Vitamins can be toxic!

Most people would gladly take a vitamin tablet. That is because vitamins are important for their health. That is why a lot of food nowadays is fortified with all kinds of well-known vitamins. Milk is fortified with minerals and vitamins. Vitamins are added to beverages. The added vitamin content serves as an attraction to the buyer.

Sufficient vitamins are necessary for maintaining one’s health; for growth, for reproduction and good health. We need the vitamins and they can be found in the food that we eat.

Unfortunately, with so much fortification and supplementation which is self administered, there may be an overdose of the vitamins.

So, the first question we ask ourselves is “Do we eat balanced meals?” If we are not old, if we eat sufficient carbohydrates, a little fat, some meat or fish, a variety of vegetables and fruits every day, then we do not need supplementation of vitamins. The vitamins we need are all there.

Too much of any vitamin can cause vitamin poisoning, producing a toxic effect. Fortunately for us, many vitamins have to be taken in very large quantities for a certain period of time to be toxic.

Without vitamin D, zinc and magnesium as well as excercise, calcium cannot be fully utilized by the body to maintain strong bones. Yet, vitamin D toxicity can cause nausea, vomiting, pain in the joints and loss of appetite. If this vitamin D toxicity were to be prolonged and become severe, it can lead to irreversible deposits of calcium crystals in the soft tissues of the body and this may cause damage to the heart, lungs and kidney. So, supplementation of vitamin D is not advisable unless on the advice of doctors.

If we were to eat more than 30gm of beef liver or 500gm of eggs everyday we are taking in toxic levels of vitamin A. Beef liver and eggs are vitamin A rich foods.
Many years ago, many pregnant women who were given 10 mg or more of vitamin A daily are found to give birth to infants with birth defects. So, expectant mothers should always follow the advice of their doctors and there should be no self administering of vitamin A. Always consult your doctor. Your doctor who has done a medical examination of your problem knows best what to do. Experts are discovering new knowledge every day. Since birth defects due to overdoses of vitamin A cannot be reversed, pregnant mothers must take note of this!

Overdosing of vitamin K from menadione results in anemia. That is why menadione is no longer used.

Large doses for a period of time of folic acid which is taken as an oral vitamin supplement can cause kidney damage. Folate supplement can lead to pernicious anemia.

Vitamin C in large doses is considered toxic to those with a family background of kidney stones and gall-bladder stones.

When it comes to vitamin C and cancer, experts have reached contradictory results. There as those who believe taking big quantities of vitamin C can protect us from cancer while researchers have gathered evidence that too much vitamin C can cause cancer. Who are we to believe? Well, play safe and do not overdose with supplements.

Luckily for us, most toxicity due to excessive intake of vitamins can be reversed by stopping further massive dosing.

For further reading, go to :
http://www.lifesteps.com/gm/Atoz/ency/vitamin_toxicity.jsp or
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/819426-overview