Health nuts beware; you could be popping far too many vitamin pills for your health and your pocket.
An A for breakfast, an E for lunch and maybe even a C for dinner. In between you snack on energy bars and a supplement shake or two. You may think you're being healthy, but you might be overdoing it on the vitamins.
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The trolleys of today are filled with vitamin-fortified foods from orange juice to cereals, all packed with vitamins and minerals, all claiming to have up to 100% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA). On top of bingeing on all these "healthy" foods, health fanatics are popping multivitamins like there's no tomorrow.
Now you do the math and you'll find out that you could be getting over 500% of your RDA in one day! That means up to five times what your body actually needs. Could these excess vitamins be accumulating in toxic levels?
In the experts' corner…
Chris Rosenbloom, a professor of nutrition at Georgia State University in Atlanta, gives plenty of advice to the new-age pill poppers.
He says that it is unnecessary to eat two energy bars, a protein shake and vitamin supplements every day.
Rosenbloom's counterpart at Tufts University in Boston, Prof Jeffrey Blumberg, agrees and says that despite eating a wide range of vitamin-fortified foods and popping the ABC of pills, most people still aren't getting the right vitamins. "Most people need a multivitamin as 'insurance.' Everybody needs to eat more healthfully. While you're trying to get there, take supplements."
It all boils down to a question of knowledge, says Rosenbloom, people don't know what they're buying. For example, they might not realise that the orange juice they're drinking is calcium-fortified or they might not know how many vitamin C supplements to take.
The maximum safe amount of popular vitamins
According to the Institute of Medicine in the US, the "tolerable upper intake level" (or maximum safe amount that anyone should take) for all vitamins and minerals is as follows:
Vitamin A
The threshold for adults is 10 000 IU for vitamin A. Remember that you are already getting this essential vitamin from meat, fish and dairy products and you may be eating your full of beta carotene from orange and yellow vegetables. Your body converts beta carotene into vitamin A, but is clever enough not to convert it all into vitamin A, says Rosenbloom.
Rosenbloom's advice is that if you're taking a multivitamin that contains 5000 IU, as well as eating foods fortified with vitamin A, plus foods that contain natural vitamin A, you're probably OK. "It's the supplements we worry about. It's easy to overdo it with pills," says the prof.
Vitamin C
The upper tolerable limit of vitamin C is 2000 mg a day, but some people take up to 10 000 mg a day. According to Rosenbloom people that overdo it on the vitamin C can get diarrhoea and if they are prone to kidney stones, they can increase their risk. "People just aren't aware how potent these vitamin supplements are," she says. Some people even think they have food poisoning when it turns out that they just over did it on the vitamin C.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is a bit more tricky, because we all need some and as we get older, we need more. The problem is that if you get too much vitamin D, it can actually cause calcium to leak out of your bones.
Some calcium supplements contain vitamin D, as do some brands of orange juice. If you are not a dairy-drinker, it will be to your benefit if you drink vitamin-fortified orange juice. But Rosenbloom is concerned that if you are already drinking dairy, and you then you take a vitamin D supplement as well, the "layering" will be a problem.
Vitamin B6
Luckily, this vitamin is water-soluble, which means that the excess is excreted in your urine. The limit for adults is 100 mg of vitamin B6 a day. It's easy to get this low dose in pill form. If you overdose on this vitamin, you could have temporary nerve damage and may experience a loss of feeling in your hands and feet, says Rosenbloom.
She adds that 15 years ago, women were encouraged to take large doses to help with depression and PMS, but recent medical knowledge has debunked that myth.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E has been touted as the miracle vitamin, preventing everything from Alzheimer's, macular degeneration, cancer and heart disease. The upper tolerable level is 1000 IU, while the RDA is 30 IU. According to Blumberg, it is virtually impossible to have an overdose of E from your diet or fortified foods.
He mentions an Alzheimer's study in which participants took 2000 IU of vitamin E for four years, without any adverse effects. In a similar study, people took 800 IU for six years with no side effects.
So what's a health nut to do?
The experts say that the best thing to do is to examine all food labels. Read the supplement fact panel on all energy bars and cereals. If it says 100% of RDA, you may be able to go without a multivitamin supplement.
Better still, go to a nutritionist who will be able to evaluate your diet and will tell you what vitamins you are deficient in. Alternatively, you can do one of Health24's informative quizzes on your personal nutrition.
Rosenbloom says that most people are surprised when they see which nutrients they are getting and which ones they are lacking. You might need a calcium supplement, or, if you hate citrus fruits, you might have a low vitamin C level.
Who really should take multivitamins?
Blumberg's final word on the matter is that you should take a multivitamin and if you don't drink a lot of milk, you should be taking a calcium supplement. The following people should all be on a good multivitamin supplement:
People whose medication interferes with their nutrient absorption
Older people with low calorie intakes
Athletes
Pregnant women
Blumberg warns against taking vitamin A "bombs" that contain up to 25 000 mg.
A final note to all you hypochondriac's out there
Nutrient supplements in general, be it vitamins or minerals, are to quote Blumberg, "enormously safe". She says that even if you down a gallon of orange juice a day, pile your plate high with fruit and vegetables and then pop 1000 mg of vitamin C, "you're not even going to get close to toxicity." – (Health24)
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