Supplement brand recommendations?

[SuzInVa]

Well, in addition to being recently diagnosed with Crohn's, it seems my vitamin D levels are also pretty low, my cholesterol is high and I'm going to assume that my B vitamin levels are low as well. I've never been good at taking supplements but it looks like I'm going to have to get better at it. My question is, are some brands better than others? I know some brands are very expensive, are they worth spending the money on? Or would store brands do the trick?

Nutritional dummy, here. I'm beginning my journey to a gluten free diet, am already pretty much dairy free, am contemplating giving up the diet coke (though I'm not sure how much success I'll have, I so do not want to give that up) and am going to greatly reduce my consumption of red meat, which up until a few years ago, I didn't eat much of but the BF and son both are major carnivores so it's gone up quite a bit. Anyway, in my rambling way, I'm trying to say that I want to make sure that I'm getting the nutrition I need, even though my diet is going to be restricted. I can't afford a nutritionist so I'm trying to wing it on my own.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Suzanne

 

[Jim Gonsler]

Quality of Supplements

A lot of supplements heavily advertised and sold in the grocery store tend to be cheaper but do hardly any good for you. Why? because they are loaded with fillers and don't have a very high content of the particular vitamin you are trying to get the most of. Also, many supplements are in pill form and can take hours to digest. I had major surgery for a Crohn's related obstruction years ago and had a lot of my intestines taken out. Pills are little or no good for me as result. Usually they are out of my system before they even have a chance to be absorbed. The septic tank is the only beneficiary of these products. Consequently, I take vitamins in powder form that are solved in water. The benefit is that water is of the same consistency as you digestiive system and dissolves in minutes. The stuff I take Isotonix (a patented product)is absorbed in the stomach lining in only 5 minutes. Isotonix is the delivery method ...powder. I take the Calcium and multi-vitamin form along with an natural anti-inflammatory product called OPC-3

 

[mnsun]

It depends on the vitamins/herbs you need, but brands like NOW, Jarrow or Source Naturals SEEM to be pretty good for your buck. However, your best bet is surfing big internet sites with at least prices 40% or more off.

Many nutritionists, and salespeople, say that certain forms of vitamins are better than others. For instance, if you need B12, it should probably be Methylcobalamin in a sub-lingual (lozenge) form. If you need D vitamins, get D3 or cholecaliciferol forms. If you need magnesium, maybe get malate or taurate forms which are less likely to cause digestive problems. For multis, some people say to take "food based" vitamins that are essentially regular vitamins fed to yeasts and plants which are later harvested containing alledgedly more absorbable forms. For example: if you need selenium, there are mustard greens, which accumulate selenium cruciferate, that uptake more absorbable forms when given the right substrate to grow in.

For fish oils, there is a SUPPOSED third party, independent certifier, IFOS, that lists companies it approves on their website. In general, enteric coated fish oils with high amounts of EPA/DHA listed on the label are most useful for digestive purposes.

For probiotics, go see the supplements thread that lists Probiotics brands. I am partial to Jarrow EPS--I take 2-4 a day on an empty stomach.

Otherwise just type in search engines: most absorbable form of "vitamin". Surf the dietary and supplement threads for more info.

If you want more of my opinions and rantings check out: Your Story>Success Stories>MY Supps for MY Dis-Ease