Check out the Nutrition Action Healthletter put out by the Center for Science in the Public Interest:
http://www.cspinet.org/nah/index.htm
Most of the links are to PDF files. A great site for anyone looking for scientifically-supported nutrition information.
Their multivitamin review is from 2003, but is nonetheless a worthwhile read:
http://www.cspinet.org/nah/4_00/pickamulti.htm
then click the “January 2003” PDF link.
The Pak handsdown for me but your goals and training intensity may be different than mine and you may not need all the “bells and whistles.” Yeah there are quite a few pills but so what? A serving is two Paks, I only take one Pak a day so I am sure you will be fine doing the same.
But if you just “work out” a few days a week, I suggest you take the cheapest one pill a day bullshit and you will be fine as wel.
A
I may have the answer.
What multi does John Berardi take?
Oh yeah, bc his physique is the one you are after? Good luck with that. No offense Dr. B.
[quote]BarneyFife wrote:
I may have the answer.
What multi does John Berardi take?[/quote]
[quote]Amsterdam Animal wrote:
Oh yeah, bc his physique is the one you are after? Good luck with that. No offense Dr. B.
BarneyFife wrote:
I may have the answer.
What multi does John Berardi take?
[/quote]
No. Because Doc. B is considered one of the best sources of nutritional info. He is an expert at that kind of thing. Mike Boyle looks like a little pencil dicked, pencil necked prick, but if I wanted information about injury prevention, he’s a very smart guy.
I don’t really strive to have TC’s physique, but if I ever needed a role model for an Alpha Male, I read Atomic Dog articles. I don’t aspire to look like Dave Tate, but if I want to know how to be strong, then I read what he has to say.
No offense to you AA. You are as big as a house. I respect your opinions. However, I don’t always judge what’s in peoples minds by what their body looks like. I really don’t want to look like stephen hawking, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t one of the smartest men alive.
Ive been taking alive whole food energizer for quite a while now. It’s hard to say what its effects are, as its the only multivitmain i’ve ever taken. I’d appreciate if anyone with some knowledge of supplements could let me know how this stacks up - I can’t find it any consumer lab reports.
Here’s the link to it - There is also a NO IRON type available.
=52795&trx=PLST-0-SEARCH&trxp1=52795&trxp2
=88631&trxp3=1&trxp4=0&btrx=BUY-PLST-0-SEARCH
Below are the Package Details -
Vegetarian & HypoAllergenic Dietary Supplement
#1 Mega Nutrient
“Feel your best with Alive? whole food energizer”
#1 Daily Source. Alive! contains life-giving nutrients for more sources than any other supplement.
#1 Absorption. Alive! nutrients are better absorbed into your blood stream because its tablets disintegrate up to 5X faster than other leading brands.
#1 Quality. Alive! is made to the traditionally high standards of Nature’s Way. Only the best ingredients are used such as chelated minerals, “flash glanced” fruits/veggies, and organically grown mushrooms - all laboratory tested for purity and potency.
