I've been taking vitamins every morning with breakfast and then vitamins for dinner. Recently I've been reading that it's really bad to take vitamins with coffee it will effect the absorption rate as well as excretion rate. Basically, taking vitamins with coffee is throwing my money away.

I've read a lot of recommendations to take my vitamins during lunch, but I still prefer to take the vitamins during breakfast. So I'm wondering what I should do? I'm not sure if I should drink my coffee first thing and then wait to take my vitamins later or do the opposite?

The vitamins I take are:
1,000mg of vitamin C two times a day (2,000mg total) (allergies issues)
St. John's wort twice a day (helps me sleep better I've noticed)
1,000mg of vitamin D just in the morning

Thanks in advance

Coffee is just plain bad, you and everyone else consuming it, should cut it out and switch to tea to optimize health. Coffee is a diuretic and it will draw water out the colon, helping to trap and compact feces there. It has alot of toxins and it spikes the blood sugar. The spike in blood sugar is what makes you loose nutrient absorption. It also has alot of caffeine, which causes a shock to the central nervous system.

I had bad withdrawal when I first quit coffee for tea, but now I am over it. So it is also addictive and not something you can just stop, without obsessing over returning to the dark side.

The C and D should not be a problem, but the St. John's Wort would. Tannin in tea and coffee make it difficult for most herbs to be digested. Tannin even makes it difficult to digest proteins. Just take your vitamins an hour later.

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- Jim
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Thank you both for the replies.

I didn't think one cup of coffee everyday in the morning was that bad. I thought I saw on Dr. Oz him mention that coffee was actually good for you and that it was the creamers and sugar that people add. I drink my coffee black
I've tried switching to tea, but it's very hard for me to switch. I guess it's the lack of caffeine and I'm so used to the coffee taste.

I forgot to mention I normally take B12 in the morning every now and then as well, but after drinking my coffee and eating my breakfast, it's the last thing I do.

@ jfh
Would I have to wait an hour? I was reading some places 15 minutes or what have you, but an hour is a really long time as after breakfast I'm heading out the door and would prefer not to have to carry pills with me to work if I don't have to, it's why I prefer taking pills in the morning for breakfast and then again for dinner. If I eat out I then I do it again for dinner.

Hi jbo, welcome. I don't think that coffee is bad at all unless you're drinking it all day long. I usually have 1 1/2 cups in the morning, and take my vitamins around an hour later. I thought I'd mention that taking vitamin D is essential, and the D3 form is recommended. Also I learned that it's best to take it along with a fatty supplement like omega 3 fish oil for better absorption.

Here's a good link about coffee from our member Harry Hirsute's blog, be sure to read related links below the article also.

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I agree. Coffee is not bad for you, unless you have weak adrenals. Caffeine is too stimulating for weak adrenals. Most people do suffer from this due to stress in their lives. But vitamin C and the B complex, especially pantothenic acid (B5), help to nurture the adrenals. I suspect that if you are taking St. John's Wort, you already have weak adrenals, adrenal fatigue. You would do yourself a favor to cut down even more on coffee and move to decaf. Even decaf has tannins though.

Perhaps it would be easier for you to put your vitamins is a ziplock bag or a small bottle and take them later in the day, such as lunch. The vitamin D would work better with food.

The main reason I take St. John's wort is not that it puts me in a better mood so much, but I've noticed I'm more relaxed and that I sleep better. I've always had issues sleeping, it's not sleep itself,but getting to sleep. I noticed when I took St. John's wort that I actually slept better.

I only drink one cup of coffee the first thing in the morning and nothing else after that. I guess I could go without coffee, but I feel I drag through the day and I'm less alert if I don't drink at all. I don't feel I have an addition either as I travel for my job often and those days I prefer not to drink any coffee and just sleep while traveling as much as possible and I don't get any headaches or anything of that nature.

I've been taking all the pills with not just coffee, but during lunch as well. Some days I drink a protein shake in the morning with my pills, but always drink one cup of coffee before leaving for the day.

I just recent started taking Vitamin D as I don't spend as much time outside as I used to even though I do live in Florida. So I just started taking 1,000mg of the D-3 that I ordered through swanson vitamins. I do feel like I'm in a much better mood.

I honestly don't know anything about adrenals and haven't been tested for anything. I can tell you that I do feel I get stressed easily over things that most people would feel you shouldn't get stressed over. It's one reason I started taking St. John's wort, in which I would take it off and on and noticed when I took it I would sleep much better.

really appreciate all the help and feedback from everybody

jbo, the fact that coffee consumption allegedly increases alertness is a myth. What happens is that regular coffee drinkers develop a caffeine dependency and your morning cup satisfies the addiction allowing you to feel better the days you drink. The days you don't drink you go through withdrawl, this accounts for the change in feeling. If you stopped drinking for a week to two, the dependency should be gone.

