Toxicity of Vitamins
Posted on March 19th, 2012

By, Dr. Nishan Wijesinha (Consultant/Director) MIS Services 107, St. Antony’s Road, Colombo 3

When people start to look around for supplements they naturally are looking to get the most for their money. That is only natural. And of course the companies that sell vitamins try to get your attention by printing in large print how much each capsule or pill contains: this one has 400 IUƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚´s, another 4000, and a third 10,000 IU. The use of supplements is increasing and so is the number of fortified foods. The question that arises, is whether we need to worry about getting too much of a good thing. And the answer is yes and no.

Vitamins are grouped into two broad categories: water soluble vitamins (thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenate, vitamin B12, folic acid, ascorbic acid) and fat soluble vitamins (vitamin E (tocopherols), vitamin D, vitamin A, vitamin K). It is a general rule that there is very little danger of consuming toxic levels of water soluble vitamins; because they are soluble in water, their elimination from the body is very efficient. So when the body recognizes that the intake of water soluble vitamins exceeds daily needs, the elimination process becomes more efficient and the excess is voided from the body in the urine.

With fat soluble vitamins there is more danger. Fat soluble vitamins are not as quickly eliminated from the body, but rather are stored in fat tissues and in various organs throughout the body. The regulation of the body levels of these vitamins is therefore not as precise as for the water soluble vitamin consumption at levels above those required can mean the build up of toxic levels of fat soluble vitamins in the body.

For some people supplements may be a way of making up for inadequate or improper nutrition, but attention should be paid to the total intake of all nutrients supplementation to avoid toxic results.


Toxicity Table

Vitamin

Overdose Level

Symptoms

vitaminƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ A 10,000IU units/day irritability, fatigue, insomnia, painful bones and joints, abnormal bone growth, loss of hair, itchy skin, anorexia, decreased blood clotting time, birth defects, abortions. In children: malaise and fatigue, desquamation of the skin and mucous membranes, abnormal growth, and pain an tenderness in the long bones. Pseudotumour cerebri, manifesting as headache and irritability
vitaminƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ E If your not a Athlete any dose
(probably high)
Absolute increase in blood pressure
vitaminƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ D 4000IU /day anorexia, nausea, diarrhea, muscular weakness, joint pains, calcification of soft tissues, resorption of bone. In children: weakness, lethargy, anorexia and constipation, and chronic overdosage results in hypercalcemia, nephrocalcinosis and eventually azotemia
vitaminƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ K3
(menadione)
400IU/day possible thrombosis, vomiting, porphynuria in pregnancy can cause jaundice in the newborn, block the effects of oral anticoagulants.
vitaminƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ K1
(phytonadione)
NotƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ considered
toxic
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 
vitaminƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ K2
(menaquinone)
NotƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ considered
toxic

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