Are Vitamin Supplements Safe?

Vitamin and mineral supplements are greatly used nowadays, particularly during illnesses or pregnancy. However the safety of some of these supplements has come up quite a bit. But the problem is knowing which supplements are those that can be harmful.

The fact of the matter is that just because a product is called natural, that doesn’t mean that it is necessarily safe. The simple fact is that there are harmful effects that are associated with 30 different types of vitamins and minerals if taken by some people and taken to extremes.

Safe upper limits were actually recommended for eight different types of supplements, including vitamin B6 (10mg), beta-carotene (8mg) and zinc (20mg) and an additional 23 supplements received guidance levels. The majority of vitamins and mineral are safe if the doses taken don’t exceed the recommended dosage levels.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued advice which stated that at least five supplements could cause bodily damage if they were taken in large quantities over a long period of time. These are:

• Beta-carotene can cause those with long-term excessive intake is linked to an increased risk of lung cancer in smokers and those people who are exposed to regular doses of asbestos. You are not recommended to take more than 7mg of beta-carotene a day.
• Manganese can cause those people who are exposing themselves with long-term excessive intake to be linked to muscle and nerve disorders in older people. Taking less than 4mg a day is unlikely to cause harm. For older people, 0.5mg a day or less is unlikely to cause harm.
• Zinc has the potential to damage the immune system. Because of this, taking more than 25mg of zinc supplements a day will be a health risk.
• Niacin with prolonged and excessive use of this, it has been linked to cell damage. By taking 20mg or less of nicotinic acid supplements a day, or taking 500mg or less of nicotinamide supplements a day, is unlikely to cause any harm.
• Phosphorous prolonged and excessive intake may cause damage to organs and tissue. By taking less than 200mg a day of phosphorous it is unlikely to cause harm.
• Vitamin C, calcium and iron in more than 1000mg of vitamin C, over 1500mg of calcium, or more than 17mg of iron per day could lead to abdominal pains and diarrhea.

The simple truth is that while supplements are not a danger in and of themselves, when they are taken to excess; when dosages are ignored; when there are already present health problems and concerns, and when they are stored poorly or expired; supplements can become dangerous.

Vitamin supplements come in many different ways and today it is the most common to find people looking to take herbal supplements as well as vitamins.

With fat soluble vitamins there is more danger. Fat soluble vitamins are not as quickly expunged from the body as water soluble vitamins, but are stored in fat tissues and in various organs instead.

For some people, supplements may be a way of making up for inadequate or improper nutrition, but a special bit of attention should be paid to the total amount that yo take in of all nutrients from all sources, which include adding supplements to avoid over nutrition and toxic results. What happens then is a vitamin overdose.