Are Centrum Silver multivitamins horrible for you?

Since starting on the raw vegan diet, I've been taking one centrum silver multivitamin a day. Though it's designed for people over 50 and I'm 16, is it still alright if I take it?

I have a difficult time gaining access to a lot of fruits and vegetables because of my family's diet and my average-teenager, minimum wage job.

If this isn't a good multivitamin to take, do you have any suggestions for a different one that I could take, possibly a bit more natural but still producing close to the same quantities of nutrients?

Comments

  • powerliferpowerlifer Raw Newbie

    They arent bad for you although id start buying the normal kind rather than the over 50s.

    Most multivitamins are just sythethic vitamins anyway and really arent a crutch to fix an ailing diet. Try and get more nutrients from food sources.

     

  • missemymissemy Raw Newbie

    While you should applaud for your efforts to add more nutrition to your body....throw them away. They have food coloring in them, and the least, little own are synthetic. They are just adding toxins to your body. God speed in your efforts to get healthier !

  • There are certain nutrients that are not so accessible in a raw vegan diet though. I need some kind of supplement or I will be malnourished. Do you have any suggestions for natural multivitamins?

  • rawcanadianrawcanadian Raw Newbie

    I always recommend vitamin D and B12 and to do a yearly check to make sure your levels are adequate.

    D you can get from the sun so if you spend a lot of time outdoors it should most likely be ok.

    B12 is stored in your body, it is a bacteria, and it is found in meat based foods.

    Very little to none is in the produce you buy at the grocery store, so this one should be supplemented.

    Everything else you can get from a balanced raw foods diet.

    I would say eat lots of fruits so you feel full, eat lots of green leafy vegetables, and a handful of nuts and seeds everyday.

    Then you shouldn't have any problems.

    And don't forget that part of the raw diet should include exercise.

  • powerliferpowerlifer Raw Newbie

    Minus iodine everyone seems to forget about iodine its essential and unless you eat raw seaweeds theres no good concentrated source.

    Research as much as you can kim before thinking about this way of life.

     

  • Hey Powerlifer :) I hope you are doing well! So, I'm curious about the iodine - what happens or what symptoms does one experience when they aren't getting enough iodine?

    Also, I wanted to ask you - lately I've noticed that my food is not breaking down all the way - used to be just nuts and buckwheat but now even some greens. I've been doing the digestive bitters with every meal. I used to take a digestive enzyme capsule but I cut way back to only one with dinner in hopes that the bitters would do the job. those enzyme capsules are so darn expensive. Anyway, not sure what is going on as my elimination is really good (sorry if thats TMI)...also I have been having some candida-like symptoms lately - bloating, spaciness..... Oh the joy!

    Any thoughts?

  • powerliferpowerlifer Raw Newbie

    Hey beaglelove, im doing fine thanks hope your doing well also:).

    Low iodine symptoms can be goiter, hypothyroidism which usually has the symptoms of fatigue, dry skin, hair loss, dry hair also, depression, puffy face, mental apathy and much more. Vegetarians/vegans and such are recommended to supplement or consume seaweed as iodized salt isnt a healthy source.

    Im sorry to hear you digestion is going through a patchy time, the bloating and the not breaking down food sounds like low stomach acid which the bitters should be taking care of. You can also add zinc citrate at 50mg dosage if you feel its not going away. Keeping your stomach acid levels raised and replacing the good flora is the key to beating candida.

    Although as you detox via bitters somedays i went through some harsh detox symptoms so remember to keep your water intake higher than normal. Seaweeds are a good prebiotic fibre source also.

     

  • Thanks Powerlifer. I will keep at it. Sometimes I can't tell if they are detox symptoms or something else. I can't imagine things could be getting worse with all the supps I take and the variety foods I eat but I never know. I have a little addiction to coconut rolled dates going on right now and I worry what it does to my gut. I don't react to them but they do have a lot of sugar!

    Anyway, you reminded of one more question - I wanted to ask what kind of detox symptoms you had with the bitters?

    I'm not crazy about the seaweeds but I will try to get more of them in my diet - they seem to help with so much! Sounds like I might need the iodine - I have had some of the symptoms you mention above - I just figured they were from other problems (i.e. adrenals). but the puffy face is the one that I've noticed lately....

    Anyway, as always, I am so appreciative of your input! Thank you so much :)

  • powerliferpowerlifer Raw Newbie

    The puffy face can be from the adrenals and/or thyroid, when the adrenals are low they can stress induce hypothyroidism. If you have low basal bodytemprature then its a good sign that your thyroid is low.

    Im not very fond of seaweeds myself but as you say there needed, i hide mines in miso soup. I use dulse usually as it doesnt take long to chew and basically melts in the mouth. The flavour is mild also compared to wakame etc.

    For the bitters my liver was really done over, so anxiety, feeling like i had the cold, fatigue to the point id sometimes sleep or need to lie down alot. Thats the basic ones i can remember. I forgot to say if your stools are beige/tan colour rather than normal then theres a problem with bile flow but again the bitters should be taking care of this. Nuts can be hard to digest in some anyway.

     

  • rawcanadianrawcanadian Raw Newbie

    Does this self-test work??

    http://altmedangel.com/iodine.htm

  • powerliferpowerlifer Raw Newbie

    I dont believe its very accurate myself but there are some who believe its an "ok" test. I remember at the height of my illness i painted a strip of lugols iodine on my arm and it had dissapeared in around 10 minutes lol.

    Blood test would be better.

     

  • Hey Powerlifer :o) I hope all is well with you. So I read that iodine article (linked above) and it lists foods that hinder iodine utilization - one that caught my eye is cabbage. Is this true? I eat cabbage quite often and I have raw sauerkraut everyday. Should I remove these from my diet for a while? I hate to leave out the raw sauerkraut :( What are your thoughts on that?

  • Wonderful :) Occassionally, I like steamed brussel sprouts :) Thanks Powerlifer!

  • powerliferpowerlifer Raw Newbie

    Hey beaglelove thanks i hope all is well with you also, yeah cabbage and many other of the cruciferous vegetables contain goitrogens.

    Which are substances which interfere with thyroid function. Cooking inactivates the goitrogens but sadly this doesnt apply to raw so if you suffer from hypothyroid/low thyroid you need to be very careful especially as many raw fooders also have very low dietary iodine intake.

    The raw sauerkraut should be fine but if your worried id limit raw consumption of other foods that contain goitrogens, and keep eating seaweeds or supplementing an iodine source which can offset the goitrogens.

     

  • Thanks Powerlifer - good to know. I think cabbage was the only one I was consuming but its mostly the sauerkraut. I've been doing dulse pretty much everyday now, so hopefully that will help :)

  • powerliferpowerlifer Raw Newbie

    It will help, are you eating the cabbage raw i take it minus the sauerkraut if so id say just leave it to the sauerkraut intake and you should be ok.

     

  • Yeah I was doing both. I will just do the kraut for a while...bummer I liked the cabbage :)

  • greenwoodgreenwood Raw Newbie

    beaglelove -watercress has iodine and I find it much tastier than seaweeds- it is gorgeous in a salad.

  • Ooo Greenwood, thank you! I love greens so I'm happy to add the watercress!

    Hi Powerlifer, does steaming the goiterous vegetables make them safe to eat (regarding the iodine issue)?

  • powerliferpowerlifer Raw Newbie

    Hey beaglelove,

    yeah steaming, cooking in anyway inactivates the goitrogens:).

     

Sign In or Register to comment.