Results of Unofficial Locker Room Vitamin Survey

Interesting results.....not shown on the graph is that 3 of you still be takin' flintstones  

Flintstones still actively pushed by the surgeons office.


Scott

Which is interesting given Flintstones are made for kids and are short a bunch of minerals which adults require. I posted a message from Andrea here earlier this week where she gives some compelling reasons why adult WLSers shouldn't take Flintstones when there are other chewable multivitamins (e.g. Centrum) which are more suited for adults.

Food for thought.

Boner

Here's an excerpt from her message....her rationale seems pretty logical to me. She also had another message on the main board which compared "ingrediants" to show what was missing.

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.

 Hmmm  didn't know you were taking a survey, Boneman ..   


  Keep in mind, though, that our vit and supp nees are different for RNY vs. DS vs. band/VSG  ... 

Being a DSer, what vitamins do you take, Counselor. Also, can you explain the physical differences which take place for a DSer vs. RNY vs. Lab Band? It would be interesting since I obviously focus on RNY. Thanks

Boner

 Two DSers, Scott and me, participated in the survey.

Link here.

Thanks Justin....by the way, Foobear gave me his vitamin input in another thread so his results are included in the summary as well.

Boner

Ok, my question is this. I am taking Flintstones (I will get something else after I finish the bottle). It says I need one tablet for an adult, BUT if I get about 50% malabsorption should I be taking 2 of the Flintstones? I have also upped my B12 to 1000mg instead of 500.

Great question, Clapton. I'm personally reluctant to double my vitamin dosages and assume 50% malabsorption since some vitamins, like iron, can be toxic at too high a level. I just look at vitamins as a daily supplement and try to eat healthy, which is far more important anyway imo.

Your malabsorption question could also be asked about medications for high blood pressure, diabetes, and the like. Maybe these meds get absorbed differently but I don't see many WLSers having to double up their med dosages post WLS. 

Boner