Our hectic lifestyles can make it hard to eat well. Some people turn to vitamins, minerals, and other supplements to help pick up the slack. Supplements are supposed to give us more of what we need—but can you get too much of a good thing? Although their prevalence may make them seem benign, some vitamins and minerals can be harmful if we overdo them, with excess levels leading to toxicity.
Fat-soluble vitamins, however, are stored in the body’s tissues, which means we can take too much, and in excess amounts, they can lead to toxicity. The four fat-soluble vitamins are A, D, E, and K. Calcium and iron are essential minerals to maintain health, but too much of either can lead to serious side effects as well.
Renee Kindler is a functional medicine and nurse practitioner at Aonani Functional Medicine. When it comes to vitamins, minerals, and hormones, she told The Epoch Times it’s best to follow “the Goldilocks principle.” The recommended daily allowance, or RDA, of vitamin A we need depends on our age and gender and is measured in micrograms (mcg) of retinol activity equivalents, or RAE.
Adult men (19 years and up)—900 mcg Adult women (19 years and up)—700 mcg Pregnant women—770 mcg Breastfeeding women—1,300 mcg Too Much Vitamin A Dizziness Nausea Blurred vision Severe headaches Muscle aches Coordination problems “Vitamin A can cause birth defects, and you can’t reverse that. If somebody’s taking it for acne, a lot of times that can be a childbearing ag.
