Ok. We are retiring and facing a limited income. I am trying to figure out how I can cut cost on supplements and wish to maintain those that will do me the most good. Although I realize that this is an individual thing and we all would select something different lets play with it anyway.
If you had to limit your supplement intake to only 5 products what would you take? AND WHY!
__________________ "The nurse should be cheerful, orderly, punctual, patient, full of faith, - receptive to Truth and Love" Mary Baker Eddy
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I nearly bought something else the other day, when I was looking for that Berocca stuff, as another similar thing had Co-Q10, but the Vit C was only about 40-60mgs from memory, Berocca has close to 500mgs, but no Q-10, I considered the trade off not worthwhile.
I personally in an attempt to save money, and inkeeping with my lifestyle, have 3 basics now.
1. Protein powder, for after workouts, and occasionally for meal replacement.
2. Glutamine, for night time sleep and immune boosting benefits.
3. Berocca.
I'm comfortable with what I'm doing at the moment.
You use a Protein powder I believe, so possibly try lower doses.
My product has a basic concentrate and Carb formula, no fancy extras, but the manufacturer said 4 scoops a time, that's a good price but used up in 2 weeks.
I thought sod that, and decided to recalculate my own dosages, so now it's mostly 6 heaped tspns at once, after evening workout with my weights kit. If it's after Gym training, it's about 2 heaped tspns, to boost the start of muscle recovery, then home for some food to help assist the job.
I can make a 2 week product now last about 5 weeks, with no loss in performance. So if you fiddle with your doses and possibly take a bit less, you might make that last longer, and keep your current performance abilities, even if it's only 1 week longer between purchases, long-term it's a little more bunce in the coffers, that's not being spent.
The product I started using, I won't say is fantastic, but as a product with mutiple Vit / Mineral content, I like the idea, so possibly if you have anything similar like that you can buy, (that isn't a multivit like mine isn't), you might be okay, then you can kill a few birds with one stone so to speak.
Then you could just add a few others onto the list, and use those.
Also double check with local suppliers too, sometimes if you're ordering on-line you don't get the best deals.
My powder is about the same price as the manufacturer, sells on-line from thier official site.
The Glutamine however is about �2 cheaper from a local shop, as they have some kind of warehouse, and presumably get good bulk buy discounts they can pass on to people.
So if you can buy locally from places with a decent enough rep, quality of serivce, prices etc etc, check out their prices and compare. Even if you buy a supplement for 50 cents less from them, than on a website, it's a saving, and if there's ever supply issues with shops, they keep you largely out of the firing line, regards dealing with suppliers, couriers etc etc, as on-line shopping means any mistakes by them, or possibly a courier if they use one, and you're in a messy situation, dealing with supply faults yourself.
If you buy locally not on-line then obviously ignore what I just said, it doesn't apply.
Just wondering Harry, what's your view on Multi-vit digestion quality? I've heard some are pretty average, and don't offer as good a choice as you might expect.
I think the bioavailability of any given multi is dependent on four primary factors. The first three are more important, IMO, than the fourth.
note: I'll use calcium as example nutrient. The same principals generally apply to other nutrients as well.
1. What forms of the nutrients do they use (in the multi)? For instance, are the minerals in inorganic forms (like calcium carbonate) or chelated (like calcium citrate)?
2. Does the multi provide necessary co-factors that may aid in the absorption and/or prolong the half-life of the nutrients?
For instance, does your multi contain adequate levels of vitamin D and boron. Both of these nutrients help you make the most out of your calcium intake.
3. Next, I think you need to consider the vehicle for the nutrients. Is the multi in an encapsulated form? If it's in a tablet-form, has it gone through proper dissolution testing?
I generally prefer capsules but I'm not opposed to tablets, in certain situations, if they're manufactured and tested in an appropriate manner.
4. Finally, does the multi contain digestive aids? Do they add enzymes, probiotics or acids that may promote efficient digestion?
Just how a multi performs, in an individual's body, is hard to predict. The best way to test it, IMO, is to perform a controlled study and measure for various markers of efficacy (examples: homocysteine reduction, C-reactive protein, LDL oxidation, nutrient levels, blood glucose, blood pressure, etc.).
This is very rarely done by manufacturers or institutions. But, it can be done by individuals.
