What kind of vitamins should a high level athlete take?

*green tea

any brand that doesn't have iron in it... i get plenty of that shit from all the bread and cereal i eat (although i haven't eaten red meat in years)

btw, the asshat who said glucosamine/chondroitin not being able to hurt... false. if you are allergic to shellfish, you could die from popping one of those sumbitches. anaphylaxis.

I would say iron is pretty important in a supplement. You need to have a form that is absorbed easily, but easy on the stomach. This is probably the most important element you can take.

Dump that Centrum and get a better multi. You are actually better off not taking the junk like Centrum. If you don't feel a difference after taking your multi, you need to upgrade.

Add MSM (for sulphur) and magnesium. Many people are deficient in both.

Also research Cinnamon. Yes, cinnamon.

If you're male don't take iron.

Anything that you can buy at Wal-Mart is probably not a high quality supplement. With supplements, which are not regulated, you get what you pay for. Stay away from "chain" supplements..Wal-Mart, GNC, etc. Find out everything you can about the manufacturer then find out more..:)

If your supplement info looks like a random assortment of minerals/vitamins at even %'s (100%, 1000%, etc) and it contains a lot of oxides (magnesium oxide, etc) it is probably crap. Certain vitamin/minerals should be taken together or should be taken at a certain time and certains ones should never be taken together (iron impairs calcium absorbtion). Look for these differences.

I don't have the coin for good vits/mins but I would suggest something from charlespoliquin.com.

Alan

Supplements are like insurance, at least a multivitamin. It's funny that our idea of a a healthy diet is pretty much a terrible diet, meaning the Western Diet.

In general I think eating "real food" as opposed to processed food is the way to ensure getting the proper nutrients. But, it is hard to constantly eat that way, thus a multivitamin to round out the diet.

it surprises me no one has mentioned was vitamen. There has been plenty of studies on it, but i guess everybody over looks it. this vitamin helps with muscle repair and just helps a lot of fatigue legs if your running over 90 miles a week. And of course this vitamin is called L-Glutamine.

Eat 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day, and some almonds and you'll be pretty well set. I don't think the body absorbs nutrients all that well from multivitamins.

Almond, nut, raw

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)

Energy 580 kcal 2420 kJ

Carbohydrates 20 g

- Sugars 5 g

- Dietary fibre 12 g

Fat 51 g

- saturated 4 g

- monounsaturated 32 g

- polyunsaturated 12 g

Protein 22 g

Thiamine (Vit. B1) 0.24 mg 18%

Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.8 mg 53%

Niacin (Vit. B3) 4 mg 27%

Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.3 mg 6%

Vitamin B6 0.13 mg 10%

Folate (Vit. B9) 29 μg 7%

Vitamin C 0.0 mg 0%

Calcium 248 mg 25%

Iron 4 mg 32%

Magnesium 275 mg 74%

Phosphorus 474 mg 68%

Potassium 728 mg 15%

Zinc 3 mg 30%

I also take fish oil since I can't really afford to buy salmon all the time.

I take GNC Mega Men which is their headline product. It has like 30 different vitamins/minerals in it. A lot of them I'm not familiar with and it gives 1000's % in some of them.

I had an NCAA drug test this season and didn't get flagged, so apparently it's fine to take.

Just eat 20 to 30 bananas.

Vitamin D is worth taking as a supplement in autumn/winter. And possibly magnesium. Not sure anything else in pill form is worth it.

L - Carnitine

I take omega 3-6-9 from time to time. All the vitamins you've specified will be useful.