AdvoCare Vitamin Supplements

[gina1kid]

Hi there.

I am curious to know if any of you have tried AdvoCare vitamin supplements called Power Kids. I just bought this multivitamin for my son. I had heard some good things about Advocare, when I was doing research on ADHD. They are expensive (approx. $25.00 for a 60 day supply).

Any experience would be helpful.

I will let you know if I like them for my DS or not.

Take care.

Gina

[catatonic]

Gina, this looks like a pretty solid multi-vitamin, although I like to see more Vitamin E (at least 100IU). The addition of Coq-10 and choline, although in small amounts, is a nice bonus.

You're right that these are expensive. Take a look at the "Animal Friends" chewables by Twin Labs, which are comparable nutritionally - actually, stronger on the antioxidants Vitamin E and Vitamin C -- and also contain NO artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. They have choline also. At $13.50 per 100, they're about 1/4 as expensive as the PowerKids.
www.herbaladvisor.com/shop/xq/asp/ptid.35828/qx/productDetail.htm

If you're on the Feingold program, you'd probably want to avoid the PowerKids, as it contains concentrated cherry and orange flavors as well as apple powder -- all of which are high salicylate and you shouldn't be eating them if you're Stage 1. The Animal Friends, on the other hand, contains both maltodextrin and dextrose, which are just corn syrup by other names so for those -- like my son -- who can't eat corn syrup, this would not be a good choice.

[gina1kid]

Catatonic,

Thanks for the feedback. I checked out the website and Animal friends does seem to be a good vitamin, especially for the price. Maybe I will try it next time.

Since I went throught the expense in purchasing the Powerkids, we will try them and see how it goes. My DS has been on Animal Parade vitamins (Nature's Plus) for a couple of years and I wanted him to try something different.

What kind of multivitamins do you give your child since he is on the Feingold diet? My DS (8 years, 50 lbs) is not on the diet. Although, he seems to be allergic to certain foods, like milk and chocolate, which we avoid, he seems to do well with most foods.

Also, I give my DS the following supplements in addition to his multivitamin and wanted to get your feedback on these and the amounts given.


EPA/DHA 2 tablets contains:
Fish Oil Concentrate - 2,000 mg
containing
EPA (600 mg)
DHA (400 mg)
Vitamin E (20 IU)

Vitamin B-Complex 50 (1 capsule)

Magnesium - chelated (1 capsule) 200 mcg

I appreciate your feedback and any comments you may have. I understand that you are an expert on natural supplements so I am honored to receive your advice.

Thank you.

[gina1kid]

Catatonic,

On my last message I misstated the magnesium amount of 200 mcg, I meant 200 mg. Also, I forgot to add that I also give my DS a vitamin C supplement of 250 mg.

[catatonic]

Gina -
I think your list of supplements looks very good. I'd suggest a couple of minor adjustments, since you're providing all the important things already.

Your Vitamin E looks low. You need to make sure you give a sufficient amount with the fish oil. Minimum quantities vary depending who you ask, but certainly you need AT LEAST 100 IU per day. If you give the fish oil twice daily, I'd go ahead and give 100 IU of Vitamin E along with the fish oil each time.

The other thing is, you might want to consider adding an Evening Primrose Oil capsule once daily. This doesn't have to be big...500mg is plenty...just make sure it contains around 50mg GLA. Between the fish oil, the Vitamin E and the GLA, you ought to have all your essential fatty acid needs covered, along with what they need to be metabolized. (You might want to look at "The LCP Solution" by Jacqueline Stordy. It's an excellent resource on fatty acid supplementation.)

Multi-vitamins are a tricky issue for us. I originally purchased a vitamin made by Now called "Special Two" for my son to take. I liked it because it contains enough Vitamin E and Vitamin C to eliminate the need for separate supplements, as well as enough of the B-vitamins to replace a separate B-complex. Reducing the number of pills seemed like a very good idea. And the cost is low, about $6.50 per month. (You can look at Special Two here: www.herbaladvisor.com/shop/xq/asp/ptid.33408/qx/productDetail.htm )

Unfortunately, there is something in it that my son reacts too. Maybe the apple pectin, which is high salicylate. Maybe the Vitamin C, which is derived from corn and he can't do corn. Doesn't seem like there'd be enough of either one to cause problems, but it does.

