Hi folks,

I am 10lbs from goal and have been very slowly increasing carbs. I eat such a variety of vegetables now as well as different meats, a range of dairy and oils/nuts etc, that I would be very suprised if my diet was nutritionally inadequate. I have been taking a multivitamin since I started Lcing in Oct '03 as well as glutamine and chromium tabs.

I have never been keen on taking tabs, has anyone found any ill effects from not taking these or see any pitfalls that I should be wary off? Thanks..

I wouldn't stop taking them. I'm on life maintanance and I still take multivitamin plus extra B-vitamin, Magnesium and other things according to my needs. It can't hurt you!

Congrats on doing so great!

Alina

Thanks ALina

I will keep taking them.

BTW you look so good in your pics - congratulations on getting to maintenance and sticking there

I'm hoping my time will come too, but I am so happy with this WOL that goal will be a secondary bonus.

Try fitdaying at looking at you're RDI's. Remember that the RDIs are set quite high, but as a low-carber it is important to use that number, unless you are prepared to research yourself becuase our absorbtion of certain things is reduced.

A multivitamin is often next to pointless. I think they can be effective, and effective 'insurance, but the average person is not well informed enough to choice a good pill. If the pill doesn't have RDI's on it, you might be suprised to learn your 'top up' is quite low in some things. Further, remember that vitamins interact. Treating specific deficiencies with a multivitamin is discouraged because the absorption of some vitamins in the pill will be nill becuase it is taken with so many other vitamins etc. If you are eating a traditional 'balanced diet' with lots of vegies, which I consider late OWL to be, you can probably do without the 'insurance' of a pill you donot know the effectivess of.

Instead pinpoint specific deficiencies (using fitday) and try to treat them in specific pills, but check the potency of your dose and look at the 'of which abosorbed/providing elemental...' listing - don't buy brands that just list ingredients unless you know the absorbtion rate of calcium carbonate etc or trust the brand.

Even in late OWL you are certainly not getting enough calicum, unless you make an effort to eat yogurt everday. Consider supplementation, with magenisum to increase absorbtion.

Pottasium etc may be a problem becuase drinking excessive water causes electorates to be flushed. If you need a supplement you'll be able to tell from muscle soreness/cramps (though this can also be magnesium or calcium deficience).

Don't worry about vitamin D deficiency on fitday its basically unheard of in Australia (other then in nursing homes) becuase of sunlight. Don't worry about vitamin K deficiency appearing on fit day there is heaps of that in meat, fitday just doesn't track it for some reason.

Glutamine and chromium tabs are not treating a dietry deficiency per se, but addressing a biological imbalance. Glutamine is usually reccomended for an intial course of 6 months. There is an advantage in taking these pills, but if you have been on them for 6 months go off and see what happens.

As well as 'deficiencies' there are also some vitamins for which taking large doses is beneficial. This is not true for any mineral, which is excreted. But if you are prone to stress, taking B vitamin complex (ie - with your diet you will far exceed RDI's) will not be excreted but used. Similar with vitamin C. For many other vitamins this is not the case though.