Vitamins And Supplements

[gilligan]

Frustration hit an all time high yesterday!  My visit to the dietician resulted in advising me to get a good gluten free multi-vitamin.  I asked about taking a probiotic and a digestive enzyme, she thought it might help.  My husband and I started at GNC.  The young man working had never heard of Celiac before.  We walked out with only a papaya digestive enzyme.  Not sure if this is really what I needed.  We tried two pharmacies - CVS pharmacist had never heard of celiac, so we quickly left.  Seriously??? The other pharmacy had heard of it, but didn't know of any gluten free multi-vitamins and suggested I buy Lactaid as a dig. enzyme.  Can someone help me?  

[kareng]

I have had good luck at GNC when I have asked for gluten free. Many GNC's are franchises, so I guess some are better than others. Whole Foods and other places like that have a lot of gluten-free options and people who know something about the products. Vitamin Cottage/ Natural Grocers (?) is another good place.

Nature Made vitamins say gluten-free on them and are at Target & Walmart.

[Lock]

I have a bottle of Dr. Mercola Complete Probiotics and it says it is gluten free, also free from dairy, corn, soy, yeast and eggs.

 

Dr. Mercola's Whole Food Multivitamin Plus is a wonderful, complete vitamin, but does NOT say gluten free on my bottle. However, I thought I read somewhere on his website that it is gluten free, it just doesn't have the official label yet, but I am not sure.

 

I am having a lot of frustration with supplements too. At first, I read a book that said the preservative magnesium stearate is bad for you, and it seems to be in every supplement. That's why I went to the Mercola brand, he doesn't use magnesium stearate.

 

Also his Digestive Enzymes list only gelatin, cellulose and silica as ingredients besides the enzymes, but the bottle doesn't say gluten free so I don't know. I am taking all these though and they seem to be helping.

 

I have a bottle of Nature's Way multivitamin, and it says that it contains no "wheat grain" but does not say no gluten. Also, it does contain wheat grass but I have read that the grass is not the part with gluten. So is there cross contamination there? I don't know.

 

I just bought a Rainbow Light brand calcium supplement. It says it contains no gluten, but it does have magnesium stearate.

 

I am so completely lost with the supplements, and so frustrated. I can't keep much of anything on my stomach and I just got my bone scan results, not good. I gotta do something.

 

Oh.... here is something to investigate.... Open Original Shared Link

 

Again, I can't find on that page where it says gluten free, but one of their other ones does. That liquid, if gluten free, might be the best choice, it may be easier to absorb and not have the preservatives.

[bartfull]

Dr. Mercola whole food vitamins are NOT gluten-free!! I found that out when IH pointed it out to me after I had been taking them for quite a while.  They have "sprouted barley juice (whole plant)" and "wheat grass juice (whole plant)". The writing is so tiny I never even noticed.

[Lock]

Dr. Mercola whole food vitamins are NOT gluten-free!! I found that out when IH pointed it out to me after I had been taking them for quite a while.  They have "sprouted barley juice (whole plant)" and "wheat grass juice (whole plant)". The writing is so tiny I never even noticed.

 

Wow you are right, I see it now!!!  DARN... I've been taking them. No wonder my stomach is still all screwed up. (Plus I haven't been able to scrub out my cabinets yet, or go through all my lotions and toothpastes and whatnot. I have a whole large box of supplements I'm going to have to probably throw out.)

[bartfull]

Give them away rather than throwing them out. I think I have fed half of my town!

[1desperateladysaved]

I use my unused supplements as compost in the pile.  I happen to really like Nature's Way vitamins.  As a brand, I think they are carefully made and independently tested.  I currently take their B-100.  I am not familiar with their multi-vitamin.  I personally would not take anything with wheat grass, but I might actually have an allergy.

 

D

[ItchyAbby]

I am not taking a multi currently (you can see below that I am taking individualized supplements) but when I did I really liked Rainbow brand - it's food based, very gentle on the stomach and contains digestive enzymes. You can usually get it at Whole Foods or similar store. You can also find it online at Vitacost. It says: (Free of) "Gluten, yeast, milk, eggs, soy, nuts, fish/shellfish, artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, preservatives and other objectionable additives often found in vitamin products. Contains no sugar or lactose."

 

I buy a lot of my supplements on Vitacost or Amazon. Vitacost's own brands say they are free of Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Shellfish, Fish, Soy, Gluten, Titanium dioxide. I get their B-100 complex and Calcium/Magnesium/Vit D.

 

For Probiotics I use HLC Synbiotic in the sachets. It has been really good for me. It's not cheap, however. I also take Foliplex and L-theanine by Integrative Therapeutics and Magnesium and Evening Primrose Oil both by Vital Nutrients.  I purchase all of these on Amazon.These are all brand and supplements recommended by my naturopath. When I can stop being low iodine (I have DH) I will switch out the EPO for Nordic Naturals Arcti-D Cod Liver Oil.

 

So, I guess what has worked for me is working with a knowledgeable naturopath. My Primary care doc has also been helpful in figuring out what supplements I need, but I started seeing her after the naturopath so it was more like she confirmed that I was on the right path. Do you feel like your primary doctor could be helpful? If possible, you might want to see a naturopath - I found the dietician to be less helpful.