What supplements should I take?

[armywife3]

Can someone give me a basic supplement I can purchase? I am very confused about the different ones. I have no idea what fish oil is for and sounds gross!

I take prozac, does any of this interfere with that? I know for a fact that you cannot take diet pills with antidepressants and I heard some of the recommended supplements are appetite suppresants.

[Natrushka]

Hi there armywife!

The big 3 when it comes to LC are, IMHO:

Multi-vitamin: A good multi vitamin is a must. Try to find something that says "Super" "Extra" "Forte". Check the labels for 'lipotropic factors' and for the full 'B' complement. Jamieson, Quest and Swiss Herbal all make a good multi in Canada.

Cal/Mag: A calcium and magnesium supplement. Both are essential minerals and both are ones that we (North Americans) tend to be defficient in as a population. The RDA for Calcium is 1000-1500 depending on age and sex. It is 400-600 for magnesium, also dependant on age and sex. You can usually get both minerals in one supplement in a ratio of 2:1 (333mg calcium / 167 mg magnesium). Be sure that calcium comes in a chelated form (Citrate/Malate etc) - do not get calcium carbonate from oyster shells (it is very hard to digest and can cause tummy troubles). Take 2 or 3 the pills throughout the day (one with each of your meals) and save one for an hour before bed - magnesium has a soothing effect. Magnesium in particular will help with the cramping that often accompanies a new LC WOE (way of eating).

Potassium: Due to the natural diuretic effect of LCing salts are lost from the body along with the water. Potassium is one that should be replaced. Potassium deficiency will make you feel 'blah', headachey, tired and often, dizzy. General consensus is to supplement with 400mg a day for the duration of fat loss. Supplementing once in maintenance may be necessary on very hot days or on days when intense exercise is likely. Potassium can be obtained in pill form or from numerous salt substitute such as "NuSalt" or "Morton's Light Salt", a potassium salt-substitite. 1/8th of a teaspoon of NuSalt provides over 500mg of potassium. You should always be well hydrated when taking potassium, and if you suffer from a heart condition or are on medication for blood pressure or a heart condition you should consult your doctor first before supplementing with potassium.

Fish oil is a good source of Essential Fatty Acids - EFAs. These are fats that are essential - our bodies cannot manufacture them and we must get them from out diets. Good news is if you eat at least 3 servings of fatty fish a week you don't really need to supplement EFAs. Fish like herring, salmon, tuna and sardines are all good sources of Omega 3 EFA.

Appetite supressants are not a good idea, IMHO. Ketosis will take care of your appetite at first, eating too little is often a problem because of this. The 3 supplements listed above are all natural and found in our food and bodies to a certain extent, they possess no appetite supressing qualities.

HTH
-Nat

[Pancho]

You will probably get a lot of responses here, and a lot of different opinions. Since you are on Prozac, I don't know what would interfere or not. You should schedule an appt. with your doctor or a dietician/nutritionalist to make sure you are getting what you need in your diet/vitamins/supplements.

Good luck figuring it all out.

P.S. If you took every recommended supplement out there, you'd be taking pills all day long (ha).

[JV1311]

when I was on Prozac, my shrink told me to get a vitamin with extra zinc - any stress-specific one will usually have all the zinc, or the senior ones like Centrum Silver.

In fact, Centrum Silver is a great vitamin all around, it is the closest I've found to the Atkins vitamins other than the Atkins Basic itself.