If I eat above the recommended amount of fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, grains, and protein everyday, is it still worth taking a multi-vitamin?

It is pointless I believe. The only thing is to get your vitamin D either from the sun (20/dayI think) or vitamin D suppliments.

It depends on what you eat really. Not all combinations of food will yield enough of all nutrients; it’s possible to balance your fruit, veggies, meat, and grains yet still fall short on something.

Usually, you take care of your nutritional needs if you eat a balanced diet over the course of a week.Multi-vitamins are not necessary.

Most of us take some D3 daily ( i take 800 mg.) and a sublingual B12 if we are not eating animal protein.

That should do it.

I used to think I needed the supplements, after I was diagnosed as having low vitamin D counts. So the doctor recommended some ridiculously high amounts and I took that for several months, but when they re-tested me, nothing had changed. Also, I live in Southern California and I’m pretty sure I get enough sun-light, in fact because I burn so easily, I try to make sure not to get too much sun. I think my vitamin D situation is hereditary, and seems not to be effected by taking (or not taking) the supplements, plus I drink milk and eat dairy, which contains vitamin D.

On the other hand, some people, especially when they get older, may not be able to absorb B-12 as easily from food, and need to take supplements or get injections. Most vitamins are best absorbed by eating foods that contain those ingredients, but with B-12 (especially in older people) that might not be the case, but that goes for folks who eat meat as well as vegetatians.

So IMO, you probably don’t need supplements, but you need to make darned sure that you are eating enough of the right foods. I, for instance, eat ground flax meal every single day, because one of the nutrients that our bodies need is Omega 3 fatty acids. Most people get that from fish, but the best source for vegetarians is ground flax meal (it has to be ground, rather than whole, because the whole seeds are not digested and simply pass on through).

Here is some Information regarding what nutrients vegetarians need and which foods contain these nutrients.

Here is some info about getting b-12 from Vegan Sources (if you don’t eat eggs or dairy).

From what I read, the multi-vitamin can’t hurt (yes there is some study of pregnant women eating a pound of multi-vitamins per day, it is not relevant).

And it’s cheap.

So I eat pretty well – low fat, mostly plants, olive oil, nuts, not much red meat, lots of fresh fruit & vegetables – but I also take a multivitamin.

One can overdose on some of them, so it can hurt, I believe.

The old cliche’ is, if you maintain a balanced, healthy diet, you are pretty much wasting your money on multivitamins, but I like to think that unless you constantly (and maybe obsessively) monitor your diet, there may be times when levels of this or that vitamin fall below what they should be.

My wife is the slowest food shopper on the planet, stopping to read the “nutrition facts” on maybe half of the stuff she picks up. But we both take multivitamins anyway, just to be sure we’re covered when we might overlook some nutritional “holes” in our diet….
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Laboratory blood tests can profile a few dozen important components.
Our physician prescribes them with the more-or-less-annual checkup.

The only thing I get routinely dinged on is Vitamin-D.
Just too little outside time seems to have something to do with that.
I do take a lot of Vit-D in supplements.

Water soluble vitamins are the Bs, and C. Fat soluble vitamins are A, D, E, and the blood coagulant K. Theoretically, you can’t OD on water soluble vitamins, you just pee away any excess and waste money. However, you can OD on fat solubles, because they aren’t eliminated from your body easily, they are stored in the liver. Too much can damage the liver. You know when this is happening because you become jaundiced; your sclera becomes increasingly yellow as does your skin. Americans are much more likely to end up in the hospital due to vitamin toxicity rather than vitamin deficiency. And they do. The good news is that up until 75% of the liver is destroyed, it can repair itself over time if you take care of it properly. The liver is the only major organ that can do this.

I eat a fairly well balanced diet but am severely dificient in vitamin D, iron and very low normal B12 unless I take large doses of supplements. The only way to know is with a blood test. The estimates vary, but the number I hear is about 25% of the US population is dificient in vitamin D. If you go in the sun and tan you are probably fine, but if you protect your skin with sunscreen and clothing, probably not. Multivitamins have around 400 to 1,000 IU’s, I take about 8,000 daily to stay in normal range.

I don’t believe in taking a vitamin just to pop something, I always emphasize finding out what you really need. However, a regular daily vitamin that has 100% or less of the USRDA recommended amount are so very low, that I don’t think it can hurt, but it might be a waste.

@Espiritus_Corvus There have been some studies regarding water solubles that show super mega doses can have some bad effects. I figure if your body has to get rid of it, then it still is taxing the body. My neighbor was taking B12 shots because she decided it would be helpful, and when she told her doctor he ran a B12 on her and her number was way high out of normal range. The study I saw was about large doses of Folic Acid.

Yes, that is precisely why I said it was theoretical.

Our soil is severely depleted in nutrients in a lot of regions and you are probably missing trace minerals and such. Take your multi.

I used to take a multivitamin every day, but I ended up getting sick because of them. My doctor suggested I cut back to 2 or 3 a week and I do much better. With your diet I would say one or two a week would probably be enough to make up any deficits that you have without overdosing on the others.

I like this article.

