The KInd Life Community Forum
Use this space to share stories, exchange ideas, ask questions, and contribute to our growing community!
Vegan Multivitamins for Women
Started
by Michelle
on April 14, 2010
My dietician recommended that I should take a women's multivitamins. Does anybody have any recommendation? Thank you.
My husband is in medical school and recently learned that studies have found that multivitamins can have adverse effects and are not worth taking as long as you are eating a healthy diet. We only take a B12 supplement and try to eat a good variety of fruits, vegetables, and carbohydrates.
How long have you been a vegan? I've only been a vegan for 6 weeks and I'm a long distance runner. My concern is that I don't want to become anemic that's why I consulted with a dietician. She was impressed with my diet because she asked me to create a food log though she told me to eat more veggies and fruits. She talked about iron and B12. Do you take iron supplements too?
For the reasons catconsrv mentioned, I would definitely hesitate before taking multivitamins. It just isn't great to end up getting too much of certain vitamins. But if you're missing something like iron, and you can't keep it up with diet alone, taking the individual supplements seems like the way to go. I take flaxseed oil caps on days when I know I didn't get enough omega 3s. Are you actually anemic or is she just worried that a vegan diet can make you anemic? If the latter, maybe you could just monitor your diet for a month and eat iron-rich foods, and then get tested for deficiencies. Hopefully you'd prove her wrong!
I agree with Niki and Catconsrv. If you're not currently defficient, pay attention to your diet, get tested again, and add in individual supps if necessary. There's no reason for most people eating a healthy, varied diet to take a multivitamin. B12 is what a lot of people take, because vegans do need to watch that one. Like Niki mentioned, omega 3s might need a separate supp as well, which can be a capsule, or you can get ground flax seeds, flaxseed oil, or hemp oil, and add it to your morning oatmeal, or rice, or smootfie, or even cold cereal.
5 Comments