Vitamins or no Vitamins

Good Morning All-

My morning started off with a great run. It was hard for me to wake up as usual at 6:45am, but it wasn’t as bad as other days. It was a cool and wet run. Not raining, but just very wet. Such a gloomy day here in MD. I wanted to really push myself to get a good time since I haven’t really been running for time lately. I have my first 8k next Saturday so I want to make sure I start practicing my time. I was very impressed with the results. Here are the stats:

• Distance: 6.38 miles
• Time: :55:01
• Average Pace: 8:37min/mile

Here is a breakdown of each mile:

• Mile 1- 9:18
• Mile 2- 8:36
• Mile 3-8:49
• Mile 4-8:32
• Mile 5-8:32
• Mile 6-8:17
• Last .38 of a mile-7:46

The last one is an average of what that mile would have been if I stayed at that same pace. I felt like I was sprinting that last little bit. I’m happy about my numbers, but I know I need a lot of improvement. Baby steps..right?

I love my new shoes. They are really light as air. Sometimes I felt my feet wanting to run faster then my body…kinda crazy. The only problem is I am still breaking them in so I’m getting blisters on the back of my ankle. I really hope it is the shoes breaking in, and not how the shoes really are. Keeping my fingers crossed.

On another note-I REALLY need to go grocery shopping. I have some food, but its all very boring and not really anything I want to show on my blog. I’ll share what I eat today, but I wanted to talk about something besides food today. Lately I have been wondering about vitamins. I am so lost when it comes to what vitamins to take, what vitamins my body needs or doesn’t need. I had a nutritionist once, and she explained some of this to me, but its seems so complicated. I usually take 1000mg of Vitamin C everyday, and I try to take 1 multivitamin everyday as well.

These are the vitamins I take everyday.

I know it is most important to get all/or most of all your vitamins from your food, but we are not perfect eaters ALL the time. After much curiosity I came across an article in the September 2009 issue of SHAPE magazine all about vitamins.

Finally my questions will be answered. Remember all of this information came right from the magazine itself. Not from my own knowledge.

Here is a summary and bullet points of what the article says:

There was a study conducted by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle that found that multivitamins don’t reduce your risk of cancer or heart disease, and they don’t help you live longer. So are we wasting our money on all these multivitamins?

I don’t think so because like I said before we don’t always eat perfect, and unless you are getting all your vitamins from your food then you should probably take a multivitamin. (That was me talking now)

Here are the ones to be ore aware of.

1. If you are trying to lose weight it is good to take 1,200mg of Calcium per day. The article says to take 500mg at a time because that is all your body can absorb at one time. It also says not to take them with wheat bran or caffeine.

2.You need Vitamin B6 if you are on the pill. It helps convert food into energy and maintain nerve function. You only need 2mg, but be careful because if you get more then 100mg or more it can lead to nerve damage.

3. If you’re a vegetarian make sure you are getting Vitamin B12 and Iron. It is easy to get these from foods like lentils, whole grain cereals, and veggie burgers. You only need 2.4 mcg of Vitamin B12, and 33mcg of Iron. The article says to avoid taking these vitamins with coffee or tea because they can block the absorption of iron.

4. If you wear a lot of sunblock you need Vitamin D. Unprotected sun exposure is the top source of Vitamin D, and according to Adit Ginde, M.D. “sunscreens block up to 99% of the skins production of vitamin D”. The article says you need 1,000 international units of vitamin D3, and most multivitamins provide 200IU.

5. This one is important to me! If you are training for a race you need to make sure you are getting enough calcium and Vitamin D. The article says to make sure you are taking at least 2,000mg of Calcium and 800 IU of vitamin D before the race. The calcium will help repair the bones that may get harmed in training

6. If you’re pregnant you need Omega -3 Fatty Acids. This will help the baby’s neurons and vision receptors develop. The Daily dose recommendation is 300mg of DHA

The article says to make sure to talk to your doctor, and make sure the vitamins you are taking or not interfering with any medicine you are taking. Also watch the doses on your vitamins because sometimes it can be harmful to take too much of some vitamins. I couldn’t seem to find this article online for you, but pick up a copy of the magazine on your news stands now!

So there you have it. That did answer some of my questions. I guess I can just keep eating well rounded balanced meals, and taking my multivitamin. I just need to make sure that I am getting enough calcium as well.

My Free Kashi cereal finally came in the mail yesterday!

SO EXCITING. I love free stuff! Especially when it is healthy food! I chose the Wild Blueberry Clusters. I had my cereal with some Honey Flavored Chobani yogurt, and a BIG cup of awesome coffee.

What a great breakfast! I actually only used half the bag of cereal because I noticed it was a little high in calories.

I saved the other half for later this afternoon when I want a little snack. Off to do some worky work!

What vitamins do you take everyday?

Tagged as: Chobani, Kashi, Shape, Vitamins