We are not fooling ourselves because we have long known that multivitamins do not really do anything but make ourselves feel good to taking them. 10 years ago in med school our pharm professor offed an A to anyone who could find literature that a multivitiman had any significant positive benefit for healthy normal adults. Easy offer to make because he knew that such research does not exist. Anyone with a remotely normal diet should not have anything close to a vitamin deficiency.

You can google lots of studies, but they are all easy to shoot down as biased, not normal people, poorly done, etc.

^^^^ X2

Great - you just ruined the placebo effect for all of us! ;) Now the ignorant have an advantage.

I would like to see a three Part study.
1. Examine potential benefits of supplementation on a non-balanced diet person
(Even as a pretty healthy eater, I'm not perfect and I don't think a lot of us are). I know I personally would not get nearly enough omega 3 without buying the pill form because I don't like fish.
2. How does vitamin supplementation influence performance? I understand the articles looked at disease, but on St , you would think these results would not really relate to our endeavors as athletes.
3. When a lot of us are trimming for race weight, I think it's fair to say some may need some extra support during times of reduced calorie intake.

Then again, who really knows?

What idiot does that?

Not that this is any new information. It sorta makes you wonder how any of the professional athletes (in any sport, not just tri) get popped for bad vitamins or supplements. They didn't need to take it in the first place.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

It's all cause of this guy Linus Pauling, won 2 (yes, two) Nobels but then completely went off the deep end and became a vitamin-prophet. You can read about him here: http://www.theatlantic.com/...-supplements/277947/

The research in fact suggests that chronic over-supplementation of vitamins--anti-oxidants, to be precise--actually increases your risk of cancer because it messes with some of your body's natural mechanisms. Iron deficiency is a real thing however for athletes, tends to get overlooked.

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I believe what you are saying... But let's say my diet is a Huge piece of shit. As in, essentially no vegetables, lots of cheese, frequent mcdonalds habit in moderate remission. I've been replacing it with a lot of peanut butter and jelly burritos. And cottage cheese. Also yogurt. Not Greek. That's pretty much the whole thing. So, would you indicate the multi-vitamin to be of no value to me? Just curious. Not trolling. Please help.

Well, first of all, armchair-dietitian analysis says you're getting a good amount of micro-nutrients already, especially trace elements, from the peanut butter and the dairy. Honestly, as far as micro-nutrients go, add one leafy green and some OJ every now and then and you're golden. Not an Olympic-gold winning diet but not a shabby one either--way better in my opinion than just adding a multivitamin.

If you are serious about being an athlete and about your health in general, why wouldn't you eat a healthy diet? Nothing can replace that. I mean, sure, if you really can't bring yourself do even, like, drink an OJ a few times a week, then sure, a multivitamin will be better than nothing. Sorry, I don't mean to sound condescending, but a even for busy lifestyles a healthy diet isn't out of reach.

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Totally agree. I'm working on the whole 'complete lifestyle turnaround' thing, and this diet is better than the last 15 years. Quit smoking 12/1, blah blah. I did 3 sprints this summer which highlit to me the need for change. So, yes, diet, gotta do that. But until summer starts (band director, new father, holder of sweet second job washing dishes) time is beyond a premium. So, at the risk of being flamed to oblivion for not searching, is there a diet/fueling plan you recommend?

Here is one example of an athlete using an iron supplement to good effect:

http://www.findingfreestyle.com/..._breakingthrough2010

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

OK, just some guidelines that have worked for me:

• Snack lots--great way to fuel with zero preparation time. Diet-sticklers will give me so much shit for this, but I really believe in it. To make it work, though, you HAVE to stick with healthy shit: that means clif bars, apples, bananas, peaches (any sort of fruit), granola, hell, even kale chips for that matter.


• This means buying healthy stuff and keeping it around. Buy food when you're not hungry, obviously.
• Buy fruit all the time, and keep it in sight always. Keep it on the table, put it in your work bag. Make that the first thing you go to when you need a little fix.
• Eat a BIG BREAKFAST. Oatmeal, fruits, yogurt, granola, toast, pb&j. Eggs if you have time. So simple, literally takes 5 minutes. Huge impact on how you eat the rest of the day

• Keep yourself accountable. No need for some fancy bullshit diet log. Even one of those Windows 7 sticky-note things will suffice--write down what you eat. Just jot it down as you're eating, no extra time, Number one way to improve a habit is to realize how/when you're doing it.
• Cook stuff, don't buy ready-made. This is hard when busy, I understand. Even simple recipes suffice.
• Make simple substitutions: subway or chipotle, instead of McDonalds; salsa, instead of sour cream; whole wheat, instead of white; list goes on.
• Get your three food groups at lunch and dinner: vegetables, starches, protein.

Yaaa hope this helps tho. Believe me I'm busy too but just small changes have big impacts.

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I usually get two eggs in the am, I love cliff bars. Fruit is the thing I need to conquer next... As well as protein in lunch and dinner, thanks!

:)

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Depends. Perhaps your objective is making expensive urine.

Hello tiptopshop and All,

I think we should note that the people on this forum and not average and probably sweat more each day than the test subjects in the studies sweat in a month.

Also the people on this board probably create more muscle micro tears each day than the test subjects in the study create in a month.

The editorial stated:

A dietary supplement industry group slammed the editorial and studies.

“The editorial demonstrates a close-minded, one-sided approach that attempts to dismiss even the proven benefits of vitamins and minerals," Steve Mister, president and CEO of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, said in a statement. "It’s a shame for consumers that the authors refuse to recognize the real-life need for vitamin and mineral supplementation, living in a fairy-tale world that makes the inaccurate assumption that we’re all eating healthy diets and getting everything we need from food alone.

One expert agreed some nutrient-deficient people may still benefit from multivitamins.

“There might be an argument to continue taking a multi(vitamin) to replace or supplement your not healthy diet,” Dr. Robert Graham, an internal medicine physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, added to CBS News.

LaPook also notes that vitamins can benefit people with certain conditions, like celiac disease -- where the body cannot properly absorb nutrients -- and pregnancy, where folic acid helps prevent birth defects.

(I do not sell vitamins or supplements)

Cheers,


Neal


+1 mph Faster

This is not new information.

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/vitamins-and-mortality/

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/...data-more-questions/

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My Blog

I only like bananas and carrots. Don't like any other fruits or veggies. Not sure what to do.

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

Presuming you only like them cos they're nob shaped...

have you considered cucumber, courgettes? I am sure there are more...

See now this thread is really starting to add value...

Love the source. They dis "Dr." Oz on the first page. Gotta like that.

That's my understanding as well.

They didn't need to take it in the first place.

Elite level athletes, if they are part of a testing pool in a sport, in most countries are given a LARGE document that goes over in detail, the shoulds & should-nots of being part of a high-performance testing pool.

To sum it all up, it will basicically say - take nothing extra. Eat a well rounded, nutritious diet. Train hard!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Aaaaaaaaaaaand /thread.

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