Supplements?

[*Star*]

Ok, just one more question for the day!

I am a 23-year old female, in relatively good health.

What supplements should I be taking daily, and what dosage of each?

In the future, I would like to do more research and determine exactly what my body needs, but I do not have the income right now to buy all of the different supplements in the quantities recommended, so I am looking for a general idea.

Right now, I take the following (divided up into 2 doses, morning and night):
1000 mg calcium w/ vitamin D
200-300 mg potassium
1 dose 'Slo-Mag' which contains 128 mg of elemental magnesium and 212 mg of calcium

Today I just started taking Emergen-C Lite - 1 packet per day.

I want to start taking a multivitamin (just posted on this) but I am not sure which brands are best for a relatively inexpensive price.

I also occasionally take fish-oils when I remember but I am not sure how much I should be taking.

I wouldn't mind adding a few more supplements, but there is so much out there that I am unsure which ones to be adding to receive the maximum benefit while not having to swallow 200 pills a day!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :)

[PS Diva]

I think it is a good idea to add supplements slowly, so that if there is a problem you know which one is causing it. Unless you have a specific problem you are trying to address I wouldn't add too much more too quickly. Use the time to research!

[kebaldwin]

Your intake of potassium should be like 3,000 or 4,000 mg per day. Work up to this much (don't just start with this much) Go to the grocery store and get "salt substitute" - should be located next to the salt. Main ingredient should be potassium.

I am of the mindset - start with a high quality multivitamin and fish oil first - and then added additional vitamins and supplements as needed.

http://www.vitacost.com

has the Synergy line from $14 per month up to $280 per month. My advice is - buy the most expensive one you can. I would strongly recommend at a minimum their Synergy Women multivitamin which is $40 per month. I would try without iron first.

For fish oil - anywhere from 1 to 4 grams of high quality fish oil is recommended.

http://www.lef.org

has a line of similar vitamins - but I am not familiar with them.

GNC has several women's multi-vitamins

Does anyone know about VitaminSHoppe?

[Nancy LC]

I'd replace the calcium with added D with 2 supplements: plain old Calcium or calcium with magnesium and separately Vitamin D3 (oil-based gel capsule). According to Dr. Davis the D packaged with other supplements isn't enough to raise blood levels of D3.

As far as doseage of D3, I'd take 2000-4000 iu depending on how much sun you get. If you get a lot of sun, forget the D3, you probably don't need it. If you get little or no sun, or you live far north, then go for 4000 iu. I'd take 6000 iu if you've had a long history of no sun, to get your blood levels up. 4000 iu is about a replacement dose for an average human.

Good reading about D3 here (http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/search?q=D3) and here (http://vitamindcouncil.com).