The difference between cheap & expensive vitamins

aka79

Does anyone know the difference between the expensive vitamins and the cheap ones. I take vitamins on a daily basis, eg, multi-vitamin, evening primrose oil, etc. Whats stopping me from purchasing the 99c one monthly supply in either Boots or Tescos, rather than purchasing the €8.99 one monthly supplies, if they do the same job!

Dublin_Gunner

aka79 wrote: »

Does anyone know the difference between the expensive vitamins and the cheap ones. I take vitamins on a daily basis, eg, multi-vitamin, evening primrose oil, etc. Whats stopping me from purchasing the 99c one monthly supply in either Boots or Tescos, rather than purchasing the €8.99 one monthly supplies, if they do the same job!

Probably the wrong thing to say, and off topic - but why do you need vitamin supplements?

If the pills contain the same thing, I don't see any reason for being ripped off by the ones in fancier packs.

EileenG

Very few people eat an ideal diet. To get the full whack of everything, you need to be making all your meals as close to perfect (home cooked, organic, locally grown) as possible. No processed food (that includes things like cornflakes and white bread or pasta), no junk food, no takeaways.

If you are not eating like that, a little sensible supplement is probably useful. Hell, we do it for our horses (Ireland is naturally low in selenium, so we give them extra), why not for ourselves?

Usually the difference between a cheap and an expensive supplement is the ingredients. Damien Maher wrote in the Health and Living section of the Indo a while ago to read the list of ingredients. If magnesium oxide was one of the top ones, chances are the rest would be cheap and nasty too.

However, sometimes expensive brands with big names have the exact same ingredients as the Boots or Tesco version. You have to read the label and compare.

--Kaiser--

Is there any proof that Vitamin supplements actually affect your health in any way? My sister did Biology in college and showed me a paper that purported that synthetic vitamins (basically derived from petrochemicals) were not absorbed by the body very effectively as the body didn't recognise them as food (bioavailability?)

corkcomp

EileenG wrote: »

Very few people eat an ideal diet. To get the full whack of everything, you need to be making all your meals as close to perfect (home cooked, organic, locally grown) as possible. No processed food (that includes things like cornflakes and white bread or pasta), no junk food, no takeaways.

If you are not eating like that, a little sensible supplement is probably useful. Hell, we do it for our horses (Ireland is naturally low in selenium, so we give them extra), why not for ourselves?

Usually the difference between a cheap and an expensive supplement is the ingredients. Damien Maher wrote in the Health and Living section of the Indo a while ago to read the list of ingredients. If magnesium oxide was one of the top ones, chances are the rest would be cheap and nasty too.

However, sometimes expensive brands with big names have the exact same ingredients as the Boots or Tesco version. You have to read the label and compare.

that view is a bit one sided TBH .. if you eat cleanly for 80% of your meals i.e. loads of fruit + veg, good fats and plenty lean protein then most people can get what they need to from that ... if you decide to have a take away or slice of white bread it wont do any harm if you are getting the good stuff in for most other meals .... a lot of people have the same idea with vits as with protein, that more is better, this is not always the case i.e. point of dimenishing returns ....

EileenG

corkcomp wrote: »

that view is a bit one sided TBH .. if you eat cleanly for 80% of your meals i.e. loads of fruit + veg, good fats and plenty lean protein then most people can get what they need to from that ... if you decide to have a take away or slice of white bread it wont do any harm if you are getting the good stuff in for most other meals .... a lot of people have the same idea with vits as with protein, that more is better, this is not always the case i.e. point of dimenishing returns ....

But how many people actually do? You've read the posts where people come on and say "I'm eating a good diet, special k for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, pasta and dolmio for dinner, and a few choccie biscuits to fill the gaps." That's what is a normal diet for anyone who doesn't make a conscious effort to eat well.

corkcomp

EileenG wrote: »

But how many people actually do? You've read the posts where people come on and say "I'm eating a good diet, special k for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, pasta and dolmio for dinner, and a few choccie biscuits to fill the gaps." That's what is a normal diet for anyone who doesn't make a conscious effort to eat well.

that diet would be an extreme, but yes similar diets have been posted :rolleyes:

the human body has a remarkable way to "getting by" even on poor diet (well what you or i would probably regard as poor) .. have you ever seen the freaky eaters programs, one guy felt fine and had a perfect blood work up eventhough he only ate chese sandwiches!?

