Psycho-Babble Alternative Thread 463951

Shown: posts 1 to 19 of 19. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplement?

Posted by Sarah T. on February 27, 2005, at 1:29:45

Do you have a favorite vitamin or mineral, one that you make sure you never run out of? I think my two favorites are Vitamin C and Magnesium Glycinate.

 

Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplement? » Sarah T.

Posted by Larry Hoover on March 2, 2005, at 15:08:17

In reply to What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplement?, posted by Sarah T. on February 27, 2005, at 1:29:45

> Do you have a favorite vitamin or mineral, one that you make sure you never run out of? I think my two favorites are Vitamin C and Magnesium Glycinate.

Hard to pick one. Fish oil, probably.

Lar

 

Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen

Posted by LOOPS on March 17, 2005, at 14:34:52

In reply to Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplement? » Sarah T., posted by Larry Hoover on March 2, 2005, at 15:08:17

definitely fish oil for me, followed by evening primrose oil and 5htp.

Loops

 

Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen

Posted by MoparFan91 on March 22, 2005, at 18:34:22

In reply to Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen, posted by LOOPS on March 17, 2005, at 14:34:52

Same here. My favorites are the following according to rank:

1) Magnesium Glycinate
2) Fish Oil
3) Vitamin C
4) 5-HTP

I make sure to absolutely never run out of these. I think those supplements mentioned above help the most for me.

 

Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen

Posted by LOOPS on March 22, 2005, at 19:33:41

In reply to Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen, posted by MoparFan91 on March 22, 2005, at 18:34:22

What do you take the 5htp for?

I take 5htp to knock me out at night for sleep. It's still working well after a couple of months. Miles better than sleeping pills.

Loops>

Same here. My favorites are the following according to rank:
>
> 1) Magnesium Glycinate
> 2) Fish Oil
> 3) Vitamin C
> 4) 5-HTP
>
> I make sure to absolutely never run out of these. I think those supplements mentioned above help the most for me.

 

Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen » LOOPS

Posted by Sarah T. on March 23, 2005, at 0:51:11

In reply to Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen, posted by LOOPS on March 22, 2005, at 19:33:41

Hi LOOPS,

How much 5-HTP do you take? Do you take it right before bedtime or a few hours before? Do you take it on an empty stomach or with food?

Thanks.

 

Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplement? » Larry Hoover

Posted by Sarah T. on March 23, 2005, at 0:52:05

In reply to Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplement? » Sarah T., posted by Larry Hoover on March 2, 2005, at 15:08:17

Hi Larry.
Do you take fish oil throughout the day or only once a day?

 

Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen » MoparFan91

Posted by Sarah T. on March 23, 2005, at 0:55:48

In reply to Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen, posted by MoparFan91 on March 22, 2005, at 18:34:22

Hi Moparfan,

I like Magnesium Glycinate too. I might try Magnesium Citrate again when the bottle of glycinate is empty. For some reason, I can't seem to take Calcium together with the Magnesium at night. I used to take them together in a 2:1 ratio, but the Calcium seemed to make me a bit anxious. I know that makes no sense, but that's how it felt to me. Now I take some calcium during the day and the magnesium at night.

How much 5-HTP do you take and at what time of day?

 

Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen » LOOPS

Posted by MoparFan91 on March 23, 2005, at 6:09:17

In reply to Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen, posted by LOOPS on March 22, 2005, at 19:33:41

I take it mainly to help with sleep and chronic insomnia, though it seems to have some benefits for depression and, to some extent, social anxiety as well.

> What do you take the 5htp for?
>
> I take 5htp to knock me out at night for sleep. It's still working well after a couple of months. Miles better than sleeping pills.
>
> Loops>
>
> Same here. My favorites are the following according to rank:
> >
> > 1) Magnesium Glycinate
> > 2) Fish Oil
> > 3) Vitamin C
> > 4) 5-HTP
> >
> > I make sure to absolutely never run out of these. I think those supplements mentioned above help the most for me.
>
>

 

Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen

Posted by LOOPS on March 23, 2005, at 8:24:34

In reply to Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen » LOOPS, posted by MoparFan91 on March 23, 2005, at 6:09:17

Hi Sarah -

I take varying amounts of 5-htp, depending on how I feel on a given day.

