How do I find out how many vitamins I should take?

Question

I'm looking to find out how much of certain vitamins I should be consuming an day, and how much dairy/grains/fruits/veggies, too. Really, I just want some help with what I should be eating. I'm a 19 y.o. female, 5'3, 110 pounds (I'm not looking to gain or lose weight, this is my healthy average weight). Any websites or books?

Answer 1

JesB, it is great to hear that someone your age is seeking out the best possible health for their body.
You could go & see your doctor & have him refer you to a Dietion, who would be great to see & is an expert in thier field,
or a Naturopath could also be handy.
You go Girl!

Answer 2

1. Keep a food diary.
Record everything you eat and the portions.
Do this for a week.

2. Go to http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/ for each food to find the nutrients of everything you eat.

3. On the same website, look up the RDA (recommended daily allowance) for all nutrients.

4. Compare this info (2 and 3).

5 Choose your vitamins this way.

Or do what the rest of us do and take a good multi. I like Women's Ultra Mega from GNC.

Answer 3

There really is no way to know how many vitamins to take and what you need unless you have a blood test.
Personally my body doesn't get its vitamins from foods because of surgery and chemo. So I take vitamins.
I had a blood test, that's how I know what to take.

Hope this helps:

While the ideal way of obtaining vitamins is through eating a healthy diet, not all vitamins are equally absorbed by all people. As well, some conditions suggest that certain vitamin supplements should definitely be added to diets. For example, people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) have difficulty absorbing vitamins from food, and may benefit from a good, and easily digestible multi-vitamin supplement.

What vitamins one takes needs to be tailored to the individual. A pregnant woman, for example, should start taking a pregnancy multi-vitamin that contains folic acid prior to conception. Taking folic acid significantly reduces the risk of certain birth defects when a daily amount is taken before the woman conceives.

Someone who is on a calorie-restricted diet may also need a good multi-vitamin because the person may not be getting enough vitamin amounts from their foods. Vegetarians particularly need vitamin B12, which is often lacking from the vegetarian diet. People who cannot consume milk products lose out on vitamin D, calcium, magnesium and potassium.

Most doctors also recommend that all women take a daily calcium supplement. This is especially true for women entering their 30s and older, since calcium can help forestall osteoporosis. Many also benefit from the vitamin A in fish oil and flaxseed oil, which has mood regulating benefits and may be helpful in preventing heart disease. Vitamin A levels should be carefully regulated, since too much vitamin A has been linked to birth defects. Those with heart rhythm irregularities should also not take fish oil, as it may actually increase the chance of having a dangerous arrhythmia.

People who are elderly, or young children who have very picky food habits may also benefit from taking vitamins that have a basic selection of various vitamins. Note that calcium and iron vitamins or minerals should never be taken together, since iron interferes with calcium absorption. People with immunodeficiencies should also take a multivitamin supplement.

Vitamins should not be a substitution for a healthy diet however, because it has been shown that vitamins in food tend to be much more easily absorbed. Further, food often contains beneficial ingredients that one can’t get from vitamins. Milk for example, contains calcium and vitamin D, as well as magnesium and potassium. Simply taking a vitamin D supplement will not completely compensate from what one misses by not consuming dairy.

Taking too many vitamins has also shown to be largely ineffective. Most extra vitamins, like extra vitamin C are simply excreted through urine and don’t provide much benefit. In fact, as important as it may be to take some vitamins, it is equally important not to take too many. The best bet is to get recommendations from a physician so that any suggested vitamins mesh well with one’s dietary needs, any medications one may take, and any medical conditions one has.

Answer 4

If you eat 3 different pieces of fruit everyday, you will NOT have to take vitamin supplements!
Over use of vitamins are BAD for you!

Answer 5

The best way is to just take a woman's once-a-day vitamin. Different sites are going to give you different answers. Just stick to one, general vitamin and you're going to be fine.

Answer 6

First and foremost you should read the label. If you are just looking to maintain basic health MOST women's one a day vitamins should be sufficient

Answer 7

best bet is a dietitian to get a food guide
you can take Centrium=its a multy vitamin

Answer 8

try looking on the back of the bottle of vitamins
:)

Answer 9

try [e-mail] hope this helps. you sound like a very great person good luck.

Answer 10

at least one banana a day for the potassium ! (about 500 mgs)