Health nuts- what vitamins/supplements do you take?

I was diagnosed with low bone density after a 9 week hospital stay completely bed ridden. I drank horsetail grass tea and I eat brazil nuts, at least 1 a day because both are high in silica, which is what the body needs to absorb and utilize calcium in the body. Without silica, the body stores excess calcium in the joints.

Horsetail Benefits, Horsetail Grass and Horsetail Grass Tea - Wizard of Vitamins

I would also consider running or some sort of impact excercise because pressure on the bones causes them to become stronger and lack of pressure causes them to become weak.

As a whole vitamin supplement I drink wheatgrass juice, which I grow myself but you can buy at a juice bar, becasue it has the highest value of usable vitamins. Supplements typically have high rock minerals, waste products, coal tar, etc which are not usable by the body and in some cases are actually toxic to the body. I stay away from commercial supplements except vitamin C and the B vitamins as I tend to take these in higher doses.

PoorPoohBaby is like the Yoda of natural supplements...

And congrats on your recovery. Not many people realize how hard it is to bounce back from that unless they have experienced it or known someone that has.


Might I also reccamend powdered Greens ( if your not getting enough vegitables) its a very quick and easy way to increase your fiber intake and add major nutrients to your body

And if you want to help out your joints and tendons ( as PoorPoohBaby already covered calcium) glucosamine sulphate is a fantastic way to do it. It is a naturaly occuring mineral that rebuilds joints/tendons and actually makes them bigger, stronger, and more elastic. This should help you big time as you begin to hit the gym.

Be sure to get just plain glucosamine. They tend to mix it with shark cartilage or chondroiton and they have both been shown to have very sketchy results if any.

If you need help with an excersise regimen, drop me a pm. I can also help with supplements regarding recovery and energy levels if that is a problem for you.

LOL OOO OOO OOO! I forgot about the powdered green(super) foods. Thanks! Tag, your turn!

I am so happy to hear that you have recovered from your bout with anorexia. I know alot about osteopenia and osteoperosis.. I am a pharmacautical representative and this is my area of expertise. It is extremly important for you to get and adequate calcium supply a day either thru supplementation and/or food. Keep in mind your body can only absorb 500 at one time. I would be happy to get you a sheet we have made out on how much calcium comes from what food. It is also very important for you to get enough vitamin D as well.. Even those of us living in the sunshine state are viatamin defecient. Dr. Nelson Watts is an expert and has written many papers on the subject. He even takes 1200 IU of Vitamin D.
On the exercise front it is very imortant to begin weight bearing actictity right away.. The osteoclasts chew bone while the blast build and when doing weight activity you can off balance the cycle and improve bone quality. I would reccomend starting a weight lifiting routine at a local gym.. Also for cardio doing any activity that is plyometric like running, jumping rope, jumping split lunges, etc. The jarring jumping helps to also put weight bearing pressure on the bones again improving bone quality.

Much Later on in life it may be necessary for you and your doctors to find a pharmaceutical that can help you further, But for now increased calcium and vitamin d and consistent wight bearing activity should help improve your currenty bone strength.

If you have any questions at all feel free to pm me.

Jess- thank you for posting this!!! I too was diagnosed with osteopenia after 7 years being anorexic and then 3.5 months of bedrest before having my son. In fact, I am having a follow up DEXA scan next month!!! I am always very aware that I have thin bones, if that makes sense... but I too was a pharmaceutical representative for 6 years before I quit to stay home, and I sold a drug for osteoporosis. It is VERY important to do weight bearing exercise, such as squats or arm weights, etc. Running is also good, really any exercise increases bone strength, so stay active. Taking calcum and vitamin D as well as magnesium are also important for maintaining bone health, so add those to your multivitamin. Women's One a Day is a great choice because it offers more calcium per pill than any other multi out there!

I'm so glad to know someone else "like me"!!! YAY!!! If you wanna chat, feel free to pm me, like I said, not only do I have experience with this personally, but I also know a lot about bone health from the years I spent selling drugs.... legally!

I take GNC Mega Men Sport, these come in Women version too ALONG with Glucosamine like Cutup suggested

i take vitamin E and C because im a smoker...

I take Gnc womens well heres the link
GNC - GNC Women's Ultra Mega® Multivitamin
They are a little big though...but other than that I like them a lot!

I get my vitamins from Whole Foods called Food Based One, it is a food based vitamin and my friend had introduced me to it, I like it a lot. It's a lot cheaper than the Rainbow Light food based vitamins I was taking.

They're huge! Mine ended up in the trash because I could not swallow them. they'd get stuck in my oesophagus.

I take the Bayer One a day for women multivitamins now. It has all of the important nutrients that women need and combined with a healthy diet, that's good for me.

wow i like your hair
...its off topic but i just had to say that
i'm looking to get a haircut similar to that that's why

i take cod liver oil, calcium supp, multivitamin all everyday and iron every other day

i didn't feel a difference when i stopped taking them for like 2 weeks, but i'm sure they do at least some good.

I take Fish Oil capsules and GNC Women's Multivitamins.

This is kinda related but my mom is taking fish oil, and her nails look GREAT!! also, we give them to my dog and her fur is sooo soft

I like the whole food based multivitamins- I take one by megafoods called womens once daily or something like that. "New chapter" also makes a good one. It's pretty embarressing how many pills I take a day- various antioxidants (coq10, noni, grapeseed extract, green tea, evening primrose oil) neem, aloe vera (keeps things moving- intestinely speeking), borage/flax seed oil (fish oil grosses me out!), an amino acid supplement, enzyme supplement for my stomach probs, alpha lipoic acid, apple cider vineger, an herbal hair/skin/nail supplement, milk thistle (for the liver when I go out drinking), feverfew, magnesium, vit b6 (last three are for headaches) and more.... Plus a cupple for weight managment like hoodia, l-carnitine, conjugated linoleic acid, calcium pyruvate, chromium picolite.) I know some of them help- like the feverfew for my headaches, but others, like the antioxidants- I'm hoping will help me look better when i'm older by preventing free radical damage.

holy moly extasy, I am making a shopping list!

I take a women's multivitamin, CLA, calcium, cranberry supplement, garlic tablets, cayenne, prenatal vitamin (I'm not pregnant...but it's fabulous for my nails), and vitamin b-something

For me personally, I've been taking fish oil and a multi vitamin

I also take the same multivitamin and like them, even though I never have problems swallowing. I also take calcium pills.

Multivitamin, Calcium/Mag, Omega 3, biotin, B12(with folic acid)sublingual, vit C and Probiotics, Cranberry capsules, Greens

Does anyone here take digestive enzyme? I want to start but don't really know what it's all about.

Do you take them before eating a meal?

Many of them are taken just before eating a meal.

Plain natural yogurt is a great source of dietary digestive enzymes, and papya is fantastic as well.