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Proteinboy

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i just recently noticed i might be getting "too much" vitamin a.
i eat around 2-3 carrots a day(hey, theyr fun snackers). thats around 560% of the daily reqirement for 2 carrots. on top of that, i have a scoop of spirulina every day which has 320% of daily requirement of vitamin a.
and i eat other veggies...how do i know when i am getting "too much"?
 
Yes, there is such a thing as vitamin or mineral overdose. Usually, this occurs when manufacturers accidentally put too much of a specific vitamin or mineral in a supplement, which in turn causes the consumers to have a variety of symptoms or it occurs when consumers take too many vitamins.

For vitamin A, an overdose may lead to liver damage, blurred vision, osteoporosis, headaches, hair loss, dry skin, etc. The upper limit (the most you want to take to avoid getting symptoms) for vitamin A in men and women over the age of 11 is 10,000 IU (which would be 200%). An adult male should only be getting around 3000 IU per day (according to the new RDA values). Usually, once you hit 25,000 IU of vitamin A in your body (500%), you will start seeing symptoms of an overdose.

Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin, however, so if you are not consuming much fat in your diet, that would mean that you're absorbing less of that nutrient (which in your case is good). If you are consuming a diet high in fat, it will actually cause your body to absorb even more of the vitamin. Keep in mind that it doesn't come out of your body very easily so it will collect in your blood stream and organs. If the overdose is severe enough, the doctors may have to chelate your blood (basically it's a drug that filters out the vitamin).

In 2003, there were 707 reported cases of vitamin A overdose, 2 major cases, and thankfully 0 deaths. On the other hand, there were 4 deaths nationwide for other vitamin overdoses that year.

Your carrots contain up to 20,000 IU of vitamin A already, so I would not be taking any supplements that also contain vitamin A. I know many of you may disagree with me, but as long as you have a healthy and balanced diet, there is no need to take supplements, especially supplements that contain vitamins and minerals. If you wish to take supplements, you may take stuff like fish oil. I was just looking up spirulina and it's especially dangerous for you in particular because it contains fat, which will cause more of your vitamin A to be absorbed. If I were you, I would stop taking spirulina. It's not necessary to obtain your goals (it may in fact keep you from them). I hope this helps.
 
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spud912 said:
I know many of you may disagree with me, but as long as you have a healthy a balanced diet, there is no need to take supplements, especially supplements that contain vitamins and minerals.
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I totally agree, at least now if you get flamed it'll be directed at both of us :)
I take a fish oil capsule because I know I don't eat enough good fat but apart from that I get everything I need from my diet
 
Derwyddon said:
in a single dosage, it takes almost a million iu of vitamin a to cause acute toxicity. 2500 a day can be dangerous if eaten daily. if you're a baby.

honestly, don't worry about the vitamin a in your carrots.

i'm not sure where you got your info, spud, but i have a feeling its something you looked up and don't have a lot of background knowledge of. if i'm wrong, i apologize.
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I have a bachelor's degree in dietetics, so I do have a background knowledge in these things. I did, however, have to look up the values because I don't have them permanently memorized in my brain.

You're right in that in a single dosage, it is very rare to have an acute toxicity. However, it is possible to have a chronic toxicity if Protein Boy is diligent about exercise and nutrition over several years (which it seems like he is). I don't know about you, but I just wouldn't risk it. I don't like having headaches or dry skin and I especially don't like putting my body at risk for liver damage and osteoporosis (more than it already is in my regular everyday bad habits). Please read this part of my original post:
"In 2003, there were 707 reported cases of vitamin A overdose, 2 major cases, and thankfully 0 deaths. On the other hand, there were 4 deaths nationwide for other vitamin overdoses that year."

Besides, 2500 IU is under his requirement of 3000 IU; but 20,000 IU over his bodily requirements every day for several years I'm sure can wreak havoc on his body. It's like that saccharin study where they found that mice have an increased risk for cancer when they consume too much saccharin. It didn't happen overnight or with small dosages. It took several years to build up in the bodies of the mice and the dosages were well over what anybody would consume in a normal diet (~equivalent to 500 diet sodas a day or something like that). In fact, it was so much saccharin (so much that any human would not even be able to consume that in their diet), that they decided to take the warning off the soda cans. Vitamins and minerals are different because people are actually consuming way more than what is in their diet in the form of supplements. That is why they always say "there is a such thing as too much of a good thing." If you put a huge dose of anything in somebody for several years, it will have some kind of negative impact.

Anyway, the amount of vitamin A in his diet (from carrots and other vegetables) is perfectly ok, it's when he starts adding vitamin supplements in his diet that it becomes an issue. Besides, I'm sure he'll eventually get sick of carrots (or maybe not???). He'll start looking like this . . . .:pain7: Just kidding! Eat as many carrots as you feel like . . . just lay off the vitamin supplements (in my opinion and in the opinions of fellow nutritionists).
 
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