Hi,
I'm a newbie to this site. Just starting out my Low Carb diet.

I've been getting a little nervous that I may be taking too many vitamins and herbs. Its so easy - you read an article that says - feed your brain and take Gingko so you start taking it, or Soy is good for hot flashes during menopause so you take that too, then I just read Fish Oil is good for you memory so I starting taking that, and on and on ........ Next thing you know your taking 12-15 pills a day!!!!!

What do you think of these - Too much? Too Little? Wasteful?

I'm female, 45 years old, in my 4th year of menopause , overweight by 40 pounds (165 should be 125). a carbo addict, quit smoking 1 year ago, probably drink a bit too much wine/rum but other than that in good health. Here what I take:

GNC Womens Ultra Mega Multi Vitamin w/o Iron
plus the following additional supplements:
Menest 1.25mg (hormone for menopause)
Magnesium - 850 mg
Calcium - 1200 mg
Black Cohosh - 200 mg
Soy Isoflavones - 100 mg
Ginko Biloba - 50 mg
Aloe Vera Pills - 25 mg
L-Arginine - 500 mg
Fish Body Oils - 1000 mg
Triple Ginseng - 600 mg
Ephadrene - 330 mg
Chromium - 600 mg
Vitamin E - 1000 mg

Thank you in advance for your help!
Malibu

Hi Malibu

Not sure if you are taking too many or not as some of them are aimed at different things. Hopefully you spread out taking them throughout the day. You might want to pose this question in the supplements section or look through that for others experiences.

As a guide I am 47 and am also going through the menopause. For the last 3 months I have been on HRT which is now helping a lot, so I'm not taking any of the other supplements you are. Do you feel benefits from each and every one of them? If so, keep them in.

Each day I take:
1 Multivitamin and multimineral
1 Chelated potassium - as a lot get flushed out with the water drinking
1 Magnesium and calcium
1g Vitamin C - have done for many years
1 cod liver oil capsule

I used to take chromium and Q10, but it was not obvious to be that they did anything and so no longer take them.

Every success to you.

hi there Malibu,

As a general base, it's good to take a quality multiple vitamin and mineral supplement, plus extra potassium, calcium and magnesium. For the multi-, I recommend a "super" or "stress" formula, as these will contain extra B-vitamins.

Many people, not just low-carbers, take extra supplements to support various health and nutrition concerns. It's up to the individual to determine your own personal "need" for the supplements you choose to take over and above the base. I do think a person can go overboard ... I know someone who takes every supplement known to have antioxidant activity ... coQ10, beta carotene, selenium, garlic, lycopene, vit E, green tea extract, grape seed extract, and etc .. which is overkill as far as I'm concerned, but then it's their wallet.

RE- your list of supps:

- 850mg of magnesium seems a bit high. 450mg per day is the usual recommended amount. (although I take 600mg per day, since extra mag. is recommended for fibromyalgia)
- fish oils ... you might consider bumping that up to 3000 mg per day. Generally it's recommended to take 1 gelcap 3 X per day.
- vitamin E 1000 mg ... is really high, unless you have a specific health reason for taking that much. 400mg per day is what's recommended
- ephedrine ... is a thermogenic stimulant, and not really recommended to take it for prolonged periods of time. Mostly it's used by the bodybuilders and folks who are working out heavily to support their fat-burning efforts. You can read more about ephedra/ephedrine in the Exercise forum, in a Sticky thread by Trainerdan ... called "Thermogenic Info."
- chromium 600mcg is a lot ... that's the amount usually recommended for diabetics. 200 - 400mcg per day for non-diabetics
- the herbs and supplements for menopause symptoms are fine, and you won't need to take those forever

As for the ginko and ginseng .. it's up to you to decide if they make a difference and are helpful for you.

So, it's good and helpful for overall health to take the baseline nutrients. Over and above that is up to you and your own health needs.

hth,

Doreen

hi Malibu,

I've merged your duplicate post from the Nutrition forum here with this thread to avoid duplication of replies and readers missing posts in different forums It's a good question, and I'm sure other new comers are wondering the same.

Doreen