health and vitamins/supplements

[Lacey]

So how do you get iron in your diet Lacey without eating red meat? Go and lick the rust off your FC? hehehehe

Spinach. It\'s full of it. I can feel it when I eat it. All the little iron filings. Either that or I haven\'t washed it properly.

Haha pretty much that, you\'d be surprised how many vegetables have iron in if you google

[jetpilot]

A family member had the tiredness/dizzyness thing, no pains however, she had an over active thyroid gland, the docs missed it, but fortunately my sister in law is a nurse practitioner and she had already seen the blood test results and noticed a small increase in the readings. The doc thought it was nothing to be concerned about as it was only slightly over norm. Went on some tablets and the problem was resolved.

I hope its that simple for you buddy.

Also had a friend a couple of years ago and she was getting pains in her abdomen so bad it would take her to her knees in tears, they wouldnt last long but she always felt fragile after an attack! They never found what was wrong after every test/scan possible and eventually it cleared up a good few months later, it was put down to stress!

[RobMatthews]

I do wonder wether i have just over done it with work, but even after 6 months my body would have hopefully recovered by now.

I\'ve seen 3 different docs all have come to the same conclusion, im waiting on the last blood test - hepatitus but dont see that being a problem as i\'ve already seen a liver specialist.

jetpilot, i\'ve had the thyroid checked i might ask to do it again.

Brian sorry to hear about the sister in law, the last doc i saw did say that with the scans and blood tests they done they\'ve ruled out anything nasty, including the big c so hopefully they are right about that!

[kiwimazda]

Brian sorry to hear about the sister in law, the last doc i saw did say that with the scans and blood tests they done they\'ve ruled out anything nasty, including the big c so hopefully they are right about that!

:god:god:god:god:god:god:god

[RobMatthews]

brian when you gonna get some pics up of the rx3?

[kiwimazda]

As soon as I figure out how to upload pics from the camera. Its a new digital one I got and I dont know how it all works yet

[jetpilot]

I do wonder wether i have just over done it with work, but even after 6 months my body would have hopefully recovered by now.

jetpilot, i\'ve had the thyroid checked i might ask to do it again.

I would check with it, i know the results this end were almost ignored at first!

Stress can often be a powerful mistress, its not worth discounting!

[Arnie_O]

Bit of a monster post this one.

Hi Rob, ill probably provoke some counter arguments here but I am all for Vitamin Supplements and many studies have shown that they work, I have done several training courses on them and its surprising how much people are lacking in their diets these days, even those that think they are getting all they need.

One of the routs of the problem is that out food is so intensively farmed these days to cope with demand that its desperately deficient in the essential goodness that out bodies rely on like Vitamins, Minerals, Antioxidants and Phytonutriants. The levels are dramatically low compared to equivalent amounts of the fame foods tested say in the 50\' and 60\'s.

Now while I am all for Supplementation (I obviously do it myself) I will agree with RyanT in part... see you will find that taking cheap supplements can produce bad side effect, and in some cases even be detrimental to your healt. RyanT mentions Holland and Barrett as an example. not these can be used as a prime example they want you to believe they are Natural products as their packaging contains the phrase "naturally Inspired" the truth of the matter is that to get the price cheap nearly all the stuff available in the high street is mass produced in a lab from chemical equivalents (synthetics)
here is where i will put forward an example of synthetic supplements being detrimental to your health. In this case we are talking about beta carotene.
now its been a while since i reviewed the specific information on this but it has been proven with research that there is actually a receptor on certain typed on cancer cells that will accept synthetic beta carotene (this if your fighting cancer is obviously a bad thing) however that same receptor will not accept natural beta carotene derived from natural plant matter/foods. there are many other examples but thats really the one that sticks in my mind.

 See the problem with many supplements on the market is that they are not made from Natural ORGANIC food. remember out bodies where designed and evolved living on food not stuff produced in a laboratory.
Secondly Many supplement companies work off of the old style RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) to set out a balanced supplement the problem here is that the RDA was set out as the minimum levels of Vitamins and Minerals required so people do not contract Vitamin Deficiency Diseases (Scurvy and Beriberi for examples) now this was fine way back when the RDA was set up but in the modern world this does not happen. There are Upper levels that are required for Optimal health and these in some cases far exceed that of the old RDA levels.

So what does this all mean? Well if you want to supplement effectively you need to look for a supplement that made from 100% Organically grown plant matter, thats been sustainibly farmed (means your getting good amounts of the good stuff Vitamins, Minerals, Phytonutriants and Antioxidants) The foods that your supplements are made from really need to be those super foods whe are hearing about these days like Alfalfa, Broccoli, Acerola Cherries and Watercress to name just a few.
Another advantages in food based supplements is that only food based supplements contain those all important phytonutriants, These are Micro nutrients that are essential to the body however the confusing part is that science still does not fully understand how they work :S

By choosing the correct kind your going to give your body the best possible boost in energy and health levels possible. The bad news is that to get good quality stuff its not as cheap as you would like, I would not say its expensive (what price can you put on health) but its not Tesco or Holland and Barrett price.

Another overlooked is the lack of Omega 3 in out diets, Omega 3 does so much for our bodies but most of us never get enough on a daily basis, you would think the answer would be to simply increase your daily intake of Oily fish that are rich in Omega 3... normally this would be a good idea, If you could eat that much each day every day and the other problem if you would eat that much would then be the about of toxic heavy metals you would be ingesting (Mercury for one) our waters are polluted with this stuff.
The answer here again is choosing the right source for your Omega 3 supplement. you need to look for a source thats Farmed from a sustainable source of deep sea arctic salmon farmed in a way that the end product if free from pollutants like mercury (this specific type of salmon produce the best type of Omega 3) Omega 3 from deep water arctic salmon had longer DHA strands that are highly beneficial to the body.  

