Can you overdose on vitamins?

[Lifer]

Can taking too much be bad for you?
've been sick this week and aside from taking my usual Centrum, i've also been taking vitamin C, and on the back it says 600% of RDA, plus the other 100% from Centrum = 700% :Q

 

[minendo]

Yes. Anything in large quantities can be lethal.

 

[Jejunum]

its easy to overdose on fat soluble vitamins (vitamin e) but harder to do that on water soluble vitamins (C)

600% of your RDA of C will do nothing

 

[TheNinja]

Certain vitamins may be lethal for you but a majority of them (such as Vitamin C) probably not. Your liver and kidneys will just have to work overtime, and your urine will just be very yellow from all the stuff you are pissing out.

 

[Schadenfroh]

my friend drank over a gallon of sunny delight in less that 10 minutes, does that make for an OD on vitamin c?

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Jejunum
its easy to overdose on fat soluble vitamins (vitamin e) but harder to do that on water soluble vitamins (C)

600% of your RDA of C will do nothing

A, D, E, and K are the fat-soluble ones, BTW.

 

[Looney]

Not if it's water soluble (vitamin C and B are watersoluble). Others, like zinc and vitamin A, can be highly toxic at high doses.

 

[LeeTJ]

your B Vitamins are fat soluble and you are more likely to OD on them, most of the rest ( i can't remember which is which, but most of the rest) are water soluble, i doubt you can OD on them as they get flushed out of your system as you drink fluids.

 

[LeeTJ]

Originally posted by: Moralpanic
Not if it's water soluble (vitamin C and B are watersoluble). Others, like zinc and vitamin A, can be highly toxic at high doses.

really?? i always thought B was fat soluble. Man i'm gonna have to go back and read up on my vitamins.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: LeeTJ
your B Vitamins are fat soluble and you are more likely to OD on them, most of the rest ( i can't remember which is which, but most of the rest) are water soluble, i doubt you can OD on them as they get flushed out of your system as you drink fluids.

B vitamins aren't fat soluble, they're water soluble.

Water Soluble Vitamins

 

[Looney]

And no, most of the rest arne't watersoluble... infact it's the opposite. Most are highly toxic at high doses.

 

[Nocturnal]

You can get sick, very sick.

 

[LeeTJ]

hmmm

i thought vitamin b12 was found in fish oil.

 

[gururu]

I've never heard of someone ODing on a vitamins. I know you can get a quick rush/fix off a huge B12 load by injection or consumption. Fat soluble vitamins can cause chronic problems because they build up in your body and aren't utilized properly. Most water soluble vitamins will get excreted with enough water, though I think at least one will make you feel sick temporarily.

 

[Lifer]

so if the fat soluble ones are dangerous at high doses, why does Centrum provide 100% of it?
do they think that you won't eat other foods the rest of the day that contain other nutrients as well?

how much is considered overdose?

 

[StageLeft]

centrum has that all because it's better to take 200% of a vitamin in a day than not get enough. many athletes take more than RDA anyway. rDA, AFAIK, is a recommendation of what you need minimum to fight disease and stay basically healthy. It's not ideal though. For instance RDA of vitamin c is 60 mg. Some people believe in taking many GRAMS of vitamin C a day. That's dozens of times the RDA.

I personally just shoot for the RDA although in the past I used to take more back when I was more aware of what various vitamins did and I cared a little more about that thing. In regards to you taking 420 mg of vitamin C I wouldn't worry about it. Some vitamin C tablets you can get have 1000 mg in them.