I’m not a doctor but I’ve done a bit of research which has led me to believe that multivitamins are a waste (and a wasted expense) for people who eat fairly healthy. Also, there’s good evidence they may undermine the efficacy of certain meds, perhaps even interact badly with them.

@Pachyderm_In_The_Room Definitely there are minerals that should not be taken with certain meds. Iron should not be taken within 3 hours of thyroid medicine and some others. People need to read all the warnings on their medications.

@WestRiverrat What kind of sick? Were they 100% of the recommended daily value or much much more times that amount? Children over the age of 4 tolerate a regular multivitamin with no problem usually. A Flintstones vitamin has mostly 100% of the values recommended, even some cereals do for a typical portion.

Probably you don’t need vitamins but this is coming from the worst vitamin hoarder in America. I take so many that my liver is not in that great a shape.
Oh; and I must also say, since it’s popular now to say it “I am not a doctor.” As if doctors know anything about nutrition. If you want to know about nutrition, consult a dietician or nutritionist. If you can find one.

@Aster Are you getting your blood tested for the vitamins and minerals or just popping huge doses? I have a friend who is a dietician and she was giving the same tune I hear constantly from medical professionals, “Americans are not likely to be deficient in anything, because our foods are fortified.” Doctors, dieticians, and nutritionists who never run the tests because they believe that have no idea.

I wouldn’t call it huge doses. So far this morning I’ve taken one womens’ multiple by Raw One and I’m about to take a fish oil and an Ashwagandha. I do get blood testing but the only thing that showed up was slightly elevated liver enzymes. So they called me and said “don’t drink alcohol” which I never do.

@Aster No alcohol and no Tylenol. Do they test for vitamin and mineral levels? The only thing that showed up means nothing if I don’t know what they tested. Not that I expect you to tell me everything, I am only suggesting if you are not on top of what they are testing find out. If your vitamins and minerals are fine maybe you don’t need to take any supplements at all. Is this the one you take? The iron is extremely low in that vitamin for a women’s vitamin of menstruating age. Are your iron levels good? I have no idea what ashwaganda is nor how much is safe to take.

If the doctor just runs the typical panels, CMP, CBC, for your check ups, you would have no idea if your B12 was lowish, or your vitamin D.

I have never had a blood test that included anything about vitamins=they give me a CBC—and my glucose was elevated which they never mentioned.
Yes; that is the vitamin I just began taking yesterday . I often take D3, 5K iu’s. And you are right. They did say no Tylenol also. I forgot about that . I take Aleve, one or two per night.
I am not on a conversational level with these people. He is a new doctor I just switched to and he found nothing wrong that he mentioned to me.

I don’t care about having the conversation necessarily with my doctor, I just care that they run the tests I need. I have only had one doctor (nurse practitioner actually) ever think to test my vitamin D, thank God for her. I was practically on my way to being crippled before supplementing with D and getting my levels into normal levels. My iron is also a big deal, but your CBC would have had some whakiness most likely if your iron was high or low, mine always is. You are taking vitamin D 5k IU’s which according the medical establishment is a huge dose, for me it isn’t, but I have the test to show I need it, and even still I worry about it taxing my body taking those big doses. I know D has something to do with the liver, but I have no idea what? I have tried to read up n D, the liver and cholesterol, but I always wind up confused. I consider getting more sun or paying for UVB indoor tanning, but I have not taken that step yet. Not the indoor tanning step, I do let myself get more sun than I did ten years ago.

@JLeslie I was lightheaded and having dizzy spells. Dr didn’t do any tests other than those I normally have during my physical, just said try this and if it doesn’t work we will test further.

It worked so we didn’t test further.

@WestRiverrat If you are feeling better then I guess it is fine. Did he even ask to see the vitamin? See if your were taking a ton of something that might be a bad thing? My guess is no. My guess is he really has no idea what you are putting in your body. Doctors in general don’t pay attention to vitamins and minerals, except some GYN’s routinely test iron, and if you have neuralgia they will test for B12. I honestly have not been to a GP for a check up in many many many years, so I am not sure what the majority of them are testing now.

@rockfan Please let us know after trying (if you do) to see how you feel without them.

@flo I had a physical done last week and it turns out that I suffered mild anemia, so right now I’m taking a multi-vitamin every other day.

@JLeslie It was a common OTC multivitamin.

@WestRiverrat Oh. Interesting it made you feel lightheaded. I never would have thought of the connection, maybe the doc has seen that before.

@rockfan so that means you haven’t been eating the right amount of fruits and veggies. It is either that or you cooked them to death? Or the freshness of what you’ve been eating has been lower than low, or some explanation like that.

Iron anemia is very common in women of childbearing age. Something like 20% of women are iron deficient. Check your multi to make sure it has at least 18 mg of iron. I sometimes need to take as much as 120 mg a day of iron to get up into the normal ranges when my iron is low. I am not saying you should take that much, only saying you may need much more than a multi, make sure to do a follow up blood test in a couple months and see how you are doing. Iron is close to being a magic pill for me. It is one of the minerals that once I start getting into normal ranges I feel stronger and healthier. Overdose and high levels of iron are dangerous so if you do start taking large doses if the multi is insufficient then you should be vigilant about monitoring it with periodic blood tests until you know what is a good amount for your body.