21 PM »
As my family jumped onto the supplement and vitamin thing, I have got to say, this is one thing about American culture that I just don't get... Even protein powder puzzles me. I prefer to have all my dietary needs be in the embodiment of hearty Kenyan stews. I remember as a child my grandmother forcing us to take Cod liver oil and some herbs, but we literally lived next to lake Victoria which is abundant in Tilapia. Fish was everywhere and delicious as hell. Now I think, we'd literally have fish for lunch then take Cod liver oil...

Then again, I realize growing up we learned the food groups and how to eat a balanced diet.

Don't know why America has complicated food the way it has but I've noticed in other countries, a balanced diet and walking is all people do to live the healthy lives they do. 

gooki

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #28 on: December 27, 2018, 04:18:25 AM »
Quote
Don't know why America has complicated food

Because there’s money to be made by doing so.

Abe

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #29 on: December 27, 2018, 05:16:42 PM »
Don't know why America has complicated food the way it has but I've noticed in other countries, a balanced diet and walking is all people do to live the healthy lives they do.

Because we don’t like to walk and made everything too far apart to do so in most of the country. Burning an extra 1000 calories a day with walking and manual labor covers up a lot of diet sins.

AnnaGrowsAMustache

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #30 on: December 28, 2018, 03:33:07 AM »
You can be low on a lot of things for a long time before you get clinically deficient. Magnesium is a biggie.

KarefulKactus15

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #31 on: December 28, 2018, 07:17:59 AM »
I shamefully take some MLM vitamins on the suggestion from someone that I call "the witch doctor".

Placebo effect?  Possibly...Maybe I've developed a dependency?   Who knows.

I've tried cutting back or not taking the stuff and I can definitely tell a difference.

So for now I keep taking.  But glad this thread popped up.

brute

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #32 on: December 28, 2018, 08:24:15 AM »
I'm a big fan of multi-vitamins and fish oil and a few other things. Multi-vitamins cause me to heal faster, no placebo there. If I bite the inside of my cheek, it will heal in a couple days, maybe 3. No multi, it will be 2-3 weeks before it stops hurting and heals. Thing is, I have no idea what I'm deficient in that causes this. I eat a varied diet of multiple colors of veggies, meats, fish, and occasional whole grains. So it goes.

The fish oil has helped bring my cholesterol in line. Not as much as reducing alcohol intake, but I still get a good enough boost to be willing to spend $10 a month on it.

d.rose

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Re: Spending money on vitamins and minerals
« Reply #33 on: December 28, 2018, 09:57:14 AM »
I'm pretty sure you probably have enough replies already, but I just wanted to say I get where you're coming from! We have a lot of random health (mostly mental..some physical) issues here and I prefer taking natural supplements to prescription medicines. I don't know how much we spent last year on various supplements, but I'm sure way more than we should have (we're pretty low income).

The more I researched what supplements would help me, the more articles that started popping up saying that those supplements aren't doing what I think they are, and often, they can even cause harm (I'm talking mega doses here). I don't have any links to offer you, but you can easily google it for yourself.

I decided this year I'm just going to get blood work done and find out what I REALLY need to be taking, which is a start. I've also noticed some supplements do seemingly NOTHING for me - that vitamin D my doctor swore would put me in a better mood, fish oil for my kids attention spans or depression, etc. However, I do notice a difference in my afternoon energy when I take a multi. I suspect I'm low in iron or B vitamins, which hopefully my blood test will help me with.

On the other hand, I have that MTHFR thing and DO need to buy a semi-pricey methylated B-vitamin since my body doesn't process it readily from food or regular vitamins. I buy these at Amazon because I've found they have the best prices around.

Anyway, sorry to ramble a bit - but I'm mostly suggesting greatly minimizing your supplements and eating a colorful diet.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!