Hi guys,

Ive recently been purchasing a lot more herbs and supplements..

currently im taking a multivitamin / antioxidant , 1000 mg of vitamin C, Fish Oil, Vit D3 5,000 IU, Quercitin/bee pollen, l-arginine/l-citruline, pynogenol, ginger, adrenal health pills, and digestive enzymes..

is this too much? So far I feel good but I hope I dont overload my body with too much vitamins/herbs.. is that possible? Or the cumulative effect of all the additives in the vitamins like mag. stearate etc.. (trying to limit that)

I have this tendency to think.. well all of these herbs do good things for me.. so why not take all of them?! and its hard for me not to take a new herb once I hear of all the benefits..

is there any downside? if not, why not take herbs for every part of your body.. circulation, respiratory, intestine, etc.

Hi Moxsum, welcome to the forum. I'm like you, I take quite a few supplements. Probably can't list them all, but some are a Multi/Mineral, D3, COQ10, Omega 3 Fish Oil, Turmeric, Red Clover, B-50 Complex, Magnesium, MSM, Glucosamine Sulfate, Natural Vitamin E, Lutein, Milk Thistle, Vitamin k2, Vitamin C, etc. For my husband I add Saw Palmetto and Beta-Sitosterol for the Prostate.

In my opinion, I don't think there's a problems with taking a lot of supplements, as long as you learn a bit about them to make sure there's no unwanted side-effects. If they are known to thin the blood for example, you probably wouldn't want to be taking large amounts of several supplements that do that, it could cause problems. You could also take certain things one day, and certain other supplements the next, if that's easier. Keep your basics for everyday use though.

We've talked about Magnesium Stearate here on the forum, and I understand that although it's an undesireable additive, it probably does no noticeable harm. To avoid it, you might be able to buy those supplements in liquid or powder form.

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Hi there.. thanks..

Yea.. ive only been taking this many supplements for a few weeks but so far I feel great.. so I guess ill just keep monitoring. Its true.. if your knowledgeable about what your taking you should be fine.. I mean, they are all natural.. and I try to find the highest quality supplements/herbs I can.

Thats a good idea about cycling them on different days... like I could do a few days where I take lots of circulatory herbs.. then switch to a few days of prostate specific herbs.. etc.. Im gonna try and take a day off of all vits/supp. every one in a while.. probably a good thing to do maybe once a week.. or go 3 weeks on then a few days/week off.

I take quite a few things for circulation/erections.. but I dont think they thin the blood.. atleast not all of them, but maybe I should be careful.. for that im taking;

L-Arginine/L-Citruline
Ginger
Pycnogenol
Ginseng

seems to be working quite well (if anyone needs advice about that)

Most multivitamins are worthless. The good ones are made from whole foods, while the cheap ones are made from synthetic chemicals. They may contain B vitamins, but the values are too small to be any good. Many contain iron as well, and most don't need the extra iron, as it tends to oxidize the body in much the same way as rust oxidizes a car. The cheap multivitamins usually contain the cheap form of B12 (cyan) rather than the more expensive methyl form. Also, check the "non medical" ingredients. Often they contain aspartame or sucralose, artificial colors, and other bad shit you don't want in your body.

1000 mg of C is not enough. You need at least 2000 mg three or four times per day, and work up from there. Also, you didn't mention D3. If your D3 comes from your multi only, that is not even close to enough. An average adult needs a minimum of 5000 I.U. per day... more if you are overweight, then double that if you have dark skin.

The arginine is good for dialating arteries due to nitrous oxide, however, this would only be good for about an hour unless the arginine is of the time release type.

Most people are deficient in magnesium, and I would suggest that you are as well. Magnesium regulates calcium and potassium, however, if you don't take enough magnesium (from citrate) then the potassium leaves the body through the urine and the calcium ends up in the soft tissues, such as arteries and brain. That is what causes heart attacks and strokes, and finally iodine, in the form of lugols (5% iodine and 10% potassium iodide) is necessary for many reasons. Most don't eat sea veggies/ sea weed/ kelp on a regular basis. That means nearly everyone is deficient in iodine. Fluorine, bromine, and chlorine deplete the body of iodine further because they have a negative effect on iodine.

