is 922% Vitamin "A" to much?

joelo436

My fitness pal app set my goal for Vitamin A to be 100 and I usually go WAY over that. for lunch I had a glass of carrot juice which really shot it up! I thought it was ok to go over with vitamins at first because vitamins are good for you. But due to experiencing medical problems ever since I started my diet I'm starting to doubt going over in Vitamin A is a good thing. Thank You

P.S. I have only recorded up to lunch time. I include snacks in lunchtime and I record dessert I might have later before hand as well.

janejellyroll

The Vitamin A from vegetables is actually a substance that is converted to Vitamin A in our bodies. Once we have what we need, we eliminate the excess so we can't overdose on Vitamin A from vegetables.

I wouldn't worry about carrot juice at all.

pookiefatcat

Not true. Vitamin A is one of the fat soluble vitamins, along with D, E and K. It will build up in your fatty tissue if you have too much. As an occasional thing it's not an issue but maybe dial it back a little?

The water soluble vitamins like B and C are peed out if you have too much.
Source

mitch16

You can overdose on Vitamin A...

http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/vitamin-a/safety/hrb-20060201

Edited to add: Sorry for the duplicate link--I didn't realize that was what @pookiefatcat linked to as well...

Unknown

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inertiastrength

Like someone else mentioned it is fat soluble and you can have too much. Vitamin C is maybe what the first poster meant; worst case scenario is you are running to the washroom with that one lol

inertiastrength

pookiefatcat wrote: »

The water soluble vitamins like B and C are peed out if you have too much.
Source

Oh not just your pee lol

amusedmonkey

No. Vitamin A from vegetables is a different type that converts as needed and is not dangerous. You may turn orange if you overdo it, but nothing serious. Here is my daily average of vitamin A in the past month:


This has been the way I've eaten since I was a child (due to my love for tomatoes) and I don't recall ever turning orange, so going overboard enough for nature's artificial tan may need even higher levels than this.

If most of your vitamin A comes from animal sources then you need to be very careful.

nikolausi88

This is only one anecdotal case and it happened to a child, so YMMV.

When my brother was 5 or 6, he was obsessed with a juice that also had a lot of beta carotene. After drinking it every day he truly turned orange and developed a nasty skin condition.
Considering his smaller size compared to an adult, it's probably easier to get way too much Vitamin A, but it doesn't mean prolonged excessive consumption of a vitamin will never have any consequences.

lemurcat12

janejellyroll wrote: »

The Vitamin A from vegetables is actually a substance that is converted to Vitamin A in our bodies. Once we have what we need, we eliminate the excess so we can't overdose on Vitamin A from vegetables.

I wouldn't worry about carrot juice at all.

Yes, this.

lemurcat12

pookiefatcat wrote: »

Not true. Vitamin A is one of the fat soluble vitamins, along with D, E and K. It will build up in your fatty tissue if you have too much. As an occasional thing it's not an issue but maybe dial it back a little?

If you got it directly (like from polar bear liver) that's true, but like janejellyroll said, that's not the case with vegetable sources because they have to be converted to Vit A anyway (they contain carotenoids).

lemurcat12

Ah, here: http://www.umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/betacarotene

"In the body, beta-carotene converts into vitamin A (retinol). We need vitamin A for good vision and eye health, for a strong immune system, and for healthy skin and mucous membranes. Taking big doses of vitamin A can be toxic, but your body only converts as much vitamin A from beta-carotene as it needs. That means beta-carotene is considered a safe source of vitamin A. However, too much beta-carotene can be dangerous for people who smoke. (Getting high amounts of either vitamin A or beta-carotene from food, not from supplements, is safe.)

Beta-carotene is an antioxidant. It protects the body from damaging molecules called free radicals. Free radicals damage cells through a process known as oxidation. Over time, this damage can lead to a number of chronic illnesses. There is good evidence that eating more antioxidants from foods helps boost your immune system, protect against free radicals, and may lower your risk of heart disease and cancer. But the issue is a little more complicated when it comes to taking antioxidant supplements."

janejellyroll

pookiefatcat wrote: »

Not true. Vitamin A is one of the fat soluble vitamins, along with D, E and K. It will build up in your fatty tissue if you have too much. As an occasional thing it's not an issue but maybe dial it back a little?

The water soluble vitamins like B and C are peed out if you have too much.
Source

Retinol, yes. The Vitamin A from vegetables is actually things like alpha- and beta-carotene. Our bodies *convert* it to Vitamin A (because we're omnivores). Toxicity from Vitamin A is only a concern with retinol. OP went over because of carrot juice. Not a concern.

janejellyroll

mrsnattybulking wrote: »

Like someone else mentioned it is fat soluble and you can have too much. Vitamin C is maybe what the first poster meant; worst case scenario is you are running to the washroom with that one lol

It's not what I meant. My post is based on an understanding between retinol (the Vitamin A in animal products) and alpha- or beta-carotene (the Vitamin A precursor in vegetables).

cwolfman13

Yeah, not a concern with vegetable sources. Vitamin A toxicity is usually a result of supplements and/or someone eating a ton of liver...

earlnabby

Are there other vitamins that work like vitamin "A" in that your body converts it from something else in food? This is cool to know.

lynn_glenmont

earlnabby wrote: »

Are there other vitamins that work like vitamin "A" in that your body converts it from something else in food? This is cool to know.

Vitamin D is sort of similar, in that your body makes it if you get sunshine on your skin, although I don't think the material the body uses (a component of cholesterol) is dependent on any particular food source. (You can also take vitamin D in supplements, or in foods that have been supplemented with vitamin D.) And like vitamin A toxicity, vitamin D toxicity is generally from over-supplementing, not because you're getting too much sunlight and your body is making too much.

kavahni

From the National Institutes of Health:
"the body stores excess amounts, primarily in the liver, and these levels can accumulate. ... Although hypervitaminosis A can be due to excessive dietary intakes, the condition is usually a result of consuming too much preformed vitamin A from supplements or therapeutic retinoids"

janejellyroll

kavahni wrote: »

From the National Institutes of Health:
"the body stores excess amounts, primarily in the liver, and these levels can accumulate. ... Although hypervitaminosis A can be due to excessive dietary intakes, the condition is usually a result of consuming too much preformed vitamin A from supplements or therapeutic retinoids"

Also from the NIH: " Although excess preformed vitamin A can have significant toxicity (known as hypervitaminosis A), large amounts of beta-carotene and other provitamin A carotenoids are not associated with major adverse effects."

OP isn't asking about preformed vitamin A, the question is about going over MFP goals due to consumption of large amounts of beta-carotene and other provitamin A carotenoids.

https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminA-HealthProfessional/