[lschmidt]

I know I should be eating plenty of fruits and vegetables each day, but it just doesn't happen. So, I've been looking at adding a greens supplement and/or a multivitamin. I've heard good things about NOW foods, and they make both a multivitamin as well as a greens supplement (both in capsule form).

NOW Green Phyto Foods Tabs: Bodybuilding.com - NOW Green Phyto Foods Tabs - Pure Vegetarian! On sale now!

NOW Liquid Multi Gels: Bodybuilding.com - NOW Liquid Multi Gels - Multi-Vitamin & Mineral! On sale now!

1) Would it be overkill to take both? Would simply one of these suffice?

2) Would the Green Phyto Foods Tabs also give me plenty of antioxidants?

thanks

PS my current diet consists mainly of:

protein: eggs, salmon, tilapia
carbs: wholegrain bread, cheerios, wholegrain rice
other: lots of milk, a daily banana, and recovery powder (prolab n-large II)

[MikeMartial]

Originally Posted by lschmidt

I know I should be eating plenty of fruits and vegetables each day, but it just doesn't happen.

Why doesn't it happen? It's easy. Lose the whole grains and replace with fruits and vegetables. It requires a conscious effort, but barely.

Originally Posted by lschmidt

1) Would it be overkill to take both? Would simply one of these suffice?

Some would call it overkill, others essential. I take both, and split the timing. As an example, I'll take a multi in the morning, and then add my Greens+ to my PWO shake in the evening; conversely, I'll have my Greens+ in PWO if it's a morning workout, and take the multi later in the day, about 3-4pm. If I had to chose one over the other, it would easily be the Greens+.

Originally Posted by lschmidt

2) Would the Green Phyto Foods Tabs also give me plenty of antioxidants?

Yes.

PS my current diet consists mainly of:

Originally Posted by lschmidt

protein: eggs, salmon, tilapia
carbs: wholegrain bread, cheerios, wholegrain rice
other: lots of milk, a daily banana, and recovery powder (prolab n-large II)

Yes, vegetables are severely lacking here. You could easily add spinach salads, vegetable stir-frys, and odd chopped veggies throughout the day.

[lschmidt]

Is it possible to be taking too much of certain micronutrients? Like if I take the greens supplement PLUS a multivitamin, what vitamins/minerals in particular should I look at to make sure I'm not getting a dangerous overdose of it?

Off the top of my head, I know for example that too much iron is a bad thing - so I would actually opt to take a multivitamin with NO iron, like Optimum Nutrition Opti-Men: Bodybuilding.com - Optimum Opti-Men - More Than A Multi! On sale now!

So if I take the opti-men AND the phyto tabs...can you think of any nutrient I'd be overdosing on that could be potentially hazardous?

[MikeMartial]

Originally Posted by lschmidt

So if I had to choose one over the other, would you recommend I go with the green foods tabs?

Yes, but I'd recommend a powdered green food supplement over tablets. The ingredients are fine, but if you look at the serving size, it's 9 tablets. IMO, that's a pain in the ass. Powdered is way easier. Good price on the tabs, though.

[MikeMartial]

Originally Posted by lschmidt

So if I take the opti-men AND the phyto tabs...can you think of any nutrient I'd be overdosing on that could be potentially hazardous?

The amount of micro nutrients in a green supplement is fairly minimal. Add that to a regular mutli, and your still very very safe. It's the fat soluble vitamins that cause problems, but at insanely high doses. I'd sure you'll be fine.

Like I said, there's lot of guys here (including me) that take both, and I'm pretty sure I'm not about to overdose.

[lschmidt]

Out of curiosity, what greens supp and what multi do you take?

[N-do]

Originally Posted by lschmidt

So if I take the opti-men AND the phyto tabs...can you think of any nutrient I'd be overdosing on that could be potentially hazardous?

Just read and compare the labels on the 2 pages that you posted. The greens supplement doesn't really have that many nutrients, so I wouldn't concern myself with overdosing.

I've noticed this about many greens supplements when you read the label. Definitely take the Greens, it makes a huge difference for me, but when you read the percentages on the label it's not exactly mind blowing.

My take has always been that multi-vitamins give you all these great vitamins and minerals that science has been so kind as to provide us a daily suggested intake for, the greens gives you something else that is not so easy to define.

[MikeMartial]

Originally Posted by lschmidt

Out of curiosity, what greens supp and what multi do you take?

I use Greens+, mixed berry flavor. It's made by a company from Canada, and it's also sold in the US, but I believe the formulation and flavors offered may be slightly different. It's the top greens supplement out there, IMO (And John Berardi's, btw)

For a multi, I'm using GNC Mega Man right now. It's an "economy" multi, IMO. You get what you pay for with multi, and this one is cheap. There's some suggested brands in the FAQ. Prior to trying the Mega Man, I was using Nu-life's Ultimate One Active. It's expensive, but it's a top quality multi.

[Cydewynder20]

FYI, Trader Joe's has a greens supplement that is much cheaper than NOW, and tastes better. I'm not totally sure of it's nutritional content in comparison to other brands, but it's a pretty good deal. (I forget the name of it off the top of my head, but it comes in a green and white bottle)

[genejo]

Originally Posted by Cydewynder20

FYI, Trader Joe's has a greens supplement that is much cheaper than NOW, and tastes better. I'm not totally sure of it's nutritional content in comparison to other brands, but it's a pretty good deal. (I forget the name of it off the top of my head, but it comes in a green and white bottle)

$9.99 for 30 servings, can't beat that. I take it personally, and I mix it with my whey in the morning and PWO

It's simply called "Very Green"