Vitamin Minefield
Like when the doctor in the A&E department who, having seen me collapse unconscious in the waiting room and hit the floor nose first, said there was nothing wrong with me and that I should go home and sleep it off.
Like when the nurse who stopped me at the hospital door as I made my way home, pronounced I had massive internal bleeding and ordered me to stay (thanks Nurse, had it not been for you I would have followed the doctor's advice and been dead within 24 hours).
Like when the Consultant said I shouldn’t exercise for a year after my injury. He was right, I disobeyed him, re-injured myself, and paid the price of an extra 3 months away from running.
Like when the Consultant (who was apparently the best in Toronto) said my partner would not regain use of her facial muscles for at least 18 months, and even then she might still be partially paralyzed forever. He was wrong; she went for acupuncture and I prescribed her a strict anti inflammatory, vegan, diet and thanks to these 2 activities she was back to normal inside 2 months.
I’ve learnt from these, and other, experiences, that it’s tricky to decide on the best course of action to take to best maintain, and improve upon, your health. But it's worth trying.
A few months ago I began to consider my vitamin intake. I’d had a full medical and set of blood tests done and although I was fine, my B12 levels were low, the doctor said (just over 120 instead of over 500) as was my iron.
So I googled 'ideal B12 levels' and found a huge difference of opinion as to what they should be. 110 is ideal one doctor said, 900 is ideal another said, 800 is way too high another said, and so on. From this little inquiry I could see that things were not as clear as I’d once believed them to be.
I’d thought I could pop a multivitamin and that would be ensure I'd get what I needed. The only concern would be, as a vegan, did the pill contain any animal product. For everything else, the multivitamin companies would have liaised with the health scientists, right? I mean, that would have had to have happened, by law? They’d have worked out what vitamins we needed, how much was too little and too much, and then put a safe amount into the pills, surely? These pills couldn't harm us, could they? Of course, people of different ages might have slightly different needs, but overall, there would be some solid ground of agreement?
Not so.
I wasn’t taking any regular supplements apart from B12 and a general multivitamin so I thought I should put aside a day or so to try to really burrow down through the science and work out what I needed. Of course, a few days on Google and speaking to medical professional friends does not, and never will, make an expert. But apparently, as my varied experience has shown me, passing your doctors exams doesn't make you an expert, either.
So, off to Google and my friends list I went. And it got confusing, quickly.
There are so many opinions out there to take into account, coming from doctors and health professionals. I thought it may be interesting, and helpful, for you to read how I attempted to cut a path through it all, so here’s a brief account. Note; this isn’t meant to be a final word in anything, and it's not medical advice. It’s just me trying to find some solid ground among all the thousands of opinions on health supplement matters that frequently contradict each other. This is just my opinion, and I'm not a trained health professional.
I started with just trying to locate a list of vitamin RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance). I asked 2 good friends, both highly qualified health professionals, for advice and also for websites that I might check on.
I also made a point of bearing in mind all the information I’ve gathered over the last 10 years, when I’ve been very interested in health and fitness and achieved a number of high quality running performances, including winning national titles at the ages of 46 and 47 (which you don't do, not at that advanced age, unless your health is in check).
I started my online search at WebMD. I typed 'RDA Vitamins' into its search bar. It gave me over 3,000 articles, and a scan of the top 10 showed than none of them was a simple list of what vitamins I should take daily, and how much of them I needed. I’ve no doubt that Web MD has all the answers, but digging through 3,000 articles to find them, surely there was a better way? Or maybe not?
Next I went to Examine.com. Again, there was no simple list of RDA in sight. It gave me the choice of searching according to my requirements. Did I want to sleep better, did I want more testosterone, did I want stronger bones???
No, I am a pretty healthy middle aged man. No discernible major problems. I just want to know what the scientific medical community agrees is a sensible vitamin strategy!
The well respected Harvard Health website was better. The page I found is here - https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/listing_of_vitamins?fbclid=IwAR2i_uE_zd4YxOMD_IMOG1oPq_Uf3Hf6Ues3JN1k-PJT2n74gPERf5no8-4
I decided to narrow my search and learn about RDA of Vitamin B12. I was already taking a supplement for this and using nutritional yeast, but was I taking enough?
Harvard Health says that we need 2.4mcg of B12 per day. It says that it isn’t known what the upper limit per day is. So, in effect, Harvard says that we don’t know whether a vitamin pill that is giving us 500% of our daily B12 needs is harmful to our health or not.