Mostly I take 150mg before bed. Sometimes early in the evening I will take 50mg (to get the melatonin produced in time for bed!), and sometimes this can be as much as 100mg early evening if I am feeling very 'revved' or wired and know I will not sleep.

Occasionally I will take some in the morning, but this is not usual.

I don't rely on 5htp as a solution for depression - it doesn't really cut it for me. I haven't tried very high doses but my feeling based on many years on/off 5htp is that they wouldn't help me - just make me more tired and grumpy.

However for the insomnia, 5htp works wonders (taken with carb snack and fish oil for me works better).

Loops

 

Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen » LOOPS

Posted by Sarah T. on March 23, 2005, at 23:45:39

In reply to Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen, posted by LOOPS on March 23, 2005, at 8:24:34

Hi LOOPS. Thanks for your help. You mentioned above that you take fish oil and evening primrose oil. Is there a particular ratio of fish oil to epo that you'd recommend?

 

Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen

Posted by LOOPS on March 24, 2005, at 8:58:34

In reply to Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen » LOOPS, posted by Sarah T. on March 23, 2005, at 23:45:39

yes, get a high dose fish oil. I'm having good results with NOW double-concentrated fish oil (600mg omega-3 per capsule), and also have just received some Natural Factors 'Dr Murray Recommends' fish oil with a picture of the bloke on the front (why the name I have no idea - the last thing I need is to be looking at his mug every morning!). These capsules have more EPA:DHA - 400mg EPA and 200mg DHA per cap.

I can't afford and am unwilling to shell out for the much-praised Omega Brite. I am sure the higher the EPA the better, but for now I will keep on with these brands. From the site I get them from, it appears the Natural Factors one is actually slightly cheaper than the NOW brand.

The Natural Factors one says it's pharmaceutical grade, but I think the NOW brand is also very good quality. I buy big tubs of 120 caps and wish they had a bigger one I could buy, as I take 6 of these babies a day (sometimes more if I've eaten a lot of peanuts etc.).

These two I get from betterlife.com, which is the cheapest source I have found for just about any vitamin/herb etc. you could ever want. The other reason is it ships to Chile cheaply, which iHerb does not (another good cheap site).

The EPO I take is GNC (the only brand you can buy here) and it says it's cold pressed. I think Natural Factors also do a good brand. However I think if you stick to well known brands like Source Naturals, NOW, Solgar you can pretty much be guaranteed good quality (at least in my experience).

Solgar is more expensive, but comes in glass jars with pretty gold labels which look oh-so-cool on the shelf (when one takes so many supplements, it's nice to have good-looking ones!).

Loops

 

i use a high epa ratio oil made by 'metabolic

Posted by joebob on March 24, 2005, at 9:40:22

In reply to Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen, posted by LOOPS on March 24, 2005, at 8:58:34

maintenane' and get it from 'emerson ecologics' on the web.......all things condiered i find it the best value...i used to use 'kirunal'

joebob

 

Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen » LOOPS

Posted by KaraS on March 24, 2005, at 16:08:25

In reply to Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen, posted by LOOPS on March 24, 2005, at 8:58:34

