Vitamins

Hi all,

What would be the best vitamins in a survival situation in conjunction with survival food such as mainstay rations or if your just down to basics such as canned food like beans etc?

The way things are here lately in Australia we have had floods, bushfires, crazy winds and about a decade ago I was younger but I remember we had no gas for about a week after a gas plant accident ( i dont remember much but I remember not having hot water for a week or the stove working). More recently after a windy night we lost power for 3 days in a metropolitan suburb. Yes we are close to shops and a neighbour had power etc but it made me aware to how unprepared we where, we couldnt even find flash lights or candles! We went to the local supermarket which didnt loose power but when the warning was issued it was very very busy in there, and it occurred to me again if we had a real bad natural disaster (like that in QLD with floods) things can easily get crazy and its good to have the basics ready and avoid the big queues as the grocery store!

I recently found out for myself that the powdered Vitamin C, the pure ascorbic acid you can buy at health food stores are so much more potent than pill form. I have stored up some of this because I feel something come on I take a tsp of this and it kicks it hard and fast. So my one big survival vitamin will be this powdered c! Good luck!

I was thiking vitamin C and also D the stuff you get here at healthfood shops has a shelf life of about 2 years. I was also thinking of stuff like powdered protein the stuff you use after a work out.

reply to post by q_ball


As long as you have a variety of survival foods around, you shouldn't need too many supplements. If, by chance, you have a stock of the military style MRE's, you won't even need anything else (just leave the gum in the pack until you have a stable time, it is a mild laxative). Vitamins and Minerals in food tend to digest and absorb better into the system, than supplements.

However, believe it or not, in a SHTF situation, I would totally have my Flintstones sour gummies around. They're delicious, nutritious, and the kids like them too... so we all can be survivalists.

Good thread and I will add S7F here in a minute...
any good multivitamin will do in a pinch
but there is one thing I want to point out about Vitamins I recently learned...

You have to be careful especially of vitamins that contain vitamin C... because they might burn the lining of your stomach...

the test for that is to take a vitamin and hold it to the inside of your cheek with your tongue... if it burns that's the wrong kind to be taking... might give you ulcers...

the jell caps are best and I guess it's probably best to steer clear of anything coming out of china... remember the rocket fuel in baby formula deal?

Hey OP

I have studied nutrition and in a SHTF scenario I couldn't recommend anything more highly than spirulina. It is a whole-spectrum natural superfood, and has been called the one food man could live off. You wouldn't want to but you could..

With regard to taking individual vitamins, you should never take just one without taking a quality multivitamin too.

An ideal regimen would be something like:

1 x mulitvit
1-2g Vit C
3000iu Vit D
3-5g spirulina
1 x EFA (omegas)

Combined with a fresh fruit smoothie, awesome way to start the day

At the momment I take some vitamin D in the AM, a couple vitamins C's around lunch and some fish oil with dinner usually. In a crisis situation I understand if food was reduced down to basics such as canned goods etc as I said firstly id need to limit this intake to just basics to conserve my vitamins so im guessing this intake will be reduced so what would be ideal? Again some one mentioned superfoods like spirulina? I was thinking that too and perhaps a vitamin D and C.

Or maybe just vitamin C with each meal and some spirulina at some point during the day?

reply to post by q_ball


A good multi will do wonders. The trick is to avoid the garbage sold at Walmart and other chain stores. Find a good respectable health food store and talk with them about vitamins and supplements.