Vitamins are an essential part of your diet that help your body function correctly, but it can be difficult to get enough nutrients from your diet alone. In order to give your body the best chance for good health, there are recommended amounts of vitamins you need to have every day.
What Vitamins Do You Need?
Your body needs a certain amount of vitamins every day to function normally. The National Institutes of Health recommend the following daily doses of 13 vitamins to stay healthy:
Vitamin A : Men: 1,000 mcg, Women: 800 mcg
Vitamin D: 5 - 10 mcg
Vitamin E: Men: 10 mg, Women: 8 mg
Vitamin K: Men: 70 to 80 mcg, Women: 60 to 65 mcg
Vitamin C: Men: 90 mg, Women: 75 mg
Thiamin (B1): Men: 1.2 to 1.5 mg, Women: 1 to 1.1 mg
Riboflavin (B2): Men: 1.3 mg, Women: 1.1 mg
Niacin (B3): Men: 16 mg, Women: 14 mg
Pantothenic Acid: 5 mg
Biotin: ~30 mcg
Vitamin B6: 1.3 - 1.7 mg
Vitamin B12: 2.4 mcg
Folate: 400 mcg
Your body also requires minerals such as iron, copper, calcium and magnesium to process these vitamins.
Functions
One of the most important things vitamins do for the body is regulate metabolic reactions. According to the Food and Drug Administration, vitamins help digestion and nerve function. While your body needs fats, carbohydrates, minerals and proteins to function, it needs vitamins to help transport these necessary nutrients to their eventual uses.
Warnings
Unless specifically recommended by your doctor, the Harvard School of Public Health says to avoid megadoses of multivitamins, since a megadose can easily become an overdose if you are not careful.
Overdosing on vitamins can severely impact your health by damaging your metabolic reaction or shutting down organs like your liver or kidneys (organs that filter toxins out of your body).
The only exception to this rule is vitamin D, a fat soluble vitamin which most people are lacking in their diets, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. Taking an extra vitamin D supplement along with a regular multivitamin is the best route, but again, avoid a megadose or an overdose in this situation by carefully reading your labels and consulting a physician or nutritionist before you start a new diet plan.
Considerations
While taking megadoses of vitamins is generally a bad idea, certain vitamins like the B vitamins and vitamin C are water soluble, which means they do not store in your liver or fat cells if you take too much of them. These vitamins can help boost your immune system in times of sickness, so taking an extra amount of these may help you recover from your illness more quickly. Just be sure to drink a lot of water to help your kidneys flush out any excess vitamins. This does not apply to people with a history of kidney issues.
Vitamins that are fat soluble, such as vitamin A, can harm you if you overdose on them, and if you were to become pregnant or to impregnate somebody, your child will face a significant risk of having serious, irreversible birth defects.
Identification
While the Harvard School of Public Health recommends any multivitamin plus an extra vitamin D supplement, the FDA stresses creating a vitamin strategy based on your specific needs. For example, if you are a postmenopausal woman over 50, your vitamin needs are going to be different from a 20-year-old male bodybuilder. By consulting a nutritionist, a physician, or even the dietary guidelines of the FDA you can get an idea of what you need specifically, then purchase a multivitamin with the necessary ingredients.
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