Goodness from multivitamins & multiminerals
Did any one of you attend the Glow Workshop organized by Watsons last Saturday? Well, I did! And since attending the workshop, I’ve been taking Centrum, a multimineral and multivitamin formula oral supplement.
Difference between vitamins and minerals
Well, it came in the goodie bag from the workshop and after listening to the talk by Dr Alvin Wong from SKN Medi Asethetics, I realized that there is a difference between vitamins and minerals. Although I’ve been paying a bit more attention to my diet, but according to Dr Wong, it’s still important to take a balanced supplement.
Supplements help us look good and feel good
In addition to that, when I was reading The Perricone Promise by Dr Nicholas Perricone, I learnt that we can look better and feel better in 3 ways:
1. Pay special attention in our diet and what we eat.
2. Take oral supplements in addition to eating well.
3. Use topical products to work from outside in.
So I’m going to be more diligent with supplements now. Anyway, I like the fact that with Centrum, I only need to take one pill per day and that’s really quite hassle free.
Collagen products are useless
By the way, Dr Wong also said that collagen supplements and creams are useless because collagen cannot be absorbed by the skin or through the gut. Hence, we need to eat well with regular intake of a balanced supplement in order for our body to produce collagen internally.
Well, I’ll share a few more useful information I’ve gleaned from the workshop in the next few entries so stay tuned!
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hmm i dont take multi vitamins, i am only taking B complex and C. And primrose for a while, because for some weird reasons, i broke out a lot when i was taking that. i am not sure whether its a coincidence or what, but i have stopped taking it and face has been normal..
prettybeautiful: You broke out with primrose oil? Oh dear that’s strange indeed!
How about oils like rice bran oil?
It is said to stimulate collagen. So, it won’t help?
pf: Not sure but based on what he said, if it’s something that can help with stimulating collagen production from within, then it should work.
Even though experts say that taking collagen orally has no effect on your skin, there’s a lot of anecdotal evidence that such supplements do make a difference. Personally, I find that when I take collagen supplements diligently, my skin recovers faster from whatever abuse I dish out to it, and the marionette lines are not so visible… I think the jury is still out on this one, no matter what the doctors say.
Alixana: I’m more skeptical of the drinks. For the pills, I’ve tried taking them in the past and I think they do show up positive results. However, I did not take a look at the ingredients. It could be something in there that help to stimulate production from within, not sure. Well, my take is people are free to try as long as the stuff are not harmful and it’ll be great if the products work for them.
alixana, that’s true. I have friend who also say that her skin recovers faster when she takes collagen supplement.
But it can also be the placebo effect.
Actually, for me…I don’t really care either way. Coz my skin heals faster when I take Vitamin E. Its cheaper also. I have taken collagen drinks but I don’t see any huge diff.
I use my collagen cream on my skin because its THAT cream that works. I didn’t buy it because the box says there is collagen in it.
I think its all marketing gimmick. If a product works, it works. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.
Hi, I have been following this website for awhile.. very informative..
As for me, i used to take multivit daily until I met my husband who is a nutritionist. He advise me to pay attention to our diet, then consume the supplement that is lacking in our diet.
Multivit consist of all the vit from A to Z. Sometime you will have enough Vit A from our food, by taking multivit, you will more vit A in our body which will cause burden to it.
Hence, I am now taking vitamins which i handly get from the food. Of coz, multivit is hassel free.. ?
One thing to mention is, multivit pills tend to synthetic rather than natural.
Synthetic supplements are made through chemical process and natural supplements are extracted from plants. Vit C is from papaya, Vit B is from pollen.
Synthetic supplement deplete your body of other nutrients and tax your kidneys before being excreted through your urine.
Not easy to find natural supplement from the drugstore, you will have to know how to read the labbelings.
Just my part in sharing.
If you have any doubts, feel free to share with me!
thank you.
Nutritionist Wife: Hey, you raised good points! In fact, that was what I thought because my husband said the same thing. He’s a bit of an exercise and health nut these days so he did some of his readings. Which was why I stopped taking supplements for awhile but only took those for energy or evening primrose oil. But I find it hard to know what I’m deficient in so in that sense, I thought the doctor made sense that we should take one that is balanced. However, your point on synthetic supplement is valid and quite scary. Oh dear…I don’t know where to get natural supplement here and neither do I know how to read the labels.
Nutritionist wife, that was really enlightening. But actually, I hardly take any supplements because of extra cost involved.
