Vitamins, minerals and other supplements

[AmZ]

Hi everyone,

So I wanted to ask about the role that vitamins and minerals play in 'recovering' from a mental health illness. In the stages of getting better, I have been reading about the important role that vitamins and minerals play in which most of the time, is ignored.

I've come across stories of people that just used natural remedies, exercise etc and didn't even take psychiatric medications. They say, that from this, they recovered from their mental illness.

I've just started taking multi-vitamins and Omega 3 - But the hospital here are pretty anti-anything that goes against what they are doing. With all due respect to them, I think that they could help people make changes with their diet and exercise routines, along with additions such as vitamin and mineral intake.

Me and my roommate laugh and say that we are starting an underground group, anti the hospital. Now, the people are starting to come through the cracks and appear, opening their wardrobes showing us their stash of vitamins and supplements. It's quite funny.

 

[Choice83]

The decision to take vitamins should be made after discussion with a HCP and based on Your particular health needs. I'm telling this because if You have a well-balanced diet from all the food groups, then Your organism is receiving all the vitamins it needs.

I always prefer food when it comes to vitamins, for example vitamin B1 deficiency can lead to depression or anxiety. So what will an average patient do? He/she would go to the pharmacy and buy a B1 vitamin. What if I told You that thiamine can be found in pork and organ meats, also valuable sources of this B vitamine can be found in whole-grain or enriched cereals and rice, etc. Would You still prefer to chew tablets or softgels? You should always consider what are the other options to satisfied Your need for vitamins and minerals.

I, personaly suggest supplements only to people, with diagnosed nutrition deficiencies.

However, this is only my two cents and my personal beliefe.

 

[Always Changing]

I've come across stories of people that just used natural remedies, exercise etc and didn't even take psychiatric medications. They say, that from this, they recovered from their mental illness.

I have read a lot of stories\ testimonials like this too. However while it would be nice to think that one can recover from mental illness just by a change in diet etc.. for the most part I think its a lot of bull... those stories are designed to make one think like this.. Mental illness is not something to play around with.. sure vitamins\exercise do help as Choice has said.. I know this too.. but not on their own.. there are a lot of mental illness out there that require medications and every effort should be made to help people to understand this.
So yeah if one believes that taking vitamins helps in making one feel better.. go for it.. but not to the exclusion of those medications that are actually required.

 

[AmZ]

Great replies. Thank you both.

I see that there are many different beliefs about this topic - I personally find it hard to decipher between one belief to the next as to what I should personally do with myself. I had blood work done recently and no deficiencies showed up. However, it's difficult to believe in what you are reading as I read recently that psychiatric medications can affect the levels of some vitamins in your system so blood work should be done. Like you had mentioned choice, especially the B vitamins which play a role in potential mental health issues itself.

 

[Daniel E.]

In the US hospitals, including psychiatric hospitals, they have dietitians to ensure one is getting nutritious meals. So I don't think a mulitivamin or other vitamins or minerals would be necessary, but one may still benefit from omega-3 pills or additional food sources of omega-3s.

In general, the American Dietietic Association does not see a need for multivitamins:

Nutrient Supplementation - ADA Position Paper

 

[Choice83]

Like you had mentioned choice, especially the B vitamins which play a role in potential mental health issues itself.

It is true, but try to get a good balance of vitamins, minerals through food. If Your blood work didn't showed any deficiencies, I would suggest to talk with a nutritionist or with a doctor about the vitamins You are taking.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

You might also want to take note of two recent studies questioning the common assumption that taking vitamin supplements for individuals who are not specifically deficient in those vitamins may not only be a wast of money but detrimental to health.

In the first study, it was reported that women taking regular multivitamins had a significantly higher mortality rate overall than women who did not take such supplements. While there are questions about the interpretation of the results, including how well matched the two groups were on other factors, this certainly raises the question of whether taking unneeded vitamin supplements may lead to additional stress on various body organs and lead to decreased health and survival.

The second study reported that men who took regular supplements of Vitamin E specifically had higher rates of prostate cancer.

Most doctors would not recommend vitamin supplements in the absence of evidence of a specific vitamin deficiency.

 

[AmZ]

Thank you for the replies. Very interesting indeed.

Maybe someone is trying to tell me something - I just noticed that my multivitamins are out of date! So I'm just on the Omega 3 now.

---------- Post added at 07:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:57 PM ----------

In the US hospitals, including psychiatric hospitals, they have dietitians to ensure one is getting nutritious meals.

Sounds great. We could do with that here. The food is so oily and full of mainly carbohydrates here it's crazy. Granted, it was due to my lack of movement but I do partly put the blame on the food here as to why I put on 17 kilos in 7 months here at the hospital. I always only had one serving, avoided eating the bread, always asked for a small serving and tried to avoid the carbohydrates as much as possible, but it didn't work.

---------- Post added at 07:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:47 PM ----------

Most doctors would not recommend vitamin supplements in the absence of evidence of a specific vitamin deficiency.

Interesting facts, thank you.
If that is the case, that most doctors would not recommend vitamin supplements, then I'll go with that.

