Vitamins

[Scrofula]

Thats also related to the "average" person. Who is very inactive. Most of us on this forum cant survive training by sticking to the recommended 2000 calorie diet, we simply need more food. This translates into needing more vitamins and minerals as well. Quit trying to scare people with some BS wiki write up that pertains to hardly any "average" people let alone weightlifters needing more of everything.

If you're scared to load up on vitamins than so be it but you cant just show one point of view and tell everyone they are going to die from it.

I'm not suggesting sticking to the standard RDAs. Athletes may need more of these substances than sedentary people, but there's still a point where they do more harm than good. I think people should do their homework, find out how much of each nutrient they should be consuming (probably more than Joe Officeworker), and go for it. It's just not wise to blindly load up on substances that change your body chemistry without putting some thought into it.

[Guido]

If you're going to supplement with any vitamin it should be Vitamin D3. The RDA is way low for what is thought to be the actual required amount for optimal functioning (they recommend 600 IU when many competent sources say 2,000-6,000 IU is optimal). Vitamin D also has anabolic effects and improves mood. Most people are woefully deficient due to lack of sun exposure, diet, etc. Just make sure to get D3 and not D2 if you are going to buy as a supplement, and get the little gels if you can as opposed to hard pills as they absorb easier.

If you eat ample food including meat and fruits/vegetables you should be more than fine for getting vitamins other than D (you can check this by keeping an accurate Fitday log and checking out your typical daily nutrient intake), but if not then taking one or two good quality multi's should get you there.

I personally take 1 multi and 5-6 1,000 IU caps of Vitamin D3 each day in addition to my fish oil and have never felt better or been stronger.

[Guido]

A couple links as references:

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocente...mins/vitaminD/ (ignore the IU recommendations)

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_a..._is_for_doping

Studies (not linked):

Autier P, Gandini S. Vitamin D supplementation and total mortality: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(16):1730—7.

Athletic Performance and Vitamin D , JOHN J. CANNELL, BRUCE W. HOLLIS, MARC B. SORENSON, TIMOTHY N. TAFT, and JOHN J. B. ANDERSON

[Locutus]

If you're going to supplement with any vitamin it should be Vitamin D3.

For serious. I also have been doing 5000-6000 IU D3 for a long time now. and ditto on your advice on fish oil and multi. The only other "general health" supplement that I'd recommend is some kind of chelated magnesium (could be ZMA, butI prefer just plain old magnesium citrate).

Good to see you over here, BTW.

[Guido]

For serious. I also have been doing 5000-6000 IU D3 for a long time now. and ditto on your advice on fish oil and multi. The only other "general health" supplement that I'd recommend is some kind of chelated magnesium (could be ZMA, butI prefer just plain old magnesium citrate).

Good to see you over here, BTW.

What up, Tim?

Yes, Magnesium is good, too, and has some positive effects on recovery and sleep. It gives some people very vivid dreams!

[PVC]

I just want to point out that some milk brands add Vitamins A and D to their milk, so if you're drinking GOMAD with one of these brands it might not be the best idea to supplement either of these two vitamins.

[Locutus]

Each cup of milk around here has

10% of the DV for vitamin A and
25% of the DV for vitamin D

so, that's

500 IU vitamin A and 100IU vitamin D per cup
*16 = 8000IU vitamin A and 1600IU vitamin D.

Vitamin D3 is pretty safe up to 10000IU daily, so I'd still supplement with it, personally. The vitamin A is nothing to scoff at, so I guess that's something to watch out for, especially if you're taking one of those "high quality" multis, or are pregnant.

[Guido]

^ What he said. Most people are going to get plenty adequate amounts of Vitamin A through diet alone but not Vitamin D, even on the GOMAD.

[mcsquared]

Unless I read wrong, in The Strongest Shall Survive, Bill Starr recommends 25,000 units per day of Vitamin A. Regardless, my question now is, where do you guys buy your vitamins? A couple of ya mentioned Animal Paks or whatever, any cheap but effective alternatives?

[Sami]

Vit A inhibits Vit D3 though, doesn't it? I think I heard that either on Wolf's blog or Super Human Radio.