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I have been grabbing vitamins off the shelf for years because I saw them on a TV commercial or because someone told me I should. But I have no idea if what I am taking is a waste or not. Am I taking the right pills? Am I taking to many? Is there something better I should be taking?. Looking for some general advice.
I am male
I am 46 years old
I am a little over weight (5'7 and 180 pounds)
I have no trouble falling asleep, but staying asleep or having a good sleep is a different story.
I always feel sluggish, I have no energy at all.
My memory is not as good as it once was.
I currently take 3 different pills.
Mornings when I wake up:
Health First Cal-Mag I take one pill.
Jamieson Multi 100% complete for Men I take 1 pill
Evenings before bed:
Jamieson Melatonin - 10MG - I just started this maybe 4 days ago, it has not even been a week yet.
Health First - Cal-Mag - recommended dose is 2 pills but it does not say on the bottle if this is based on 2 pills or per pill
I'll first comment on the 10mg Melatonin..why are you taking this HIGH a dose? When do you take this 10mg of Melatonin....it's published that for melatonin to work one needs to take it 1-2 hrs before ready for sleep. But this high dose, kinda shocks me. I've read some others take that much too but I still feel a shock.
In comparison I take:
1/2mg Melatonin
500 mg Inositol
500 Tryptophan
Takes these about 1 hr before sleep time.
I'm 80 so I don't know how I can help you....
Multi vits are OK but I don't take them anymore.
I'll just say you are young and I did not start supplementing until I was 57 or so.
Exercise and diet is what you need to focus on. You do carry extra weight for your structure and you could work on that. The sleep issue is another thing.
Do you have issues you want to address besides the sleep and the weight?
Last edited by jaminhealth; 05-25-2019 at 03:29 PM..
I would take the calcium/magnesium at bedtime. They will help with your sleep. I would consider buying separate pills and sticking with tried-and-true health food store brands. Buy a good quality magnesium and take a larger dose, like 400-600 mg. Magnesium glycinate may help more with sleep, but citrate and malate forms are good, too.
I would also buy a separate zinc and take that in the AM. Being a man, your body needs way more zinc than 5 mg. I take Country Life Target-Mins Zinc, which is 50 mg, and I am a woman. The zinc will help with your testosterone which may help with your energy level.
The multi is okay, nothing special, but is okay for the B-vitamins.
Take the multi and zinc with food in the AM. The calcium and magnesium can be taken with or without food, as your body prefers.
Do you feel the melatonin is helping you sleep better?
Also for the sluggishness and sleep, I would recommend thyroid-supportive minerals like iodine, selenium, and manganese. Eating seaweed is a great way to get all three of these in one go. If you'd rather take supplements, take these three in the AM, and then take the zinc with lunch or dinner.
I will second what Jam says about diet and exercise. What is your diet? How much protein do you get each day?
Exercising will help with both the weight and the sleep.
I have been taking probiotics and honestly it's one of the essential health supplements to take alongside multivitamins. I take one of the strongest probiotics, which contains 12 different species of probiotics with over 25+ billion CFUs of them. I take it in capsule form, once a day on an empty stomach.
Some of the benefits I've noticed are:
- Improved gut health (I used to suffer from constipation, now I look forward to going to the toilet every single morning)
- Better mood
- My brain health has improved, and my ability to retain information has gotten better.
There are researches confirming the relationship between gut health and brain functions. Traditional Asian practices also emphasize intestinal health and its ties to brain functioning.
I hope this helps and feel free to PM me for more information regarding the supplements I take!
That includes just about everything doesn't it? I guess just about everything except Walmart brands.
What I mean is national brands that have been around for decades that were originally (and still are) sold in B&M health food stores, as in the olden days before the internet. These companies have stood the test of time and produce quality products.
Some of the national brands still have production facilities in the USA or Canada. They do their own in-house quality control, testing for purity and potency of ingredients, and they follow cGMP (current good manufacturing practices).
Since the advent of the internet, many small "brands" have become available on places like Amazon, and many stores have contracted to produce their own lines of supplements. They may be just fine, but maybe not. More than likely they are produced in China out of who-knows-what ingredients with little or no quality control or testing. In my opinion it's a carpshoot on quality.
What I mean is national brands that have been around for decades that were originally (and still are) sold in B&M health food stores, as in the olden days before the internet. These companies have stood the test of time and produce quality products.
Some of the national brands still have production facilities in the USA or Canada. They do their own in-house quality control, testing for purity and potency of ingredients, and they follow cGMP (current good manufacturing practices).
Since the advent of the internet, many small "brands" have become available on places like Amazon, and many stores have contracted to produce their own lines of supplements. They may be just fine, but maybe not. More than likely they are produced in China out of who-knows-what ingredients with little or no quality control or testing. In my opinion it's a carpshoot on quality.
B&M health food stores? I never heard of these stores, where are they located?
Like you stated, some of the national brands still have production facilities in the USA or Canada, but often their ingredients are sourced from China.
I think it is difficult to determine what brands are reputable. From some of the comments on here, it seems many people judge quality on word of mouth.
Sorry for the late reply I was away for work and just seeing everyone's replies now.
Just want to point out I did not say I am concerned about my weight, I only posted that in case it had anything to do with what I should take. I have a "beer belly" and that is it. A big one mind you LOL, but that is all. My diet is "lazy Keto". I found when I did Keto the proper way I lost some weight but I did not find I could keep it up, my cravings were too strong. So I am doing "lazy Keto". Exercise is none existent. I would love to but don't have the time for it. I work 10 hours a day, sitting 95% of that time and I have a 2 year old that keeps me busy when I come home.... All excuses I know, but facts of life for me.
I appreciate all of the comments and I am definitely going to make some changes based on them. I guess I initially posted this thread because doing Keto they say you must make sure to take 5000-7000MG of Sodium, 300-500MG Magnesium and 1000-3000MG potassium every day. I know a lot of this comes from the foods I eat and I know what I am getting as I track my food with an app and it breaks these out for me. But these are Keto requirements. I was not sure if there are others I should be making sure I get.
For example Noodlecat pointed out Zinc.. Nice catch and I will make sure to add that. And jaminhealth pointed out my dose of Melatonin. PS. I took that because I thought more is better LOL.. I was wrong, it made me groggy all day the next day. I stopped taking it after 3 days as it was effecting my work day.
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I guess just about everything except Walmart brands.
