vitamins!

[bna_rapunzel]

I've been taking hair skin and nails (the vitamin) a little while now. I recently bought a daily complete multi vitamin with everything I need in it. What do you guys think, maybe taking both is too much of one thing? I used take vitamin D and beta carotene recommended by my doctor on top of a multi, but just ran out of the vitamin d and beta carotene so I'm down to my hair skin and nails vitamin as well as my multi. :)
Just wondering what my fellow LHCers would do :)
*note- I never took the hair skin and nails vitamin with the multi vitamin. I always wondred if I would be giving myself too much of one vitamin.

[KwaveT]

You should not be taking both or you will overdose on some vitamins. Either take one or the other and if you need supplementary dose of some of vitamins then go that route.

[amberpotamus]

It honestly depends on what's in your hair, skin, and nails vitamin. There are a lot of varieties, and I've seen some in Walmart that contain very little other than cellulose and silica. Vitamin D would normally be something you wouldn't want to get too much of because it's fat soluble rather than water soluble, but if you need extra vitamin D anyway, that might not be a problem. One of the main things in vitamins of that variety that you would want to be careful not to take too much of is iron. Zinc can be detrimental if you get too much, but in all fairness zinc toxicity levels for a typical adult is in the vicinity of over 30 mg per day.

But really if you don't know enough about each and every vitamin and mineral you are taking to know that the amounts are definitely safe for you, you really should check with your doctor before taking them.

If you are interested in finding out more about the vitamins and minerals you are taking, http://ods.od.nih.gov/ is a good website. You should be careful what you believe--about anything really--when you read it on the internet, but websites ending in .gov do tend to have reliable information.

[shikara]

Hmmm....I am pretty sure you can safely consume up to 40mg zinc per day...

I know we often like to make sure we are giving our bodies all the nutrition it needs to grow healthy hair and maintain a healthy scalp. It's relatively easy to get everything from a daily diet, and supplement with a multivitamin, followed with some exercise, adequate rest, and have methods of relieving stress. Perhaps the odd other vitamin depending on your diet, where you live (ie long winters=vitamin d) etc.

As an aside, my hair grows twice as fast if I jog in place for 15 min most days - I can even break it up into two sessions, and I only do low to medium impact. Without 'movement' exercise, it slows down quite a bit.

[bna_rapunzel]

Thanks everyone! I was iffy about taking both, now I've made up my mind. I appreciate all the informative feedback from you all though. We have some wise ones here on the LHC!
I think I'm just going to stick to the multi, because it does have vit d and beta carotene in I, and those are the ones I need. :)
Id rather take a multi and be fully healthy, rather than take the hair skin and nails, and compromise on a vitamin. :)
Thanks again everyone.

[spike316]

as far as the multi goes, I'd recommend cutting it in half and taking one half in the morning with breakfast and one half in the evening before bed otherwise you're not getting the full benefit of the water soluble vitamins throughout the day as they flush out after about 8-12 hours. happy supplementing!

[bna_rapunzel]

as far as the multi goes, I'd recommend cutting it in half and taking one half in the morning with breakfast and one half in the evening before bed otherwise you're not getting the full benefit of the water soluble vitamins throughout the day as they flush out after about 8-12 hours. happy supplementing!

Oooo, thank you. That makes a lot of sense. I appreciate all of this feedback! I'll do that from now on! :D

[Amber_Maiden]

I'd cut it in half as well! :)