IMO most of the posters on here are knowledgeable enough to be able meet their daily requirements from whole food, yet some people will still try to over think things and go way over board on vits!

ballsymchugh

the body can only use a certain amount of vitamins anyway, so in most cases, the supplemental vitamins will be excreted from the body. i can't find the link for it just now, but i'll keep searching.
as for organic food, that's been disproven.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8174482.stm

now, back on topic. just check the ingredients. if they're the same, then there's no difference. unless someone is lying.
the likely difference is probably similar to generic antibiotics and the modern version, both work the same way, but the generic one may feel like swallowing a brick.

Dublin_Gunner

TBH we survived long enough without even knowing what vitamins were, let alone buying them in a box.

I really don't think vitamin supplements are required for anyone apart form the severe cases where a lack of a certain vitamin / mineral is causing a medical condition (i.e Iron, Anaemia).

Of course it is up to anybody to decide what they want to put in their own body, but I think a lot of people are being conned by the vitamin / supplement manufacturers into buying things they don't need, that don't work, and cost too much.

A lot of people are being fooled into thinking that they can take 'supplements' as an alternative to actual food.

Khannie

corkcomp wrote: »

that diet would be an extreme

I don't think so. I'd say most people live off that kind of rubbish to be honest, just not the people who post on here, mostly.

corkcomp

Khannie wrote: »

I don't think so. I'd say most people live off that kind of rubbish to be honest, just not the people who post on here, mostly.

there is a lot of mis info and varying opinions on what is healthy and not though .. a lot of people would consider sandwich for lunch and spag bol for dinner as un healthy but if both are home made they could be quite nutritious and rich in vits and minerals ..

El_Dangeroso

Some vitamins and minerals are impossible to get in correct amounts in food, mostly due to poor soil quality and processing/storage methods.

Some things are worth supplementing, namely:

Magnesium: Back in the day when we didn't intensively farm the land, the soil had lots of magnesium and this isn't the case anymore unfortunately. Magnesium deficiency can result in hypertension, depression and migraine.

Vitamin It's close to impossible to get enough from diet unless you're eating almost a pound of herring a day and at this latitude, you can't get it from sunshine either. Vitamin D deficiency can contribute to heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis and a variety of auto-immune diseases.

Fish oil: Because of the widespread use of omega 6 rich oils in our food chain, this has created an imbalance with has devastating consequences for health. I posted a bbc radio 4 programme on this yesterday.

I eat a really good diet but I've noticed tangible differences in my health after supplementing with the above.

Also, if you eat a low fat diet, you're missing out on enough fat soluble vitamins, namely A, E and K, and this has a big effect on heart and brain health.

El_Dangeroso

Also, if you smoke then a 1000mg vitamin C supplement is essential.

Bottle_of_Smoke

aka79 wrote: »

Very few people eat an ideal diet. To get the full whack of everything, you need to be making all your meals as close to perfect (home cooked, organic, locally grown) as possible. No processed food (that includes things like cornflakes and white bread or pasta), no junk food, no takeaways.

If you are not eating like that, a little sensible supplement is probably useful. Hell, we do it for our horses (Ireland is naturally low in selenium, so we give them extra), why not for ourselves?

Usually the difference between a cheap and an expensive supplement is the ingredients. Damien Maher wrote in the Health and Living section of the Indo a while ago to read the list of ingredients. If magnesium oxide was one of the top ones, chances are the rest would be cheap and nasty too.

However, sometimes expensive brands with big names have the exact same ingredients as the Boots or Tesco version. You have to read the label and compare.

Organic - Recent famous study showed no benefit to organic grown food for health.

Horses are a different species las time I checked? Like the way pregnant humans supplement folic acid?

Only thing I'd supplement is Vitamin D, especially if you work indoors. Perhaps iron for women if they have any anaemia symptoms. Though be careful with that too. Lots of unknown haemochromotosis sufferers in this country.

Did a module in uni last year covering vitamins, I won't ever be buying one again!

TempleGrandin wrote:

Also, if you smoke then a 1000mg vitamin C supplement is essential.

Essential? Why is this? 1000mg? You'd piss virtually all of that away if you took it in one tablet.

El_Dangeroso

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Organic - Recent famous study showed no benefit to organic grown food for health.

Horses are a different species las time I checked? Like the way pregnant humans supplement folic acid?

