Your opinions on taking vitamins

Kyougu

So lately I been considering taking vitamins, and specially because during yesterday's workout I felt exhausted. More than I really had in a long time. Also I think my body may be having trouble adjusting to my new schedule. For clarification, this is my schedule Mon-Fri:

5:00 AM Wake up, get ready for work, have fruit and yogurt for breakfast
7:00 AM-4:00 PM Work, with an hour lunch
5:00 PM-6:00 PM Work out (break on Wend)
6:00is-10:00 PM Dinner, relax, go to bed.

So yeah, it doesn't seem like I should be too tired, but I find myself legartic often, and feeling very sleepy at work every so often. Would vitamins help me out here? And if so, which one?

brandotheninjamaster

I would imagine Vitamin B would, usually thats the most prevalent in energy drinks. Before you do that though, do think it could be something else? Like diet, sleep habits, etc?

RUNN1NGMAN

The generic multivitamin from Target or Walmart or the supermarket or whatever. Don't bother spending the big bucks on the brand names like Centrum or the really big bucks on the GNC vitamins that have way more stuff in them than you need.

Don't expect them to be a wonder-drug though. Vitamins aren't going to give you noticeably more energy, despite what the advertisements say. Most likely you're getting what you need from your diet anyway. An extra hour of sleep will be infinitely more helpful than any pill.

Kyougu

brandotheninjamaster wrote: »

I would imagine Vitamin B would, usually thats the most prevalent in energy drinks. Before you do that though, do think it could be something else? Like diet, sleep habits, etc?

I'm honestly not sure. My diet is pretty balanced. I have yogurt or cereal for breakfast with fruit. Then usually a good lunch (consisting of leftovers) and then a good serving of dinner. No junk food (well, maybe once a week a piece of chocolate) but no fast food.

I get around 7 hours of sleep, but maybe I should shoot for 8.

Rook

Kyougu wrote: »

brandotheninjamaster wrote: »

I would imagine Vitamin B would, usually thats the most prevalent in energy drinks. Before you do that though, do think it could be something else? Like diet, sleep habits, etc?

I'm honestly not sure. My diet is pretty balanced. I have yogurt or cereal for breakfast with fruit. Then usually a good lunch (consisting of leftovers) and then a good serving of dinner. No junk food (well, maybe once a week a piece of chocolate) but no fast food.

I get around 7 hours of sleep, but maybe I should shoot for 8.

Eating a lot more for breakfast would probably help, especially if you're working out 4 days a week.

brandotheninjamaster

Kyougu wrote: »

brandotheninjamaster wrote: »

I would imagine Vitamin B would, usually thats the most prevalent in energy drinks. Before you do that though, do think it could be something else? Like diet, sleep habits, etc?

I'm honestly not sure. My diet is pretty balanced. I have yogurt or cereal for breakfast with fruit. Then usually a good lunch (consisting of leftovers) and then a good serving of dinner. No junk food (well, maybe once a week a piece of chocolate) but no fast food.

I get around 7 hours of sleep, but maybe I should shoot for 8.

I hear 7 is the target amount. A multivitamin should do the trick if your not taking one already. I wouldn't take any more then that because whatever you body doesn't use it just pisses out. So you would be, forgive me, pissing away your money.

RUNN1NGMAN

brandotheninjamaster wrote: »

Kyougu wrote: »

brandotheninjamaster wrote: »

I would imagine Vitamin B would, usually thats the most prevalent in energy drinks. Before you do that though, do think it could be something else? Like diet, sleep habits, etc?

I'm honestly not sure. My diet is pretty balanced. I have yogurt or cereal for breakfast with fruit. Then usually a good lunch (consisting of leftovers) and then a good serving of dinner. No junk food (well, maybe once a week a piece of chocolate) but no fast food.

I get around 7 hours of sleep, but maybe I should shoot for 8.

I hear 7 is the target amount. A multivitamin should do the trick if your not taking one already. I wouldn't take any more then that because whatever you body doesn't use it just pisses out. So you would be, forgive me, pissing away your money.

The CDC recommends 7-9. It's definitely not one size fits all, though. Some people need more than others. If OP had not given any indication of how much sleep he was getting, I'm sure everyone would be saying, "You need more sleep." Kyougu may just be one of those people who needs 8 or 9 hours. He also didn't really say what's going on in his life; if there's something causing him stress then he's going to need more sleep.

Jasconius

I have a lot of energy issues too.

Vitamin B can work, but I find that Vitamin B WITH an Iron supplement works wonders.

Thanatos

Kyougu wrote: »

brandotheninjamaster wrote: »

I would imagine Vitamin B would, usually thats the most prevalent in energy drinks. Before you do that though, do think it could be something else? Like diet, sleep habits, etc?

I'm honestly not sure. My diet is pretty balanced. I have yogurt or cereal for breakfast with fruit. Then usually a good lunch (consisting of leftovers) and then a good serving of dinner. No junk food (well, maybe once a week a piece of chocolate) but no fast food.

I get around 7 hours of sleep, but maybe I should shoot for 8.

It sounds like you're not eating enough. How many calories is that?

joshuaz

Assuming you're in good health otherwise, I think either more sleep or more calories in your diet would be a better remedy than a multivitamin. You can try getting a little bit more sleep for a while (remember it takes roughly two weeks to alter your sleeping pattern) and see if it affects you. Some people need more sleep than others, like Runn1ngman said. If you try taking in more calories, don't assume you need to make a dramatic (or significant) change in intake, it may just have to do with your timing. Taking in more calories earlier in the day, like Rook said, could help.

Plus, theres all the recent talk about multivitamins being essentially placebos:

“The public’s belief in the benefits of vitamins and nutrients is not supported by the available scientific data.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/health/17well.html

Regina Fong

A good multivitamin is a completely sensible thing to do. Many serious athletes and bodybuilders insist that you need to take one in the evening and morning.

I would recommend getting a sex-specific vitamin, as men do not need iron unless they suffer from anemia (in which case they would need more iron than comes in a multivitamin anyway).