At this point, I asked, what does mcg mean? The answer? 1000 micrograms (mcg) is equal to 1 milligram (mg).1000 milligrams (mg) is a unit of mass equal to 1 gram.
Next, the excellent ‘Nutrition Facts’ website says that regarding B12 we need;
“At least 2,000 mcg cyanocobalamin once each week, ideally as a chewable, sublingual, or liquid supplement taken on an empty stomach or at least 50 mcg daily of supplemental cyanocobalamin (you needn’t worry about taking too much) or servings of B12-fortified foods three times a day (at each meal), each containing at least 190% of the Daily Value listed on the nutrition facts label (based on the new labeling mandated to start January 1, 2020—the target is 4.5 mcg three times a day). Those over 65 years of age should take at least 1,000 mcg (µg) cyanocobalamin every day.”
This isn’t actually much help at first glance. 2,000mcg per week, or 50mcg per day, or 4.5mcg 3 times a day. What’s it to be?
I looked at the pack of a multivitamin I’d just ordered online. It’s from the well known company Jamiesons. The pack says it will give me 12mcg of B12 per day, and that this is 500% of the RDA. And it says I should take the tablet with a meal. Very different advice from 'Nutrition Facts'.
Finally I looked at the Vegan RD website. They say;
"The recommended dose is 25 to 100mcg per day or 1,000mcg 2-3 times per week."
So, let’s just list all that out to try to make sense of it…
The RDA of B12 according to various sources is:
2.4mcg per day (Jamieson’s Vitamins, and Harvard Health)
13.5mcg or 50mcg per day or 2,000mcg per week (Nutrition Facts)
25 to 100mcg per day or 2 or 3,000 mcg per week (Vegan RD)
Harvard says that I need 2.4mcg per day, and that we don’t know if taking more than that is going to harm us. My vitamin says it gives me 12mcg per day.
Nutrition Facts says there is no problem with taking too much. Phew.
Jamiesons say their vitamin pill must be taken with a meal. But Nutrition Facts say that the B12 that's in it is best on an empty stomach.
Nutrition Facts say that you should take up to 350mcg per week, or 2,000mcg per week (maths?)
The Vegan RD says we should take up to 700mcg per week, or up to 3,000mcg per week (maths, again?)
Does it really need to be this confusing and contradictory, I ask?! Probably not. But it is, and we have to deal with it. Here is my conclusion.
I think all of these sources that I’ve consulted, and most medical and dietary professionals that I know, are trying their best. But the truth is, whilst we know a little about what makes our body tick and how we can help it function to its full potential, we don’t know an awful lot that we can agree on.
I transfer this knowledge to my view of all vitamins. Regarding B12, that looks like this.
We have a firm idea that we as humans - vegan, meat eater or whatever - need B12, and that these days, for a variety of reasons, none of us are getting it naturally so we need to get it either through fortified foods (meat or dairy that is injected, which is the product that comes from most factory farmed animals, or fortified cereals and soy milk) or vitamin supplements.
But we don’t know how much we need.
And we can’t agree if there is such a thing as too much.
But we do know that some people have suffered serious side effects after taking too much of a certain ‘health’ food or vitamin supplement.
So digest all that information and find out a way to work with it. It's tricky, I know. But I don't think the answer is to throw your hands up and say that you get all you need from real food, or that you feel healthy enough or that your parents didn't take vitamins so why should, or whatever. I think we can do better than that for ourselves.
Another supplement I looked into was Magnesium. Magnesium comes in a variety of formats and each, supposedly, helps you in a different way. My Jamiesons vitamin pill says it gives me 125mg of magnesium oxide. A search online tells me that the oxide variety of magnesium is the hardest for our body to absorb. Thanks, Jamiesons!! And Harvard tells me I need 420mg per day, so 125mcg is well short of what I need anyway. However, magnesium it’s easily found in actual food, just as long as you remember to eat spinach, broccoli, beans, nuts, seeds and whole wheat bread. So we move forward with that in mind.
DHA - it’s recommended we have about 300mg per day. You can get it from fish oil. If you’re vegan like I am you have to pay loads more money for a variety that comes from algae. Although with current research into plants leading us towards understanding that all plants are as alive as any animal, just in different ways that we struggle to relate to as yet, eating algae in no more cruelty free than eating fish. A possible benefit of the algae variety, however, is that if it’s farmed right it’ll be free of the toxicity that almost all ocean fish are highly contaminated with.
