supplements-how much?

[Karennic]

Hi:

I just started doing Atkins again after 6 years out in carbland. I was quite successful with it back in 1999, and have a quick question about supplements. I have read on the forum it is important to get enough calcium, magnesium and potassium, but I am having trouble finding out how much. Are we just supposed to follow the RDA on these? Can I use fit day to monitor this, will it be accurate? I am getting ready to buy some new supplements and am looking for a good multivit that will meet my needs. I am not big on taking several pills every day, so I would like to keep it to a good multivit, if possible.

I took a quick look at atkins book, and he likes to talk more about special nutrients like carnitine and chromium. I am trying to cover the basics here.

My current vit lists:

Calcium (as carbonate): 500 mg
Mg as oxide: 200mg
Potassium (chloride)" 10 mg
Is this sufficient?

During this week of induction I have been feeling very spacey. It is almost a surreal feeling. I read somewhere that this may be low potassium, is that right?


Thanks.

Karen

[bkloots]

Hi, Karen. That "spacey" feeling could be the result of the metabolic changeover from carbs to fat/protein--what's often called "induction flu."

Supplement dosage is a difficult topic to generalize about. Dr. Atkins worked closely with his clients to provide individual plans. During four years on Atkins, I've tried several different combos, none of which had any dramatic effect on the rate or amount of my weight loss. So it's kind of up to you to research and try different things.

I think a multi-vitamin is a good idea. Is that where you are getting your magnesium and potassium? The amounts look minimal to me. I do take additional potassium and magnesium supplements, which I get at Wal-Mart or Costco.

I recently purchased a combo product from Puritan's Pride:
Calcium 500 mg
Magnesium 500 mg
Potassium 99 mg

I will continue to take additional calcium when I get around to using these pills, because I'm older and need the bone-building. Calcium works best when taken with Vitamin D--often they are sold in a combo.

Like I said...big subject. Do the best you can within your own budget, personal preferences, and the way you feel. I think you can do Atkins successfully without using a fistful of pills every day.

[Rosebud]

Hi:

I just started doing Atkins again after 6 years out in carbland. I was quite successful with it back in 1999, and have a quick question about supplements. I have read on the forum it is important to get enough calcium, magnesium and potassium, but I am having trouble finding out how much. Are we just supposed to follow the RDA on these? Can I use fit day to monitor this, will it be accurate? I am getting ready to buy some new supplements and am looking for a good multivit that will meet my needs. I am not big on taking several pills every day, so I would like to keep it to a good multivit, if possible.

I took a quick look at atkins book, and he likes to talk more about special nutrients like carnitine and chromium. I am trying to cover the basics here.

My current vit lists:

Calcium (as carbonate): 500 mg
Mg as oxide: 200mg
Potassium (chloride)" 10 mg
Is this sufficient?

During this week of induction I have been feeling very spacey. It is almost a surreal feeling. I read somewhere that this may be low potassium, is that right?


Thanks.

Karen
You may well need more potassium. The Eades (of Protein Power) suggest supplementing about 400mg at the start. The cheapest and easiest way to do this is to use a salt substitute such as No Salt. Just sprinkle it on your food for a while, and you may well feel much better.

You need about twice the calcium and magnesium as your tablet requires. However, if you are eating a couple ounces of cheese a day, that will provide the extra you need.

The only other supplement I found REALLY helpful at first, was L-Glutamine to prevent sweet cravings. I used to have truly awful cravings, and the glutamine made them disappear like magic.

HTH :)

Rosebud:rose:

[mike_d]

Potassium needs are higher than sodium, most people get too much of the latter. As far as multi's its just not possible to pack everything into a one-a-day and still have it effective. I take a quality vitamin and its 3 big pills per day. One marker for cheap vitamins like Centrum, is they use calcium carbonate, zinc as the oxide and E as the unhealthful dl-Alpha isomer.

[cs_carver]

I am not big on taking several pills every day, so I would like to keep it to a good multivit, if possible.

The very good multis run to about 8 pills a day. It's all up to what you want to invest vs. believe about the quality of the food you eat, your budget, your time, your interest in learning about vitamins. Dr. Atkins' Vitanutrient Solution is an excellent book. There is a forum in here on supplements and that's where a lot of us who take WAY more than one-a-day hang out.

[Ptrcmcc6]

I believe I just heard on the t.v. yesterday that a woman over 50 should be getting around 1500 mg. of calcium per day whereas a woman under 50 only needs about 1000 mg. of calcium per day. I guess as we get older, our bones tend to get weaker and a little more brittle.......hence the extra 500 mg. for woman over 50.

I'm not quite sure how much of the others you should be getting. In fact, if I hadn't heard that yesterday......I wouldn't even have known how much calcium I should be getting. I do remember my ex's dietician telling him to keep his sodium intake to no more than 2000 mg per day. Of course, that was after he had a heart attack already though.

[Ptrcmcc6]

Update......according to my fitday......the calcium remains the same as I had mentioned above. Potassium doesn't actually have a RDA value and the recommended mg. of magnesium is 320 mg. If you customize your food in fitday.....make sure you put in the % of the Vitamins on the bottom that it asks for.......i.e. Vit A...Vit. D...Iron....etc. This way it will add up all the vitamins and minerals you get from the foods you eat. You can then go to "reports" on the left and it will tell you if you are meeting your daily nutritional needs. Remember though....this is just adding the amount of vitamins and minerals you are getting from the foods you've eaten for that day. It is not counting the multivitamin you are taking so..... for instance............if you look, let's say at magnesium and the recommended dose is 320 mg and you've only gotten 160 mg. from the foods you've eaten for that day according to fitday, your RDA percentage will be in red and it should say 50% because you've only gotten 1/2 of what the recommended daily allowance is. That means you should be taking an additional 160 mg. of magnesium to bring your magnesium level up to the daily recommended amount of 320 mg. Whether you do this through the food you eat or through supplements is entirely up to you. If you are under 50 years old and you are getting 500mg of calcium from the foods you are eating, the 500mg supplement should be enough for you because that would bring you up to the 1000 mg recommended.

On another note......I am going to see if there is a way I can customize my mulitvitamin into fitday so this way it will bring up the exact amounts of vitamins and minerals I am getting on a daily basis. Then I will know what I am lacking in and can take it from there.

Hope I didn't make this more confusing than it is......lol.

[cs_carver]

Hope I didn't make this more confusing than it is......lol.

While the calculations are true, they still only go to the RDA, which is what I believe Fitday is calibrated to. There are a lot of people who do not believe that the RDA for many supplements is sufficient to promote the health they want to have.

The RDA is set to prevent the most obvious and immediate of the nutritional deficiency diseases, such as rickets and scurvy.