From Supplement Facts:
* Vitamin A: (33% [5,000 IU] as retinol palmitate and 67% [10,000 IU] as beta carotene) providing (typical analysis): beta carotene 5,626mg, gamma carotene 5.6 mcg, trans beta carotene 5.4 mcg, beta zea carotene 1.1 mcg
* Green Food/Spirulina Blend: Spirulina (microalgae); Alfalfa (leaf, stem); Barley Grass (grass); Dandelion (leaf); Wheat Grass (grass); Melissa (leaf); Lemon Grass (grass); Nettle (leaf); Blessed Thistle (stem, leaf, flower); Chlorella (broken-cell microalgae); Plantain (leaf); Blue Green Algae (microalgae); Cilantro (leaf)
* Amino Acids: (from Spirulina, Zinc AAC, Chlorella, Blue Green Algae, Boron AAC) (Glutamine, Asparagine, Leucine, Alanine, Arginine, Lysine, Threonine, Valine, Glycine, Isoleucine, Serine, Proline, Phenylalanine, Tyrosine, Histidine, Methionine, Tryptopha, Cysteine)
* Garden Veggies? Blend: Parsley Juice Powder; Kale Juice Powder,;Spinach Juice Powder; Brussels Sprout Juice Powder; Asparagus Juice Powder; Broccoli Juice Powder; Cauliflower Juice Powder; Beet Juice Powder; Carrot Juice Powder; Cabbage Juice Powder; Garlic Juice Powder
* Orchard Fruits? Blend: Plum Juice Powder; Cranberry Juice Powder; Blueberry Juice Powder; Strawberry Juice Powder; Blackberry Juice Powder; Bilberry Juice Powder; Cherry Juice Powder; Apricot Juice Powder; Papaya Juice Powder; Orange Juice Powder; Grape Juice Powder; Pineapple Juice Powder
* MycoDefense? Mushroom Blend: Cordyceps Mushroom; Reishi Mushroom; Shiitake Mushroom; Hiratake Mushroom; Maitake Mushroom; Yamabushitake Mushroom; Kawaratake Mushroom; Chaga Mushroom; Zhu Ling Mushroom; Agarikon Mushroom; Mesima Mushroom
* Digestive Enzyme Blend: Concentrated Enzyme formula: (Protease I, Protease II, Peptizyme SP, Amylase, Lactase, Invertase, Lipase, Cellulase, Alpha Galactosidase); Betaine HCl, Bromelain (from pineapple); Papain (from papaya)
* Omega Fatty Acid Seed Blend: Flax Seed Powder (dry, cold pressed); Sunflower Seed Powder (dry, cold pressed) (providing Alpha-Linolenic Acid, Oleic Acid, Linoleic Acid, Palmitic Acid, Stearic Acid, Behenic Acid, Gadoleic Acid, Palmitoleic Acid, Eicosanoic Acid, Ligonceric Acid)
* Citrus Bioflavonoid Complex: (from lemon, orange, grapefruit, lime and tangerine) providing: Eriocitrin 600 mcg; Naringin, Narirutin, other Flavanones 1.8 mg; Flavonols 600 mcg; Flavones and related phenolic compounds 600mcg
Facts:
Supplement Facts
Serving Size: 3 Tablets
Servings Per Container: 30
Amount per Serving
Calories Total 5
% Daily Value+
Sodium 15 mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 1 g <1%
% Daily Value
Vitamin A see product details 15,000 IU 300%
Vitamin C ascorbic acid 1 g 1667%
Vitamin D as ergocalciferol 400 IU 100%
Vitamin E as d-alpha tocopheryl succinate 200 IU 667%
Vitamin K as phytonadione 80 mcg 100%
Thiamin (B1) as thiamin monoitrate 25 mg 1667%
Riboflavin (B2) Vitamin B2 25 mg 1471%
Niacin (B3) as niacinamide 125 mg 625%
Vitamin B6 as pyridoxine HCI/pyrixodal 5-phosphate 50 mg 2500%
Folate,Folic Acid,Folacin 400 mcg 100%
Vitamin B12 as cyanocobalamin 200 mcg 3333%
Biotin as biotin triturate 300 mcg 100%
Pantothenic acid as d-calcium pantothenate 125 mg 1250%
Calcium as citrate/carbonate 250 mg 25%
Iron as amino acid chelate 18 mg 100%
Iodine from pacific kelp powder 150 mcg 100%
Magnesium as citrate/oxide 125 mg 31%
Zinc as amino acid chelate 15 mg 100%
Selenium as selenium monomethionine 70 mcg 100%
Copper as amino acid chelate 2 mg 100%
Manganese as amino acid chelate 4 mg 200%
Chromium as polynicotinate 120 mcg 100%
Molybdenum as molybdenum triturate 75 mcg 100%
Potassium as amino acid chelate 50 mg 1%
Green Food/Spirulina Blend see product details 500 mg
Amino Acids see product details 225 mg*
Garden Veggies Blend see product details 100 mg*
Orchard Fruits Blend see product details 100 mg*
MycoDefense Mushroom Blend see product details 100 mg*
Digestive Enzyme Blend see product details 100 mg*
Omega Fatty Acid Blend see product details 100 mg*
Citrus Bioflavanoid Complex see product details 60 mg*
Siberian Eleuthero root 50 mg*
Inositol 50 mg*
Choline as choline bitartrate 30 mg*
PABA para aminobenzoic acid 25 mg*
Rutin 25 mg*
RNA from spirulina, chlorella 14 mg*
DNA from spirulina, chlorella 4 mg*
Chlorophyll from spirulina 4 mg*
Hesperidine from citrus bioflavonoid complex 2 mg*
Boron as amino acid chelate 1 mg*
Lutein from marigold 200 mcg*
Directions:
Recommended Dose: Take three (3) tablets daily.
