Vitamins are essential for the proper functioning of the body, but their deficiency can be as dangerous as excess. Which vitamins can you overdose on and what are the symptoms?
Excessive intake of preparations with vitamins can have serious consequences. Their deficiency is referred to in medicine as avitaminosis, and their excess – hypervitaminosis. Each of these conditions is unfavorable to the body.
Hypervitaminosis – what is it?
This condition applies primarily to fat-soluble vitamins: A, D, E, K. They are present in adipose tissue, they do not dissolve in water, so the body does not excrete them with urine. Hypervitaminosis is usually caused by artificial supplementation, but not only – it often occurs in people who have an insufficiently varied diet and eat the same products for a long time. Moreover, in the presence of certain diseases, the threshold of toxicity of fat-soluble vitamins can be reduced, so taking them in small doses causes symptoms of hypervitaminosis.
Does an overdose of each vitamin cause the same symptoms?
Not. Some of them are less toxic, therefore their overdose does not involve such a high risk. For example, vitamin E found in oils, almonds and nuts, generally does not cause symptoms of poisoning. You can exceed its recommended daily dose up to ten times, and it will not bring typical symptoms. However, overdose during pregnancy may have adverse effects on the fetus.
Vitamins that can be overdosed on and symptoms of hypervitaminosis:
- Vitamin K – supplementation with this ingredient is mainly required by children, because they do not yet have a well-developed digestive system. Its supplementation may also be necessary for people undergoing antibiotic therapy, because the antibiotic destroys the natural bacterial flora of the intestines. An overdose of vitamin K leads to anemia, increased sweating, a constant feeling of heat, and in infants to jaundice or damage to brain tissue.
- Vitamin C – its excess manifests itself only in particularly sensitive people. The symptoms include: the formation of kidney stones, disorders of the nervous and digestive systems, skin rashes. What’s more, vitamin C taken in excess can be addictive!
- Vitamin D – is important for the proper structure of the skeleton, and its deficiency is mainly the elderly. Hypervitaminosis in this case is manifested by drowsiness, depression, weakness, loss of appetite, abdominal pain and headache, vomiting, kidney stones, diarrhea or constipation, polyuria. The occurrence of excess vitamin D can only be caused by excessive intake of supplements, there is no possibility of poisoning as a result of diet or excessive exposure to the sun (except for children with rickets).
- Vitamin A – most cases of excess vitamin A are associated with excessive consumption of cod liver oil. Regular intake of this ingredient in a tenfold increased dose leads to skin reactions, hair loss, malaise, bone decalcification, diarrhoea, headaches, irritability, heaviness and kidney disorders.
- B vitamins – although it is difficult to overdose on them, it is still possible. Vitamin B1 and B2 hypervitaminosis occurs when administered in the form of injections, B3 – causes dermatological symptoms (e.g. rashes), as well as cardiac arrhythmia and loss of appetite, in the case of B5 the toxic effect of this vitamin on the body has not been proven, excess B6 contributes to difficulty in moving and numbness of the limbs, and B9, although normally beneficial to the nervous system, overdose causes depression, insomnia, irritability and skin reactions.