So we use a generic multi-vitamin with minerals and iron from our health food store (Sun Harvest, also called Wild Oats in some places). It meets all the important nutritional requirements and includes trace minerals. While not as good a vitamin as the Special Two, it's adequate. It's also smaller and doesn't smell like the alfalfa treats we give the horses! SPecial Two may be an excellent vitamin, but it is big, green and smelly!!!

I highly recommend looking into the Feingold diet. It's been very successful for us in terms of reducing acting out behavior. Not effective enough at impacting attentiveness, which is where supplements come in. Take a look at the website www.feingold.org

You don't say if you are using medications or not, or whether you are happy with the behavioral results you've seen using supplements so far. Do you feel like you're having success so far? Are there areas you'd like to see further improvement in?

By the way, I'm just someone who reads a lot and enjoys organizing information in order to share it with others. While it's flattering to be considered an expert (and some days my ego REALLY needs a boost!!!) don't consider anything I say as expert advice, make sure to verify it with your own reading, since I might interpret things differently than you would or be just plain wrong.

Welcome to the forum!

[gina1kid]

Catatonic,

Well it looks like the advocare vitamins did not work out for my DS. I think he is allergic to something inside them. All this week he was very aggressive and irritable. He even hit a child in the eye, which is totally unlike him. The only thing that was differenct this week were the vitamins. I feel so bad that he had to go through this week feeling like that. But at least I know now, the Powerkid vitamins are causing his aggressiveness.

It's to bad, because they were so expensive. But that goes to show that expensive vitamins aren't always best for your child.

Thanks for your help and advise.

Gina

[AustinsMom]

Gina--I have an array of vitamins and supplements that proved ineffective or worse yet, caused problems. My dh and I take them till they are gone. I can't stand to throw them away after paying for them, so I figure we might as well try to get some good out of them. My husband has better tolerance, and is the one to take the ones that I can't stand (mainly Omega's that cause fish burps.) Sorry these didn't work, but I'm glad you figured it out fairly quickly. This information will help you do better when you buy the next ones.

[gina1kid]

Catatonic,

I bought 200IU of Vitamin E today. I gave it to my son this evening. I was reading up on fish oil and vitamin E and several articles stated the need for a vitamin E supplment to prevent the fish oil from going rancid. Is that what you read or understand?

Can you give me the name of the mulit-vitamin that you used for your son. I take it that its an adult multi-vitamin vs a child's multi? I would love to reduce the amount of supplements my DS needs to take.

You had asked me if my DS is on meds and he is. He is on Concerta. We tried for a year or so the diet and vitamin supplements before we started meds. Did not have much success. We worked with a natural pharmacist/doctor. However, I kept giving him the supplements. but got off the diet. We felt he was very thin. He seems to be a healthier child because of this vitamin supplements. He doesn't get sick as often as when he was a baby. He is 8 and 50 lbs.

He still has food allergies at times. Chocolate is a big no-no at our house.

Thanks for your advise.

Gina

[catatonic]

Gina,

I'm sorry to hear theo vitamins didn't work out. We do the same thing AustinsMom does, using up the "dud" vitamins on the rest of the family. We need to hold a vitamin swap-meet here.

I'll tell you the multi-vitamin I use, but it won't be of much help to you unless you have a Sun Harvest or Wild Oats market near where you live. The multi I give my son is the Sun Harvest generic multi with iron (in adult strength). (Wild Oats is the same store, just different name in different regions, so generic Wild Oats would be the same thing.) This multi contains no artificials, and no corn, soy, egg, dairy or wheat allergens. Unfortunately, it doesn't contain enough Vitamin E, so I also give my boy a 100IU Vitamin E with his morning and evening fish oil capsules.