Only thing I'd supplement is Vitamin D, especially if you work indoors. Perhaps iron for women if they have any anaemia symptoms. Though be careful with that too. Lots of unknown haemochromotosis sufferers in this country.

Did a module in uni last year covering vitamins, I won't ever be buying one again!



Essential? Why is this? 1000mg? You'd piss virtually all of that away if you took it in one tablet.

Because smoking increases oxidation, you need the extra anti-oxidants as a result:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1349925/

Yes, you might excrete some of it but as a smoker you'd utilise a lot of it too.

I've read that systematic review on organic food (as in it wasn't new science, just cherry picking of papers that supported their opinion.) and the researchers made some major omissions and twisted their own results.

The majority of studies have shown that organic food is higher in both anti-oxidant and vitamin content as well as being free from pesticides, a fact that the review completely ignored.

ballsymchugh

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Also, if you smoke then a 1000mg vitamin C supplement is essential.

erm... can you please explain this one?? how does smoking affect the digestion of oranges or the absorption of vit c??

El_Dangeroso

Just extra anti-oxidants to counteract the increased oxidative effect of smoking, or eat twelve oranges, either way..;)

cmyk

I was actually with my GP last week and happened to ask him about a decent multi-vitamin, he told me that I wouldn't like the answer...and told me to save my money.

He also told me that I wouldn't find a single scientific study to say they have any benefit on either serious diseases/and/or immune system benefits at any level. He said with any half decent diet we get enough of them and as stated earlier by someone else they are much more readily available through foods rather than supplementation.

In a nutshell he said to spend my money on better quality foods.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Just extra anti-oxidants to counteract the increased oxidative effect of smoking, or eat twelve oranges, either way..;)

I think that would be a far better idea. Or maybe mix it up and have a kiwi, 2 oranges, a few cups of green tea. Last resort break the vit c tablet into little pieces and take it throughout the day.

Pointless taking a 1000mg tab, we can't store vit c so virtually all of it gets pissed out. I'll give a better answer when I read that study, cheers for the link

El_Dangeroso

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

I think that would be a far better idea. Or maybe mix it up and have a kiwi, 2 oranges, a few cups of green tea. Last resort break the vit c tablet into little pieces and take it throughout the day.

Pointless taking a 1000mg tab, we can't store vit c so virtually all of it gets pissed out. I'll give a better answer when I read that study, cheers for the link

I don't know, eating fruit containing 1000mg of vitamin C would be a lot of extra calories and sugar in the diet, and considering that sugar competes on the same metabolic pathway as vitamin C it seems somewhat counterproductive.

ballsymchugh

am a little confused by the last two sentences of the pubmed abstract. the last sentence suggests that smoking decreases the vitamin c level in the serum, and what you take in your diet won't make any difference. but before it, it says that supplements will make a difference.
i remember getting grilled on vitamin c in a biochem pass fail oral exam years ago. i thought i knew it all... given that i was the only one that passed!!

El_Dangeroso

ballsymchugh wrote: »

am a little confused by the last two sentences of the pubmed abstract. the last sentence suggests that smoking decreases the vitamin c level in the serum, and what you take in your diet won't make any difference. but before it, it says that supplements will make a difference.
i remember getting grilled on vitamin c in a biochem pass fail oral exam years ago. i thought i knew it all... given that i was the only one that passed!!

All the last two sentences mean is that the adjusted their data for any confounding factors such as dietary intake.

Bottom line, give up smoking, if you can't give up right now take a vitamin C supplement until you can.

ballsymchugh

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

All the last two sentences mean is that the adjusted their data for any confounding factors such as dietary intake.

Bottom line, give up smoking, if you can't give up right now take a vitamin C supplement until you can.

but don't supplements fall into diet anyway?? the way vitamin c is absorbed would be the same no matter how it's injested. although, the study does explain a lot which i think we should've been taught later in college!!

El_Dangeroso

ballsymchugh wrote: »

but don't supplements fall into diet anyway?? the way vitamin c is absorbed would be the same no matter how it's injested. although, the study does explain a lot which i think we should've been taught later in college!!

Yes but by adjusting for various dietary intakes they can get a more consistent view of the effect that smoking has and they acknowledge that the supplements had an effect on the vit c serum levels of smokers:

particularly when not accompanied by vitamin supplementation

ballsymchugh

gotcha. i think!! sound for the lesson!!

