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  #1   ^
Old Mon, Nov-01-10, 18:52
Aklady2's Avatar
Aklady2 Aklady2 is offline
New Member
Posts: 5
 
Plan: Protein Power
Stats: 238/235/160 Female 5ft6
BF:too much :)
Progress: 4%
Location: I live in Alaska
Default Vitamins, Minerals and Supplements


Hello Everyone I am new to this forum and am really excited to learn more about Low Carb Eating. I have been using Protein Power for almost a month and I am thrilled so far with my results. But I have a huge question I need answered.

How much Vitamin and mineral supplementation should I be doing and what kind? I have never liked taking anything (pills or vitamins or the like) but have been told and have read that some is necessary when we are on a low carb diet.

So far this is what I have been taking. 1 Centrium Muti-vitamin, 1000mg of Vitamin C, 1000 D3, and 1 potatsium chelate 99mg I just purchased a calcium, magnesium, zinc supplement a few nights ago that contains 500 Calcium, 250 magnesium and 15 zinc(instruction say to take this twice a day but have only been doing it once a day).

This is my reasoning for doing what I am doing, but I am open to any and all feedback. I live in Alaska and in the winter we are seriously lacking sunshine So my thinking was 1 Vit D3 in (can't remember what the form is called) but its a liquid filled capsule and its suppose to be readily absorbed Vitamin C cause its Cold Season calcium, mag, zinc combo (its one capsule) Calcium because I'm over 40, the Mag to help with that absorption and leg cramping. Potassium chelate because I have a minor arrhythmia and Dr. Eades mentioned in his Protein Power book, that potassium supplementation could be important in this case.

Does it sound like what I am taking is reasonable/appropriate? Does anyone have any recommendations on how I should change this? Does anyone know at what time of day I should be taking these supplements and in what combination?

Would love some feedback
Thank you
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  #2   ^
Old Mon, Nov-08-10, 00:56
aj_cohn's Avatar
aj_cohn aj_cohn is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 3,948
 
Plan: Protein Power
Stats: 213/167/165 Male 65 in.
BF:35%/23%/20%
Progress: 96%
Location: United States
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More important than the amount of a supplement is your body's ability to assimilate the form of the supplement. For example, the Centrum multi-vitamin uses lots of mineral oxides (the last time I checked), which are nearly impossible for the body to assimilate.

Many calcium supplements are in the form calcium carbonate. From this form, the body absorbs only 5% of the calcium listed on the supplement label! A chelate, such calcium citrate or malate, is about 10-15% assimilable. Even calcium hydroxy-apetite is only 30-35% available. And no matter how much calcium one takes in, absorption appears to be limited by foods that make you excrete calcium, e.g., anything that breaks down quickly into glucose, caffeine, and a few others I can't remember now. A LC WOE will minimize the glucose in your body, so that you won't have to give up your coffee.

Calcium needs to be in a 2:1 ratio with magnesium, and most combo supplements have this ratio.

The Pioneer brand multi-vitamin and cal-mag combo are the ones I use. The cal-mag pill seems to be mostly ground-up cow bones, and so it naturally has assimilable forms of the minerals in the right proportions.

The form of Vitamin C you take must be matched to your metabolic type. Some people will assimilate the cheap ascorbic acid very well, and some need the more expensive calcium ascorbate.

Potassium is best absorbed by eating real food. The body needs about 2 mg of potassium per calorie eaten. You would have to take a huge number of pills to get the proper levels, and there have been reports of medical problems with a large amount of potassium supplementation. But there has never been any report of problems of ingesting potassium through food, and 2C of a potassium broth daily will give you half of what the body needs.

Of course, magnesium carries potassium into the cells, so take your mag. supplements (or some coconut milk) along with the broth. About twice as much magnesium as potassium is about right in the diet.

Also, you need proper benchmark and comparison lab tests to determine what, if any, effects supplements are having. For example, you need to have a 25-OHD test to measure Vit. D-3 levels in your body. After 6 months of supplementation, you need to test again to measure the difference in levels. Measuring magnesium and potassium requires an intracellular test, such as the EXATest, because these minerals are concentrated within cells. Knowing their serum levels, measured by standard lab tests, is not helpful.

Since zinc competes with copper for the same receptors in the body, it's important not to take too much zinc or take supplements for too many days in a row. 15 mg./day when you're healthy seems fine, depending on the form, and you need about 50 mg/day for 2 out of 3 days when you're ill to help your body make white blood cells.

I hope this helps.

Last edited by aj_cohn : Mon, Nov-08-10 at 01:03.
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  #3   ^
Old Mon, Nov-08-10, 05:36
Hutchinson's Avatar
Hutchinson Hutchinson is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 2,886
 
Plan: Dr Dahlqvist's
Stats: 205/152/160 Male 69
BF:
Progress: 118%
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Dr Davis suggests these supplements and amounts in this post it is in relation to osteoporosis but his finding are also applicable to other conditions including obesity. Read also his blog posts on calcium and also omega 3. Once you are taking an EFFECTIVE amount of vitamin D3 (at least 5000iu/d and maybe depending on 25(OH)D test results up to 10,000iu/d) you will quadruple your calcium absorption and probably will NOT require a calcium supplement (in any case Dr Davis limits calcium to 600mg/d max)

I think we have all failed to take into account the role of Gut Microbiota and Its Possible Relationship With Obesity
The common denominator in obesity related conditions is inflammation and if we want to achieve a gut flora that isn't pro inflammatory we need to encourage survival of those gut flora that prefer an anti inflammatory environment so the removal of omega 6 industrial seed oils such as corn, soybean, safflower, sunflower and cottonseed oil and all the foods that contain them is essential if we are going to enable omega 3 to perform it's resolving inflammation role.
Changing to coconut oil as your main cooking oil will improve anti inflammatory status. Changing your main beverage to Green Tea will also help fight chronic inflammation.
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  #4   ^
Old Fri, Nov-12-10, 14:36
Aklady2's Avatar
Aklady2 Aklady2 is offline
New Member
Posts: 5
 
Plan: Protein Power
Stats: 238/235/160 Female 5ft6
BF:too much :)
Progress: 4%
Location: I live in Alaska
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Thank you AJ for your suggestions I do appreciate them, yes they do help. Thank you for taking the time to respond to my question.
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  #5   ^
Old Fri, Nov-12-10, 14:38
Aklady2's Avatar
Aklady2 Aklady2 is offline
New Member
Posts: 5
 
Plan: Protein Power
Stats: 238/235/160 Female 5ft6
BF:too much :)
Progress: 4%
Location: I live in Alaska
Default

Thank you Hutchinson, Dr. Davis's blog was also very informative. I appreciate your response and your suggestions.
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  #6   ^
Old Wed, Jan-12-11, 01:28
Rileyn Rileyn is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 2
 
Plan: nothing
Stats: 150/145/130 Male 5.5
BF:
Progress:
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Whey protein is derived from the process of making cheese from milk. There are two types of whey protein: whey concentrate and whey isolate. Whey concentrate is 29%–89% protein by weight where whey isolate is 90%+ protein by weight.
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