If you want a national brand you can order on-line, Now has a new multi out called "true Balance" that looks pretty good. I haven't tried this one, but I generally do like Now products, and this looks strong nutritionally, with a good trace mineral profile, enough of the antioxidants C and E that you wouldn't need separate supplements, and even 120mg magnesium, which is a good starting point for someone of your child's age and weight. I don't know the allergen information on this one, however. It's worth taking a peek at, and you can probably find it "live" at any health food store (at a slightly higher cost). www.herbaladvisor.com/shop/xq/asp/ptid.33776/qx/productDetail.htm

And in a nutshell, preventing the fish oil from going rancid is exactly what the Vitamin E does. When oils break down in your body - even beneficial ones like Omega-3 essential fatty acids - the release free radicals and the Vitamin E will clean these free radicals up. Without sufficient Vitamin E, the free radicals would remain at large where they can damage your body in a variety of ways, from cardiovascular to neurological. (OhMama, you explain this much better than I do - care to pitch in?)

[ohmama]

Thanks Cat, I would like to comment on Vitamin E. I think this is one of my favorite vitamins. Without sufficient vitamin E, the fatty parts of your brain are more apt to turn rancid, causing monumental disturbances in the normal functioning of neurons. The brain is mostly fat, making it extremely susceptible to fat-spoiling free radicals, and there is only one antioxidant, vitamin E, that dwells exclusively in the fatty part of cell membranes. Evidence from autopsies show that deficiencies of vitamin E causes axons of nerve cells to degenerate and the cerebellum to shrink. A vitamin E deficiency strikes the nervous system with a vengeance. This vitamin is like a cellular fire extinguisher.
Damaged or rancid membranes emit garbled messages, manifested as memory loss and other intellectual failures. The first sign of a vitamin E deficiency is a neurological problem.

Not to confuse anyone but you should know that Vitamin E comes in eight different chemical forms, four tocopherols and four tocotrienols (designated as alpha, beta, gamma, and delta), as found naturally in food. The most common, put into most vitamin preparations, is alpha tocopherol, either synthetic or natural. Of this form, many experts favor "natural" vitamin E, noted on labels as d-alpha tocopherol. However, other types of vitamin E, particularly gamma tocopherol and gamma tocotrienol, also promise brain protection.

You need a full range of vitamin E for the brain including both alpha and gamma types, as well as tocotrienols to fully protect the brain. Look for "mixed" tocopherols that include gamma as well as alpha. You can also buy tocotrienols alone or in mixtures with tocopherols.

This Information was taken from "Your Miracle Brain" by Jean Carper. There is a whole chapter on this vitamin in the book with amazing information.

For an adult 400 to 500 IUs of natural vitamin E daily is usually considered adequate for good antioxidant protection. I give my boys 100 IU with their fatty acids (3 times a day) besides the small amount that is contained in the omega 3 that they get and the vitamin E in the multi is another 50 IU given 3 times a day. Total is a little over 450 IU. daily.

[gina1kid]

Wow! Thank you both Catatonic and OhMama for your gracious and knowledgeable replies. I really learned a lot from you both. This website is just outstanding!!!

Not only will my son be taking Vitamin E, his Mommy and Daddy will also be taking the supplment as well.

You both have a wonderful weekend and spring break with your families.

Bless you and thank you so much.

Smiles,

Gina.

[gina1kid]

To Austinsmom:

Thank you also for your reply as well. I went ahead and took your advice and my husband decided to finish up the vitamins so they won't go to waste.

Have a wonderful Spring Break week.

Gina

[gina1kid]

Hi there. It's me again. I just wanted to report back on the vitamin E supplment that my DS is taking. On some emails back, Catatonic had pointed out that my DS was low on the Vitamin E and suggested that I increase the supplement.

Well I have been giving my DS vitamin E (200IU) with his fishoil tablets (twice daily) and I am happy to say that I have seen and so has his teacher, an improvement in my DS behavior. He doesn't get upset as often, throw temper tantrums and get in bad moods as much. He's alot more pleasant to be around. I guess he had to much bad free radicals inside him. It's amazing what this vitamin E can do.

Thank you for the suggestion. The increase vitamin E really helped. I am so grateful to Catatonic, OhMama and AustinsMom for your advice.

Also, I am just started the Evening primrose yesterday. I am hoping that we will see even more improvements.

Have a great day!!!

[ohmama]

Gina,
I'm very glad to hear you are seeing results. I am curious to see what brand your omega 3 oil is? You have a good EPA/DHA content in them. Are you giving 2 a day?

[catatonic]

Gina,
That's fantastic news!!! You keep up the good work there, mom.