Multi Vitamins

Nutrition Discussions
1

when is the best time to take multi vitamins, in the morning or night.

I have just go9t some, one a day multi vitamin tablets.

what time of day should i take them.

2

I found if you choose a multi to take, split up the dose to twice a day. One in the morning and one at night. If you are taking a one a day, you can split the pill in half.

3

Best with meals - one with your breakfast, one with dinner…

4

I personally tend to take mine before training, 1/2 hour to an hour before warming up.

The reasons I do this are not scientifically prooven or anything but based on common sense:

1-when I’m training and sweating and breaking down muscle is this not when I need the multi-vit more than ever, along with the anti-oxidants contained within to work straight away on removing free radicals.

2-my particular multi-vit contains ginseng and gingko bilbao, which work together as stimulants for both body and mind (sounds cheesy but thats what they do). Due to this effect I feel the quality of my sessions had improved.

I personally feel my diet is quite good, plenty fruit, veg and quality protein(from meat) but I still use a multi-vit as a safety buffer, no matter how good your diet it is difficult to hit RDAs, and even then these are set for sedentary people, not us.

5

I’d keeps the vitamins well away from the training session or you might re-visit them!

6

I’d keeps the vitamins well away from the training session or you might re-visit them!

Would this not be down to an athletes personal choice, and how they deal with it?

Personally I usually eat a meal about an hour before I train, and I have never had any problems. If I don’t or can’t eat this soon before a 2 hour session I get so hungry before I finish that concentration drops significantly, and this can be fatal in the pole vault.

I know most people probably cant eat(or take a multi-vit) that soon before training but I feel my training is compromised if i don’t.

Is this a case of noone should do this, or that if it affects the athlete adversly then it shouldnt be done?

7

If you think it doesn’t make a difference then its ok. You obviously have a stronger stomach than Charlie!

As for vitamin’s wouldn’t you want to take vit c after training to combat the rise in serum cortisol? See the Frost thread…

TC

8

so would you say taking the multi vit after training would be the best time to take it???

9

I would say take your multi in the morning with breakfast and in evening with dinner. Then at other times during day take seperate doeses. like C, calcium and others as needed.

10

Is there really any point in taking a multi vitamin? Here’s a comparison of some real food vs a multi-vitamin. The first column is 1 cup of oats, a banana and a carrot. The second column is a multivitamin.

Vitamin A 21,664.0 IU 3,500.0 IU
Lutein&Zeaxanthin 377.5 mcg 250.0 mcg
Vitamin C 27.2 mg 60.0 mg
Vitamin D 0.0 IU 400.0 IU
Vitamin E 1.0 mg 30.0 mg
Thiamin 1.4 mg 1.5 mg
Riboflavin 0.5 mg 1.7 mg
Niacin 4.3 mg 20.0 mg
Vitamin B6 1.2 mg 2.0 mg
Folate 156.7 mcg 400.0 mcg
Vitamin B12 0.0 mcg 6.0 mcg
Pantothenic Acid 3.2 mg 10.0 mg
Vitamin K 18.0 mcg 25.0 mcg

Calcium 137.8 mg 162.0 mg
Iron 8.4 mg 18.0 mg
Magnesium 352.2 mg 100.0 mg
Phosphorus 910.3 mg 109.0 mg
Potassium 1,885.0 mg 80.0 mg
Sodium 93.7 mg 0.0 mg
Zinc 6.8 mg 15.0 mg
Copper 1.3 mg 2.0 mg
Manganese 8.5 mg 2.0 mg
Selenium 2.4 mcg 20.0 mcg

I would say that multi-vitamins are pretty useless. The vitamins & minerals in pill form are probably largely inferior to natural foods also.