Have you OD'd … On Vitamins?

People often assume that when it comes to vitamin and mineral supplements, you can’t have too much of a good thing. This is an unfortunate mentality, and patently untrue. You can actually overdose on vitamins just as you can with prescription drugs, and be suffering the consequences for quite a while. Children especially are quite prone to vitamin overdose - the fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K are common culprits and some children have actually died from vitamin overdose. Today we are looking at the dangers of common multivitamins, and how whole food supplements help counteract them.

Vitamin A overdose

This can occur as a result of eating too much liver, as well as taking single vitamin A supplements for too long a period of time. Effects include liver problems, hair loss, skin discoloration, birth defects in pregnant women, precursors to osteoporosis and loss of muscular coordination.

Vitamin D overdose

We hear about the benefits of vitamin D all the time -- but only in conservative amounts. Vitamin D is fat soluble and therefore remains in the body over a long period of time. It can cause dehydration, vomiting, lack of appetite, constipation, fatigue and irritability in overdose.

Vitamin E

Again, this vitamin is fat soluble. If you consistently have too much vitamin E in your diet, you are at risk for excessive bleeding and also for heart failure in the long term.

Whole food supplements -- one solution

If you switch to whole food supplements rather than single concentrated supplements, you won’t need to take as many vitamin pills to get the same effect. The reason that scientists always say that it is better to get your vitamins and minerals from food, rather than a pill, is that over 25,000 micronutrients have been discovered in food, that act to increase the absorption and efficacy of the vitamins they exist with. Whole food supplements put all this together in a natural form with far less potential for side effects than exists in single supplements.