Sesame, if there’s any cheaper alternatives please share with us!! I do believe in eating right and having the extra supplement to help but health supplement are so expensive! I used to spend $400 monthly on health supplement and has stopped since.
Peapot: Wow, $400??? ?
Wah.. that’s is over my budget too.. we normally spent about $200 monthly on health supplement..
I find it very worth it as the supplement are extract from natural source and they save me a lot from going to doctor… I haven’t been taking medicine for years..
When I have flu, I will take Vit C, propolis, and gralic pill.. Hahahaaa..
Nutritionist Wife: I think most of the money in terms of supplements are spent for my son. I’m tired of having to remind my husband.
i also attended the glow workshop, but i’m not taking the centrium supplements, might give them to my dad. the calcium tablets i threw away cos my mum read that you shouldn’t be taking calcium carbonate, which is whats in the calcium pills.
my mum gets her supplements from GNC (women’s multi-vit and pro-biotics), Life Extension (fish oil and vit c). everyday day i take a probiotic in the morning, then the multi-vits, fish oil and vit c after a meal. i also take a tsp of manuka honey cos i read that it can act as an antihistamine, since i suffer from eczema and other skin-related problems. my mum also started taking meiji collagen powder, so its too early to tell if it works. i did have good results with a drink once (smaller pores, glowy skin) but these days i’m trying my luck with natural skincare
Joyce: Oh calcium carbonate is bad? Then I won’t take them too cos I was planning to. Thanks for letting me know! I used to take calcium pills but got really lazy and then prefer to drink fresh milk instead. And like your mom, I used to buy from GNC until I visited Vitakids to get supplements for my kid. So now I buy more from Vitakids. Hey, I heard some good things about Meji collagen powder too but I have a friend who developed some skin allergies after taking it. Don’t know why.
I completely agree with you, supplements can make a huge difference in the way we look and feel. I take Multivitamins, extra B Complex with Zinc(during PMS), Fish Oil, Gooseberry, Bee Pollen Complex. But I forget to take them soemtimes, I am too lazy.
Leon: Yup, I forget them too. So once a day consumption is best. I’ll take them all at one go.
Oh forgot about GLA supplement:)
oh my mum checked her notes from her nutrition course and it said that calcium carbonate reacts with some of the acids in your stomach, so can cause stomach pain as it interferes with food digestion. it’s also not an organic version of calcium, so its best to look for other forms of calcium. the bad thing is that calcium carbonate is usually included in ‘high calcium’ drinks like milk and soya bean, so do check the label next time ?
Joyce: Even in milk and soya bean? Now I know why I get stomach pain sometimes!
just to clarify, i mean those which are labeled ‘high calcium’ on the packaging, cos usu calcium carbonate has been added to it. we stick to the normal ones ? my aunt used to take calcium carbonate supplements (readily available and cheap at hospital pharmacies) and they gave her stomach pain as well
Joyce: Oh I see…I must read the labels more carefully. Thanks for clarifying!
An independent study was conducted by 7 Canadian and American biochemists and Centrum only came to 3.9% to that of a “perfect multivitamin”, one of the lowest on the scale. USANA was rated the highest at 73.7%. I am currently taking GNC’s Mega Ultra Women..it came close to Amway’s Nutrilite at 26.7% and I do find that GNC’s Mega Ultra Women works for me. I feel more energetic, compared to when I was taking Centrum & Blackmores Multivit in the past.
Nway, calcium carbonate isnt exactly bad..it only causes an upset stomach for people with tummy sensitivity. Always choose a calcium supplement which has been combined with magnesium and/or Vitamin D, never a standalone calcium supplement as it may cause bloatedness, gas, tummy pain and even constipation. I used to take Calcium Carbonate supplements from GNC as well, but have recently switched to GNC’s Calcium Citrate as calcium citrate is more readily available to the body to be absorbed compared to other forms of calcium.
I took that for a period of time…not too sure what effects it had on me or should I say I can’t remember since it was awhile ago…
Yes there ahas been a few studies done that indicares that regular use of multi vitamins over a ,onb period of time coulcs actually b shortening your lifespan! The logic was simple we dont need extra doses of things that we do consume so in a long run thix over dose has a bad affect on body!
This scary findings were actually published in our national newspaper http://www.nzherald.co.nz
Ipersonally would rather take a multivitamin tab one every 2-3 days which is better for the bodys needs and for the budget as well
Cheers