Ingredients:
Vegetable Modified Cellulose, Vegetable Modified Cellulose Gum, Vegetable Oil (Palm Olein, Soy, Coconut and High Oleic Sunflower Oils), Vegetable Magnesium Stearate, Vegetarian Glycerin
Warnings:
Accidental overdose of iron-containing products is a leading cuase of fatal poisoning in children under 6. Keep this product out of reach of children. In case of accidental overdose, call a doctor or poison control center immediately.
[quote]childs play wrote:
i was just wondering how to determine whats a good company and where to buy multivitamins, i see they are sold everywhere but how do you figure out whats beneficial and whats not.
I go to gnc, i see their brand and i compare it to walgreens and its the same thing, what should i be looking for, are there any warning signs. also what vitamins and minerals are do you view as superior to others???[/quote]
The Life Extension Foundation’s LE Mix is probably the best if you can afford it.
Source Naturals has a pretty good one too called Life Force.
Whatever you take make sure it contains NO Iron. Iron increases the level of oxidation in the body and unless your a vegan, pregnant, or bleed a lot during your monthly periods (hahaha) the chance of you being deficient in Iron is slim and none.
Good post. Did you not notice the sarcasm dripping of my post? I respect Dr. B. and actually use a lot of his ideas when it comes to the nutritional plans of my clients. But my point is that when you ask others for advice, you may want to stick to people who look like you want to look like or know their shit like the good doctor.
A
[quote]BarneyFife wrote:
Amsterdam Animal wrote:
Oh yeah, bc his physique is the one you are after? Good luck with that. No offense Dr. B.
BarneyFife wrote:
I may have the answer.
What multi does John Berardi take?
No. Because Doc. B is considered one of the best sources of nutritional info. He is an expert at that kind of thing. Mike Boyle looks like a little pencil dicked, pencil necked prick, but if I wanted information about injury prevention, he’s a very smart guy.
I don’t really strive to have TC’s physique, but if I ever needed a role model for an Alpha Male, I read Atomic Dog articles. I don’t aspire to look like Dave Tate, but if I want to know how to be strong, then I read what he has to say.
No offense to you AA. You are as big as a house. I respect your opinions. However, I don’t always judge what’s in peoples minds by what their body looks like. I really don’t want to look like stephen hawking, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t one of the smartest men alive.[/quote]
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FOODFORM? AND ORDINARY VITAMINS/MINERAL SUPPLEMENTS
Ordinary Vitamin/Mineral Supplements Are Chemicals And Rocks.
No matter which brand of vitamin supplement you choose, even the so-called “natural” ones, no matter how much you pay for them, they’re formulated with isolated chemical vitamins and minerals called “USP”. These are produced by pharmaceutical companies and sold in bulk drums to vitamin companies where they are blended into formulas and made into tablets, capsules, powders, liquids, food bars, etc. Then they’re sold as the thousands of brand names in the health food stores, supermarkets, drug stores and other distribution channels.
