Consuming too many vitamins?

andcowsfly
andcowsfly Posts: 18 Member
in Food and Nutrition
What happens if you go over your daily value of vitamins? I know that to an extent, it is not harmful but that it is often not recommended to consume over a certain amount. Does anyone have particular advice on this? Is there anything I should watch that will affect (positively or negatively) my weight loss/fitness goals?


I take a multi-vitamin every day but then continue to eat things that are loaded with vitamins and I want to make sure I don't do too much.

Replies

  • pixiechick8321
    pixiechick8321 Posts: 284 Member
    If you are only going over by 200-400%, you are ok, especially if it's occasionally.

    If you find yourself going over by a LOT every day, cut out the vitamin! You should be getting all the nutrients you need from food anyway.

    Consuming too many vitamins over a long time period can lead to physiological and biochemical changes in the body and you are making it work harder to allocate the resources.

    Try to keep in balance, too much of anything isn't good.
  • stonerdude
    stonerdude Posts: 103
    I can foresee a lot a silly responses to this one!

    Everyday I consume up to 25,000 mg's of ascorbic acid crystals, 10,000 mg's beta carotene, and 120,000 mcg's of B-12 in

    addition to several other vitamins and supplements.

    Abram Hofer, Fred Klenner, Max Gerson, Hugh Riordan, William McCormick and Linus Pauling ALL took 18,000 mg's of C

    everyday and 5 out of 6 lived into their mid 90's!

    Oh, they (along with others) cured every disease including cancer many decades ago using vitamins.

    Americans loved to be lied to, so we have a 3 trillion dollar pharmaceutical industry! Love your drugs! :love:
  • nuclearbanana
    nuclearbanana Posts: 31
    It's hard to OD on vitamins. Most vitamins are water soluble, which in consequence, means that if you decide to take 1,000% of your daily vitamin C, your body will just flush it out via urine. If you look at vitamin supplements, they usually contain gratuitous amounts of your B's and C's, because really, it'll usually cause you no harm. As I said, if you're healthy, your body will just flush out the material it doesn't need.

    There are four fat soluble vitamins, which you CAN overdose on, which are vitamins A, D ,E, and K. Your body cannot just flush these out, because they are what we call fat soluble vitamins. Through a bunch of complex processes, your body will eventually store the ADEK vitamins in your tissues, and they can remain there happily for quite a while. If you consume too much over time, these can accumulate and you could get sick. But this is a little difficult to do, unless you're specifically taking supplements containing these. Honestly, if you're eating well, you should be fine with your ADEK vitamins.
  • stonerdude
    stonerdude Posts: 103
    It's hard to OD on vitamins. Most vitamins are water soluble, which in consequence, means that if you decide to take 1,000% of your daily vitamin C, your body will just flush it out via urine. If you look at vitamin supplements, they usually contain gratuitous amounts of your B's and C's, because really, it'll usually cause you no harm. As I said, if you're healthy, your body will just flush out the material it doesn't need.

    There are four fat soluble vitamins, which you CAN overdose on, which are vitamins A, D ,E, and K. Your body cannot just flush these out, because they are what we call fat soluble vitamins. Through a bunch of complex processes, your body will eventually store the ADEK vitamins in your tissues, and they can remain there happily for quite a while. If you consume too much over time, these can accumulate and you could get sick. But this is a little difficult to do, unless you're specifically taking supplements containing these. Honestly, if you're eating well, you should be fine with your ADEK vitamins.

    Silly conventional wisdom!
  • nuclearbanana
    nuclearbanana Posts: 31
    Silly conventional wisdom!
    Not just conventional wisdom... EVIDENCE BASED SCIENCE!!!

    Seriously, don't make me cite my sources. :|
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    There are four fat soluble vitamins, which you CAN overdose on, which are vitamins A, D ,E, and K. Your body cannot just flush these out, because they are what we call fat soluble vitamins. Through a bunch of complex processes, your body will eventually store the ADEK vitamins in your tissues, and they can remain there happily for quite a while. If you consume too much over time, these can accumulate and you could get sick. But this is a little difficult to do, unless you're specifically taking supplements containing these. Honestly, if you're eating well, you should be fine with your ADEK vitamins.