Bottle_of_Smoke

cmyk wrote: »

I was actually with my GP last week and happened to ask him about a decent multi-vitamin, he told me that I wouldn't like the answer...and told me to save my money.

He also told me that I wouldn't find a single scientific study to say they have any benefit on either serious diseases/and/or immune system benefits at any level. He said with any half decent diet we get enough of them and as stated earlier by someone else they are much more readily available through foods rather than supplementation.

In a nutshell he said to spend my money on better quality foods.

Yeah I think its pretty much a racket myself. Seems to me wherever you find people suffering from malnutrition they're also suffering from a lack of food!

--Kaiser--

There's a food supplement I take called Floridix that's actually made from plants so probably better than those aforementioned tablets

http://www.florahealth.com/flora/home/usa/products/R64771.htm

EileenG

EileenG wrote: »

But how many people actually do? You've read the posts where people come on and say "I'm eating a good diet, special k for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, pasta and dolmio for dinner, and a few choccie biscuits to fill the gaps." That's what is a normal diet for anyone who doesn't make a conscious effort to eat well.

Anyone watch "Why am I fat?" last night? The researcher had been making an effort to eat healthy, then got worried about sugar, so she examined what she ate in a day.

80g of "healthy" breakfast cereal, plus glass of cranberry juice,
Low fat Go Ahead snack bar.
Baked beans on toast
Go ahead bar.
Skinless chicken breast, veggies, brown rice and kung po sauce.
Similar supper

Total 167g of sugar in the lot. And not too many vitamins either.

Macha

Found this handy list on Precision Nutrition:

Who’s at risk?

Health condition |Deficiency risk
AIDS |Vitamin B12
Alcoholism |Thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), pyridoxine (B6), biotin, folic acid (B9)
Blood loss |Iron
Crohn’s disease |Vitamin A
Diabetes mellitus |Riboflavin (B2)
Diarrhea |Selenium
Excessive consumption of goitrogenic foods (cassava, cabbage, rutabagas, turnips, among others) |Iodine
Gastric bypass |Vitamin B12
Gastritis |Vitamin B12
Gluten intolerance (untreated) |Vitamin A
Gut flora irritation/alteration |Vitamin A
Hyperparathyroidism |Pyridoxine (B6)
Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) |Vitamin C
Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) |Riboflavin (B2)
Increased energy needs (illness, intense training, injury rehabilitation, etc.) |Vitamin A
Inflammatory bowel disease |Pantothenic acid (B5)
Lactation |Vitamin C
Living in endemic areas with un-supplemented food supplies| Iodine
Menstruation (heavy or lengthy periods)| Iron
Pregnancy |Vitamin C, iron
Raw egg white consumption (excessive amounts)| Biotin
Rheumatoid arthritis |Zinc
Sickle cell anemia |Zinc
Smoking |Vitamin C
Stress (excessive amounts) |Iodine
Sun exposure (insufficient amounts)| Vitamin D
Vegan diet |Vitamin B12

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/aa-nutrient-deficiencies

Bottle_of_Smoke

EileenG wrote: »

Anyone watch "Why am I fat?" last night? The researcher had been making an effort to eat healthy, then got worried about sugar, so she examined what she ate in a day.

80g of "healthy" breakfast cereal, plus glass of cranberry juice,
Low fat Go Ahead snack bar.
Baked beans on toast
Go ahead bar.
Skinless chicken breast, veggies, brown rice and kung po sauce.
Similar supper

Total 167g of sugar in the lot. And not too many vitamins either.

But that's a terrible diet. Its not healthy at all. No fruit whatsoever other than a processed cranberry drink, how could that be considered normal?

El_Dangeroso

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

But that's a terrible diet. Its not healthy at all. No fruit whatsoever other than a processed cranberry drink, how could that be considered normal?

You'd be surprised, a lot of people think that would be healthy because it's low in fat.

corkcomp

to stick to original topic .. lots of fruit, veg, lean meats, oily fish, herbs, pulses and healthy fats and you will be fine .... yes there are cases where multi vits may be beneficial but they are also taken in excess by some people in the belief that more is better ... if you ask any of the lucky few who live to be 100 i think most wont attribute their long life to vitamin supplements, rather an active life style and all things in moderation!

El_Dangeroso

Multi-vitamins have only become common in the last 30 years, so there's no real way of knowing either way.

