It was recommended to me that I take multi-vitamins to assist in my diet and so I started taking Centrum brand A-Z vitamins. On the back of the bottle it says that it's providing me with 100% of a lot of my daily values. The thing is, I'm also getting a lot of these things from the foods I eat. Is that overkill?

Basically what I want to know is if I get over 100% of my daily value of some of these items, is that more conducive to gaining weight, or is it helping my body lose weight by getting more nutrients? My understanding of dieting is less is better, but that doesn't seem like it would apply to vitamins. Does it? and If not, what do they help with?

Vitamins do not help you lose weight IMO but it is just my opinion but if you are dieting rather than eating very balanced meals then it is wise to take a multi vitamin or if you are following a low carb diet or any other kind of diet that is restrictive of any particular food group..

BigJohn - I am all for taking a multi vit - 99.9% ( or even more ) of a basic multi vit such as you are taking ( which by the way is a very good brand name in my opinion ) is water soluble - which means, if your body does not need it ( or any part of it ) it will get rid of it through your pee.
Some days our bodies require more then on other days, hence where the vit can help.

Will it help you lose weight? well - in general I would say "no" and yet it will help you stay healthier which in part plays a role in weight loss :)

Hi Bigjohn,
I take Centrum multivitamins too, I don't think they help me lose weight but I do believe that they help me get the nutrients that I don't get through my eating because I don't eat my caloric requirement. As Beth says, what your body doesn't need it gets rid of, so it's not risky to take them (but you don't need to waste money and take more than 1 per day).

When I diet and don't take my multivitamin I get leg cramps in the middle of the night, I don't know whether it's correlated but it seems to be so I am happy to take them.

Nausicaa and Beth: Where did you take your info that "what the body does not need it gets rid of"?

I have found a link that says totally the opposite and my own dietitian has questioned my overdosing of Vit D..since i take by RX 500 mg calcium and 400 iu vit D twice a day and the the Vitamin D in my multi vitamin Centrum..also has vitamin sending me over the limit..She has asked me to ask the doc to reduce my Rx..of calcium and vitamin D
In any case more is not better and can be dangerous..as with anything including all those supplements out there
Please read link
http://womenshealthmag.com/article/0,6176,s1-2-64-1095-1-P,00.html

Hey BJ,

My input on vitamins? Well, you can actually overload on some, therefore you need to watch what you are actually taking and also if you are on any medications from your doc. Then of course what you eat also. Foods with vitamin C helps your body absorb iron, etc. Calcium is good to take with vitamin D, but if you drink caffeine (soda or coffee, etc) the caffeine depletes your system of the vitamin d and calcium, basically your body does not absorb those as well. So if you are a caffeine drinker, then vitamins are good too. Never hurts to take vitamins in moderation. With the research I have done, the only vitamins that your system will pee out if you have too much is the vitamin B family.

I take the One A Day Weight Smart and it really helps with my energy and cravings.

Hope this helps.

Have a great day..... :D

I was reading some web-pages today and came across several sites that suggested a drop in certain vitamin levels from change in diet can throw off your metabolism and cause you to metabolize slower.

Hey BJ,

Sounds interesting, what were some of the site, I would like to check into it myself.

Hope all is going well.

Have a great evening.:)

My post was in general - I have course am no Dr.

This is my knowledge from over 20 yrs of self studies of vits, herbs, supplements and such, and more specific studies about the name brand mentioned in the original question :shrug:

Lulu, I didn't realize this when I posted but the multi-vitamins here are NOT the same as those in the US, they do not have iron, calcium, etc in them, it is true that you can take too much of some minerals. For example selenium is a mineral that you are supposed to have some of, but is a known way to poison someone! We do have Vitamin D in our vitamins but my daily intake is zero unless I take a multivitamin (I think the body manufactures it under some circumstances?).

Of course no one needs to be told that you should ALWAYS be careful about what you put in your body, but I still think that taking a multivitamin every day and eating a low-calorie diet is not a risk to the general population. MANY people get over the 100% daily value of Vitamin C (some supplements advertise that they provide 1000% daily value!!) and this is not considered a risk for the reason I stated.

I do want to mention something else... a few years ago I did a low-carb diet, which involved taking about 10 dietary supplements (the ones I can remember are calcium, potassium, magnesium, chromium picolinate, carnitine, glutamine(?), ... there were more as well). I was taking these every day in addition to a multi-vitamin. My doctor knew exactly what I was taking (in addition to getting a very meat, egg, and vegetable heavy diet, and assured me that it was not a problem, as far as she knew.