    This is interesting. I've been receiving lots (as in, bucketfuls) of green leafy vegetables from my farmshare lately and eating a "stir-fry" with some form of meat and then filling the rest of the large wok with green leafies (usually cooks down to about 2 cups), and my Vitamin A has routinely gone over 400% RDA in the last few weeks just about daily. Even more if most of that is spinach.

    USDA shows the RDA of Vit-A is 900 micrograms and the tolerable upper limit is 3000, so I've been exceeding the UL by about 600-1500 mcg for a solid two weeks almost daily. I haven't felt any symptoms though I have felt a little "off" lately (I chalked that up to finally being able to commute on my bicycle daily, 14 miles with lots of hills, and lack of sleep from having to get up really early to do the morning hour of the commute plus the shower on arrival as opposed to a 20-minute drive in), but maybe I'll cut the green leafies by half for a week, just to be on the safe side.
  • stonerdude
    stonerdude Posts: 103
    Silly conventional wisdom!
    Not just conventional wisdom... EVIDENCE BASED SCIENCE!!!

    Seriously, don't make me cite my sources. :|

    Gotta see them, but I already know they will be drug company induced studies very possibly from the Mayo Clinic!

    Try doctoryourself.com and quit believing BS! Have a nice day!
  • kasebrad
    kasebrad Posts: 61 Member
    There are four fat soluble vitamins, which you CAN overdose on, which are vitamins A, D ,E, and K. Your body cannot just flush these out, because they are what we call fat soluble vitamins. Through a bunch of complex processes, your body will eventually store the ADEK vitamins in your tissues, and they can remain there happily for quite a while. If you consume too much over time, these can accumulate and you could get sick. But this is a little difficult to do, unless you're specifically taking supplements containing these. Honestly, if you're eating well, you should be fine with your ADEK vitamins.

    This is interesting. I've been receiving lots (as in, bucketfuls) of green leafy vegetables from my farmshare lately and eating a "stir-fry" with some form of meat and then filling the rest of the large wok with green leafies (usually cooks down to about 2 cups), and my Vitamin A has routinely gone over 400% RDA in the last few weeks just about daily. Even more if most of that is spinach.

    USDA shows the RDA of Vit-A is 900 micrograms and the tolerable upper limit is 3000, so I've been exceeding the UL by about 600-1500 mcg for a solid two weeks almost daily. I haven't felt any symptoms though I have felt a little "off" lately (I chalked that up to finally being able to commute on my bicycle daily, 14 miles with lots of hills, and lack of sleep from having to get up really early to do the morning hour of the commute plus the shower on arrival as opposed to a 20-minute drive in), but maybe I'll cut the green leafies by half for a week, just to be on the safe side.

    There are two components of vitamin A:

    Carotenoids, which come from plant sources (various vegetables and fruits)
    and retinol, which comes from animal sources (eggs, liver, dairy, etc.)

    Excess carotenoids are removed from your body, so don't worry about going way over on vitamin A if it's pretty much all from plant sources. Keep eating those green leafies!
    Excess consumption of retinol, on the other hand, can cause problems. But unless you're regularly consuming a lot of liver, kidneys, etc., don't worry about it. It's difficult to get too much.
  • nuclearbanana
    nuclearbanana Posts: 31
    Gotta see them, but I already know they will be drug company induced studies very possibly from the Mayo Clinic!

    Try doctoryourself.com and quit believing BS! Have a nice day!
    From Drugs 2011 issue 71 'Vitamins and Cognition: What is the Evidence?" in the UK.
    "Different species of animals require different vitamins, and in the case of humans, four fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) and nine water soluble vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, B12, C) have been identified."

    Pediatrics, 2006 Volume 118 'Risk of Vitamin A Toxicity from Candy-Like Chewable Vitamin Supplements for Children'
    From abstract: "...Parents should be warned about the dangers of excessive vitamin consumption. Clinicians should be aware of the late peak in serum retinol concentrations, which may lead to late complications of vitamin A overdose."