I know a lot of people call them 'expensive wee' and I'm not entirely convinced that the multivit specifically makes any difference but I'll still chuck in a multi-vit to hedge my bets, it only costs about 20 cent a day for a good one.

But if your gonna choose one tablet to take a day, make it vitamin D.

EileenG

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

But that's a terrible diet. Its not healthy at all. No fruit whatsoever other than a processed cranberry drink, how could that be considered normal?

I didn't say it was healthy, I said it was normal. Most of my friends, who are making a conscious effort to eat well, eat like that. It's low fat, no red meat, no eggs, no butter, none of the stuff that we are often told to avoid. I bet if you worked out the points on that, it would fit nicely into Weight Watchers.

corkcomp

EileenG wrote: »

I didn't say it was healthy, I said it was normal. Most of my friends, who are making a conscious effort to eat well, eat like that. It's low fat, no red meat, no eggs, no butter, none of the stuff that we are often told to avoid. I bet if you worked out the points on that, it would fit nicely into Weight Watchers.

anybody with any cop on would know that a diet devoid of fruit and vegetables is not healthy, a lot of people who eat like that know its not that healthy but they dont like (or think they dont) fruit and veg and other healthy foods ... the diet you referenced could be a lot worse BTW, aside from the two go ahead bars !!!

EileenG

The Go ahead bars only contribed 21g total of the sugar. The supper I forgot was fat free organic strawberry yogurt.

corkcomp

EileenG wrote: »

The Go ahead bars only contribed 21g total of the sugar. The supper I forgot was fat free organic strawberry yogurt.

did the program list the breakdown of G of sugar per product? 2 go ahead bars only have 21g of sugar? something not adding up there ....

most of the carbs in bread are not sugar. depending on breakfast cereal, it could have a lot alright ... beans on toast are not unhealthy, and chicken, veg, rice and kung po sauce is not a bad meal either ...

Bottle_of_Smoke

EileenG wrote: »

I didn't say it was healthy, I said it was normal. Most of my friends, who are making a conscious effort to eat well, eat like that. It's low fat, no red meat, no eggs, no butter, none of the stuff that we are often told to avoid. I bet if you worked out the points on that, it would fit nicely into Weight Watchers.

Weight watchers is nonsense. Should be banned if you ask me.

The diet above is not normal, no dietician, nutritionist(with a real degree) or doctor would tell you to go on it. When are we often told to avoid eggs? last billboard about eggs around dublin was saying its fine to eat two eggs a day. We're not told to avoid red meat, just eat it in moderation. I also recall something about a 5a day recommendation for fruit and vegtables

Vitamin tablets would not compensate for this diet, its simply a terrible diet

Bottle_of_Smoke

Temple where did you get that 1000mg figure? The article doesn't seem to refer to anything about oxidation

EileenG

corkcomp wrote: »

did the program list the breakdown of G of sugar per product? 2 go ahead bars only have 21g of sugar? something not adding up there ....

most of the carbs in bread are not sugar. depending on breakfast cereal, it could have a lot alright ... beans on toast are not unhealthy, and chicken, veg, rice and kung po sauce is not a bad meal either ...

She was reading out labels as she went, and said 10.5g of sugar per bar. Over 22g for the amount of yogurt she planned to eat. The bread was low, but the baked beans were high. The sauce was sky high.

El_Dangeroso

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Temple where did you get that 1000mg figure? The article doesn't seem to refer to anything about oxidation

Smoking increases the oxidation of lipoproteins:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11876007

This effect is attenuated by antioxidants:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/7634556636412r11/

Each cigarette destroys 25mg of vitamin C, so the 20 a day smoker would destroy 500mg of vitamin C, and 1000mg of vitamin C is the standard high dose given in studies that have shown that lipid oxidation is reduced in smokers with supplementation. 1000mg has been shown to be more effective at reducing oxidative stress than 500mg, but no extra benefit was recorded at 2000mg - this was in non-smokers but the effect would be the same.

http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/abstract/20/6/623

Hence the 1000mg recommendation.

corkcomp

I dont have nutritional info for the go ahead bars to hand, but i would be genuinely surprised if each only had 10g of sugar, I might buy one later (as a test of course!)

regarding the vit C, it is widely accepted that smokers need extra vit C, this is often recommended thru lots of fruit and veg for people who smoke ... I dont think it really matters whether you need an extra 500mg, 600mg or 1000mg because I doubt many people will go down the road of splitting the 1000Mg tabs (most common ones) !!

