Vitamin pills in-take pre and post ER

[Bestwifeever]

I just noted in another thread that women taking vitamins do not live longer than those who do not per this report: Vitamin and Mineral Diet Supplements Don't Help and May Harm Older Women, Study Says - ABC News

The study looked at more than 38,000 women age 55 and older who participated in the Iowa Women's Health Study since the mid-1980s. The researchers found that when it came to reducing the risk of death, most supplements had no effect on women's health.

In fact, women who took certain kinds of dietary supplements -- vitamin B6, folic acid, magnesium, zinc, copper, iron and multivitamins -- faced a slightly higher risk of death than women who did not. Only women who took supplemental calcium showed any reduction in their risk of death.

Now if someone will just release the research that smoking is beneficial we really will be living in bizarro world.

 

[W2R]

Now if someone will just release the research that smoking is beneficial we really will be living in bizarro world.

Chocolate. I'd love to find out that 8 ounces of high quality chocolate daily would increase my life span....

 

[TromboneAl]

I have recently cut back on quantity consumed and a lot less carbs, to help me lose weight while my medium duty activity habits have improved. So I use Ensure Plus as a supplement. The chocolate flavored version, well chilled, is so much easier to do than the pill form vitamin supplements.

Ensure Plus has 50 grams of sugar in it. That's over 12 teaspoons of sugar in a serving. The third ingredient is sugar, with water and maltodextrin (a carb) as the first two ingredients.

Creamy Milk Chocolate Ready to Drink

• Ensure Plus Ready-to-Drink Creamy Milk Chocolate / 8-fl-oz Bottle / Case of 24

Water, Corn Maltodextrin, Sugar (Sucrose), Milk Protein Concentrate, Canola Oil, Soy Protein Concentrate, Corn Oil, Cocoa Powder (Processed with Alkali). Less than 0.5% of the Following: Potassium Citrate, Whey Protein Concentrate, Magnesium Phosphate, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Sodium Citrate, Soy Lecithin, Calcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Salt (Sodium Chloride), Choline Chloride, Ascorbic Acid, Carrageenan, Ferric Phosphate, dl-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Zinc Sulfate, Niacinamide, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Cupric Sulfate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Thiamine Chloride Hydrochloride, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Chromium Chloride, Biotin, Sodium Molybdate, Sodium Selenate, Potassium Iodide, Phylloquinone, Cyanocobalamin, and Vitamin D3.
Contains milk and soy ingredients.

 

[Leonidas]

Wow, that's almost twice the amount of sugar in an 8 oz Coca Cola.

 

[freebird5825]

Wow is right!

TY for reading that tiny print on the can for me.

I need to find a better way to get my vitamins.

UPDATE: You got me curious, so I got my reading glasses out and read the label on the 8 oz can I drank the other day. Looks like they changed the formula to 22g of sugar per 8 oz and added some fiber.

Click on the image to make it bigger, if anyone else is squinting to read the characters in the pic.

 

[MichaelB]

Chocolate. I'd love to find out that 8 ounces of high quality chocolate daily would increase my life span....

It'll increase your life span all right. Unfortunately, it will increase your body span as well...

 

[ziggy29]

Wow, that's almost twice the amount of sugar in an 8 oz Coca Cola.

Yeah, it's a lot. On the other hand, at least it's real sugar and not that HFCS crap.

 

[freebird5825]

Wow, that's almost twice the amount of sugar in an 8 oz Coca Cola.

Yeah, it's a lot. On the other hand, at least it's real sugar and not that HFCS crap.

Ensure Plus has 50 grams of sugar in it. That's over 12 teaspoons of sugar in a serving. The third ingredient is sugar, with water and maltodextrin (a carb) as the first two ingredients.

See my update and label pic in post #30.

 

[W2R]

Looks like they changed the formula to 22g of sugar per 8 oz and added some fiber.

That's still a lot of sugar, though. At least it is for me. I wouldn't buy it, personally.

It'll increase your life span all right. Unfortunately, it will increase your body span as well...

So I'd die fat, happy, and later than otherwise. Hmmm...

 

[freebird5825]

Ever educating myself...I found a great table listing the amount of natural sugar in 12 oz servings of 100% fruit juice, another beverage I enjoy.

HookedOnJuice.com :: Sugar and Fruit Juice Nutrition Information Facts

Doing the math for the amount of sugar in 8 oz of Ensure Plus (1.5 multiplier for the 12 oz equivalent), it seems to be on par with some fruit juices. Interesting!

A footnote...Mr B gets the Ensure Plus by the case thru his VA benefits. The cost to him is zero.

 

[W2R]

I guess that is why Weight Watchers frowns on fruit juices so much and promotes whole fruits instead. I should have clarified that I am (constantly) trying to lose weight, so that is why I wouldn't buy it. But in your case, you look great (really! I've seen the photos) and you can probably tolerate a lot more sugar in your food than I can.

 

[Leonidas]

Yeah, it's a lot. On the other hand, at least it's real sugar and not that HFCS crap.

True dat, but if HFCS is the Great Satan, then regular ol' sugar is just a slightly lesser imp.

I called for Jihad on HFCS in my diet, and sorta forgot about sugar in its more natural forms. Or I told myself, "thank God it's not HFCS". And that way lead to trouble.

It doesn't really matter the source - HFCS in a soda, sparkling, all-white, sprinkly sucrose on your Cheerios, or fructose in that glass of all-natural, no-sugar added apple juice - too much sugar is bad for us.

 

[freebird5825]

Amen to limiting sugar in the diet.

