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29 responses total.

I like StressTabs, but then, I'm usually stressed and they seem to
help me survive all-nighters (maybe it's a placebo effect, but if it
works, it works, eh?).  They ain't cheap, however.  And mostly I think
(don't have a bottle in front of me ;) they just boost the B-vitamins
a lot.  
  What distinguishes a vegetarian multi-vitamin from a non-vegetarian
multi-vitamin?  

 I use Theragran-M with Iron, and everything seems to be fine.
We buy them at Meijers.

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We get some mail-order that might fit your bill (specifications on
request, all 32 ingredients).  Consumer Vitamin Values "vitamin
factory outlet" calls them "Natura-vites with minerals" -- also
"NEW! IMPROVED! ALLERGY FREE! VEGETARIAN! No Sugar, Starch, Soy,
Wheat, Milk, Yeast or Corn".  Bottle of 100 was $4.95 in this catalog,
some discount in larger quantities.
        I generally look for a reasonable proportion in the B vitamins,
getting equivalent approximations to RDA in each instead of equal
milligrams or some such idiocy.  But if I pick up a bottle in the 
store to read ingredients, I'm usually looking first at the fillers to 
see if there's corn in it under some disguise (maltodextrin, e.g.)
and there usually is.

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I quote: "TOLL-FREE NUMBER 800-777-2200 For Continental U.S.
Including N.Y. // 516-586-2292 All others & information"

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Shark cartilage is one of the latest attempts at a treatment for cancer,
stemming from the fact that sharks don't get cancer.  I hadn't heard it
was being pushed as a preventative measure.

Valerie,

Have you looked at any of the vitamins at General Nutrition Centers (GNC)
in the mall?  They have a goodly supply of different kinds, but I have no
clue if the ones I get are veg. or not.

        Pattie

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Hi folks, assuming you are still alive.  My nutrition book says biotin is
usually present in adequate amounts in most diets, and the only way you would
normally get a deficiency is by intravenous feeding of purified nutrients.
Our Radiant Valley, $6.30/150 tablets, looks a lot like compressed nutritional
yeast (yellow) with a few other things added.  The biotin is 3% of the RDA
and was probably not added, just from the yeast.  Most other vitamins are over
100%, so if you take a half tablet a day that is probably good enough, since
they tend to double the amounts shown to be needed, to get the RDA, and since
you are also eating food with vitamins.  Nutritional yeast tastes better. 
We also eat whole grains, beans, fruit and vegetables, so dont' bother with
these vitamins unless we are ill and can't eat much.  

Re #0: don't buy any multivitamins that contain Vitamins A or D. These
are not found in plants. The body manufactures both of these, or they
are made synthetically. Not "vegetarian". 

I read that vitamin D was found in kelp.  Is this right?  Or is it a
precursor, like carotene and Vitamin A?  Is something synthesized by yeast
or bacteria not vegetarian?

Yeast and bacteria are plants - sorta. At least, I counted them so
and did not mention B12 as non-vegetarian. The Merck Manual does not
mention a plant source for D, nor for its precursor, 7-dehydrocholesterol.

Does your Merck list seaweed at all?  OR don't things exist if they are
neither in Merck on on the INternet?  Seaweed was nowhere to be found in a
very large volume of nutritional contents of various foods (the veg. volume)
issued by the US FDA. Maybe kelp and its vitamin content are on the web?
I found the statement about D in one cookbook for vegetarians.

The Merck Index (I should have said) lists natural sources of most
chemicals that have natural sources, as well as synthetic routes. It
only lists a few plants since the purpose of the Index is to provide
information on chemicals and any one plant contains hundreds of chemicals.
However some are mentioned that are primary sources of particular chemicals.
Seaweed is mentioned under iodine.

_Magic and Medicine of Plants_, however, does include kelp. It only
says "Rich in micronutrients - vitamins, minerals and trace elements",
but no specific substances are mentioned. Alginates are one of the major
products from kelps.

I don't think that sarcasm adds much to these discussions. 

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I now have more information on D. Vitamin D itself is only available in
practical amounts from animal sources, in particular from fish liver oils,
such as provide the infamous Cod Liver Oil. I have read that eating Polar
Bear liver will kill you because of Vitamin D toxicity (but that doesn't
mean I believe it....). 