Japanese women have the lowest rates of breast cancer. It was origionally thought this was due to the fact that they eat alot of fermented soy compared to American women, and this may be a factor, however, they also eat an average of 16 mg of iodine per day, which is over 100 times the RDA, which tells me that the RDA is much too low to do any good.

As per your last paragraph, I take over 200 pills per day, not counting the powders, so no, you're not overdoing it in my opinion. However, if I were you, I'd be loading up on the antioxidants as well. That would include fruit extracts, about 2000 I.U. of mixed E per day, Co Q10, alpha lipoic acid, proline, lysine, and resveratrol for starters.

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Hi Pinball.. wow 200 pills a day.. well that makes me feel good hehe.. Suppose im not overdoing it.. that seems like a lot though.. you never notice any adverse effects simply from taking that many pills? I mean, your ingesting quite a lot of the stuff they use to form the pills right? cellulose/stearate etc.

Yea, the multivitamin/antioxidant I take are of good quality (I think) they are from Dr. Weil's vitamin advisor www.vitaminadvisor.com seems like would put solid ingredients in his products.

Here are some of the ingredients:
Calcium (from calcium ascorbate, citrate and Ester-C) 35 mg 3.5%
Iodine (from kelp) 75 mcg 50%
Magnesium (from magnesium citrate) 15 mg 4%
Zinc (from zinc chelate) 7.5 mg 50%
Copper (from copper chelate) 0.75 mg 37%
Vitamin E (as d-alpha tocopherol and mixed tocopherols) 100 IU
CoQ10 (Ubiquinone) 30 mg

hmm so you think the arginine may only last an hour.. normally I take 3 pills on an empty stomach around the end of the day .. which equals 3 grams of arginine and 750 mg of citruline.. plus ginger/pycnogenol and 120 mg of ginko and some ginseng.. all those should combine to give me a good boost in circulation/erection right? im gonna be adding horse chestnut and some other circulatory health related herbs.

And ive just this week started taking 5,000 IU of vit D3 a day in addition to the 1,000 I get from the multivatmin, so thats 6,000 IU a day.. my doc told me I was deficient a few months ago but at that time I did nothing about it.

What do you take for a multivitamin / antioxidant?

Hi Moxum

I think you are starting out just fine. It is a learning process.
Here is my advice to you.
Listen to your body.

Regarding the arginine. Is the dose you are taking helpful? Some guys can tell exactly how much they need. Increase only if you need it. Taking it with the pyconogenol may also help as this is a great vascular supplement and tons of studies have been done to back that up. It does have a slight blood thining quality as does ginko, but you are not taking too much and dosages can go quite a bit higher. Just cut back if you have a surgery

Iodine is one thing you need to look at more. There is a ton of info on this site if you do a forum search. Also at www.HealthSalon.org just use the blog search function. I like the 7% and you can get it at Alpha Omega Labs but I don't really think it makes much of a difference between 5% and 7. Just adjust your dosage accordingly. It will help to keep your prostate healthy and will detox the bad halogens as well as some other heavy metals.

I don't take a multivitamin. The dosages are generally to low to be too effective. I have my doc do blood work about once a year to see what I might be needing. Have your doc check for homocystine levels as that will help you know how to supplement B6 and folic acid. I prefer to take folate myself. Many people can regulate that homocystine problem just with these two supplements but there is a third that can complete the process, just dont remember what it is right now as I have not needed it.

I also supplement with B12 injections. Sometimes I take once a week other times once a month, depending on how I feel. It has been pretty helpful for me for some injury pain that was neuromuscular in orgin. Anyway, it will keep your nerves funtioning top notch. Tell your doctor you have a nurse friend that can give you injections then learn to do it your self. It must be intramuscular and demand the methycycobalamin type of product, (sp?) Keep it in the fridge.

One last thing I would add is trace minerals. www.Reachforlife.com sees a great liquid product made from Utah shale, which is really ancient plant life.

I have some reservations about taking Horse chestnut long term but it is great for acute inflammatory problems with veins. I strongly suggest that you look at Horsetail from Flora called Vegetal Silica. I have posted a 9 step protocol for Osteoporois that you will find informative here on this forum. Horsetail Silica will help regulate calcium, it is great for the veins, will make a strong matix in many different tissues including bone, hair, nails, skin,....probably most tissues.

