Schedule for taking vitamins and supplements

[bdkcbaugh]

Is there a chart out there somewhere that will describe the best time of day to take each type of vitamin and supplement, whether to take them with foods or on an empty stomach, which foods to avoid taking them with and which vitamins should or shouldn't be taken together?  I get so confused and I can't find any good information that will help me get the greatest benefit from taking vitamins and supplements.  I want to put together a schedule telling me when to take everything.  If it were up to me I'd just pop everything in my mouth all at once, but I know there are issues with taking calcium with certain things, or iron or vitamin C or whatever.  It's so overwhelming.  I don't want to take things that are going to counteract each other, and therefore, give me no benefit.

[Paxiled]

Oh, and let me just add a couple other things.  Taking iron on an empty stomach will give most people an upset stomach and constipation.  Better to get a little less absorption and take it with food so you don't throw up all day.  Better still to take your iron as food, which the best-absorbed iron supplement I know of is (Floradix).  And look at the difference in our recommendations to this poster -- I said, this is complicated, get a good book.  You gave detailed, and in part inaccurate, information based on one aspect of a vitamin which ignored all the other things they do in the body.  I didn't pretend to know what this person was taking or what is the absolute best thing to do, I suggested it's too complicated to answer and that there are several good books out there one can use as a ready handbook.  That isn't personally attacking you, Gym, it's just helping the person posting get a different light on the subject.  The poster can choose what to do now.  If I hadn't posted, there would just be one view, one I think is incomplete, and there's no way some of these questions on here can be answered on a web forum because they're just too complicated and much in dispute -- there are a lot of experts who think supplements are useless entirely.  I don't agree, but I respect their opinions.

[Paxiled]

Some B vitamins do help convert food to energy, but they also do other things.  B6 is an essential cofactor in producing serotonin, which produces melatonin, which helps you sleep.  It is an essential cofactor in producing GABA, which is the body's relaxant.  Niacin slows down high blood pressure, surely not an energizing function.  What I was saying is, vitamins are way more complex and each one has way more than just one function, so to say B vitamins are energy producing, some are, but a stress B vitamin containing all the ones you mentioned helps relax the system, obviously, again, not stimulating.  As for spreading the vitamins through the day, no, it doesn't cost anything more if you buy good quality vitamins.  A good multivitamin requires you to take several pills a day, so you just take them a bit at a time.  Same with a Stress B -- you take two pills a day, so you can just split it up.  It's harder with minerals, but most people take their minerals in their multi, but if you take minerals that isn't as big a problem, as they stick around longer if taken with food.  But even then, a good calcium/magnesium pill requires several pills a day, so again, you just take them at separate times to ensure it's always in your system and not being excreted.  Doesn't cost a bit more unless you're taking vitamins that aren't well assimilated or have too little in them to be worth anything, such as a one a day, given the fact the body doesn't absorb vitamins nearly as well as food.  My info does actually come from something, as you can see, I just see these things as more complex than you do.  Many medications are dosed this way as well -- you take them in doses through the day.  It's hard to do, but it's the best way for many things.  It's also why it's better to eat small meals through the day than just one big one -- again, to keep nutrients in the body instead of in the toilet.  Expensive toilet water is much more pricey than dividing supplements.  

[gymdandee]

Substances that Affect Energy Metabolism, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folic acid, thiamine, niacin. Source:  David Kiefer, MD
Pax, Do B vitamins help convert food to energy? I say yes!.
I assume then your info. doesn't come from something!! Are you for real?
You're saying to spread the vitamins out all day! You would need plenty of $$$$.

[Paxiled]

Buy a good book on vitamins and supplements.  The above info probably comes from something, but the best way to take vitamins is to spread them out during the day so you don't excrete them all out when you go to the bathroom.  I don't know how many of us are disciplined to do that, but that's the best way.  It very much depends on what you're taking.  By the way, all vitamin supplements are "synthetic," not most.  No vitamin occurs by itself in nature, it's combined with many other vitamins and minerals in food.  The notion above that B vitamins are "energy" supplements isn't true, either, only B12 really is.  Some B vitamins are relaxants, such as B6.  Basically, fat soluble vitamins need to be taken with a meal that contains fat.  Minerals need to be taken with food because they need an acidic stomach usually for proper assimilation.  Vitamin C is recommended to be taken with food so it doesn't upset the stomach, as it's an acid.  So you see, it's very complicated.  But again, because vitamin supplements aren't digested as well as food, splitting them up through the day is the best way to take them, but again, that means organizing each day's intake.  Anti-inflammatories need to be taken through the day or they stop working as they're excreted.  Every time you go to the bathroom you lose nutrients that haven't been digested.  This is why time release is a scam -- by the time everything's released it's likely to be flushed down the toilet.  So again, my advice is, buy a really good vitamin book that will help you out with the specific supplements you take, and look at the instructions on the label, which will often be very helpful.

[gymdandee]

I forgot the following!
Iron should be taken on an empty stomach to ensure full absorption. It's recommended that adults take an iron supplement with 8 oz. water or fruit juice one to two hours after meals.
Avoid eating eggs, cheese, yogurt, whole grains and spinach one to two hours after taking iron. It's best not to drink milk, coffee or tea. Iron should be taken at least one to two hours apart from calcium supplements and antacids to get the maximum benefits from each.
side effects associated with iron supplements include upset stomach, nausea, constipation, diarrhea and heartburn. The FDA says taking up to 45 mg iron daily is generally considered safe. Iron toxicity can occur when taken in amounts that far exceed the recommended dosage. Severe iron toxicity can cause bloody diarrhea, vomiting and, in rare cases, can be fatal.

[gymdandee]

Multivitamins are best to be taken with the first meal of the day. Since most vitamins are synthetic, the body may be able to absorb and assimilate the vitamins best if they are ingested along with food and its naturally occurring vitamins.
Fat soluble vitamin supplements A, E, D and K are usually concentrated into a gel capsule or a liquid drop form for supplementation. Their class means these vitamins need to be ingested with some form of dietary fat in order to be most efficiently absorbed into the body through the gastrointestinal tract. These vitamins should be taken with food containing healthy dietary fats like poly or monounsaturated fats. Flax oil or nuts are good foods that can help the body absorb fat soluble vitamins. Any meal that includes some dietary fats will allow them to be absorbed.  No best time of day to take them. Morning or the first meal of the day is the most optimal time to consume any supplements since they can be active in supporting the body throughout the day.

Water soluble vitamins C and all of the B complex vitamins. As with any vitamin, C is best absorbed when taken with food simply because in a supplemental form, it is a synthetic substance and its presence with food in the digestive system helps it to be accepted more readily. Vitamin C could be taken at any time of day, the B vitamins are usually suggested as a morning supplement because they are known as the energy vitamin, meaning they stimulate neurological activity and may disrupt one's ability to fall asleep quickly. B complex taken at night may interrupt sleep throughout the night. Water soluble vitamins are best taken in the morning with the first meal.

Herbal capsules, omega-3 fish oils, minerals, and other substances helpful in the body such as joint repairing, inflammation reducing and energy producing products. Most supplements are in a category of supporting the body in its daily functions, and are best absorbed and best serve the body when taken with the first meal of the day. The exception could be when a prescription medication is contra-indicated with the absorption of a vitamin or mineral.