All well and good, but you don't say where you get these supplements. Is it from a clinic, a hospital, a local pharmacist? What are their brand names?

It’s great that you improved your lifestyle and it has worked for you.  And you are aware what supplements to take and works for you.  I recommend to have routine blood work just to see if any deficiency shows up.  
Some people will criticize you for some of the things you are doing.  Because they just don’t want to improve their lives. 
Keep up the good work and stay healthy. 

6 hours ago, placnx said:

I can say that magnesium really helps, but the magnesium pills on sale here are not effective since they contain the cheapest forms of magnesium, which are barely absorbed from the digestive tract. So I have to get pills available through Lazada, etc, originating from the US.

please write the brand name. thanks

1 hour ago, Acharn said:

All well and good, but you don't say where you get these supplements. Is it from a clinic, a hospital, a local pharmacist? What are their brand names?

2mg copper from any big private hospital in Thailand. All others are Blackmores brand except for Zinc which is Vistra brand. 

 

You should look at a facebook group called the copper revolution I think its called. They also talk about zinc there. Read wikipedia for deficiencies in any of the essential minerals that have been described above. 

7 hours ago, Dirk Z said:

With a normal balanced diet and an active life style, not having underlying disease, taking vitamins and all sorts of elements and additives is totally unnecessary and possibly harmful.

Therein lies the problem, firstly because that phrase, a "normal balanced diet" was coined many decades ago and what was probably the case in those days, certainly isn't now.

 

I will give you an example, I don't eat fish and never have done; the only fruit I eat may well be some blueberries on a breakfast cereal, and then rarely; my vegetables will sometimes consist of a light salad to accompany an Italian meal (for example) and I don't cook vegetables myself.

 

Furthermore, having a very pale skin, means that I stay out of the sun.

 

So the word "normal" means different things to different people as does "balanced diet" so in itself it is meaningless, this especially in this day and age when pesticides, chemicals, preservatives and who knows what, go on and into the food we eat.

 

Who knows if we are consuming the right vitamins and minerals, and I certainly don't think I am, so vitamin tablets are, IMO, a necessity for someone like me.
 

12 hours ago, Dirk Z said:

With a normal balanced diet and an active life style, not having underlying disease, taking vitamins and all sorts of elements and additives is totally unnecessary and possibly harmful. Except for above around 70 years of age maybe the vitamin D, although in Thailand with a daily walk you probably won't even need that (as in my own situation). All these products have benefit only to their manufacturers. In the OP the improvement is clear to most aside from the poster: less drinking and more action. (I am an MD and do know what I am talking about).

A balanced diet, an active lifestyle and no underlying disease? The problem is, that probably doesn't describe many retirees in Thailand at all. That's why I think some vitamin supplementation - and at the very least, a high-quality multivitamin - is beneficial to most.

Anytime I am feeling a bit deficient in copper, I just hold one of these under my tongue, and the feeling gradually goes away...

 

 

 

A better way to ensure that you have most of the vitamins you might need, other than a well-designed diet, is to take a daily vitamin supplement, such as the Centrum Silver, but not the formula on offer in Thailand, because the two are/were completely different...

 

Some say taking vitamins just creates expensive urine, but I have no opinion.

 

If the consensus from many doctors turns out to be wrong, and popping vitamins is actually beneficial, I will not look back with regret from my grave, maybe...

 

 

12 hours ago, ChrisKC said:

I am 78 years old. I am in perfect health, physically and mentally. The last time I was in a hospital bed was 14th February, 1945. Never broken a bone or had any kind of serious medical condition - the worst I have suffered is flu! I have never taken supplements of any kind in my life - what's more, I have never had a dedicated electrolyte or energy drink. Had plenty of daily exercise that included more than 20 years as a runner in England and more than 70,000 kms on Thai roads as a cyclist, continuing currently. No running but two sessions a day of walking about 30 minutes each.  I have a balanced diet that allows for the odd indulgence that means I am not stuck with a title of "vegan" or "Keto" or any other absolutist regime!

 

Things can change in a moment, I know!

 

I don't consider myself to be lucky, rather, that I haven't been unlucky!

 

I value my situation and sympathise with those that cannot enjoy the same - I wish you all well!

 

 

 

 

That hospital stay was when you were born I guess? 

On 8/27/2023 at 11:54 AM, novacova said:

and my young wife can’t keep up with me

please explain. do you mean sexually?

20 hours ago, Dirk Z said:

taking vitamins and all sorts of elements and additives is totally unnecessary and possibly harmful.

yes but in my case Im deficient in many of them as discussed in the original post. Therefore it is necessary and not harmful to me to take these supplements. 

21 hours ago, Dirk Z said:

With a normal balanced diet and an active life style, not having underlying disease, taking vitamins and all sorts of elements and additives is totally unnecessary and possibly harmful. Except for above around 70 years of age maybe the vitamin D, although in Thailand with a daily walk you probably won't even need that (as in my own situation). All these products have benefit only to their manufacturers. In the OP the improvement is clear to most aside from the poster: less drinking and more action. (I am an MD and do know what I am talking about).

Whats a normal balanced diet? Sounds like bs to me. A doctor I know takes magnesium powder daily plus 1 or 2 other things. He used to coach football.

 

 

A lot of studies have shown many are lacking zinc anmagnesium so you must be a doctor without much knowledge of diets or studies.

https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/study-half-of-all-americans-are-magnesium-deficient

https://nutritionfacts.org/blog/how-much-nutrition-education-do-doctors-get/

 

 

1 hour ago, bignok said:

https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/study-half-of-all-americans-are-magnesium-deficient

Last week I saw a youtube video of a cardiologist in the Uk saying that most of the worlds population are likely to be deficient in magnesium. Its hard to test bc only 2% of magnesium is in the blood or something along those lines. 

 

Ever since I have been taking Mag I sleep really well. Used to wake up 3 or 4 am. Not anymore

14 minutes ago, advancebooking said:

Last week I saw a youtube video of a cardiologist in the Uk saying that most of the worlds population are likely to be deficient in magnesium. Its hard to test bc only 2% of magnesium is in the blood or something along those lines. 

 

Ever since I have been taking Mag I sleep really well. Used to wake up 3 or 4 am. Not anymore

I wonder if blood tests are a great guide. My tests indicated normal levels yet after adding supplements i felt better, joint pain stopped, muscles experienced less soreness. My conclusion is the guidelines are on the low side.

 

There are many arguments by bodybuilders on protein too.

 

 

13 hours ago, bignok said:

https://nutritionfacts.org/blog/how-much-nutrition-education-do-doctors-get/

 

 

Yep, this is the big blind spot for so many doctors, especially older doctors. Their knowledge of nutrition is often very poor.

12 hours ago, bignok said:

I wonder if blood tests are a great guide. My tests indicated normal levels yet after adding supplements i felt better, joint pain stopped, muscles experienced less soreness. My conclusion is the guidelines are on the low side.

 

A lot of blood tests don't give you the full picture, magnesium being the classic example. Also, there is a lot of conjecture of what the optimum level for some minerals and vitamins is. For vitamin D, for example, some doctors want to see a level above 50 ng/mL whereas others say 80 ng/mL. A lot of labs say 30 ng/mL is ok.