---------- Post added at 07:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:49 PM ----------

Here's another one I am wondering about. Vitamin C. My dad and his wife take a whopping 1000mg each per day as a supplement. If you can call it that.
Then there is my sister who is obsessed with Vitamin C when she starts to get sick. She whipps out the tablets and takes 500mg once or twice a day and gets oranges and/or fresh orange juice. Basically, goes Vitamin C crazy and swears that her recovery time is less or that she gets less sick than if she would not take the Vitamin C.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Here's another one I am wondering about. Vitamin C. My dad and his wife take a whopping 1000mg each per day as a supplement. If you can call it that.

Then there is my sister who is obsessed with Vitamin C when she starts to get sick. She whipps out the tablets and takes 500mg once or twice a day and gets oranges and/or fresh orange juice. Basically, goes Vitamin C crazy and swears that her recovery time is less or that she gets less sick than if she would not take the Vitamin C.

Another bad idea.

Vitamin C is not stored in the body and, unless you are severely Vitamin C deficient which is unlikely, you cannot possibly absorb and use that much extra Vitamin C in a day. So what happens to it? It has to be excreted. And that puts extra load on the digestive system, liver, kidneys, bladder, etc. Most of it winds up in the waste water system after taking its toll on your body.

The man who made the recommendation for megadoses of Vitamin C was Linus Pauling, a very intelligent and accomplished physicist but he had no special expertise in diet or nutrition. The "evidence" for promoting this practice was mostly anecdotal and it certainly did nothing to extend Dr. Pauling's life or to prevent colds or other diseases.

Most of the background to the vitamin industry comes from the "if a little is good, more must be better" school of medicine, which has of course been repeatedly discredited.

 

[Retired]

Vitamin C. ....... whopping 1000mg each per day

May also increase the risk of kidney stones.

 

[Daniel E.]

Do you have choices as to what you are served? If you talk to the nurses or other staff, they may be able to change your diet order, like substitute yogurt for bread. And, of course, doctors, including psychiatrists, have a lot of influence in any medical setting.

 

[Choice83]

Sounds great. We could do with that here. The food is so oily and full of mainly carbohydrates here it's crazy. Granted, it was due to my lack of movement but I do partly put the blame on the food here as to why I put on 17 kilos in 7 months here at the hospital. I always only had one serving, avoided eating the bread, always asked for a small serving and tried to avoid the carbohydrates as much as possible, but it didn't work.

You should ask Your physician if he can do something about changing Your meals, while You are in the hospital. Maybe he could recommend a nutritionist or nutrition consultant, who will help to plan a menu for You to optimize Your health.

I'm a bit shocked since every hospital, nursing home, prison should have a nutritionist who will test and prepare meals that are low in fat and cholesterol.

Here's another one I am wondering about. Vitamin C. My dad and his wife take a whopping 1000mg each per day as a supplement. If you can call it that.
Then there is my sister who is obsessed with Vitamin C when she starts to get sick. She whipps out the tablets and takes 500mg once or twice a day and gets oranges and/or fresh orange juice. Basically, goes Vitamin C crazy and swears that her recovery time is less or that she gets less sick than if she would not take the Vitamin C.

I've must agree with David, very bad idea.

Recommended intakes of Vitamin C seems to be about 35 top 50 milligrams a day in a healthy adult. If we are talking about someone with deficiency the dosage can vary from 100 to 300 milligrams daily, but it isn't recommended to take any more. People mostly don't pay attention to the small letters written on the box, but You can overdose Yourself with vitamin C for example and have a terrible night with diarrhea, stomach cramps and vomiting. What David said before, "if a little is good, more must be better" school of medicine is discredited and even if we talk about vitamins which are generally accepted as non dangerous tablets, we should consider how much and at the end do we need them at all.

 

[AmZ]

Do you have choices as to what you are served?

Yes. I just found out today that you can get 'diet food', that is, for lunch, the main meal of the day here. It's the same every day, boiled chicken and vegetables. Sounds punishing but maybe is worthwhile doing.

 

[Choice83]

Yes. I just found out today that you can get 'diet food', that is, for lunch, the main meal of the day here. It's the same every day, boiled chicken and vegetables. Sounds punishing but maybe is worthwhile doing.

Do You have the possibility to eat some fruit every day beside that "diet food"?

 

[AmZ]

Do You have the possibility to eat some fruit every day beside that "diet food"?

Probably every other day they put fruit out but it's unripe most of the time. I try to put some in my room and wait until it's ripe but it often just goes bad.

 

[Choice83]

Well maybe You should try with dried fruits, they will not go bad so soon. Dried blueberries has a huge amount of vitamin C, manganese and vitamin E. You have high amount of all B vitamins in raisins, dried mangoes contains vitamin C and zinc, etc.

 

[AmZ]

Well maybe You should try with dried fruits, they will not go bad so soon. Dried blueberries has a huge amount of vitamin C, manganese and vitamin E. You have high amount of all B vitamins in raisins, dried mangoes contains vitamin C and zinc, etc.

Thanks Choice
I forgot to mention that I have bought some dried fruit whilst I was out of the hospital the other day. I know it's not as good as fresh fruit but I don't have many other options. I got dried cranberries, raisins and apricots. I hope that my choices were good