Berocca, anyone?

[sarahsarah]

After a recommendation from a friend, I've been taking berocca for a week now and I really do feel like I am getting some benefit from it. I realise it may be a placebo effect, as with all dietary supplements, but I do have more energy, feel less tired during the day and sleep better at night. I am aware I should be getting all my nutrients from my food and I do try to eat well but I figure this can't hurt, can it?

Has anyone else tried it? Do you swear by berocca or did it do nothing for you? Would be interested to hear from you.

Thanks in advance xx

[jaynehal]

I had it once after I had flu as I felt run down for weeks and it did seem to buck me up, it's got all the n vitimans which give you energy xx

[Sparkle1984]

I use Berocca in the mornings when I start work. I do find it gives me more energy and helps me to concentrate on my work better. I was first recommended it by a colleague after suffering from a bad cold. I think it must also boost immunity, as I haven't had a really bad cold since I started taking it. When I say bad cold, I mean one that's so severe it comes with a high fever and I have to take a couple of days off work.

[sarahsarah]

Thanks both. My mum is always getting colds, I might encourage her to take berocca too.

Sorry if TMI but have you had any urine colour issues with it?

[Sparkle1984]

Yes, it often makes my urine luminous yellow! :roflmao: Apparently it happens because you urinate out any excess vitamins your body doesn't need.

[sarahsarah]

Noticed that for the first time today and have to say it was a bit of a shock! Xx

[jaynehal]

Yes I have noticed this before ha ha x

[steveo]

There's nothing in it that should give you more energy. It's a very massively over RDA'ed vitamin supplement.

http://www.berocca.co.uk/en/products/berocca/index.php - Take a look what's in there.

It's just ridiculous amounts of common vitamins and minerals. The reason it colours your urine, is because our bodies don't need that much and excretes it out via the kidneys. Too much of this can be dangerous for us.

Unless you're severely lacking in one of these vitamins (which in todays age, all of these vitamins and packed in nearly everyones daily diets regardless if we eat alot of fruit or veg) then it's no more than a pleasant tasting orange drink.

I take an ordinary multivitamin tablet everyday which although doesn't pack upto 900% of my RDA of vitamins, still has a much broader range of vitamins and minerals and I feel no energy from it, and nor should I. I only take them as my mum bought me them.

There is a large field of research that says taking vitamin supplements does us damage, so taking up to 900% of our RDA of vitamins and minerals, doesn't mean it's better than taking 100%. It's 100% because that's pretty much all our bodies can handle of it. Anything else is wasted.

Berocca are unfortunately a well marketed waste of money.

My knowledge and opinions from my moaning post is from my years a medical professional and reading peer reviewed research on the subject, not just me being a miserable old fart :)

[sarahsarah]

Thanks Steveo, it is good to read your post. I didn't think that there was any ingredient in berocca that would actually give me energy, rather the general sense of well-being making me feel like I wanted to do more. For all I know, it may be imbibing a generous glass of liquid every morning that's doing it.

I have always been of the opinion that for me personally, food supplements are pretty placebic (is that a word) and that if you have a medical reason for being deficient in a vitamin or mineral, taking over the counter supplements is not going to help much. I think there is a lot in the theory that if you think you are doing yourself some good, your body and more importantly, your mind will react in kind. Of course this doesn't work for everyone. I take evening primrose oil because it helps with headaches. Do I really believe a the contents of the pill have balanced my hormones to such an extent that it has cured my hormonal-based headaches? Probably not. Do I get headaches any longer? No. So I will keep on taking them.

Your link to the ingredients in berocca has certainly made me think again about whether I want to continue to take it. Sorry if I haven't expressed myself very well here, they are thoughts which I have never articulated before xx

[steveo]

I 100% agree with you.

I'm certainly not here to 'bash' remedies that appear to help people. I'm here to support people through their terrible times.

There are many posts on this natural remedies part of the forum that hold zero evidence and are wasting peoples money, but thankfully we are not suffering a dangerous physically illness and I also understand the power of placebo. Infact, Placebos show to me MUCH more effective than SSRI medications!!!

Alot of people don't drink enough liquid so if a berocca is a way of getting someone to gulp a full glass of water a day, then I'm ALL for it! I must admit, in my university days, I had many a night out with lectures to go to early the next day, so somehow in a drunken state, before sleep, I would get a pint of water and a berocca and drink it all. I would then take one in the morning. I would say it had some effect, but really, the drinking a glass of water before bed and when waking, is enough to counteract the dehydrated effects of the alcohol. In my head though, it was topping up all the vitamins and minerals that I had depleted from the night before.

[sarahsarah]

Water does wonderful things for us yet few of us drink enough of it. I do try to keep informed about supplements and eating well, but it can be difficult. I know the basics never really change but there's such contradictory advice on so many things, sometimes you don't know what to do for the best.

I wish someone would write a short book or pamphlet entitled "Eat this, take these" containing information which was agreed on universally. Meanwhile, while I wait for that, I will just keep trying to make the most informed choices I can.

Right, I am off to have a glass of water! Xx

[Sparkle1984]

I must admit, I am confused about why some of the ingredients are well over 100% of RDA. I was surprised about that the first time I read the list of ingredients on the side of the tube. However, if all the excess gets removed from the body, I don't understand how it can be dangerous?

[steveo]

It's dangerous in the same way that our bodies are over working to get rid of what it sees as a 'waste product'. By constantly bombarding our bodies with too much, it can go on to cause problems.

It's just causing unnecessary work for our kidneys. Urine should never be that colour!

[Sparkle1984]

Is there anything you would recommend instead of Berocca? The main reason I chose it is because it's soluble and I don't really like swallowing ordinary tablets. I used to have the Boots own brand vitamin tablets, but they were massive and I often used to have trouble swallowing them, so I didn't buy them any more.

[steveo]

I wouldn't recommend vitamin tablets.

There hasn't been a single bit of research out there that shows they benefit us but infact, there are a handful of professionals that say they do more harm than good.

Alot of people guiltlessly take a vitamin tablet daily to make up for what they might be lacking in their daily diet.

Unfortunately popping a synthetically made vitamin doesn't do that. You'll be surprised how easy it is to get your daily quota of vitamins and minerals from fresh fruit and vegetables.

I recently bought a cheap juicer (£30). I go off to the local fruit and veg shop or farmers markets as it's cheaper than supermarkets, and pick up 3 full carrier bags of fresh fruit and veg for well under a tenner, and pop alot of that in my juicer for a lovely fresh juice. So not only am I getting well over my daily quota of liquids, I'm also getting more than enough fresh fruit and vegetables and all the wonderful vitamins and minerals that go with it.
Vitamin tablets don't make up for this.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2078861/Taking-multi-vitamin-pills-does-health.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/2097492.stm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/13/do-vitamins-and-supplements-actually-work_n_1510985.html

http://scienceblogs.com/scientificactivist/2010/01/06/multivitamins-dont-work/

There is some reading material.

I also have a great quote here from Web MD - Vitamins and other dietary supplements are not intended to be a food substitute. They cannot replace all of the nutrients and benefits of whole foods.

"They can plug nutrition gaps in your diet, but it is short-sighted to think your vitamin or mineral is the ticket to good health -- the big power is on the plate, not in a pill," explains Roberta Anding, MS, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and director of sports nutrition at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.

It is always better to get your nutrients from food, agrees registered dietitian Karen Ansel. "Food contains thousands of phytochemicals, fiber, and more that work together to promote good health that cannot be duplicated with a pill or a cocktail of supplements."