What's you daily vitamin routine like?
Since we all know taking vitamins are mandatory for our survival post-WLS, thought I'd throw out this topic. Here's my daily vitamin routine rain or shine......
1. Get up and place all my vitamins for that day on a tray on the counter
2. Take 2 B-12 under the tongue (sub lingual dots from WalMart)
3. Take one multi, calcium, magnesium, fish oil and B complex
4. Two hours later before I take off for work, I take one iron along with a swig of OJ
5. When I get home from work, I take one multi, calcium, magnesium, fish oil and B complex
6. Before I go to bed, I I take one iron along with a swig of OJ
At the end of the day, the tray is empty so mission accomplished. I do this same routine whether at home or on the road.
You guys got a routine?
Boner
Time to dump the Flintstones and add some iron, Clapton. Here's a great post from vitamin guru Andrea telling why:
Someone asked me to come over and give my opinion. Know that they only wish the best for you in this request.
Know two things as well:
1) I'm not a doctor, nutritionist, medical professional (except patient) -- nor will I ever claim to be. I'm simply a mom *****ads on vitamins about 2 hours each day and keeps up with current stuff that apparantly docs don't even do;
2) I'm an RNY'er who got into a vitamin deficiency mess because I didn't pay attention to my supplements (and thus why I study so much these days).
With the above said, here's my take on vitamins, even for a bandster.
1) Children's vitamins are for kids. Period. I totally get that you need a chewable vitamin. Alot of RNY'ers do for life as well. That's cool. However, alot of offices recommend flintstones for some unknown reason -- especially since Centrum makes a chewable adult multivite readily available at your local Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, or grocery store.
There is *no* reason an adult should be taking a flintstones vitamin when there are adult alternatives available. The formulations are different. While some of the values might eventually equate (and keep in mind, an adult dose is 2 a day; 1 flintstone is the dose for my 25lb toddler), the actual composition varies. There are multiple forms of many of the vitamins. For example, A can be as beta-carotene, retinol acetate, retinol palmitate, or others. Bodies of different sized humans will convert these different nutrients differently. There are several others (vitamin D has two major forms, although people are *finally* wising up to D3 rather than D2 thanks, in part, to Dr. Oz preaching about it often) that have these various forms that eventually convert to the same vitamin. The really hard thing to get is that supplements don't always tell you which form is making up each type of vitamin, and even then, the RDA's vary based on that fact. Using vitamin A as an example, it takes 14 IU of beta carotene to equal 1 mcg of retinol. But it takes far less for palmitate or acetate to get to the same level.
As for gummy vitamins? They are crap. Pure crap. I just did a comparison of them. They are on my blog. They are expensive candy. I don't even give them to my child.
The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons published a report by several bariatric nutritionists. They recommend one adult multivite for band patients.
2) Calcium citrate, while not readily available in chewable form, is the best calcium available on the market in terms of bioavailability and cost. Period.
Calcium citrate has been proven in case studies to be 27% more bioavailable in post-menopausal women with normal guts. If it were me trying to decide whether I wanted the convience of getting my chewable calcium from Target or keeping my bones, I'm gonna have to go with bones. They tend to cost less in the long run than either getting the good stuff off the inet, dissolving in some crystal light, or making a trek to vitamin world and getting their twinlabs wafers.
The ASMBS recommends 1500 mg per day of supplemented calcium citrate.
3) Unless you are anemic, you probably don't need extra iron other than what is in your multivitamin. For bandsters, this needs to be regulated by blood tests alone -- RNY'ers should get this off the bat.. not y'all.
4) B-complex will only benefit you. Yeah, they stink, don't taste good, and can turn your urine green. However, if you are pukey (and I've heard that to be quite common), it's *veryveryveryvery* easy to become B1 (thiamin) deficient. Thiamin deficiency is serious crap. Permanent neurological damage serious crap. Coma type serious crap. Even death. It's worth taking the 1 a day to make sure you don't suffer irreversible damage.
Now, yeah, I'm an RNY'er. I get that. But I also know that normal guts and my guts will react similarly in some situations (like the calcium). So take the info as you wish -- and if you (or anyone else) have any questions, I'd be happy to try and help. I can't answer crap about your band, but I'll bend over backwards to try and get you info about nutrition.
Have a nice evening.
Someone asked me to come over and give my opinion. Know that they only wish the best for you in this request.
Know two things as well:
1) I'm not a doctor, nutritionist, medical professional (except patient) -- nor will I ever claim to be. I'm simply a mom *****ads on vitamins about 2 hours each day and keeps up with current stuff that apparantly docs don't even do;
2) I'm an RNY'er who got into a vitamin deficiency mess because I didn't pay attention to my supplements (and thus why I study so much these days).
With the above said, here's my take on vitamins, even for a bandster.
1) Children's vitamins are for kids. Period. I totally get that you need a chewable vitamin. Alot of RNY'ers do for life as well. That's cool. However, alot of offices recommend flintstones for some unknown reason -- especially since Centrum makes a chewable adult multivite readily available at your local Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, or grocery store.
