What Vitamins Can You Take Together?

I’ve posted this before but it was a long time ago so I thought I’d post it again.

Iron and calcium should not be taken together, unless it’s a very small amount of calcium.  300 mg of calcium or so will block the absorption of iron.  The reason some multis have both iron and calcium is because they often have only small amounts of calcium, maybe 200 mg.  That amount won’t block the absorption of iron but much more will.  Iron and calcium should be taken at least two hours apart.

If your multi has iron in it and you want to absorb that iron, do not take your multi with your calcium.  If your multi has no iron, it’s fine to take your multi with your calcium.  If you take additional iron at another time and so you don’t care if you don’t absorb the iron in your multi, then you can go ahead and take it with your calcium.

Now, if you use heme iron instead of ferrous sulfate or ferrous fumerate or carbonyl, etc., you CAN take it with your calcium.  Most people don’t use heme iron, though, because it’s so expensive.

Take your iron with vitamin C for best absorption.  The ratio is 200 mg C to every 30 mg iron.  That’s 30 mg elemental iron, so if you take 325 mg ferrous sulfate, for example, you’re only getting 65 mg elemental iron, so you’d need 400 mg vitamin C (but carbonyl iron is absorbed better than ferrous sulfate).  The point is, you would not need 2000 mg vitamin C with 365 mg ferrous sulfate because ferrous sulfate is really only 65 mg iron.

Keep in mind that people can only absorb about 500 mg calcium at once, so divide your calcium into doses of about 500 mg and take them at least two hour apart.  Keep in mind that the ASMBS recommends 1500-2000 mg calcium citrate per day, so you need three or four separate doses.  And make sure you’re taking calcium citrate, not calcium carbonate.  Understand that if you take a multi with 200 mg calcium and take that with another 500 mg calcium citrate, you will then not absorb the 700 mg total calcium you’re talking.  However, the calcium in you multi may well be calcium carbonate or some other form that is not absorbed so well anyway, in which case it would be fine to take your 500 mg calcium citrate with your multi, just with the understanding that you won’t absorb the calcium carbonate in the multi.

B vitamins work together so it’s good to take your B’s at the same time.  Your multi has lots of B’s in it, so take it with your B12 if you use a sublingual B12.  If you take a B complex and/or biotin, take that at the same time.

If you take vitamin D3 or vitamin A, it does not matter what you take them with.  If you take D2, it does not matter what you take it with either because you won’t absorb it or will absorb very little of it, which you must then convert to D3 in the body and by the time that’s done, if you took 50,000 IU D2, you may really only end up with less than 20,000, maybe as little as 5000.

Zinc and copper don’t work well with lots of other vitamins and minerals, so if you take those, it’s best to take them by themselves.

It can take quite some work to figure out what vites we need and when to take them.  Most of us need to take vites four or five times a day in order to get it all in so that the vites help each other and don’t interfere with each other.

If you have questions about what vites you can take together, ask your registered dietician, but be aware they don’t always have much specialized training in this stuff and may not be able to advise you well.  If you’re not sure you’re getting the right advice, you can post here on OH.  You won’t likely get a professional opinion here, but there are some pretty knowledgeable people that post here and many of us can point you to the research that backs up what we recommend.  It’s important because, even if you take all the “right" vitamins, if you take them in the way or at the wrong times, they will be much less effective than what you’re looking for.

Thanks, I bookmarked this post for future use.  I'm still waiting for a surgery date.  I read your Product Reviews after reading this post.  When you have the time would you be willing to list the names of your favorite products (vitamins & protein supplements etc.) that you like and would recommend for others.  Also, where to purchase the items you use?  Trying to get all my ducks in a row   Thanks for your help.

For vitamins, any one with 100% of the RDA of most things in it is fine.  Stay away from kids's vites like Flintstones and from gummy vites because they don't have 100% of things.  If you want a chewable multi, I would go with Centrum Silver unless you like the taste of Celebrate or Bariatric Advantage chewables better.  But Centrum Silver chewables are just as good and they are cheaper.  What I use for a multi is called ENS, and it's a drink mix.  I think it tastes like Koolaid.  It's a multi plus 500 mg calcium.  I order it from Celebrate.

For calcium, I like Upcal D, which is a powder you can mix in any drink and it has no taste.  I also love the Calcet creamy bites from Celebrate because they are so yummy but they are expensive so I only use them sometimes, not all the time.  I order my Upcal D from Colonial Medical.

For protein, I recommend going to vitalady.com and ordering a whole bunch of samples.  Everyone has different tastes.  I personally like BSN dessert protein powder and I like Chike.  I also think the Isopure ready to drink protein is OK.  I get those at Vitamin Shoppe, but GNC also has them.  I don't love them but I think they are all right.

 Kelly,

If I take Centrum Silver, would the dose be 2 a day?

Thanks for all of your great info.

Yep, two a day.  It's two a day for most multis.

Very helpful thanks for posting

Kelly, I take Citracal Calcium citrate + D3.Serving size: 2 caplets 
Calcium (elemental) 630 mg
vitamin D3                 500mg

I take 2 in AM.   2 noon 2 evening 2 bedtime, does this mean that I am not absorbing all the 2520mg of calcium?  I do have the Calcium citrate from Costco that is 500 mg in 2 caplets. Should I use that and stop purchasing the Citracal?

Thanks for your advice! 
                                                                    

Six of those does not equal 2520.  One serving has 630 mg but one serving is TWO pills.  So they have 315 mg per pill.  But if you take two at a time, that's 630 mg and you might absorb a little less than that but you should still be getting enough.

Kelly, I am taking 4 servings (630) a day. I hate the fact that I am not absorbing all that I take. I guess buying the Costco brand calcium citrate is better since they are 500mg per serving and I won't be wasting any of it, right?

If you like what you're taking now, I'd stick with it.  You're absorbing most of it.  But is the Costco brand cheaper?  As long as it's calcium citrate, the name brand is no better than the generic.