Apart from that ... there's always the subjective evidence. "It makes me feel more energetic." "I sleep better when I take it." "I don't get as many colds since I started taking my multi."
But, in my experience, many people don't find a discernable change when taking a multi - even really good multis. I do however think that there's a change (probably for the better) going on in their bodies.
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I had a similar thing with Glutamine, one of those I know how much better I sleep, and how much better I feel during periods of sickness, I.E. good sleep and appetite retention, reduced manifestation of symptoms.
Sometimes it probably is as simple as that, and it's definitely not a placebo effect.
Though someone on another site I use, said it never did anything for them, but my response was, possibly they didn't get as good a sleep / circadian rhythm reponse as they'd hoped for, but the thing with immune response is, you have to be ill first to notice any difference, and if you get ill once every 6-8 months, you're waiting a long time to notice a difference, by which time some people may have stopped using it.
So you're compleely right about that. It could be just as simple as how you feel, moreso than how it digests, works etc etc.
Darn it. I just wrote a rather long reply to what you all have me thinking and I just lost it. Oh well. It will have to wait till this weekend I guess.
__________________ "The nurse should be cheerful, orderly, punctual, patient, full of faith, - receptive to Truth and Love" Mary Baker Eddy
Visit www.HealthSalon.org
__________________ "The nurse should be cheerful, orderly, punctual, patient, full of faith, - receptive to Truth and Love" Mary Baker Eddy
Visit www.HealthSalon.org
I would heed caution, and look for independant science, over just what a supplement seller says. Yes not using whilst pregnant is a significant isssue, but it doesn't mention any slight issues in other circumstances that may possibly exist and cause a problem, and discoloured wee is clearly not a problem.
Miscarriage risk hard to explain away if you get many instances, and it wasn't stated on the labels, but physiological issues resulting from cumulative damage, to cells, organs or tissues, in a 5-10 year period, in potentially 0.01% or smaller of users, may be harder to ascertain, but may freak enough people out if stated, making a product a potential money leecher, not a profit maker, os what you read there is not necessarily the whole truth, but could be an abridged version
What you read on there may or may not be 100% the truth, mostly regarding potential side effects, but possibly actual performance as well.
If you consult indpendant science you can match up what they say, with what a site like that says about their product, and see if the two have parity, or if there are discrepancies.
As you can see from Sally's link, DIM is derived from I3C which comes from cruciferous veggies. It regulates estrogen metabolism which is very important for both men and women.
Typically as we age, as you probably know, we tend to become "estrogen dominant" which means that excess estrogen (as balanced with the other hormones) can create prostate cancer, breast cancer, thyroid problems, weight problems, diminished levels of magnesium, zinc, vitamin B6, and folate, and so on. All the estrogen mimics in the environment make the problem even more acute.
DIM doesn't lower the total amount of estrogen but regulates how it is metabolized. It sends estrogen through the 2-hydroxy pathway which results in a "good" estrogen, and it prevents estrogen from going through the "bad" 16-hydroxy pathway which seems to be responsible for so many of estrogen's health-damaging effects.
There is quite a bit of controvery as to whether one should use I3C or DIM. My take on it is that DIM is more stable has not been linked to the development of another "bad" estrogen": 4-hydroxyestrone which has been linked to the development of cancer. Some evidence suggests that I3C can convert to 4-hydroxyestrone, so I think it best to play it safe and stick with DIM
Also, using DIM allows me to avoid eating a truckload of broccoli every day.
Thanks Everyone, I already eat a truck load of broccoli a day so one less pill to take! Thanks God!
__________________ "The nurse should be cheerful, orderly, punctual, patient, full of faith, - receptive to Truth and Love" Mary Baker Eddy
Visit www.HealthSalon.org
Well, I just can't seem to settle on a list yet but I am thinking about all that you guys are saying.
Since I can only limit to 5 a day I've decided that I will have to rotate on and off stuff, like alternate lists monthly or something like that. Is that cheating?
__________________ "The nurse should be cheerful, orderly, punctual, patient, full of faith, - receptive to Truth and Love" Mary Baker Eddy
Visit www.HealthSalon.org
Last edited by Arrowwind09; 06-01-2008 at 07:42 AM.
What Supplements Would You Maintain?
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