EileenG

Oh, completely forgot, but one thing I don't think anyone would argue with is that women should supplement with Calcium, magnesium and some extra vit D for the sake of their bones. Men too, if they are cutting hard. A study on Irish jockeys a couple of years ago found that many of them were heading for osteoporosis.

And when buying your cal/mag, I would go for a more expensive form of magnesium than in most of them.

Dublin_Gunner

EileenG wrote: »

And when buying your cal/mag, I would go for a more expensive form of magnesium than in most of them.

1. Why a 'more expensive form' of magnesium?
2. How on earth would you know that what you're buying is actually a 'more expensive' form?
3. Does extra expense make it better?

El_Dangeroso

The extra expense makes sure it's chelated with something, therefore making it more absorbable.

Magnesium oxide is less than useless.

Magnesium citrate is much better. But if you can get mag chelated with amino acids, then that's the best one for absorption, I haven't seen it in any shop in Ireland though.

corkcomp

EileenG wrote: »

Oh, completely forgot, but one thing I don't think anyone would argue with is that women should supplement with Calcium, magnesium and some extra vit D for the sake of their bones. Men too, if they are cutting hard. A study on Irish jockeys a couple of years ago found that many of them were heading for osteoporosis.

And when buying your cal/mag, I would go for a more expensive form of magnesium than in most of them.

jockies are an example of people who could not get their vits and minerals from diet alone ... did you hear any of the interviews over the last 12 months, a lot of thee guys eat noting until 3 pm in the day, have a small sandwich and a salad later and thats it ... TBH all the supplements in the world wont stop them developing problems down the road ...

and anybody who has a blood test done and who has normal calcium levels should really not worry about supplementation ... a relative of mine had to have a calcium lump removed from a build up for excess calcium ...

EileenG

Corkcomp, one in FOUR Irish women and one in 20 Irish men suffer from osteoporosis. That's far too high a number to assume that they are getting enough nutrients from their diet to keep their bones strong. Yes, I know there are other factors, but with those figures, anyone who doesn't take supplements for their bones is a fool.

You may not like taking supps, and feel that you are getting the right diet and exercise to keep your own bones strong, but could you honestly put hand on heart and say that the average person would get no benefit from bone supplements?

El_Dangeroso

corkcomp wrote: »

and anybody who has a blood test done and who has normal calcium levels should really not worry about supplementation ... a relative of mine had to have a calcium lump removed from a build up for excess calcium ...

Was that from supplementation? The upper limit to supplement is 3000mg. If you stay under this then there won't be an issue, even with adequate dietary intake, which according to some studies over half of us don't achieve.

corkcomp

bottom line, im sure anybody who looks after their health has a full blood work up every 1 - 2 years .. if your calcium levels show up fine in the results then I wouldnt worry .. if your calcium is low then worry about it ...

EileenG

You're kidding, right? I had an 800 euro full physical last year, including dexa scan and more tests than you could shake a stick at, and that didn't include blood calcium levels. I mentioned various tests and discovered that they cost a hell of a lot extra.

Who is going to pay the guts of a grand for a bunch of tests to see if they should take a 5 euro calcium supplement? As has been mentioned, if you don't need it, it's expensive wee. If you do, then it's money well spent.

aka79

aka79 wrote: »

Does anyone know the difference between the expensive vitamins and the cheap ones. I take vitamins on a daily basis, eg, multi-vitamin, evening primrose oil, etc. Whats stopping me from purchasing the 99c one monthly supply in either Boots or Tescos, rather than purchasing the €8.99 one monthly supplies, if they do the same job!

Thanks to everyone for their quotes and comments on my Query! I take some vitamins because even though I try to eat healthy whenever I can, I feel that I dont get my full daily intake of every vitamin, and thats why I take Evening Primrose Oil as it helps with Womens Issues, as well as keeping good hair, nails, & skin, and I take Multi Vitamin & B Complex, cause I know myself that even though I cook all my own meals, Im very regimented as I have to work long days and so I feel my food types can be repetitive and not varied. So thats why too I want to take vitamins. So this is why Im wondering if Im wasting my time taking the cheap ones, or should I splash out on the expensive ones.