Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet should provide you with all of the individual nutrients you need, but if you're diet isn't so good, some of those nutrients might be deficient. For example, a person who hates fruits and vegetables might not get enough Vitamin C and someone who refuses to eat dairy products will frequently need extra calcium.
Multivitamin
·
Take your multivitamin tablet at a time that is convenient for you. Some people find that taking their vitamin in the morning with breakfast is easiest for them to remember, but taking a multivitamin in the morning may not be convenient for everyone. Taking too many multivitamins in a short period of time can cause multiple vitamin overdose, which can cause you to become very sick.
Take your multivitamin tablet at a time that is convenient for you. Some people find that taking their vitamin in the morning with breakfast is easiest for them to remember, but taking a multivitamin in the morning may not be convenient for everyone. Taking too many multivitamins in a short period of time can cause multiple vitamin overdose, which can cause you to become very sick.
·
Be
careful not to take too many multivitamins in one day. If you have, and you
experience symptoms such as
severe headache, abdominal pain, nausea and upset stomach seek emergency care, as you may have developed
hypervitaminosis -- multiple vitamin overdose.
Calcium
Dosage.
Calcium is absorbed most efficiently when it's taken in amounts of 500 or 600 milligrams (mg) or less at one time. If you
take 1,000 mg of calcium a day, split it into two or more doses over the course of the day.
Calcium
supplements can interact with many different prescription medications,
including antibiotics,
bisphosphonates and high blood pressure medications. You may need to take calcium supplements several hours before or
after taking your medications.
In the
first place Calcium supplements of all kinds MUST be taken with food. If you
take your calcium supplement on an
empty stomach you will actually run the risk of getting kidney stones.
(This
happens because calcium taken on an empty stomach is eliminated through the
kidneys. If your body is
deficient in Calcium your kidneys will not allow your body to eliminate the
calcium. The free floating calcium
ions attach themselves to oxalates from other foods and form calcium oxalate stones in the kidney. When you
take your calcium supplement with food it will be excreted in the feces and not wind up in your kidneys
where it can form stones.)
Calcium
is also taken with food because of its potential to upset the stomach and
calcium is usually combined with
Vitamin D to transport it to where it is needed and magnesium to reduce the possibility of constipation, a side-effect
of calcium.
If you
require Calcium, Iron and Zinc, take all 3 at separate meals to avoid
competition for absorption.
Iron
Choose
times when you will have an empty stomach, at least one hour before or two
hours after eating.The
reason behind taking iron with either a glass of orange juice or a vitamin C
tablet is that vitamin C will
enhance the absorption of the iron. Conversely, milk, caffeine, antacids and calcium supplements are known to decrease
the absorption of iron, so it is best to avoid taking these at the same time as the iron supplement.
Avoid
these foods 1 hour before taking the iron supplement and 2 hours after: dairy
products, eggs, spinach, coffee, tea,
whole grains, fiber or calcium supplements or antacids. They contain compounds that interfere with iron
absorption.
Do take
75 mg of vitamin C with your iron supplement. The following foods provide this
amount or a little more: 7
oz. of orange or grapefruit juice, one and a half oranges, half a cup of kiwi,
1 1/4 cups diced cantaloupes or 1 cup
of strawberry halves.
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