Multivitamin for teenagers with T1

[LivioH]

Hi,
My 19 year old is at uni and only been T1D 2 years. Can anyone recommend a multi vitamin (vegetarian)? So many vitamins out there it’s impossible to know what to get.
Cheers

 

[Gwynn]

I am a T2 and take one Immunace extra tablet every day. It is a good, well balanced multi vitamin.

One word of caution. Adding other supplements as well might lead to an excess in some vitamin or mineral. I calculate every aspect of my food and supplements every day to ensure that I do not exceed any NHS guidelines.

I have been taking it for over a year. No side effects. No problems. Good health.

 

[helli]

@LivioH why do you think your 19 year old needs multivitamins?
I have had Type 1 for nearly 20 years and never had the need for them.
I live the same life as my friends without diabetes except for testing my blood sugars and injecting insulin and am as fit and healthy as they are.

 

[Lucyr]

I just use the supermarket basic ones. @helli if the 19 year old lives the same life as other 19 year olds at uni then a multivitamin would be a good idea to make sure they’re getting all the vitamins needed. 19 year olds on a uni budget aren’t usually renowned for planning a well varied diet.

 

[helli]

@Lucyr I was a 19 year old student and aware of the diet of students. I am also aware that taking multi-vitamins because my parents told me to was unlikely to happen.
We are all different (including students) so I would hate to judge one based on my experience or the media stereotype.

 

[LivioH]

T

I just use the supermarket basic ones. @helli if the 19 year old lives the same life as other 19 year olds at uni then a multivitamin would be a good idea to make sure they’re getting all the vitamins needed. 19 year olds on a uni budget aren’t usually renowned for planning a well varied diet.

Thank you! Your spot on so thanks for the reply.

 

[LivioH]

@LivioH why do you think your 19 year old needs multivitamins?
I have had Type 1 for nearly 20 years and never had the need for them.
I live the same life as my friends without diabetes except for testing my blood sugars and injecting insulin and am as fit and healthy as they are.

Because her diabetic nurse told her to. So I was just asking what people think.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I would imagine that any of the basic supermarket ones are much of a muchness @LivioH I was under the impression that the body generally flushed out excess intake in urine, but I may be wrong about that.

A good varied diet is by far the best bet, but I’ve been encouraging my youngest to take a multivit as their diet is quite limited at the moment (their digestion keeps throwing a wobbler at anything but the most bland and basic foods )

 

[Leadinglights]

I would look at the size of the tablet, I am not good at swallowing big tablets, and we bought some and you couldn't see they were the size of bullets as of course they were in an opaque container. I found some which were much smaller which were OK.

 

[rebrascora]

I would look at the size of the tablet, I am not good at swallowing big tablets, and we bought some and you couldn't see they were the size of bullets as of course they were in an opaque container. I found some which were much smaller which were OK.

I used to use the dissolvable ones that make a fizzy drink. Berocca is one of the brand names but I just used a cheap Lidl equivalent. They come in a tube of 20.

 

[Lucyr]

@Lucyr I was a 19 year old student and aware of the diet of students. I am also aware that taking multi-vitamins because my parents told me to was unlikely to happen.
We are all different (including students) so I would hate to judge one based on my experience or the media stereotype.

I think you can take a parent asking for advice on which type to mean that the need for one has already been considered and just respond if you have a useful suggestion to add about which type.

Usually the more expensive ones are larger to swallow but the supermarket own are quite small. Depending what their iron intake is like you might want to get one that includes iron as not all do. The supermarket ones usually say “multivitamins with iron” if they include it.

 

[IrvineHimself]

A good varied diet is by far the best bet,

Definitely agree. For several years, I have been running an ongoing review of the literature on this subject, and, barring other factors, without a doubt good diet is preferred to vitamin supplements.

Having said that, during lock-down, I got into the habit of taking Tesco's cheapest multi-vitamins with B12, plus cod-liver-oil for vitamin D, (these are the vitamins to help fight colds and flus). When I mentioned this to my practice Nurse, she told me that, when applicable, the practice always recommends cheap multi-vitamins from the supermarket.

The list of contents varies, between brands, and the target vitamens will vary depending on the objectives. (In my case this was to help improve my resistance to colds, covid and flu.) So, you should ask the Diabetic Nurse which vitamins to target.

 

[nonethewiser]

Like to think eat good varied diet, just same do take multivit each day just in case, just buy ones out of Home Bargains rather than big name brands.