Some companies mix a little food such as freeze-dried fruits and vegetables, algae, yeast, etc. with the USP vitamins in a blender, and then sell it as “food-based” or “in a food matrix.” But mixing chemicals and rocks with some powdered food does not change them at all. This misleads people into believing the vitamins and minerals are from the food rather than USP chemicals and rocks. But the cells of your body aren’t fooled. Our cells want real nourishment, as it is in food.
Some supplements are made entirely of powdered foods such as algae, bee pollen, nutritional yeast, herbs or freeze-dried fruits and vegetables. These are food, and their nutrients will be absorbed. But read the labels! The vitamin and mineral levels are far too low to give our cells what we need everyday. Powdered foods are simply not concentrated enough to function as an effective supplement.
FOODFORM? Vitamins And Minerals Are Like Those In Whole Food.
FOODFORM? vitamins and minerals are not a mixture of vitamins and food. They are concentrated whole-foods. FOODFORM? is the result of a proprietary process which converts USP vitamins and minerals to a complex, more natural form containing native proteins, complex carbohydrates, lipids, bioflavonoids and other food factors.
FOODFORM? Minerals are produced by feeding minerals to living baker’s yeast and yogurt cultures. FOODFORM? Vitamins are produced by reacting USP vitamins with biologically-active plant concentrates. The nutrients are then spray dried like powdered milk, and compressed into tablets using a special, slow-speed method. Every batch is assayed for nutrient potency and microbiological purity.
University Studies Show FOODFORM? Vitamins And Minerals
Are Better Than USP.
Over 60 studies have compared FOODFORM? to USP vitamins and minerals in absorption, retention and utilization, toxicity and physiological properties such as antioxidant strength. Studies were performed by independent researchers at New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Scranton and other institutions. Many of these studies have been published in prestigious scientific and medical journals including American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and Diabetes.
[quote]Mr. Chen wrote:
…
No matter which brand of vitamin supplement you choose, even the so-called “natural” ones, no matter how much you pay for them, they’re formulated with isolated chemical vitamins and minerals called “USP”. These are produced by pharmaceutical companies and sold in bulk drums to vitamin companies where they are blended into formulas and made into tablets, capsules, powders, liquids, food bars, etc. Then they’re sold as the thousands of brand names in the health food stores, supermarkets, drug stores and other distribution channels.
…[/quote]
Key point here.
They are all made of the same stuff. Some use binders that are tougher to dissolve and slow the absorbtion rate.
Someone made a good point about iron. Try to avoid multis with iron. Most of us don’t need it.
[quote]chrismcl wrote:
I took Animal Pak for a while and didn’t notice shit. [/quote]
I’ll second that. I do, however, often get comments that they smell like strong piss.
Once I’ve used these up, I think I’m going to switch back to GNC’s Mega Men… I think I actually felt a difference when I was taking those.
Holy shit!! You took a multi and did not blow up, you got robbed my man.
[quote]Norwell Bob wrote:
chrismcl wrote:
I took Animal Pak for a while and didn’t notice shit.
I’ll second that. I do, however, often get comments that they smell like strong piss.
Once I’ve used these up, I think I’m going to switch back to GNC’s Mega Men… I think I actually felt a difference when I was taking those.[/quote]
Here’s Cy Wilson’s opinion on a good multivitamin:
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=863940&pageNo=4
"I don’t know about the most effective, but I use a very cheap, Men’s Daily Multivitamin (Men’s Health Formula) from Target. It doesn’t contain Iron and the only non-vitamin, non-mineral compound in it is lycopene…
…Oh and I should also mention that I’m skeptical of many of the multivitamins that one couldn’t likely crush with diamond, claiming to fully disintegrate in a timely manner.
Which is another reason why I use that particular brand as I have confirmed with my own testing that it has excellent disintegration."
(from this thread:
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=863940&pageNo=4 )
[quote]BarneyFife wrote:
I may have the answer.