We obtain Vitamin D from natural sources via its precursors
7-dehydrocholesterol from animals, and ergosterol from plants. They are
converted in the body by externally applied ultraviolet light to,
respectively, vitamins D3 ("activated" 7-etc) and D2 (calciferol). 
Vitamins D2 and D3 have identical anti-rickettsial action in humans. 

Even if one is getting plenty of meats and/or vegetables containing one or
the other of these precursors one can get the disease ricketts as a result
of inadequate illumination with ultraviolet light, a serious problem as
one gets older if one spends less time outdoors. Therefore supplements are
used. 

One can take Cod Liver Oil, or a number of other supplements prepared from
natural products by artificial treatment with ultraviolet light. 
Consequently, we now have available irradiated milk to provide D3 and
irradiated yeast and irradiated bread ingredients for D2. The primary
source of synthetic vitamin D ("viosterol) for vitamin supplements is
vitamin D2 prepared be irradiating ergosterol extracted from yeast with
ultraviolet light while it is in a suitable solvent. 

Rane, I did not intend sarcasm, it was supposed to be a reference to things
not existing in the dowsing conference, a joke.  ;=} ?
Does Red Star nutritional yeast have D in it as well as B12?
I thought the problem with polar bear liver was vitamin A overdose.  As
Valerie noted, carotene is a safer things to consume than Vitamin A.
How long can the body store Vitamin D?  I think it was a few months, which
would get you through a short winter.

I found a website on vitamins for vegans, that says no plant foods have
vitamin D.  It is sometimes added to soy milk and margarine.  It regulates
calcium absorptioon and an overdose causes Ca deposits.  The RDA is 400 IU,
158,000 IU is toxic (wonder how they measured that).  If you eat Vitamin C
at the same time it breaks down the excess.  It is made by the body from
cholesterol and is stored for a while.  In the summer, if you are out a lot
in the sun, even 2 cups of fortified milk may cause toxicity.  It is best to
make your own rather than taking or eating it (as animals), as there is no
way to make too much (though  you can get sunburnt).  Polar bear liver can
be toxic due to both Vitamin A and Vitamin D contents, and eskimos avoid
eating it.  15 min a day on face, arms and hands is plenty if you don't happen
to be in the far north, in the winter, but you can store quite a bit. 
Reserves are lowest about this time of year.

I seem to recall from some items on early Arctic/Antarctic explorers (&
how many came to grief) that living on a diet of sled dogs was also lethal
if one ate the livers (though *real* dim memory says that B vitamins were
the toxin there).

Somehow, i don't see polar bear being a regular item in the pre-firearm
eskimo diet.

I thought that it was only fat-soluble vitamins (D, A, E?) that were toxic,
since the others (B, C) simply washed out of you rather than accumulating in
the liver.  Could be wrong.  Livers accumulate all sorts of toxins, including
pesticides and I think heavy metals.  Anyone know for sure?

A: chronic toxicity at > 100,000 IU/day; B6: sensory ataxia at > 2 gm/day;
D: renal function impaired at > 100,000 IU/day; E: necrotizing enterocolitis
at > 100mg/kg/day in infants; K: hemolysis at > 1-2 mg/day for newborns.
There is a full treatment of these in the Merck Manual.

Is is possible to overdose on anything besides A and D by eating vegetables,
or even animals?  What are common sources of K?
Jim wonders if you can overdose on chocolate, and can we all vote to make it
a vitamin.  (Obviously I meant 'to overdose on any vitamin'.)

        You can't OD on chocolate or i would have died long ago. (if you can
call this living).

The MM cites A toxicity from regular consumption of beef liver.  K is
formed in the body by intestinal bacteria. K is essential for blood
clotting factors. Lack of K arises from GI conditions causing malabsorption,
but it can then be overdosed. I didn't see any mention of overdose of
any vitamin from vegetables.

I don't follow how malabsorption causes an overdose of K, perhaps you meant
that people with malabsorption take K in pills, and overdo it.
I have heard of people turning yellow from too many carrots, which have
carotene, but is there any harmful effect from carotene (noncosmetic)?
SOmething in parsnip is bad for you if the sun hits it and converts it.

I said that a lack of K results from malabsorption. Carotene is much
less toxic than A.

Wow, the find "vitamin" command worked instantly!  The Mayo Clinic said that
an overdose of carrot juice would cause the carotene to accumulate in the fat
cells under your skin and turn you yellow, but mentioned no toxicity.  A is
toxic and causes various unpleasant side effects.  

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