How important are vitamins?

[Catkinz]

I don't take any. Ever.

I often hear people on here taking about vitamins and fibre etc... And I was wondering how important vitamins are when low carbing, and what I should be taking?

[Dodger]

As long as you are getting sufficient vitamins from your diet, taking supplemental vitamins is unnecessary. I take a one-a-day vitamin supplement just in case I am not getting something from my diet.

[cs_carver]

Only you believe you are getting everything you need from your food. You may be right.

Hard to do a double-blind when you only have one rat in the study. I take them by the handful, because my mileage varies. I've found my skin looks better, my nails don't split, I have more energy, I don't get sick as often, when I take them. Then there are the "won't know till it's too late to make a difference" risks, like osteoporosis, some cancers, maybe alzheimer's.

I don't believe in the RDA; it is the very minimum needed to prevent symptoms of the nastiest deficiency diseases.

[Catkinz]

Thanks guys. To be honest I don't know if I'm getting all the vitamins my body needs, I don't really think about it as much as I should. I was just wondering if doing low carb makes your body need more vitamins because of the lack of fruits and some veggies in you're diet.

[Dodger]

Only you believe you are getting everything you need from your food. You may be right.

Hard to do a double-blind when you only have one rat in the study. I take them by the handful, because my mileage varies. I've found my skin looks better, my nails don't split, I have more energy, I don't get sick as often, when I take them. Then there are the "won't know till it's too late to make a difference" risks, like osteoporosis, some cancers, maybe alzheimer's.

I don't believe in the RDA; it is the very minimum needed to prevent symptoms of the nastiest deficiency diseases.
I don't believe that I am getting enough vitamins from my diet, just that supplemental vitamins are not necessary for everyone. I do a lot of exercise and think that I therefore may require more vitamins than the average.

[Ogden]

I was just wondering if doing low carb makes your body need more vitamins because of the lack of fruits and some veggies in you're diet.

There's no lack of veggies in my diet. If you are careful you can get all of the vitamins you need just from the veggies you eat. As far as fruits go, there's no vitamins in fruits that you can't get in veggies somewhere. So why bother with all the sugar in the fruit?

Still, I would imagine you would have to be pretty precise in your combinations even if you were eating high-carb in order to get everything you need, or that is reccommended.

I take a multi, C, E, Omega-3, and a couple of other things for joint issues I have.

I would at least take a multi. It can't hurt.

[Starmaker]

Is there a section discussing the Atkins brand vitamins? I am on 3 of them so far, $100 a month though.

[Iwilldoit]

Vitamins are essential, hehe, that is part of the definition of a vitamin actually. An essential nutrient for adequately performing a huge variety of complex, delicately balanced processes at the cellular level.

I do think that with our processed sort of food in N. America, most of us probably do need to supplement, even when, as low-carbers, we strive to eat towards the fresh, unprocessed end of the spectrum.

I also do not rely on the RDA numbers, think in all they tend to be the absolute minimum. Myself, I take quite a few supplements for various reasons, but for sure, a good balanced multivite with minerals, and also as a female, I take extra calcium (my daily target is 1500 mg) because like a lot of us, I really cannot eat a lot of dairy products and expect to keep losing. I find dairy really stalls me if I eat too much of it.

[Starmaker]

So there isn't any sections on here that specifically deal with the Atkins brand vitamins? I am looking for discussion on the same. Atkins site can be very...er.... biased.

[Ogden]

I don't think there is any specific section just for Atkins vitamins. Try in the "Nutrients and Supplements" section though for more opinions on them. I don't take them, I just take regular OTC vitamins that I get at Trader Joe's. I'm pretty happy with them and until I hear otherwise, I'll keep taking them.

[nobunthanx]

The answer to that question is, in one word, very, very, very important ( OK so that's three words - but it's carbohydrates that they count here)

Seriously though, even on a non low carbohydrate diet- despite what many people think, one can never get enough vitamins and minerals from eating food products produced under modern farming methods.

There simply is not enough goodness left in the soil to provide the raw materials sufficient enough to become the vitamin, mineral and a trace element content of the food that ends up on our table.

Coupled with that, the amounts of additives present in our food serves further to denature and compromise the quality and quantity of available minerals and vitamins.

On the low carbohydrate diet we do of course eat a high quantity of meat. Again under modern farming methods high levels of antibiotics, other medicines and treatments can be found in the meat that is served up upon our tables. ( just as an aside, over the last few years the number of antibiotics that have been found in a single sample of milk had in some cases reached the 160 mark i.e. more than 160 different antibiotics in one glass of milk.)

So, not to put too fine a point on it supplementing is vital not just for a lower carbohydrate diet, but for any diet and I would say for existence itself. There is an abundance of medical and scientific data that points to the detrimental effects of a diet that is low in vitamins, minerals and those teeny tiny trace elements.

So don’t even think about not taking any.

[Steve175]

Is there a section discussing the Atkins brand vitamins? I am on 3 of them so far, $100 a month though.

I talked with a guy (who, at least, appeared to know what he was talking about) at my local Vitamin World (http://www.vitaminworld.com/) and he felt that the Atkins line way pretty overpriced. And they do carry them, so I don't think he was just trying to make a sale. He said that people will come in with their "Atkins List" and want the specific items, regardless of the alternatives. He didn't think all the stuff was really necessary. But that was his opinion, I suppose. I take a good multivitamin, L-Carnatine, and Ginko Biloba (when I remember to... ;) ).

[Starmaker]

Thanks for the opinions

[ProfGumby]

So there isn't any sections on here that specifically deal with the Atkins brand vitamins? I am looking for discussion on the same. Atkins site can be very...er.... biased.

Of course the Atkins site is biased, Dr Atkins even used to say that. The point is, look at what Atkins reccomends as far as suppliments go. There is a list in the books that gives a good guideline, and he clearly states that you do not have to use his supplimnents solely. He also says he has his suppliments tailored for his diet. You decide.

FYI, and this comes from my doctor, my vegitarian half brother and other sources. The Run of the mill mulit vitamin, you can all name like three brands, well they are the Mc D's of the vitamin world.

Pick a supplimnet as close to all organic as possible and it can only help.]

I take a few suppliments, these are all recomended doses-
Multi 2x a day
Glucosamine HCI 2x a day
3 Omega 3's a day

These following are less than recommended dosage, by at least half-
One Garlic Tab
One Cal mag D
One Vitamin C
One Concetrated Fruits and Veg tab

The mulit is touted as one of the best in the world and is strong into being as organic as possible and big on phytonutrients. In fact these all are the same brand, same organic/phyto guidlines.

I chose the multi based on Atkins recomended doses, the rest I added for a lot of reasons...never felt better in my life except for the occasional insurgency from my ##%$~%~$ kidney stones......... ;)