Vitamin toxicity is a dangerous reaction to taking massive amounts of vitamins. Although vitamins are well known to be excellent for your body and your health, taking too many vitamins can cause vitamin poisoning, or hypervitaminosis. Vitamins are often used in medical treatments to help fight and prevent disease. However, when using vitamins as a supplement, or as a way of treating and preventing disease, it is vital you know the correct doses you should be taking and follow that to the letter. You may think more is better, but in the case of vitamins it can be more dangerous.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A can play an important role in bone growth, regulating the immune system and vision as well as helping to prevent and fight diseases. However, an overdose of vitamin A can lead to several serious side effects. An overdose of vitamin A can occur after a long-term consumption of more than 20 mg per day. The average allotment should be no more than 5 to 10 mg per day, even for a mega-dose. Some symptoms you might have from a vitamin A overdose are vomiting, constipation, severe headaches and severe bone pain. Too much intake of vitamin A could even cause a dangerous condition called hydrocephalus, which is the accumulation of water in the brain that can lead to brain injury or even death.
Vitamin B6
Vitamin B6 is a water-soluble vitamin that performs a variety of functions in your body and is important for maintaining good health. The immune and nervous systems need vitamin B6 to function properly, and it's essential for red blood cell metabolism. However, a mega-dose of vitamin B6 could be toxic to your body. A daily dose of 2 to 5 grams of B6 might cause tingling sensations in the soles of your feet and up the legs, as well as difficulty walking. A steady mega-dose of 2 to 5 grams of B6 can result in numbness of extremities and extreme nausea, and could even damage your immune system. A recommend dose for healthy adults is 100 mg per day.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is an excellent antioxidant that is also great for wound healing and collagen production. The recommended dosage for vitamin C is 60 to 100 mg per day for healthy adults. A daily supplement of anywhere over 1 to 3 grams can be very toxic to the body. This high dosage can double the amount of calcium oxalate in your body, which can result in the forming of kidney and gall bladder stones. Because the vitamin waste of your body is excreted through the kidneys and out of your body by the way of urine, extra calcium buildup is likely to result in the formation of these stones.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is essential for bone health as well as calcium absorption and healthy immune function. But taking too much vitamin D can result in some very toxic consequences. For adults, a daily dosage of 1 to 3 mg of vitamin D can be toxic if consumed over a long stretch of time. Some common symptoms you may feel are nausea, pain in the joints, vomiting and loss of appetite. A prolonged toxic dose could result in irrevocable deposits of calcium in the soft tissue areas of the body, which could result in damage done to the heart, kidneys and lungs.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that is an important antioxidant in the body. It protects the body tissue from damage caused by free radicals, improves muscle strength and is excellent for skin health. However, too much vitamin E in your body can produce headaches, diarrhea and extreme fatigue. Also large doses of vitamin E taken over long periods can result in deficiencies in other important vitamins like D, A and K. The daily intake of vitamin E should be 100 to 250 IU daily. Anywhere over 1,000 to 5,000 IU can be toxic to the body.
Vitamin K
Prolonged intake of toxic doses of vitamin K can result in severe anemia, which is the reduction of the level of red blood cells in the body. Vitamin K is necessary for normal blood clotting in the body, as well as for liver health. A toxic dose, however, might bring numbness to the extremities and shortness of breath, and can even cause severe allergic reactions. The recommended dosage is 90 to 120 micrograms per day. Anywhere over 500 to 1,000 can be toxic to the body.
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