This article explains it:
NaturalNews: Coffee myth busted: morning cups offer no boost in mental alertness

For reference Green tea has only 15 milligrams of caffeine while brewed coffee has over 100 milligrams. But that is not the fully story because tea contains theanine which reduced stress and produces calming. The little caffeine that Green tea has is balanced out with this substance, thus it causes no central nervous shock like the much greater amount of caffeine in coffee.

Thanks for all the info, I'm traveling right now, but in a few weeks I'll try and go two weeks without coffee and see how I feel and mostly, maybe I'll sleep better. At one time I tried to make tea in the morning, which didn't last long, because it seemed so expensive compared to I guess coffee and I was running out of tea bags all the time.

Is tea really that good for you or is it more that much better than coffee? I guess my question is am I better off not drinking either one or am I better of drinking tea than not drinking either.

Thanks in advance

Tea is alot better hands down. It has good polyphenols, theanine, and dozens of other beneficial health promoting compounds and anti-oxidants, it has been shown to boost the immune system, prevent cancer, slow down aging, etc. The health benefits of tea have been studied countless times, and it is known to be one of the reasons that the Japanese are the healthiest population in the world. Coffee on the other-hand like I said before has lot of toxins, makes it hard to absorb nutrients, dehydrates your body, produces a shock to the system, spikes blood sugar, creates addiction, etc., etc.

Tea is also very cheap, I don't why you think it is expensive. I personally buy "Kirkland Signature Ito En Green Tea" at Costco(you have to have a membership to shop there unfortunately, but I just borrow my mom's boyfriend's Business card) for I think $14 a box that contains 100 bags. That comes out to about 14 cents per bag for high quality tea imported from Japan. Sometimes I also buy "Benner Green tea with Passion Fruit" from Aldi's and I believe that is even more inexpensive.

If you want to maximize health you must stop drinking coffee. I have learned that no matter what you are gonna be exposed to so many toxins, so much radiation, so many poisons developed since the advent of petrochemical chemistry and carcinogens through modern living that if we are diligent and caring, we must avoid needlessly exposing ourselves. We are born over-exposed as it is so we should stop ingesting and eating toxic, unhealthy foods and beverages so our body can begin detoxing slowly.

The more I read about green tea the more impressive it is. I just read that a cup of green tea has more vitamin C than an orange. Seems it lowers stress in people, which I honestly feel stressed easily. Just saw an article about a doctor who claims it can help you loose weight going from coffee to tea in 6 weeks, which I guess he was on Ophra as well.

My cup of coffee costs me about 3 cents a cup, but 14 cents is still pretty cheap. I have membership to costco, so I'll look for it when I'm there. I'm thinking about just buying powder though.

I keep reading that Matcha green tea is the best and it has 137 times the EGCG than regular green tea.

I know this is getting off subject, but I'm going to start having protein shakes for breakfast and was thinking about just adding Matcha Green Tea Powder to it. I saw a chinese study that hot green tea has more antioxidants than cold tea, but it only looses 20% of it.

I was going to make a shake for two people and add these things
* banana
* protein powder
* tiny bit of frozen blueberries (quarter of a cup or less)
* Psyillium seed husks
* open capsule of vitamin D3 and Vitamin C
* tablespoon or two of the matcha green tea powder

Anything wrong with this? I'm not sure how it's going to taste to be honest. I've been trying to get higher protein and higher fiber for breakfast, so I feel full throughout the day and eat less for lunch. I'm just hoping that it will taste decent without me having to add any sugar or sugar alternative.

Thanks again everybody, you guys have been a wonderful help

Actually, "Kirkland Signature Ito En Green Tea" that I recommended has matcha powder in it. It mentions it on the box and back of each bag. When you open a pouch you will see this green powder in it, that is the matcha. After putting in the bag you are supposed to put the pouch upside down and shake it a little to let the matcha get in the brew.

Another thing about coffee that is bad that I forget to mention, here are coffee beans before and after roasting:

When you roast something and it turns so black that is glycation, which produces toxins and carcinogens. That is why you are not supposed to cook or roast stuff till it is black and brown, but that is what is done with coffee beans. This article explains: Glycation: A Killer Process

picked up the kirkland green tea bags and I'm really happy with it. Thanks for the suggestion.

I actually do feel better, no headaches or any issues and I feel more alert throughout the day, not just the morning. But I've been taking naps throughout the day, which isn't normal for me, but I've been off of work a few days.

I'm going to try and avoid coffee as much as possible and maybe just once a month or so on a weekend have an espresso.

Thanks everyone again