Discussions like this always help me learn something new. I have no blood sugar issues, so I really don't monitor my sugar intake too closely. But that can always change as my driver's license typographical error persists.

I will certainly look at other vitamin supplement products in liquid form, minus all the sugar. I'm not a consistent pill taker. I can either change my ways (take multivitamins) or find a better alternative. Free doesn't always mean better, eh?
Suggestions are most welcome.

 

[freebird5825]

I guess that is why Weight Watchers frowns on fruit juices so much and promotes whole fruits instead. I should have clarified that I am (constantly) trying to lose weight, so that is why I wouldn't buy it. But in your case, you look great (really! I've seen the photos) and you can probably tolerate a lot more sugar in your food than I can.

Well thank you for the compliment

I am increasing my whole fruit intake also. I am eating a lot less bread and pasta. And darn it, less chocolate.
I realize weight gain issues loom with my ongoing menopause transition, so I am being proactive. I will never be thin, but I can control my weight and body tone pretty well with the few activities that the tendinitis in my hands allow.

 

[TromboneAl]

The good news is that you have some low-hanging fruit to eliminate (that is, it should be easy to cut out those Ensure shakes and get rid of all that sugar). I guess you know that I'd get rid of the whole fruit and juices too. Sugar is sugar, even if it comes with some fiber and water.

As for alternatives, I just had my post bike-ride smoothie that I love. You could have one together with a vitamin pill. Here's the recipe:

12 oz water
1 scoop GNC 100% whey protein powder -- must be Chocolate Caramel Sugar-free)
1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 frozen strawberry
2 ice cubes
1 tsp Psyllium husks (optional, but makes it thicker)
1 tsp Coconut Davinci sugar-free syrup
1/8 tsp salt or potassium salt

Blend
​

An interesting thing about that recipe is that it shows how adding salt to something sweet enhances its flavor.

And darn it, less chocolate.

You really don't need to do that. We make lots of sugar-free chocolate that tastes great (or you can buy Chocoperfection).

Chocolate Bars
4 Squares unsweetened Baker’s Chocolate (chopping helps but is optional)
8 drops liquid splenda
.5 tsp Peppermint Extract (optional)
1/16 tsp KCl salt or regular salt
4 tsp Erythritol (granulated)
.5 cup Well-roasted pecans, chopped

Do not allow any water to touch the ingredients. Even a drop can cause the chocolate to “seize.” Also, do all heating slowly, and don’t let the chocolate get too hot.

Melt the chocolate blocks on low, sliding them around and stirring frequently.
Once melted add the splenda and peppermint and stir immediately
Sprinkle on the chopped nuts and erythritol
Stir slightly, and quickly pour onto waxed paper on a cookie sheet
Place in freezer until hardened

 

[Moemg]

I've started drinking V8 Smoothies. Not replacing my normal med's, but not bad for a snack or even a meal. I put a cup of the drink in a blender, add a banana, ice and that's it. Pretty darn good. I do take a one a day vitamin too.

I've been drinking a half a glass of V8 low salt with ice and some lemon in the afternoon and it keeps me satisfied until dinner .

 

[Moscyn]

I've been drinking a half a glass of V8 low salt with ice and some lemon in the afternoon and it keeps me satisfied until dinner .

Good sharing. I used to drink V8 but got distracted with other drinks. I think I'll give this a try again esp with crushed ice and lemon.

 

[eytonxav]

I help support Costco and Vitamin Shoppe, my daily's include: fish oil, D3, C, CoQ10, Kelp, Zinc/Copper, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Cinammon, and Glucosimine/Chondroitin.

I'm still working, but most likely won't change anything when I'm retired.

 

[ERD50]

Yeah, it's a lot. On the other hand, at least it's real sugar and not that HFCS crap.

... It doesn't really matter the source - HFCS in a soda, sparkling, all-white, sprinkly sucrose on your Cheerios, or fructose in that glass of all-natural, no-sugar added apple juice - too much sugar is bad for us.

I got curious about that condemnation of HFCS, and not knowing much about it, I read up a bit.

According to wiki, HFCS is made from corn starch, using the same enzymes that are used in the production of beer and Saki. These enzymes break the starches down to glucose (the alpha-amylase naturally occurs in malted barley), and a third enzyme to convert some of the glucose to fructose.

Table sugar is sucrose, a disaccharide; while glucose and fructose are monosaccharides. However, the body breaks sucrose down into glucose and fructose anyway.

I also found it interesting that honey has the same blend of fructose and glucose as HCFS. But you would likely only find one of these in a 'health food' store.


Why go through all this trouble to process corn starch with enzymes to make sugar, when we can more easily get sugar from other sources (sugar beets and sugar cane)? No good reason apparently, just this:

bold mine

In the U.S., HFCS is among the sweeteners that have primarily replaced sucrose (table sugar) in the food industry. Factors for this include governmental production quotas of domestic sugar, subsidies of U.S. corn, and an import tariff on foreign sugar; all of which combine to raise the price of sucrose to levels above those of the rest of the world, making HFCS less costly for many sweetener applications.

-ERD50

 

[Leonidas]

Why go through all this trouble to process corn starch with enzymes to make sugar, when we can more easily get sugar from other sources (sugar beets and sugar cane)? No good reason apparently, just this:

It's all about the money. While I'm all for promoting US businesses I have never understood why we continue to do the things we do in messing with the sugar industry. Well, I do understand why it happens, but it makes no sense.

And if you want to get really unhappy about HFCS read the posts here about Robert Lustig's sugar/HFCS lecture at UCSF's mini-medical school, or watch the movie King Corn.