Taking Too Many Vitamins? Side Effects of Vitamin Overdosing

Nowadays, everything from bottled h2o to orangish juice seems to person souped-up levels of vitamins and minerals successful it. That whitethorn sound for illustration a measurement to thief screen your nutritional bases, particularly if your fare is little than stellar. But routinely getting an overload of vitamins and minerals tin wounded you.

Too overmuch vitamin C aliases zinc could origin nausea, diarrhea, and stomach cramps. Too overmuch selenium could lead to hairsbreadth loss, gastrointestinal upset, fatigue, and mild nerve damage.

While astir group aren't getting megadoses, if you eat a fortified cereal astatine breakfast, drawback an power barroom betwixt meals, person enriched pasta for dinner, and return a regular supplement, you could easy beryllium complete nan recommended regular intake of a big of nutrients.

Here's what you request to cognize to debar overdoing it.

Chances are, nan unfortified foods you eat aren't a problem. "It's beautiful difficult to overdo it from nutrient alone," says Johanna Dwyer, RD, a elder investigation intelligence pinch nan National Institutes of Health's Office of Dietary Supplements.

So you'll want to deliberation astir nan supplements you return and fortified foods aliases drinks.

"Most group don't recognize there's nary existent advantage to taking much than nan recommended amounts of vitamins and minerals, and they don't admit location whitethorn beryllium disadvantages," Dwyer says.

"If you're taking a supplement, instrumentality to 1 that's nary much than nan regular value," Dwyer says. (Daily worth is nan magnitude of a vitamin aliases nutrient that a personification should get for optimum health.)

Talk pinch your expert astir immoderate supplements you're taking, including vitamins and minerals, and nan dose you're taking, too. That way, your expert tin thief you support doses successful a safe range.

"If you're taking a basal multivitamin, there's nary request to fearfulness taking excessively much," says Andrew Shao, PhD, elder vice president of technological and regulatory affairs for nan Council for Responsible Nutrition, a waste and acquisition group for nan supplements industry.

"Most multivitamins person specified a wide separator of information that moreover erstwhile you're combining them pinch fortified foods, it's still not going to origin you to keel over," Shao says.

"I person not seen personification disconnected nan thoroughfare who was taking a toxic level of vitamin A aliases D -- those are very unusual," says David Katz, MD, head of nan Yale University Prevention Research Center successful New Haven, CT, whose aesculapian believe specializes successful nutrition. "What I'm much apt to spot is simply a personification pinch a dosing level of supplements that's higher than optimal."

Scientists don't yet cognize if routinely getting a small spot excessively overmuch of a vitamin aliases mineral (as opposed to a megadose) is simply a problem, Katz says.

"There mightiness beryllium hints of concern, but they would beryllium very subtle signs," he says.

These reasonably mild symptoms whitethorn see trouble sleeping aliases concentrating, nervus problems specified arsenic numbness aliases tingling, aliases emotion much irritable -- depending connected nan nutrient that's going overboard.

The bigger concern, Katz says, is that we're "garnishing nan nutrient proviso pinch overfortification."

He says manufacturers person shifted their attraction from what they've taken retired of nutrient -- specified arsenic its fat, sugar, aliases brackish -- to what they're putting in, whether it's vitamin D, probiotics, aliases omega-3 fats -- immoderate nutrient is successful vogue.

"When much and much foods are enhanced, it becomes intolerable for consumers to cognize what dose they're getting complete nan people of a day," Katz says. "Clinicians person to recognize we mightiness beryllium introducing caller dietary imbalances because of this practice."

Dwyer says vitamin D, calcium, and folic acid are 3 nutrients you whitethorn get excessively overmuch of, particularly done supplements.

Adults who regularly acold transcend nan 4,000 world units (IUs) regular safe precocious limit for vitamin D mightiness whitethorn extremity up pinch superior heart problems.

Folic acerb is added to enriched atom products -- achromatic flours, pasta, rice, breads, and cereals -- to thief forestall commencement defects successful babies owed to folic acerb deficiency successful pregnant women. While folic acerb fortification has trim nan number of commencement defects by 25% to 50%, it mightiness person created different wellness concerns successful group getting excessively much.

It's not difficult to get much than 1,000 micrograms of folic acerb a time (the safe precocious limit for adults) from fortified foods and supplements connected a regular basis. Doing truthful mightiness hide nan signs of a vitamin B12 deficiency successful older adults. Vitamin B12 deficiency tin sometimes lead to imperishable nerve damage if near untreated.

There's nary request to interest astir foods that are people rich | successful folate.

"Most group tin now get capable folic acerb without having to trust connected supplements," Dwyer says.

In fact, she says, "most group person nary problem [with getting excessively overmuch vitamins aliases minerals] if they commencement pinch food, which is nan healthiest and safest measurement to get them."