> yes, get a high dose fish oil. I'm having good results with NOW double-concentrated fish oil (600mg omega-3 per capsule), and also have just received some Natural Factors 'Dr Murray Recommends' fish oil with a picture of the bloke on the front (why the name I have no idea - the last thing I need is to be looking at his mug every morning!). These capsules have more EPA:DHA - 400mg EPA and 200mg DHA per cap.
>
> I can't afford and am unwilling to shell out for the much-praised Omega Brite. I am sure the higher the EPA the better, but for now I will keep on with these brands. From the site I get them from, it appears the Natural Factors one is actually slightly cheaper than the NOW brand.
>
> The Natural Factors one says it's pharmaceutical grade, but I think the NOW brand is also very good quality. I buy big tubs of 120 caps and wish they had a bigger one I could buy, as I take 6 of these babies a day (sometimes more if I've eaten a lot of peanuts etc.).
>
> These two I get from betterlife.com, which is the cheapest source I have found for just about any vitamin/herb etc. you could ever want. The other reason is it ships to Chile cheaply, which iHerb does not (another good cheap site).
>
> The EPO I take is GNC (the only brand you can buy here) and it says it's cold pressed. I think Natural Factors also do a good brand. However I think if you stick to well known brands like Source Naturals, NOW, Solgar you can pretty much be guaranteed good quality (at least in my experience).
>
> Solgar is more expensive, but comes in glass jars with pretty gold labels which look oh-so-cool on the shelf (when one takes so many supplements, it's nice to have good-looking ones!).
>
> Loops


Hi Loops,
Natural Factors is the brand I've been using. It's the best selling supplement of all at iHerb. I bought it because it says it's pharmaceutical quality, the percentage of EPA:DHA, the cost and because Michael Murray and the brand Natural Factors are both well respected. I haven't gotten any good results from it yet though. I've only been taking 2 capsules a day so I need to increase the dosage in order to really judge it.

Recently I've been worried about taking fish oil in capsules period. Other posters here have said that there's a greater chance that the capsules contain rancid oils. You can't smell them to tell either as you can with the liquid. I'm considering trying the liquid but the thought of it is so unappealing (to say the least).

Anyway, I will be curious to see how you fare on this brand. Please keep us posted.

Take care,
Kara


 

Re: i use a high epa ratio oil made by 'metabolic

Posted by LOOPS on March 25, 2005, at 9:45:00

In reply to i use a high epa ratio oil made by 'metabolic, posted by joebob on March 24, 2005, at 9:40:22

joebob -

what has been your experience with fish oil (if you don't mind me asking)? Have you noticed any specific effects?

Loops>


maintenane' and get it from 'emerson ecologics' on the web.......all things condiered i find it the best value...i used to use 'kirunal'
>
> joebob

 

Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen

Posted by LOOPS on March 25, 2005, at 10:13:20

In reply to Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen » LOOPS, posted by KaraS on March 24, 2005, at 16:08:25

Kara I think you would burp nasty burps if the oil was rancid maybe? Dunno. HOwever, I also guess that by ordering a brand that has a large turnover of products (especially if it is selling well) is a good guage of whether or not the oil is likely to have been sitting around in the warehouse for long or not. Sealed capsules are good for keeping oils airfree anyway, and if they have vitamin E then the shelf life is longer.

Also, all bottles should have a best before on the bottom - this is a good indication (if not right) of how long they're going to last.

On another note, I've just re-started lithium orotate (2 tabs) and am playing around with some adaptogens (rhodiola before sport but not every day), ashwagandha (great stuff for anxiety) and my much-loved Siberian Ginseng Sport-strength (10:1 extract).

The fish oil/epo combo is great, but I still don't feel it's enough, as I'm lacking in energy, still feeling emotional stress although mentally I am much more resilient and less prone to anxiety.

Been taking the lith orotate for a few days and is already making a difference. This time I'm taking it without SJW (which was what I was doing before). I love ginseng and ashwagandha - although the rhodiola I think I have to be careful with, as it tends to boost dopamine very strongly in me.

Loops

 

Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen » LOOPS

Posted by KaraS on March 25, 2005, at 23:15:43

In reply to Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen, posted by LOOPS on March 25, 2005, at 10:13:20

> Kara I think you would burp nasty burps if the oil was rancid maybe? Dunno. HOwever, I also guess that by ordering a brand that has a large turnover of products (especially if it is selling well) is a good guage of whether or not the oil is likely to have been sitting around in the warehouse for long or not. Sealed capsules are good for keeping oils airfree anyway, and if they have vitamin E then the shelf life is longer.

