Nutritional Advice for Thal Minors

Nomad, that's a form of Niacin, vitamin B3. While it does have value, it is not the chelator.

Thanks for the helpful thread. We take B12 and recently Vit.D3. Will include the others for my wife.

I see folks seem to still be taking folic acid supplements or B vitamins with folic acid in them..this is 2014 no?!!
 
Folic Acid is cheap(thats why many manufacturers use it, probably unhealthy and there are better alternatives, especially for folks with MTHR genes and probably for Thals like me.

http://chriskresser.com/folate-vs-folic-acid
Quote:
You can supplement with folate if your dietary intake is inadequate. Look for products that contain the Metfolin brand, or list “5-methyltetrahydrofolate” or “5-MTHF” on the label. Avoid products that say “folic acid” on the label. Make sure to check your multivitamin, because most multis contain folic acid and not folate.

I take around 1200mcg of calcium folinate [folinic acid] a day, the 5-MTHF is also good or eat lots of greens, eggs and liver, but just avoid all FOLIC ACID supplements or foods containing it.

Must be 100's of docs/nutrition gurus advising against folic acid if you do a search.

TonyF,

Thank you for bringing up a valid point about folic acid. I have revised the original recommendations to reflect this.

Yeah That is True ! I can recomend a Good Brand : Pure Encapsulations B-Complex plus and it contains
L-Methylfolate or Metafolin*.
Take care. K.

Nomad, your product contains 400 mcg of folic acid. How would you get a product with around 1-2 mg of folic acid or more as l-methylfolate? I haven't found anything close to that and I bet it would be extremely expensive.

The product I do use costs ca 50€ and contains 120 capsules so it lasts almost 4 months.
The 400mcg are 200% of the RDA and very good absorbable so there is no need for a higher dose...
Save your money. 

Hi Andy,

Typically, all Thal Minor have a haemoglobin on slightly lower side and doctors immediately prescribe a iron supplementation. I am not sure if this is correct way to deal with lower hb.

Can you please recommend the tests that can establish iron deficiency in thal minor and what are the ways to improve Hb if the cause isn't iron levels?

thanks!

A full iron panel should be done. This includes serum ferritin, serum iron and TIBC or TSAT%. By looking at the results of these tests and also the results of a complete blood count (CBC), especially the RBC, which will be low if iron deficiency is present, but normally is a bit high for thal minors, you can get a pretty good idea of whether or not a thal minor has iron deficiency, as well. In my experience looking at blood reports of thal minors, ferritin is often low in minors and they do not have iron deficiency. I would say no minor should ever be prescribed iron based on a serum ferritin test, alone.

I want to share this link here also
http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/08880018.2013.771388
I also want to share my experience with supplements.
I started to take lot of supplements since I read this post however my body's chemistry was all alterated  at that point . So everything that I took actually didn't helped me it was in September last year after going through surgery for gallbladder removal (it was no longer functional full of calculus ) that t I started my journey with my naturopathic doctor that actually directed me in a better  protocol with suplemmets. At this point I went back two times to talk about my symptoms and read my blood exams to actually target the problem and solve it. That has been helped me .just take supplements from the nature isle is not a good way to start it can be harmful for some of us. It was for me . But knowing what we really need is the better wag to do it . I'm aware that not all doctors are able or willing to read chemistry on our blood exams but once we find this awesome doctors is a good idea to share here with the community.

The link above us just the abstract but if you put the name of the study on a search engine will give you the option for the PDF format with all pages .

Should thal minors take Vitamin B,C,E and D without consulting a doctor. What are the prescribed dosages for each of these vitamins.

Himanshu,

Yes, majors can take all those vitamins.
B is a group of vitamins, so a B complex is best
C can be taken, but no more than 250 mg daily for an adult major. Don't take at the same time as iron containing foods.
D is needed by most people. If you don't get much sunshine, you should take a D supplement. For reference, I take at least 5000 IU daily.
E should only be taken as natural vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherols, not dl). I suggest 400-800- IU daily for majors. I have taken E daily for 40 years.

Hello Andy,

I am thal minor.Always feel pain in every joint of body.All day legs are cramp painfully and feel tired to do anything.When I walk my legs are felling no sense.Is all problems for thal minor?Last night my babies doctor also examine me and I really wonder with the doctor to see that my eyes are almost white.He said how are you surviving?You have no blood !! Take iron tablet..But not advised anything.

Please advise..

Try taking magnesium before you sleep at night. It can help with tired legs and leg cramps. Make sure you also stay well hydrated, so drink plenty of water.