So now we talk briefly about ethics. In a world were so many people and regulatory bodies have forgotten how to be honest, how do we know that our vitamins actually contain what they say they do, and also, that the vitamins, mineral or supplement are ethically obtained?
I dug around but couldn’t find a lead. I put out a call on Facebook groups and among my friends for advice on ethically sourced vitamins that we can be sure actually contain what they claim to. Despite many of my friends being involved in the health, fitness and vegan industries, they couldn’t help. There were a few suggestions but when I pushed further nobody knew a company anywhere in North America or Europe that actually produced vitamins that they could be sure of.
I guess I was looking for a level of certainty that we just can’t have in real life. Fair enough, it’s good to know the boundaries.
So what did I end up with as a vitamin strategy?
For the multivitamin I flit between 2 according to current price. I buy from companies in Canada because if you buy from anywhere else then customs, and the carrier company, have a right to increase the price by whatever they please. I’ve had packages sent from the States where I’ve been charged over 100% more in ‘fees’ than the contents were worth. If you live in another country where the customs fees are more reasonable you must work out your own strategy.
Webbers Naturals Vegetarian Multivitamin. Their website has some good news regarding their ethics, and the price is fair - https://webbernaturals.com/en-ca/product-category/multivitamins/
Jamiesons. I got this on a Black Friday sale for 60% off. It’s not listed as vegan, although it doesn’t say it contains gelatin, either (but I understand how companies change the name of something to slip it past our attention; any real, usable info on this gratefully received).
https://www.jamiesonvitamins.com/collections/all/products/100-complete-multivitamin-for-men-50
For my DHA I get gummies from Herbaland https://www.herbaland.com/products/omega3-gummies?_pos=3&_sid=611252e0f&_ss=r)
I supplement now and again with Curcumin. Turmeric is one of our very best anti-inflammatory foods but I only eat it once a week maximum so I supplement. Again I got the Jamieson brand, it was the Black Friday sale. It’s up to $23 as I write this but at the time it was $7.
https://www.jamiesonvitamins.com/products/curcumin-turmeric?variant=19067569471606
Also from Jamiesons I use a Zinc supplement, a D3, and an Iron.
The only other supplement I use is Maca. No other supplement does what it says it does, in my opinion, whilst tasting bearable. The trio of powders most used among those who want to increase energy levels are spirulina, chlorella and maca. I’ve had extended periods of taking all of them and maca is the one that works whilst being pleasant to consume. It’s good for energy level, sexual health and focus. I get mine from Organika, from the ww.ca website.
https://well.ca/products/organika-organic-maca-powder_109008.html
To sum up.
I aim now to use a multivitamin that can give me B12, D3, C, K and all the B’s. These seem the ones that most health professionals agree that we need.
I buy all my vitamins in the sales as they’re long dated and I can have a stock until the next sale comes around. I try to buy from vegan and non toxic sources.
I find it impossible to be confident that there is any source out there which offers us a solid idea of the recommended daily allowance of vitamins. Harvard Health seems to me to be a reputable place to settle though, if I wish for a rough, easy to read guide-line. The website again is here - https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/listing_of_vitamins?fbclid=IwAR2i_uE_zd4YxOMD_IMOG1oPq_Uf3Hf6Ues3JN1k-PJT2n74gPERf5no8-4
I supplement DHA, and I also have ground flax and chia seeds (both are apparently excellent sources of Omega 3, 6 and 9) in my smoothie each morning.
I supplement with curcumin, although I also still put either pineapple and ginger, or berries, in my smoothies each day. These foods are all full of anti inflammatory properties.
I give the last word to a health professional I know. I showed them the curcumin I use. The conversation went like this (after the conversation I decided to take the curcumin capsule once every 3 or 4 days instead of every day, unless I feel that my joints are in need of help):
Them - "That curcumin is a very high dose - 9,000mg per capsule - and we haven’t tested that sort of dose out on humans to my knowledge. We’ve only used 1000mg before, once daily. Be careful with that."
Me - "Blimey, you'd think they'd mention that on the packet so you could weigh it up before you buy. Mind you, from the websites I have seen, the medical community is struggling to agree on what the RDA is of vitamins, it's a bit wild west still isn't it."
Them - "Yes, it is a bit of a mine field really when deciding on what to take. I normally go for half the maximum tested average recommendation. That way, at least I’m only half way towards either extreme health or some kind of liver fatigue, but not all the way in either direction. Hopefully I get it right most of the time!"