What multi does John Berardi take?[/quote]
I’m not sure that he takes one. I remember him saying that if you’re eating 10-12 servings of fruits and veggies a day, along with other nutritious whole foods, you don’t have to take one. I wonder if he takes his own advice. =)
I take the crappy one from Costco. I’d like to eat a balanced diet, but I can’t afford to while bulking…greens especially just aren’t calorically dense enough.
Many multivits are crap, long lists of low amounts of things that are insufficient.
Folks buy these and think that they are covered.
A tablet cannot contain enough EFAs to be effective.
You need calcium and magnesium that are greater in volume that a single multivit cap.
LEF.org’s Life Extenstion Mix is a great product. You need to take 9 tablets per day, many will take 6. Also available as a powder for shakes etc. Available with extra niacin, with or without copper.
And LEF mix alone is not going to be a comprehensive strategy.
Costs? Yes, a lot of money. But some are betting on spending now and living better later, instead of spending a huge amount on medicines and surgeries later with a crappy quality of life. LEF has very good health and nutritional info, a very good place to study. I think that the key words really need to be cancer, heart failure, insulin resistance, diabetes and kidney failure after the radio-opaic dye used for the angiogram wipes out the kidney with free-radical shock.
And vitamin T is also critical to a long and health life!
Dude, come on, give me a little more credit than that. Obviously a multi isn’t going to swole-ify me
However, other multis I’ve tried, I could ‘feel’ a difference… less sluggish, etc. Maybe it was only a placebo effect, maybe it wasn’t, but after choking down 11 pills (half of which are roughly the size of a bottlecap) I’m only getting about half my RDA of a lot of vitamins. Yeah, there’s lots of other gee-whiz-bang neato things in there, not denying that… but maybe my money is better spent elsewhere.
Sorry if I’m still relatively new to this.
Bob
[quote]Amsterdam Animal wrote:
Holy shit!! You took a multi and did not blow up, you got robbed my man.
[/quote]
I’ve been using these. I usually get about one or one and a half a day. I open em and chase the powder with something and pour it into my daily glop. Usually only take a fifth of a cap at a time It’s better utilized a little at a time at these megadoses and 22 bucks lasts me like 4 months for the whole family
I use Alive! Whole Food Energizer, as well. Anyone got the heads up on this multi? My uncle recommends it, he owns a health store.
I sure didn’t notice any sarcasm in your post. You didn’t even come close to hinting that you meant your comment to be a facetious remark. Sorry.
[quote]Amsterdam Animal wrote:
Good post. Did you not notice the sarcasm dripping of my post? I respect Dr. B. and actually use a lot of his ideas when it comes to the nutritional plans of my clients. But my point is that when you ask others for advice, you may want to stick to people who look like you want to look like or know their shit like the good doctor.
A
BarneyFife wrote:
Amsterdam Animal wrote:
Oh yeah, bc his physique is the one you are after? Good luck with that. No offense Dr. B.
BarneyFife wrote:
I may have the answer.
What multi does John Berardi take?
No. Because Doc. B is considered one of the best sources of nutritional info. He is an expert at that kind of thing. Mike Boyle looks like a little pencil dicked, pencil necked prick, but if I wanted information about injury prevention, he’s a very smart guy.
I don’t really strive to have TC’s physique, but if I ever needed a role model for an Alpha Male, I read Atomic Dog articles. I don’t aspire to look like Dave Tate, but if I want to know how to be strong, then I read what he has to say.
No offense to you AA. You are as big as a house. I respect your opinions. However, I don’t always judge what’s in peoples minds by what their body looks like. I really don’t want to look like stephen hawking, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t one of the smartest men alive.
[/quote]
[quote]Norwell Bob wrote:
but after choking down 11 pills (half of which are roughly the size of a bottlecap) I’m only getting about half my RDA of a lot of vitamins[/quote]
Upon looking at the canister again this morning, I now know this is not correct and retract that statement.