Anyway, Kelly - wow! Your weight loss is quite an accomplishment! What type diet did you follow? Biotin is good for your nails too isn't it? Can you tell a difference there? Tina, I first started on Weight Watchers and exercise but even though I had wonderful success I decided that I wanted to know more about the calories and nutrients I was putting into my body. I switched to using an online journal (myfooddiary.com) that gives me more detailed info including what percent of my calories are coming from fat/carbs/protein. I'm doing some serious weight lifting and need to keep my protein up to 30-35%. My total calories that I eat everyday is based on my resting metabolic rate and the calories I burn through working out. If I have a light workout day I eat fewer calories. When I'm really on top of things and meeting my daily goals I can easily lose 2.5 to 3lbs per week. Biotin is great for nails and hair as well as boosting the metabolism. I have a hypothyroid and starting taking medication a year ago and my hair fell out badly. It's still not back to the way it was but is a little thicker. Yes, the niacin reaction is immediate. I don't get the hot flash feeling or flushing (which is weird because I am very fair and flush very easily). My rash is/was a ring around my neck and slightly raised. It took a little over a week to go away.

Sometimes I feel like my own family is a micro-experiment where I get to see first hand how much genetics vs environment might play into things. As an example, when each of my 4 children were born, once we came home from the hospital, I had a one month "quarantine" for lack of a better way to put it. The baby did not leave the house except for necessary doctors visits and we did not have visitors. This was intentionally done for two reasons. One was to protect my newborns extremely fragile immune system and the other was to allow ourselves as a family unit to adjust to this new reality. I've also never sent my kids to a daycare or nanny so they have all had basically the same (non)exposure to other children in their preschool years. My 1st and 3rd both have the same blood type, look remarkably similar in face shape as well as general body composition (between 5 and 8 percent on height/weight charts) and both have had to have tubes in their ears and generally get sick more frequently. My 2nd and 4th both have the same blood type, look remarkably similar in face shape as well as general body composition (between 50 and 75 percent on height/weight charts) and both get sick less often and when they do get sick, they bounce back faster than the other two. All 4 have been raised in the same environment, had the same limited exposure to others as a young child, been taught the importance of hand washing and general hygiene AND gone to the same pediatrician so they have had the same medical care. When my 2nd was 2 years old, she was severely burned. The burn doctors suggested, as part of her treatment, that she begin taking a daily multi vitamin. She and DD1 both began getting a multivitamin every night for a year. I saw no difference in getting sick before or after we were taking multivitamins daily. In my personal opinion, genetics definitely play a role, and a far greater one than taking or not taking a vitamin might have. The rest comes down to proper hand washing.

My d and b12 were on the low side so my doctor recommended taking only those daily until my numbers were higher. once I was at the desired level I now take one of each suppement every third day in the lowest dose I can find. My hematologist suggested that I eat more oranges or have a glass of juice for vitamin c every day because I bruise easily. He tested my V C it was in range the day of the test so advised against buying C supplements. He thinks supplements are not necessary nor helpful without proof of deficiency. He dislikes how high the doses are compared to what most people really need. Like too much protein, too much of certain vitamins can be very hard on the kidneys. If on any meds, including low dose aspirin, many vitamins and fish oils may be counter indicative always ask your doctor first. Also if you have autoimmune disease many supplements are harmful. If post menopause Iron supplements can cause heart damage our iron needs drop significantly in our later years.

I wanted to follow up that I tried the Vitamin C powder from Good Molecules listed in Terezosa's link above: https://getgoodmolecules.com/collections/products/products/vitamin-c-booster-powder I did a bit of research on the company itself and ended up ordering a few additional products to try, including: https://getgoodmolecules.com/collections/best-sellers/products/hyaluronic-acid-serum https://getgoodmolecules.com/collections/products/products/niacinamide-serum https://getgoodmolecules.com/collections/products/products/silicone-free-priming-moisturizer https://getgoodmolecules.com/collections/products/products/yerba-mate-wake-up-eye-gel I've used them for the past month, and I can tell a big difference in my skin. I'm not convinced about the eye gel, but the Vit C (which I use 3-4 x a week), niacinamide, hyaluronic serum and priming moisturizer seem to work well. The prices are very reasonable, so if you want to try any of these products just to see if they'll work for you, before moving on to more expensive brands, this might be the way to go. Thank you, Terezosa, for the recommendation!