The one I do specifically worry about is calcium, I try very hard to limit my dietary intake of calcium because I do take Tums, and I have been aware of the kidney stone issue even before I started taking them. I often think of cutting them out but I value their appetite suppressant effects.

However, just to reiterate, it is not dangerous to most people to take a multivitamin when eating an already reduced calorie diet.

Sodajunkie: I just did a basic google search on "vitamins metabolism" and a few other combinations of words and skimmed through any info that seemed relevant. One of the sites was listing factors that effect our metabolic rate and it said this...

"Metabolism is governed by thousands of separate chemical reactions. To perform this process efficiently, our body needs a constant supply of nutrients. Without these nutrients (like vitamins and minerals, esp. vitamins B2, B3, B5, B6 & vitamin C) metabolism can become inefficient and sluggish. The best way to ensure good dietary nutrition is to follow a balanced diet."

...which pretty much sums up the other info that I found on other sites.


Edit: Here is another site that I was reviewing. It's hardly an academic website, but it does have a reference list, so assuming that the references are accurate, this is some pretty interesting info...

http://www.realtime.net/anr/vitamins.html

Ok, I have to say just one thing. The body does get rid of the vitamins that are watersoluable. If they vitamin is fat soluable then the body stores it. Simple as that. So you have to learn which are which. You can overdo the fat ones of course because they dont get absorbed as fast in the body because of being stored in the fat. (I took a class on this and this is from my text book in case anyone is wondering, I can also post which vitamins are fat and which vitamins are water if anyone is interested.)

My post was in general - I have course am no Dr.

This is my knowledge from over 20 yrs of self studies of vits, herbs, supplements and such, and more specific studies about the name brand mentioned in the original question :shrug:


If you have links to independent studies on this I would enjoy reading it as I am sure others might.By this I mean not one that is written by some Naturopath or drug company giving a plug for it's product.... Of course Centrum is going to give a very positive report of how great it's vitamin is and I am not saying it is bad and that is not the question here...
Here is another link from Dr Andrew Weil's site which is biased in some ways but in this particular question answers it well
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA269338

If you have links to independent studies on this

No I don't - I do have TONS ( 3 bookshelves ) of books, articles and hundreds of hours spent in lectures and online research - my tally for over 20 yrs of studies.....

I posted my opinion based on my knowledge and that is that....... no more no less.......

wow, this is getting aggressive. In the context of the original question, no one said anything dangerous. BigJohn asked if taking a multi-vitamin in addition to regular eating is too much -- not if taking 16x the regular dosage of something was a good idea. He was concerned that regular nutritious diet + 1 multivitamin = too much of some nutrients. This is highly unlikely to be the case for the reasons Beth and others pointed out. Also, the body does not absorb ALL of the vitamin, so even if it is 100% of the RDA, your body may not actually get the benefit of all 100%. In many (but not all) cases, vitamins are better absorbed in food rather than in pills. There are exceptions though.

So, to clear up all of this, BigJohn, follow the dosing information on the label of any supplements you take. Check with your doctor if you think the supplements may be a problem. And if you are taking any other supplements that have fat-soluble vitamins in them, don't take a multivitamin with the same vitamins in it. (My vitamins say "If you are getting another supplemental source of vitamin A, don't take this multivitamin" right on the label, so, as a result of that, I do not take any other supplements with Vitamin A in them.)

No one is recommending that you swallow an entire bottle of multivitamins!! And anyway, this site is not a substitute for a doctor's advice, there is a disclaimer on EVERY PAGE:Disclaimer: The information contained on this site is for educational use only. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice or treatment that may have been prescribed by your physician. Before adhering to any of the diettalk information or recommendations, you should consult with your physician. Understand that you are solely responsible for the way that this information is perceived and utilized, and do so at your own risk. In no way will diettalk be responsible for any injuries or problems that might occur due to the use of this web site or the information contained within. The purpose of my first post was to quell the fear that taking a multivitamin was dangerous to someone with no stated health problems and undergoing a newly reduced calorie diet. I don't think there's any reason to continue this discussion!! People looking for bibliography check out http://scholar.google.com, I'm sure you'll find tons of articles.