Now days there are so many vitamins and supplements available for you to buy and all claim that you need them. Everything you read in magazines, books, online, everywhere!!! says to stay on top of taking supplements, especially if you are on a low carb diet. But my problem is, with so many products available, how do I know what I need?

Currently I take 1200 mg calcium plus vitamin D, I am also taking a tsp of FiberSure 2 times daily.

I want to take a multivitamin but that offers me the same dilemma. There's weight control, womens, active womens, etc, etc...what do I take? I will be starting Metformin soon, and I hear that it affects your B12....and so that leaves me wondering, do I need to take a supplement to up my B12 as well?

If anyone could give me any help regarding what I should and should not be taking it would be of so much appreciation!!!!

Thanks in advance,
Misty

Hi Missy,
If you take a mulit, take one from a reputable company. A really nice one that is not to expensive is Natures Way "Alive". It has lots of great compounds in their natural form. You can get it at any health food store.
Yes metformin does affect b-12, so I would get a sublingual b-12 or better yet methylcolbalamin if you can afford it

I also recommend a little extra c,fish oils(I love Carlsons salmon Oils, or their Lemon flavored Cod liver oil) and more magnesium. I would take that before bed..400 mgs w/o calcium..Make sure it is a malate or asporatate..no oxide!!

If your budget allows,you might look into Alpha Lipoic Acid,especially for your condition. 50 mgs with a meal is good

But most importantly get your diet right first!!! Watch all those sticky ,starchy carbs which includes pasta,bread,rice or anything made from grains.


Eat lots of protein,take in enough fat and if you eat veggies,make sure they are from the non starchy variety like salad greens,asparagus,brocolli and cauliflower.

If you eat fruit ,keep it to a minimum and eat only a piece a day. Make sure it is fruit that has a skin like berries,peaches,nectarines,plums,apples..but focus on the berry they are the king of fruits IMO. I like a bowl of blueberies or peaches with cream.

Well I hope this helps a little. If you have any other questions ,their are alot of people on this forum who can help!!

Good luck and best wishes for '07!!!

Does the field interest you? Are you willing to read up and educate yourself? How do you approach similar problems? What's your budget for supplements? What kind of food (variety, organic, cooking, etc) do you want to ingest?

Probably way many more variables that you had thought of even there. Get a good multi, probably for women; you may need iron given you're probably at the front end of child-bearing years. Read up--library, used book stores. Dr. Atkins' Vitanutrient Solution is a very good place to start. Only you know what your personal risk factors, cravings, genetic history, fear factors, toxic history etc is/are.

Yes, you may well need B12 if you are taking metformin, and the symptom of the low Bs is fatigue.

Start with the multi and then keep reading. You may want to read through some of the history on this forum--there's a lot of knowledge. But Dr. A's book is also very accessible.

I want to say thank you for the repsonses, first and foremost. I did not know there would be so many variables in deciding what vitamins I should take. I read all that the first response had to say and all I could think was "my gosh, I am going to be taking 50 pills a day!" and that terrifies me because then I question....can a body, specifically my liver, handle taking all this stuff in?

I am 25, and while I may be at the forefront of my childbearing years, I am distressed because I have been trying to have children for 4 years...to no avail....I have no period, I do not cycle, and I havent since Oct of 2002. This is one reason why I am taking the measures to correct my eating habits, exercise more, and take my vitamins, so as to get my body in a more healthy state.

I dont buy organic foods, simply because they are out of my budget currently. But, typically I try to stick to the rule of shopping on the exterior of the grocery store without going into the inner aisle, unless absolutely necessary. My fridge is currently stocked with fresh veggies and of course fruit, as well as meats....turkey, chicken, cornish hens, and my personal fav (although not actually reccommended for this diet) pepperoni! I have some nuts - almonds, pinenuts, pecans, and I have cheese....cheddar, mozz, parmesan. I have discovered the joy of low carb cooking and experimenting with diff things in the kitchen! I have always enjoyed cooking, but its such a thrill now, because I am cooking all these things I have never tried before, and new things always excite me.

Well, thats a little more about myself. I am going to be looking into the Dr Atkins Vitamutrient Solution, because, while I have 3 of his books, that happens to be one I do not have.

Thanks, again!

Misty

Devilchild.

Multi
Extra C
fish oil
Magnesium
Ala if you are insuin resistant or type 2.

That's it! Not too complicated and very low end as far as anything extreme.

I know african tribes up their intake of liver and other organ meats before conception. If you do not like liver,try Dessicated Liver from a health food store

Presuming you're not also a recovering alcoholic or drug addict (no need to say anything on here if you are), and also that you don't live downwind from a chemical plant, and that maybe your childhood was fairly normal, your liver should be able to handle most of the vitamins you're likely to give it. Vitamin A is the tricky one, and you have much more leeway if you buy natural A than synthetic, but I don't max out A so I'm not up on it.

D3 is infinitely safer than D2.

For the time being, you probably don't have to worry about maxing E. One variant is safer than the others and I take the safe one and I learned it once and know what kind to buy but only shop annually for E.

You might also want to search on here for information about vitamin D. Zuleikaa has LOTS and lots of references. You might also think about posting on nutritional support for conception--don't know what you might get back, but it's free.

Good luck.

Add in divided in 2 doses
14,000 IU of vitamin D (vitamin D for DH also)
20,000 vitamin A (ONLY from fish liver)
1800 mg calcium
900 mg magnesium
400 mcg GTF chromium
1600 mcg folic acid
300 mg alpha lipoic acid
800 mg cinnamon

All the above are good for fertility and fetal development.

Now you're covered, lol.

One too many zeros on the Ca++?

Devil child,
Look for a real good prenatal such as ones from Supernutrition, Mega Foods or New Chapter.

Supernutrition Prenatal Blend is ideal. My wife still takes it 20 months after the birth of my son. It has a nice amount of folic Acid, DHA,bioflavanoids,trace minerals and it does have Vit D3.

It also has a green food blend as well. It is LOADED.

I would take that as my multi and add fish oils and other compounds.

Zulieeka,

On you recommendations above,did you mean 400 mcg of chromium and not 400MGs?

Well, again I would like to thank everyone for their advice. I had kind of been leaning toward getting a prenatal vitamin to take as the daily multi. I didnt realize there would be soooo much to know!

Yep. 1800 mg, not 18,000.

Yep, I changed it.

Thank you both for catching the errors!!!

I take an equate brand called Weight Conscious. Its a Multivitamin/Dietary Supplement. Its effedra Free with 32mg of EGCG. Do you suppose that is good enough? It has 100% daily value for everything except Magnesium and Calcium.

Hayes,
Is Equate the Ensure product? If so it is trash..

Do you have a link to where we could all see the ingredients and check out what raw materials they use?

I've mentioned this before,but try and only get a good multi from a reputable company found in health food stores or online.

Equate is the brand. Its cheaper than the namebrand which was Womens Weight Smart. The Equate brand has the same ingredients but 1/2 the price. I cant find anything on the bottle about a weblink. I threw the box and inside info away. I will try to look it up though.