Vitamin & Mineral Tests

[andyjo76]

Hi, I need to find if my body is deficient of any of these Vitamins & minerals
May i know which all tests do i need to take to get the values.

Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Vitamin-C,  Folic acid

Vitamin-D, Vitamin-E, Zinc, Magnesium, Selenium, Calicium

[Simon_J]

Different symptoms show deficiency of vitamins. For that, you need to do some tests suggested by the doctor.

[Paxiled]

This is more complicated than it seems.  Any physical you get from any primary care physician will show any deficiencies you have at the point in time you take the test.  It's done in the blood test the doctor gives you at that time, and the results will be reported to you.  But some people have deficiencies that regular docs won't pick up but a holistic nutritionist might by giving you more than just one blood test at a particular time -- testing you over a period of time.  Insurance won't cover this, and it can be expensive, and it can be bogus, too, depending on the integrity of the person you see.  But I'd start with a simple blood test from your doctor, which is done every time you get a physical.

[andyjo76]

Thanks for your reply Paxiled. Actually i was keen on trying multivitamins that goes by name 'now adams' which contains some high daily values up to 2000% for some ingredients. Can i try it for a month or two without being too much concerned?

[Paxiled]

It's not too bad, but I wouldn't personally take anything from Now Foods.  They're a discounter, and tend to use the cheapest ingredients, which means they don't much care about the source.  But having looked at it, it's not bad if what's on the label is what's in the supplement.  Know that this isn't a very comprehensive multivitamin, and it's formulated for prostate support.  It does contain the right form of B12, which is very rare for a multivitamin, so that's impressive.  The magnesium and calcium are probably going to be absorbed, which is also rare for Now Foods.  The company has improved since it was young, when they ran their business out of a filthy plant and skimped on everything.  They're a much better company now.  I tend to go with expensive vitamins, because it's hard to make them in a way that's well absorbed.  The doses are not high -- the reason vitamins have such high doses is that, and this is seldom stated, most of what's in a vitamin isn't actually absorbed -- it comes out in your urine and stool before getting into the body.  The body does much better with food than isolated supplements because it has evolved to get nutrients from food.  So all multi vitamins will have a lot more than the recommended daily dosage.  Also, anyone who takes a supplemental vitamin is trying to get more than they get from food.  This vitamin is somewhat geared to protecting the prostate, though probably it won't be very effective in doing that with the amounts and things they've chosen to put in it, but the name infers that -- they named it Adam because it's a vitamin for a man, and a middle aged man at that.  There is one ingredient, though, I wouldn't want in my vitamin, and that's aloe vera leaf.  This is a laxative, and it's hard to know why they'd put it in a multivitamin.  I don't think this will hurt you any, but you can do better.  My personal favorite companies are Mega Foods and New Chapter, which use innovative technologies to make their vitamins appear to the body to be more like food, but I can't prove they accomplish that.  Rainbow Light and Nature's Plus are two other good companies.  But their best vitamins require you take a lot of tablets because you can't cram the best stuff in a small space.  Anyhoo, it's now up to you.

[andyjo76]

Thanks for reviewing this product & introducing me to some new ones. Visited their website & they look quite impressive. Multi for men contains well balanced nutrition without over doing things. New chapter also carries some good reviews. In a way its good thing to know about these products but now i'm getting more confused. Actually i was looking for low dosage product since few days but couldn't find anything, you solved that problem, thanks. Since you know better about nutrition i'll go with your choice. Which brand do you trust the most out of these.? One brand without doubt that comes to your mind!

[andyjo76]

Read more about synthetic vs organic & bio-availability. Thanks for introducing me to this aspect.

[Quote]
"which use innovative technologies to make their vitamins appear to the body to be more like food, but I can't prove they accomplish that."[/Quote]

Definitely natural source extraction  appears to be more safe & sensible thing when compared to synthetic man made copies from rocks & chemicals. It would be really interesting to see some scientific research going into this & coming out with some positive conclusion. Once again thanks for sharing your expertise & knowledge.

[Paxiled]

Don't count on good scientific studies.  Since none of this can be patented, nobody will spend the kind of money it would take.  One of the drawbacks of using natural substances.  I personally use New Chapter, despite knowing they inflate their research quality.  I managed health food stores for many years when the industry was still young, so I've met these folks and they tried to talk me into carrying their products.  I like the way New Chapter and Mega Foods particularly continually try and find better ways to simulate food.  But I do prefer New Chapter.  Both companies avoid mega doses, as they believe they're products are formulated to be better absorbed.  Rainbow Light actually was the first company to do this, but they only do it for a few nutrients, and I don't like the way they use the same nutrients in everything they make -- makes it impossible to take more than one of their products to be safe.  But still, a good company.  Nature's Plus was one of the first natural vitamin manufacturers to get all their products independently tested by a lab they don't control or own.  Their Source of Life line is the one I like the best.  But one advantage of New Chapter -- the pills are small!

[Paxiled]

The reason I'm not recommending one over the other, or talking you out of other brands either, is that different people react differently.  And the truth is, you'll never ever know if the multivitamin did you any good or any harm.  We're all experimenting on our bodies whether it's eating a new recipe or a hybridized food or taking a medication that has FDA approval.  Life is a crapshoot, and we can only do the best we can.  I take a multi because I believe it's very hard to get full nutrients in modern society because it's a long time from harvesting to eating and nutrients oxidize and fade.  That's why I said, it's on you now.  Happy experimenting!

[andyjo76]

I researched bit more after getting familiar with the above terms and came across few products varying on organic scale. These are PhytoVitamins, New chapter, Nutrigold, MegaFood & Garden of life.

I'll begin with Phytovitmains. It is of course organic but not 100% as they claim. If you see closely it says "made with organic" that itself as per USDA means 'Only 70% Organic'. Another major problem with Phytovitamins is that it carries such a small amount of RDA that even after consuming 3 servings per day you get less than 10% of RDA.

Same seal & certification also applies to 'New Chapter' but they meet RDA very well, so this product can be considered by organic lovers.

Out of remaining three - Nutrigold & MegaFood, they themselves admit to add synthetics to fermented media & moreover they don't carry any 'organic certification' from any certifying agent as far as i can see. But still appears to be natural, as the end result is from optimized fermented food blend.

To me the only deal that seems to be real organic is 'Garden of life - Mykind Organics' line up, as they carry direct 'USDA Organic' certification. Its made with organic food blend which is an outcome of a fresh farm whole food with no synthetics, binders or fillers added. And also it meets RDA. I think its relatively a new line to assess, so we are yet to see its efficacy, bioavailability & potency.

[Paxiled]

The reason you can't have organic vitamins is that the material they make the capsules or tablets out of isn't organic.  So that's one thing.  Garden of Life is very popular in health food stores now, but I wouldn't use them.  They started out selling something called soil organisms, which live in the soil and are taken up by plants but have never been consumed by humans.  Some who have been making probiotics for many years believe some of these to be toxic.  So I wouldn't personally trust this company.  But that's just me.  And all vitamins are synthetic.  The only ones that aren't are when you eat food.  When you isolate a nutrient, it doesn't occur that way in nature, so it's really a pharmaceutical product, not a natural product, but it's as close as we can get.  If a vitamin was made of all food, well, it would be as large as several meals.  It's a supplement to food, not a substitute.  I've never heard of Nutrigold or Phytovitamins.  If they're only sold on the internet or by direct marketing, avoid them -- they're lying.