Vegetarian Runners - Any tips?

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Garfield Jan 2018 9:24am, 12 Jan 2018 8,571 posts	0 Garfield G, I agree with you regarding quite confusing messages about vitamins these days. Often some multivitamins may contain a range of vitamins/minerals but not enough of each. As you say, the cancelling out of vitamins could be very confusing indeed.
sallykate Jan 2018 11:06am, 12 Jan 2018 5,312 posts	0 sallykate I've been vegetarian for 30 years now and have rarely had any issues with iron -- at least, with haemoglobin or whatever they test for when you give blood. I do take occasional iron fumarate tablets but no more than once a week. The RDA of iron is 14mg per day but if you take a tablet with that amount you're unlikely to absorb anything like all of it. I assume that's why therapeutic iron tablets contain much more. As for other vitamins and minerals, although I think most of it is snake oil unless you've been diagnosed with something I do take veggie omega 3 capsules. I also take vit B and Mg but that's not really related to being vegetarian.
HappyG(rrr) Jan 2018 11:40am, 12 Jan 2018 28,084 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) What are the benefits of Omega 3 and Vitamin B and Magnesium? Why do you take occasional Iron Fumarate if you don't have an iron deficiency? I just don't understand what is best to do. I'm coming up for 50 too. Does it change as you get older? G
sallykate Jan 2018 12:01pm, 12 Jan 2018 5,315 posts	0 sallykate I'm occasionally borderline for giving blood, or rejected - so I just like to boost things a bit, especially as I'm quite active. Omega 3s are essential but very tricky to get from plant oils, so I take a supplement which has the same form as in fish oil (in fact, derived from algae, which is where the fish get it from in the first place). Mg is more of a female thing but the one I take comes with B vits in the same tablet. No idea whether things change as you get older - I'm 50 next month and far less fit than some of our 50+ parkrunners!
The_Saint Jan 2018 12:38pm, 12 Jan 2018 6,160 posts	0 The_Saint I used to take a daily sensible multivitamin and multimineral tablet but a steady amount of information on the possible downsides from sensible sources like Ben Goldacre made me stop. That was about three years ago and I haven't noticed any difference. Example evidence linked from a Goldacre article onlinelibrary.wiley.com
sallykate Jan 2018 12:59pm, 12 Jan 2018 5,317 posts	0 sallykate Antioxidants are definitely not worth it. I know I don't have any haem iron or the right sort of omega 3s (EPA and DHA) in my diet so I've chosen to supplement those.
Garfield Jan 2018 1:46pm, 12 Jan 2018 8,574 posts	0 Garfield Mg is also important if you have a tendency to cramps in the limbs.
Chrisull Jan 2018 4:34pm, 12 Jan 2018 12,138 posts	0 Chrisull I'm with sallykate here, veggie for 29 years (not quite the 30 yet!) and never needed iron. If it's something you suffer with generally, then understandable, but as a result of switching to being veggie, I don't think it's an issue. Seaweed is super high in iron BTW.
HappyG(rrr) Jan 2018 4:46pm, 12 Jan 2018 28,088 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) Was it Nellers started this thread? Wonder how he's getting on with veggie. So, I need to clarify what type of veggie I am. Imagine someone who used to only eat Chinese takeaway, sausage and mash, fish n chips and peperoni pizza and spag bol. So now only eats cheese pizza n cheese pasta and... errr that's about it. Any iron and minerals I got were probably in the odd bit of fish, chicken and other meats! Mostly cheese and bread / wheat (pasta) products now. So I could imagine I would be deficient in quite a lot of things! I do eat 3 or 4 bits of fruit a day. And I try and have a salad or green veg of some sort, but once a week would be optimistic! G
Dvorak Jan 2018 5:05pm, 12 Jan 2018 15,151 posts	0 Dvorak Would it be fair to say that you can't cook, :-)G? (It really isn't hard to, at a minimum, rustle up a veggie sausage and mash (with gravy), so that could be three meals to choose from. Oh, or pour a jar of veggie sauce over some pasta. Four! ;-)). I'll be making veggie sausage goulash tonight.