Advantages of good Omega 3 can be better skin quality, more supple joints, more flexible and stretchier arteries and veins, the cells in your body are healthier and work better, plus many more.

So if your really looking to Supplement than make sure you get the right stuff, Don\'t get the cheap stuff you really do get what you pay for.

now while all the above information is a lot to take in, please do not think that if your supplementing then its OK to eat badly. you still want to eat as healthy as possible and supplement as well.

SUPPLEMENTS ARE NOT A REPLACMENT FOR A HEALTHY AND VARIED DIET !

All that said there is no promising that taking the right supplements will fix your problems dude but getting the right ones certainly wont have a negative effect.

There is also another option that may be worth a shot, and i apreciate it sounds a bit mumbo jumbo, but both my parents where suffering from various problems and have done for years, I dad was told he had IBS and the doctors would not put a finger on what my mums problems where, but she had been having serious stomach pains randomly for a while, on top of other things. They Finally went to a nutritionist in Horley Sussex a few months ago, who put them on this weird machine to check what was going on in their bodies (allergies, general healty ect) i dont have the full details as i did not go with them. however she told mum about things that even she herself had forgotten about (as weird as that sounds) she eventually put them both on their own course of tablets and suppliments to fix the problem and in a period of a couple of months its sorted both of them right out. mum no longer suffers from any of the problem she has had for years (that a long list of doctors and specialists could not sort out) and dad\'s "IBS" turned out just to be allergies that the doctors could not pick up on for some strange reason. the price for these consultations was not in any way expensive and after seeing how its changed both my parents lived for the better i would highly recommend giving it a try. sorry i cant give you specifics about this machine but i was not there to ask questions lol.
though my parents where old that most of the doctors in Germany use them to great effect, they just dont seem to have caught on here, I believe there are not many people in the UK using these machines however if you want any contact details for the woman (i appreciate its a bit of a drive from where you are) then drop me a PM. I am sure she would be most happy to answer any questions or may even be able to point you in the direction of someone more local to you. The same goes for any specific question on the above topics of Supplements and Omega 3\'s drop me a PM.

Some say its all rubbish however i have personally been witness to some remarkable things that can only be put down to the above principles put in to action with regard to supplementation.

Hope all the above information helps and you get sorted whatever road you choose to take.

[Jojo]

Rob, my first thought was thyroid as has already been mentioned. Usually with an underactive one u would get the lethargy and light headed symptoms but u would also, in the vast majority of cases, get noticable weight gain. An overactive thyroid would also result in the tiredness etc but would, again in nearly all cases, be accompanied by weight loss if left untreated. To be honest, even a first year med student would test for this though and it is just a very basic blood test needed to diagnose it.

 
If u have had fainting spells then, if it were me, I would be to the point of demanding a 24hour blood pressure test (usually just a quick appointment at ur local hospital for the nurse to fit the cuff then get on with ur day as usual and the machine will just go off at random intervals and log ur BP in it\'s memory). Also, I do think it is remiss of ur GP not to request a 24hr ECG just to be on the safe side (don\'t panic-this is more a case of ruling things out than finding anything now-the heart is one organ the medical profession knows how to treat!! Most problems, if found, can be sorted).

 
None of these things would explain the abdo pain though :3Confused I presume they have done the usual endoscopy and colonoscopy to rule out diverticulitus and chrones (although u would have other symptoms realistically if it were either of these).  The scans would have ruled out any aneurysm type problems.
 
Jeez...I\'ve been rambling!! :o  Basically, go back to ur doctor (again, I know!) and tell him u r not happy and that u wish to be referred on.  I hope they get u sorted and ur feeling better soon

[stylus350]

Arnie O - can you recommend a brand of supplement you do consider good?

[RobMatthews]

If u have had fainting spells then, if it were me, I would be to the point of demanding a 24hour blood pressure test (usually just a quick appointment at ur local hospital for the nurse to fit the cuff then get on with ur day as usual and the machine will just go off at random intervals and log ur BP in it\'s memory). Also, I do think it is remiss of ur GP not to request a 24hr ECG just to be on the safe side (don\'t panic-this is more a case of ruling things out than finding anything now-the heart is one organ the medical profession knows how to treat!! Most problems, if found, can be sorted).

 
None of these things would explain the abdo pain though :3Confused I presume they have done the usual endoscopy and colonoscopy to rule out diverticulitus and chrones (although u would have other symptoms realistically if it were either of these).  The scans would have ruled out any aneurysm type problems.
 
Jeez...I\'ve been rambling!! :o  Basically, go back to ur doctor (again, I know!) and tell him u r not happy and that u wish to be referred on.  I hope they get u sorted and ur feeling better soon

Dont mind you rambling on i can make a list when i see the doc and ask him these questions!

The\'ve not done an endoscopy and colonoscopy pehaps i should ask to be on the safe side?


Arnie, what supplements would you recommend and where from?


Thanks for all the replys so far.

[turbo boy]

Try www.zipvit.co.uk they do every type of supplement you can think of, cheap too.:Thumbs-up

[Arnie_O]

I dont currently have the time t answer the couple of questions but i promise i will one a have some time, I am just dashing out but thought i would check this thread.

As i mentioned Cheap supplements are not the answer, what kind of quality do you really think your getting from a multivitamin thats costing £7.99 for 360 captules/tablets that works out at just over 2p each, do you really think they are going to meet all the criteria i set out above? (example taken from zipvit website)