Vitimins and Suppliments... ?

[TheStudioMK]

OK so I am a 45 year old Type 2 Diabetic (Hyper)... for the 7 years I had it I have not been a great Diabetic... eat all the wrong stuff, and in way too big quantities... So now Christmas is out of the way I am finally addressing things (even though I am sure I done plenty of irrevisable damage !)

Couple of months before Christmas I started to take some suppliments... I did do a little reading up on them, but just after Christmas I had a bit of a scare with a irregular heart beat... turned out to be a Ectopic heart beat... where my heart was missing a beat every 4 or 5 beats... they tell me it's quite common and nothing to worry about... easy for them to say lol. I also had to have a blood test which showed a slightly elevated hemoglobin blood count... So now I am wondering if the suppliments are responsible...

I was taking the following...

A Multi Vitimin Tablet (Centrum Performance)

Ginkgo & Ginseng

Cranberry

Garlic Capsules

Zinc (with Vitamin C)

Pure Cod Liver Oil


And had also planned to take these as well... but the heart thing happened before I started...

Lycopene

Bilberry, Lutein & Zeaxanthin

Aloe Vera

Acai

Ginger Root

Cinnamon

Amino Acid L-Carnitine

Amino Acid L-Arginine, L-Ornithine, L-Lysine

Now I am waiting to speak to a Diabetic Nurse about this and get her opinion and even may ask to be refered to a Nutritionist... But wondered if anyone had any opinions... or experiences ?

 

[bethan90]

I am not an expert but I don't see why any of these would cause an elevated Hb. Also I don't think elevated Hb is a dangerous thing, although like I said not an expert so can't be sure. Most of the supplements you're taking are natural so I would see them as harmless. In my experience personally when I asked my dietician about supplements etc she said I should be getting a balanced diet so there's no need for them. Not really what I was asking her! Not sure if all dieticians take this stance though.

 

[AMBrennan]

Most of the supplements you're taking are natural so I would see them as harmless

Well, Centrum probably isn't. Regardless, this is the naturalistic fallacy - there are plenty of natural herbs that can kill you (e.g. arsenic and night shade), and there are plenty of natural things that can have adverse drug interactions (e.g. Grapefruit).

The NHS Behind The Headlines service has a very good article on supplements.

So now I am wondering if the suppliments are responsible...

Probably not. Simply put, unlikely things happen - lots of people take supplements (£670,000,000 of them) and some are bound to develop some kind of condition after they start taking them.

 

[bethan90]

Well I did say "most" not "all" but yes you're right. And I'm certainly not an expert on any of them.
I think there is some information on this website somewhere about the vits and supps that are recommended for diabetics. I had an email from the website a few months ago about it.