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Cool.. so no multivitamin? I figure.. even if you arent getting as much as you need, its better then none at all.. I also take folic acid although I dont know much about it lol..

B12 injections? Do you really need to inject it? Cant you just take an oral supplement? Ive recently been switching from eating meat to a vegetarian diet so I will probably need more B12..

I will look into the Iodine..

I take the arginine/pycnogenol combination because thats what they put into Prelox Blue which is a popular herbal treatment for ED.. and it seems to be helping..

What are your reservations about horse chestnut? I have a vericose vein in my left testicle, and apparently this herb is good for vericose veins.. and I figure it will help with circulation too.. I got this product, https://www.iherb.com/Now-Foods-Vein-...Vcaps/835?at=0 .. I also just got some Hawthorn https://www.iherb.com/Gaia-Herbs-Hawt...les/12479?at=0.

In addition to all this, I make a shake in the morning with Vitamineral Green, and some other products from Health Force Naturals.. I really like this stuff, it makes me feel good through out the day, you guys should check it out. www.healthforce.com

Another thing I wanted to know is.. do you guys spread your vitamins out through out the day? I take different things through out the day but I normally take like 4-10 pills of different types at once.. does it make them less effective or do the diff supplements have reactions with each other if I pop them all at once?

Also.. so what is THE best multivatmin that I can take which will give me the optimum levels of each vitamin?

Thanks

You are ok, but I agree with pinballdoctor, multi's are worthless. Even if they are organic, Vit C in large concentrations will deactivate B-12 and selenium. Iron and vitamin E are antagonistic, many pills you just deficate out without them dissolving.
Everyone is unique, but daily I would say take Vitamin C, Fish oil and maybe a B complex (not with the Vit C). The others you take, you can just take a couple a week.

I agree with saved1986. Multivitamins are useless. He forgot to mention that ascorbic acid and iodine don't go together either. VitC will transform iodine to iodide. Vitamin C is a very powerful antioxidant; both the synthetic ascorbic acid and the natural vitamin C.

I am going to be so embarrassed if a robber breaks into my house and opens my kitchen cabinets to see all the bottles and packages of supplements. ...or I might be angry. At least I would be embarrassed if it were an emergency paramedic or someone like that.

I take vitamin C in the natural form of amla throughout the day. It is best to take herbs 30 minutes before meals or 2 hours after. They don't get along with protein. Vitamin C is unstable and does not last long; so should be taken in smaller doses about 3 times a day. The oil based vitamins, A and D, can be taken anytime and will remain in your body for a long time. Minerals should be taken with your larger meal; not because it is better, only that you might get a foul feeling in your stomach. Magnesium should be taken away from calcium; because magnesium is a powerful calcium channel blocker. It is a lot to think about. This is why it is more important to find a way to get most of your vitamins and minerals from natural foods and whole herbs.

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- Jim

Kick ass! There is an indian preperation you can get at indian grocery stores called Chywanaprash. It is basically amla fruit jam with herbs/spices. Interesting taste, but not bad at all. I agree on the mag seperate from the calcium. I take something called Ionic Fizz magnesium and I have noticed that people I have given to (without fail) all say their muscles feel relaxed after taking it.

https://www.kitchendoctor.com/ayurveda/chyawanprash.php

I don't enjoy the taste of amla in the powder form by itself. It is a berry (Indian gooseberry); so it should taste good. But not for me. I take it; because it is 12 times more powerful that ascorbic acid. Also, it does so much more in its whole state, that it is worth adding as a daily supplement.

I also take it in Triphala an Ayurvedic supplement for, among many other things, constipation.

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- Jim

Wow! Cool site. Love their adrenal support stuff.

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- Jim

I forget the brand name, but I have a few sample packets of a VIT C supplement (check out free samples on iherb.com). It has amla powder in it, and the tatse is so so at best. As a chemist, I have learned to throw scientific theory out the window. If you gave me a sample of VIT C that was natural and one synthetic, in the lab I could not tell a difference, no matter what type of analysis I did. But in the body there is definitely a difference. (There are differences however in synthetic and natural Vit E).

Also, homeopathy. If you look at what they contain: ZERO active product in many cases, but double blind studies say they work.