    Journal of Liquid Chromotography & Related Technologies 2002 Volume 29
    From abstract: " Healthy volunteers swallowed an overdose of vitamin pills, and the urine samples were collected 1,2,3,5, and 8 hours after swallowing. Vitamins immediately showed up in urine, hit the maximum, and disappeared swiftly. This technique is expected to have some application for clinical purposes. "

    Like, I dunno what kinda proof you need that some vitamins are water soluble and others are fat soluble. :x As I said, you'd probably have to actively try to OD on them, but that doesn't deny the truth that vitamins ADEK are typically fat soluble. :x
  • stonerdude
    stonerdude Posts: 103
    Exactly what I thought! All your "evidence" is Big Pharma released. You like to be lied to don't cha?

    Over 2 million Americans die at the hands of drug doctors and the pharmaceutical industry each year, nobody dies from vitamins!
  • stonerdude
    stonerdude Posts: 103
    Besides, only ding dongs take vitamin pills!
  • andcowsfly
    andcowsfly Posts: 18 Member
    Thank you to everyone that posted real comments! I suppose there are many theories on the idea and I will be in search of FDA information regarding the situation. Thank you especially to nuclearbanana and pixiechik who tried to provide more factual evidence and not just assume that it's okay to go overboard.
  • andcowsfly
    andcowsfly Posts: 18 Member
    stonerdude:
    I can foresee a lot a silly responses to this one!

    Everyday I consume up to 25,000 mg's of ascorbic acid crystals, 10,000 mg's beta carotene, and 120,000 mcg's of B-12 in

    addition to several other vitamins and supplements.

    Abram Hofer, Fred Klenner, Max Gerson, Hugh Riordan, William McCormick and Linus Pauling ALL took 18,000 mg's of C

    everyday and 5 out of 6 lived into their mid 90's!

    Oh, they (along with others) cured every disease including cancer many decades ago using vitamins.

    Americans loved to be lied to, so we have a 3 trillion dollar pharmaceutical industry! Love your drugs! :love:

    stonerdude:
    Besides, only ding dongs take vitamin pills!

    To stonerdude: No comments necessary. I believe this says it all.
  • DrMAvDPhD
    DrMAvDPhD Posts: 2,097 Member
    Exactly what I thought! All your "evidence" is Big Pharma released. You like to be lied to don't cha?

    Over 2 million Americans die at the hands of drug doctors and the pharmaceutical industry each year, nobody dies from vitamins!

    Maybe you should cut back on the "self doctoring" a little.
  • Rhodium1976
    Rhodium1976 Posts: 81 Member
    Exactly what I thought! All your "evidence" is Big Pharma released. You like to be lied to don't cha?

    Over 2 million Americans die at the hands of drug doctors and the pharmaceutical industry each year, nobody dies from vitamins!

    And millions and millions of people would have died without chemoprophylaxis and treatments for AIDS, cancer, malaria, heart disease, etc, etc, etc.

    Big Pharma has nothing do with an Analytical Chemistry Journal. A chemist can look and the structures of the vitamins and get a good idea of their solubility in water.

    OP: I would listen to the banana.
  • Rhodium1976
    Rhodium1976 Posts: 81 Member
    Thank you to everyone that posted real comments! I suppose there are many theories on the idea and I will be in search of FDA information regarding the situation. Thank you especially to nuclearbanana and pixiechik who tried to provide more factual evidence and not just assume that it's okay to go overboard.

    Your best best is talk to a pharmacist or if you have a doctor's appointment to talk to them if you still have questions.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    There are two components of vitamin A:

    Carotenoids, which come from plant sources (various vegetables and fruits)
    and retinol, which comes from animal sources (eggs, liver, dairy, etc.)

    Excess carotenoids are removed from your body, so don't worry about going way over on vitamin A if it's pretty much all from plant sources. Keep eating those green leafies!
    Excess consumption of retinol, on the other hand, can cause problems. But unless you're regularly consuming a lot of liver, kidneys, etc., don't worry about it. It's difficult to get too much.

    Thank you. I have cut back a bit on using them as "filler" but I'm still getting well over 100% RDA of Vitamin A. Good to know that I can use all that lovely shrubbery from the farmshare and not let a leaf go to waste. :)

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