Does anyone know the BEST time to take supplements?

I've heard before a meal...after a meal...after you wake up...before you go to bed.

However, the one that I've heard from a Fraternity brother who was a chemistry student makes the most sense to me...so I wanted to hear what everyone else thinks.

He told me that you should take your supplements in the MIDDLE of a meal. That's what I've been doing since college....however, I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks and/or has heard.

moose

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LC Since: July 14, 2002
324/254/250
Progress:
http://www.djmoose.com/lowcarb/
Sig Updated: 3/15/05

*L* i take em whenever i can REMEMBER TO..*L*,,i DO try to take most with meals.. so they dont sit on an empty stomach... but i have been known to chug em whenEVER just so i dont forget!

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kims SECOND journal is HERE
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I pop all my pills with Breakfast. I would forget to do so if I took them more than once a day.

Each supplement should have "instructions" on them. Some of mine say before meals, some say with, and some say after. Whatever! I'm just proud of myself when I remember to take them every day.

I actually do take all of my supplements together at night, about an hour before bed. I'm trying to get all my water in, and washing all those pills down helps with that. I know that our bodies do their repairs at night, so I guess I'm trying to give mine the tools it needs!
To check out what everyone is taking, do a search on "Supplements" and there are a few threads about this. HTH

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Don't do what I do...take them all together right before dinner. Why?
Well...read the bottle. Some say to take before eating. Others say to take with food. And there may be others, like my thyroid meds, that are made to be taken on an empty stomach.

I take my before dinner for a couple reasons:
1) I wouldn't remember first thing in the morning, every morning.
2) When I did take them in the morning, I'd get sick to my stomach
3) I figure if they go in at night, they have a better chance of staying in my system longer. What doesn't go out during that final tinkle before nigh-night hopefully stays in the body doing some good.

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Melissa

All good info here...let me add to my thoughts:

Many people say that if you take them on an empty stomach...your body doesn't absorb them as much and they come out in your urine. (which...we all do A LOT...right?!?!) So I would think that if you take them away from meals...you'd be more likely to pass more of them. (I'm just thinking out loud...I don't know this for SURE...)

In the morning is also a good idea...since whatever we intake will be in our bodies all day while our metabolism is the highest.

I don't know, I just feel that it makes more sence to take them in the middle of any meal...preferably near the beginning of the day...since that's where your body natuarally gets it's nutrion from....the food you eat...

any more thoughts?

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LC Since: July 14, 2002
324/254/250
Progress:
http://www.djmoose.com/lowcarb/
Sig Updated: 3/15/05

I take my in the morning with breakfast. That's just a habit I got into in the beginning. Two, which say take on an empty stomach, are taken before I start breakfast (while preparing it). The bottles sit on the kitchen table as a constant reminder. All the other supps I take are in little baggies so all I have to do is grab one bag and start chugging them with water after breakfast. That also helps me get in my first 24 oz. of water for the day!

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Alida
5'1" ~ 59 years old
Highest weight: 165
Atkins 7/10/2004
160/126/125
RE-DO, January 2008:
167/162/135

Some of mine, like calcium and fish oil and glucosamine/chondroitin, require two separate doses per day. So I divide all my supplements into morning and night groups, and take them after I eat. Most of them say "with a meal" anyway.

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Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

I am like Kim...take them when I remember. Usually it's at night some time after my supper. I use to take my prenatals then so they wouldn't make me sick so I guess I've just carried over that habit.

But it's also tru that some require food for absorbtion and some require an empty stomach, depends onwhat you're taking.

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Noël


Worry doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrows, it empties today of its strengths.