You're probably right. I feel better about them now.


> Also, all bottles should have a best before on the bottom - this is a good indication (if not right) of how long they're going to last.


Yeah, it's well within the limit but I remember Larry saying that he bought some really good name liquid fish oil that was well within the spoilage date stamped on it, and he opened it and could tell right away that it was rancid.


> On another note, I've just re-started lithium orotate (2 tabs) and am playing around with some adaptogens (rhodiola before sport but not every day), ashwagandha (great stuff for anxiety) and my much-loved Siberian Ginseng Sport-strength (10:1 extract).


I'm definitely going to try lithium orotate. I may have a soft bipolar condition so I think it would make sense to start off with LO. What do you mean by "before sport" - do you mean taken before you exercise? I wasn't able to tolerate either rhodiola or siberian ginseng. I may try a different brand of the sg though. I'm curious about ashwagandha.



> The fish oil/epo combo is great, but I still don't feel it's enough, as I'm lacking in energy, still feeling emotional stress although mentally I am much more resilient and less prone to anxiety.


I think that for most people, it's only a part of the puzzle. We need it to function optimally but we may need several other things as well (unfortunately).


> Been taking the lith orotate for a few days and is already making a difference. This time I'm taking it without SJW (which was what I was doing before). I love ginseng and ashwagandha - although the rhodiola I think I have to be careful with, as it tends to boost dopamine very strongly in me.

Are you still taking 5-htp? Did you continue to like the Source Naturals brand? I wonder if Natural Factors or a different brand that is enteric coated would be better for the gi tract.

K


 

Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen

Posted by LOOPS on March 26, 2005, at 10:49:20

In reply to Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplemen » LOOPS, posted by KaraS on March 25, 2005, at 23:15:43

> >
yes I take the ginseng before exercise - also during the day if I need more energy. I like the fact that it is balancing overall, rather than stimulating one-way.
>
>AShwagandha can be a bit mixed. I have noticed my reactions to things after my several months on high dose fish oil are somewhat different. Herbs/supplements seem to have less of a punch on me (which is good - must mean my brain is less likely to be unbalanced by things).
>
>I don't like to take many things and seem to be determined to find the lowest possible number of pills to be popping. Part of this is the hassle when I go travelling - I mean on the plane I am f*rting around with opening a dozen bottles and everyone is wondering what is going on with me!
>
>I still take 5htp - taking mixture of different brands - they all seem to have an effect. 100mg of non-enteric-coated 5htp will bring on brief but intense nausea on empty stomach but that is all.

The insomnia issues are pretty much gone for the first part of the night, but recently I've been finding myself waking up at 5am and wondering about popping a half zolpidem. I hope this early wakening isn't a precursor for bad depression setting in again (not that I'm on top of the world at the moment but I'm not *that* bad).

Also, the lithium orotate may (?) deplete inositol - is this possible with such a low dose?? Inositol being so important for sleeping through the night this could be a worry.>
>
This is also why I don't like messing with lots of supplements - everything needs balancing so much, it makes it so complicated taking more than a couple of pills. Still, at least my bulimia has made a remission over the last couple of months. This must mean serotonin is functioning better.

Loops

 

Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplement? » Sarah T.

Posted by Larry Hoover on March 26, 2005, at 12:00:48

In reply to Re: What's your favorite vitamin/mineral supplement? » Larry Hoover, posted by Sarah T. on March 23, 2005, at 0:52:05

> Hi Larry.
> Do you take fish oil throughout the day or only once a day?

I'm pretty irregular with most of my supplements. I don't remember to take stuff every day. The RDA is based on an average intake over seven days.....it really doesn't matter much if you miss days or double up some days.

Lar


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