There is *no* reason an adult should be taking a flintstones vitamin when there are adult alternatives available. The formulations are different. While some of the values might eventually equate (and keep in mind, an adult dose is 2 a day; 1 flintstone is the dose for my 25lb toddler), the actual composition varies. There are multiple forms of many of the vitamins. For example, A can be as beta-carotene, retinol acetate, retinol palmitate, or others. Bodies of different sized humans will convert these different nutrients differently. There are several others (vitamin D has two major forms, although people are *finally* wising up to D3 rather than D2 thanks, in part, to Dr. Oz preaching about it often) that have these various forms that eventually convert to the same vitamin. The really hard thing to get is that supplements don't always tell you which form is making up each type of vitamin, and even then, the RDA's vary based on that fact. Using vitamin A as an example, it takes 14 IU of beta carotene to equal 1 mcg of retinol. But it takes far less for palmitate or acetate to get to the same level.
As for gummy vitamins? They are crap. Pure crap. I just did a comparison of them. They are on my blog. They are expensive candy. I don't even give them to my child.
The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons published a report by several bariatric nutritionists. They recommend one adult multivite for band patients.
2) Calcium citrate, while not readily available in chewable form, is the best calcium available on the market in terms of bioavailability and cost. Period.
Calcium citrate has been proven in case studies to be 27% more bioavailable in post-menopausal women with normal guts. If it were me trying to decide whether I wanted the convience of getting my chewable calcium from Target or keeping my bones, I'm gonna have to go with bones. They tend to cost less in the long run than either getting the good stuff off the inet, dissolving in some crystal light, or making a trek to vitamin world and getting their twinlabs wafers.
The ASMBS recommends 1500 mg per day of supplemented calcium citrate.
3) Unless you are anemic, you probably don't need extra iron other than what is in your multivitamin. For bandsters, this needs to be regulated by blood tests alone -- RNY'ers should get this off the bat.. not y'all.
4) B-complex will only benefit you. Yeah, they stink, don't taste good, and can turn your urine green. However, if you are pukey (and I've heard that to be quite common), it's *veryveryveryvery* easy to become B1 (thiamin) deficient. Thiamin deficiency is serious crap. Permanent neurological damage serious crap. Coma type serious crap. Even death. It's worth taking the 1 a day to make sure you don't suffer irreversible damage.
Now, yeah, I'm an RNY'er. I get that. But I also know that normal guts and my guts will react similarly in some situations (like the calcium). So take the info as you wish -- and if you (or anyone else) have any questions, I'd be happy to try and help. I can't answer crap about your band, but I'll bend over backwards to try and get you info about nutrition.
Have a nice evening.
I spoke with my surgeon's office about iron and they told me to stop taking it for now because most men that have had this RNY surgery do not have problems with iron. They said that they would test my levels down the road and then I would take iron if it was a problem. I think also, it depends on how much of the intestine is by passed. My surgery by passes the least amount so I think I get more absorption. Bottom line I think is that health experts do not all agree about the necessity of iron for men post op.
Despite the fact I take 100mg of iron daily, the only problem I had in my 3 year post-WLS labs last month was a relatively low iron level. I don't eat a ton of red meat so that doesn't help the situation. I do eat a ton of spinach but plant-based iron isn't as readily absorbed as meat-based. On the other hand, I do eat a big batch of chicken livers nearly once a month.
By the way, too much iron can be toxic so need to be careful with it. On the other hand, by the time the labs show you are anemic, you can be in a world of hurt.
Boner
Morning, I take Centrum chewable multi vitamin and a calcium, which is taken after each of the 3 meals, for a total of 1200 mg. An 18mg iron mid afternoon, then another multi vit. at night. My doctor does not prescribe the B12 until my 6 week visit with him. Boner, what is the magnesium for? I don't take a B complex either. Being only 4 weeks out, can I take a big fish oil or any other big vitamin tablet? I always forget what the fish oil is for. Thanks for your great posts. Michael
SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES - NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.
Hey Michael,
I started taking magnesium ealier this summer when my legs started cramping like crazy in the middle of the night. I was already getting in plenty of potassium and was hydrating at a good level so thought I would give it a try. It seems to have worked for me.
Fish oil is supposedly a good way to increase the good cholesterol (HDL) via omega 3 fatty acid. Also, supposedly good "brain food." I've got really low total cholesterol levels but my HDL isn't very high but my LDL (bad cholesterol) is very low. So.....don't know if the old fish oil is doing any good.
Here's my cholesterol levels from my 3-year labs taken last month.
Boner
I started taking magnesium ealier this summer when my legs started cramping like crazy in the middle of the night. I was already getting in plenty of potassium and was hydrating at a good level so thought I would give it a try. It seems to have worked for me.
Fish oil is supposedly a good way to increase the good cholesterol (HDL) via omega 3 fatty acid. Also, supposedly good "brain food." I've got really low total cholesterol levels but my HDL isn't very high but my LDL (bad cholesterol) is very low. So.....don't know if the old fish oil is doing any good.
Here's my cholesterol levels from my 3-year labs taken last month.
| Total cholesterol <200 | 89.0 |
| LDL Triglycerides <150 | 28.0 |
| HDL Cholesterol >39 | 39.0 |
| Calculated LDL Chol <130 | 44.0 |
| Risk Ratio LDL/HDL<3.22 | 1.1 |
| Calculated Chol/LDL 1 -6 | 2.0 |
Boner
I wouldn't be taking any big honker non-chewable vitamins as early out as you are Michael without crushing them first. I've seen on the board here some who have swallowed big non-chewables shortly after WLS but I wouldn't take the chance of getting it stuck in the stoma. Fish oil has kind of a rubbery coating (gel tabs) so I wouldn't take those until you've moved safely to the solid food stage of your diet.
Boner
Boner
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