Vitamins and Supplements

[drummingfool]

Just out of curiosity, what vitamins and Supplements do you all take? (I almost said y'all, but I had to resist. Its a TX thing :D)

I take daily:

2 Multibetic Vitamins (1 w/ bfast, 1 w/ dinner)
2 Cinnamon Capsules (Sugar metabolism)
2 Cranberry Casules (kidney, liver and urinary tract health)

I also occasionally swap out the multibetics for a plethora of diabetic vitamins that are sold in a pack at wal-mart... its got green tea, iron, vitamin c, but theres like 15 pills in this pack. I find it easier to swallow just one multibetic :) .

[ferzan.lermiogl]

I prefer to take vitamins separately.
Vitamin B complex (B1, B6 250 mg each; and B12)
Omega 3 and Vitamin E,
Folic acid
Ca and Vitamin D
Every month I stop taking them just for 1 week, and start again. I think cinnamon is good particularly against to insulin resistance

[Penny]

I just started taking B6 and B12, because I read that it will help me have more energy. I am not sure vitimins help and try to get them in the foods I eat, but I am willing to try them. If I don't see some difference when the bottle is gone, I will not buy them again. I put cinnamon on anything that tastes good with it....don't know if it helps, but figure it can't hurt.

[parrotletzoo]

I take a multivitamin with iron, vit d, calcium with vit d and magnesium, L-lysine, and salmon oil. all of which we're recommended by my dr for various reasons.

The multivitamin is Flintstones or some other kids chewable vitamin because durn it, I take enough pills and at least one of them should be fun!

[drummingfool]

I think the cinnamon is really going to help with my insulin resistance. I just need to remember to keep on it! :)

[TenderVittleS]

Magnesium (forgot what it does) and Niacin (for circulation), I've stopped taking all vitamins though because my stomach can't handle them anymore.

Update: magnesium increases insulin sensitivity

[DanG]

I take the vitB complex and multi vitamin and vitE and zinc. These are the expensive ones - I say that because they do cost quite a bit more than normally sold at the vitamin counter. But, something I learned years ago when I was cleaning the RV (recreational vehicle) black water tank (toilet flushings), was this - not all vitamins are created equal. Why, come to see there in the black water waste - there were the vitamins we were taking - looked just like they came out of the jar, only, they had traveled thru our digestive tract and come out to the waste - intact. Well, that is the most expensive vitamin, I say. So, we spent the money for stuff that breaks down in the digestive tract. Try soaking your vitamins in some water overnight - see if they can break down there might give a clue about whether they break down in your stomach.

In addition, I drink a concoction each morning of brewers yeast, cinnamon, vinegar, honey (something to make it go down the hatch), cayenne. Some of these I have learned about here at DF. There was a discussion a while ago about how researchers were trying to get capsacin (cayenne) into the islets to stimulate insulin production - in rats. I said, why not eat some to see if it gets there on its own. I have no idea if it does anything in my islets, but I'm game. The brewers yeast is one of the best B-complex source available.

[xMenace]

I think the cinnamon is really going to help with my insulin resistance. I just need to remember to keep on it! :)

I don't, but I wish you luck.

I take Vitamin D, Folic Acid, and Salmon, Halibut, and Cod Liver Oil capsules.

[jillrapp]

I've added my supplements to my signature, just started taking the Chromium and Biotin as I've read so much about them lately and how they help to make you more insulin receptive.

I've tried cinnamon, tastes great but no luck after 2 months
I've tried apple cidar vinegar, tastes yucky and no luck

[drummingfool]

Chromium and Biotin, eh?

I'll need to look into that... the cinnamon doesnt seem to be doing much. Please, keep us updated on how those work out... I'd be ver interested in knowing.

But I'll miss the wonderful smell of that bottle of cinnamon pills in the morning. :)

[viranth]

I take something called Intramax, works well, even drops my BG levels slightly after taking it.

Contains 415 vitamins and minerals, and is supposed to be "the best".

[sable_032592]

i take a multi-vitamin (1 a day weight smart) :

Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Thiamin (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Niacin (B3), Vitamin B6, Folate, Folic Acid, Folacin, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic acid, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Zinc, Selenium, Copper, Manganese, Chromium and EGCG

i also take gingko biloba, st. john's wort, a premenopause supplement (phytoestrogen of some sort)...

i used to take hoodia but stopped because i couldn't handle the stomach problems it caused, might have been a contraindication with another pill...

[TommyC1]

I think I read somewhere that beer was origialy brewed as a dietary supplement. Lots of B vitamins.
Yeah that works for me. I take 12 to 26 oz. daily.
Mmmmm ;-)

~Tommy

[drummingfool]

I guess I should metion whats in the Multibetics! :)

Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, B1, B2, B3, B12, Folic Acid, Biotin, Pantothenic Acid, Magnesium, Zinc, Selenium, Copper, Manganese, Chromium, Potassium, Vanadium, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Lycopene, Lutein.

(phew!)

[sable_032592]

i used to have a beer every once in a while, maybe once every 2 months or so, and i found that my blood sugar went down with it, don't know if it's the yeast or whatever else is in there... it's just weird to think that most other alcohols will raise your bs and beer will bring it down...

I think I read somewhere that beer was origialy brewed as a dietary supplement. Lots of B vitamins.
Yeah that works for me. I take 12 to 26 oz. daily.
Mmmmm ;-)

~Tommy

[DeusXM]

Alcohol inhibits your ability to uptake vitamins. Beer does have a lot of vitamin B (that's why it can also be known as 'liquid bread') but the alcohol stops you from using it. The drop in BG is probably more down to the alcohol inhibiting your liver's basal glucose release. Personally I find that beer actually raises my BG significantly because of the carbs, while spirits make my BG drop after a few hours.

[drummingfool]

I just took all my pills and nearly gagged on the cranberry pills lol

Thatd be great... make it through the hardships of diabetes just to be taken out by cranberry! :)

[drummingfool]

Well, I've updates my pills and such. Takes a full bottle of water to choke them down... but its helping with everything.

1 fish oil 3 times a day
1 antibiotic (for a swollen gland, that pill is HUGE) 4 times a day
2 digestive enzymes 3 times a day
1 diabetic mutivitamin pack once a day
2 cinnamon pills once a day
1 concentrated cranberry pill once a day

Working wonders, all of it!