Yeah, I think we're on the same page!

However, to continue quibbling, if you can't measure or observe something then wouldn't it be a sort of faith (or whatever word you want to substitute) that *something* is happening?

Hi Shobha,

Your title was:



I hope that the following might give you something concrete.

When I started taking Vit D3, the depression which had been creeping up on me, disappeared and, after 3 days of 5K per day, I was euphoric!!! Just for a day, mind, and then it levelled out, but still. I am not normally a "depressive type" so the fact that I had been feeling like crying for no reason (used to just happen once a month) and reacted very sensitively to neighbour's well-meant comments was not typical for me.

Vit D3 definitely helps your mood. I have - so far - had no colds this winter, although I have had sinus problems once or twice.

My other all-time fave supplement is MAGNESIUM!!! You gotta have it!!! Once I started to take a chelated form, after many years of taking cheap mag oxide, I really noticed a difference in my overall well-being. Arrhythmias stopped, cramps stopped, stiff neck went away and my mood improved. I felt calmer, less irritable and generally more balanced.

Now, I have to confess that at the same time as I was working to get my magnesium levels up, I also reduced my caffeine intake by a quarter, and I am sure this also helped my mood, especially as coffee is a diuretic and makes you piddle out your magnesium supplies.

What I have recently noticed is that there is definitely a synergy between different minerals and vitamins. When I first started working on getting my magnesium levels restored, I was also taking a mag chloride supplement twice a day, which also contains 1,000mg of taurine, which is needed for optimal magnesium uptake, once in the morning before breakfast and once at night with 300mg of chelated magnesium. I was also paying attention to taking a B-stress-complex vitamin, again to optimise magnesium uptake. I sporadically remembered to take some probiotics, too, which are supposed to help the body absorb taurine and general improve your digestion.

Anyway, recently, I ran out of both the mag chloride with taurine and the B-vitamins and I began to notice that my magnesium deficiency symptoms were becoming more noticeable again, which I found funny as I was still taking 600mg of the chelated mag every evening. But, without the Bs and the mag chloride/taurine combo, it really did seem that I wasn't absorbing as much of the magnesium as I had been when I was taking the whole package as mentioned above.

Today, thank goodness, the mag chloride/taurine supps have arrived from the UK (they took longer to get to Germany than the ones I ordered from iherb.com in the USA - weird, huh?) and I have just popped one!!! And a probiotics tab. I am hoping that I will again see a difference soon.

I have also had good experiences lately with ashwagandha (I'm taking it for mild arthritis in a couple of fingers and for adrenal support) and digestive enzymes. These arrived from the US on Monday and I felt a lot more energetic after taking them, and I felt I slept more soundly.

I am also taking omega 3s, but only since a few weeks, and I can't say I've noticed anything significant which I could pin on the omegas. But they seem to be very important so I'm going to try them for a while longer.

Those were my two cents.

amanda

I would not start/continue a supplement unless I saw some evidence that was independently observed, measured and verified, to prove that it helps in some way.

i think this has come up before but

only supplement is fermented cod liver oil, fairly high dose

no colds in 3 years (previously used to get 4 per year) ... strangely in this time i still got the flu twice ... hmmm ...

outstanding dental appointments, though maybe it's not enough time to be sure...

an xray showed my bone density was very high, although who knows if it already was that way.

my near-vision isn't exactly impressing me lately though ... i was really hoping the col would keep my eyes a bit younger.

eta> the greying of my hair has stopped advancing too

Hi fellow supplement takers!!!

Just wanted to mention that my daughter, aged almost 13, has also become a convert to magnesium supplementation.

She was regulary getting bad thumping headaches so I insisted that she try my chelated magnesium. She is almost adult-sized so I said she would be fine with 300mg every evening and put a little pot of tablets by her bed. She says she takes them regularly and she hasn't had any of these terrible headaches for weeks now!!!

In fact, for an almost-teenager, she has also been quite amenable and nice lately, too . She even says that she feels better. Of course, that might just be the hormones settling down, too, but I don't think the magnesium has done any harm with her overall wellbeing either, not just the headaches.

So, if you get regular stress headaches: try chelated magnesium!!! It could be the answer!

amanda

Well, just got over a bad cold/cough. I was so proud that, for more than 6 months now I have not had any illness thanks to D3 and omega-3 supplementation ... and then along comes this horrible cold/cough/fever. My son was affected badly too. He is 2.5 yrs old, and I give him 1000 IU D3 a day, 2000 IU when he has a cold or fever.

I know we cant escape the occasional flu/cold, but was a bit disappointed.

I am too much of a chicken for full fledged Stoss therapy, but I did try 10,000 IU D3 on the first 4 days of the symptoms, did not help at all. Finally needed an antibiotic So did my son.

Perhaps you and your son aren't taking enough D?

D dose needs to increase/double during winter.

When my dgd was 2 she was given 2,000 IUs during the winter.

I take D3 50,000 and took it for 6 weeks and it got up to 53, and now take it every 2 weeks. On the Sunday I take it, for that week my BS are better... So I wonder if I should take it weekly. I was worried it went up so fast, and I don't want it to go to high...
I also take 600 mg of magnesium, I feel calmer. For my whole life I have sleep terrible, waking every hr.. After taking the Chelated Mag along with calcium at bedtime I go to sleep faster and sleep deeper. I dream like I never have before.
I take a Multi for Diabetics and I know this has made a difference in my energy. I know longer live for a afternoon nap... I keep on going.

Knock on wood.... I haven't been sick with the flu this yr... knocking hard!!!!!!!!

Yes, my son has about 1000-1500 IU per day, 2000 IU per day when he has a cold etc. He is generally quite healthy. But this attack kind of sneaked in on both of us despite all that.

I dont think D3 provides you immunity against all infections ... it just makes them rarer

Guess what. We finally found a lab that does the 25 hydroxy vitamin D test. I've been supplementing with 5000 IU daily for the past 2 months and 2000 IU for 6 months before that.
My level was 39 ng/ml. Not oh-my-god low but still low. Have increased to 8000 IU daily from yesterday.

Looks like Hutch and the Vit D council folks are spot on. You do need quite a bit to get your levels up. The RDA is worse than a joke.

If we all test every 6 months or so instead of guessing, we'd know.

I'm not surprised. It can take quite a bit of D to "fill the hole" before you can start improving.

Yup. Guess you guys were speaking from experience. Might look extreme but in practice is not.

Need to get my mom's levels checked. Her BG has been spiking a lot lately ... and I am very worried.

Coconut oil: Skin less dry from eating it, scalp healed from applying it.

Magnesium: Legs cramps gone, sleeping extremely well.

Flax seed: Uterine fibroids shrank.

LC eating or D3: overall feeling of wellness much improved.

We never get colds or the flu anymore, which I attribute to Vitamin C., although we take a number of supplements including D.

We have given a several of our friends who had "unshakable colds" Vitamin D & Elderberry with Zinc which seemed to bring them to an end quickly

I think it also depends on what 25 OH level you obtain ....
It often takes more than 4000-5000 IU a day to reach levels of 50+ ng/ml.