Vitamins could be killing you

[Descartes]

I don't think the title of this article could be more hyperbolic, but given the fair amount of interest ATOTers have in terms of their nutrition I thought I'd post it.

I searched for "vitamin" and didn't find this article.

Thoughts?

 

[Deleted member 4644]

#1, I agree mega dose vitamins all the time might be bad.

#2, Maybe the people taking vitamins are more unhealthy people to begin with, and are taking vitamins to try to heal themselves. Maybe thats why a few more % of them are dying.

 

[xtknight]

Vitamins are just like anything else. Too much of them is bad. Too much water is bad for you, too. Having your recommended daily allowance of them is fine for most people.

 

[lozina]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=38&threadid=2013537

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: xtknight
Vitamins are just like anything else. Too much of them is bad. Too much water is bad for you, too. Having your recommended daily allowance of them is fine for most people.

True, although the RDAs were created back in the 50's and haven't been revised since. I read an article that cited some studies saying that for some vitamins, it is beneficial to get more than the RDA.

 

[vi edit]

All of those are fat soluble and stored in the liver. And they are all toxic in high amounts unlike water soluble(vitamin c for example) ones.

That article is really pretty vague in the details department.

 

[Mucho]

I personally know someone who became ill because he was taking too higher doses of vitamin A, thinking it would help his serious case of acne.

 

[SparkyJJO]

O NOES BAN THE VITAMINSSSSS!!!!!!1111oneone!!1!

 

[yowolabi]

I recently realized that taking vitamins and supplements is pretty useless, and I threw out the few I had. I've now started eating a lot more fruit and vegetables, the foods that contain the nutrients i'm trying to get into my body.

 

[Philippine Mango]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
All of those are fat soluble and stored in the liver. And they are all toxic in high amounts unlike water soluble(vitamin c for example) ones.

That article is really pretty vague in the details department.

Tell us more! Why are they toxic? How come they're not water soluble while Vitamin C is?

 

[Phokus]

:| i'm really getting sick of hearing that all the good things for you turn out to be bad for you and then years later it turns out they're good for you again

 

[CrackRabbit]

And next week there will be a study showing that taking a daily multivitamin will lead to you living 14% longer than if you hadn't.
These studies just use up lots of money and simply contradict eachother back and forth.

 

[txrandom]

Fat soluble vitamins are harder to pass and like anything else, if you have to much of it in your body, you will die.

 

[yllus]

My mother was hospitalized for ingesting too much Vitamin C, I believe. She's a bit of a hypochrondriac and it began to eat away at her stomach lining or somesuch.

 

[lozina]

Originally posted by: yllus
My mother was hospitalized for ingesting too much Vitamin C, I believe. She's a bit of a hypochrondriac and it began to eat away at her stomach lining or somesuch.

Too much of anything is bad.

Look at the woman who died from drinking too much water for a Wii contest

 

[Mark R]

I haven't had a chance to read the study, so I don't know what sort of doses were studied - but what I have heard was that it was a wide range of doses from modest supplements, to 'mega doses'. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to read the full text tomorrow.

Originally posted by: Philippine Mango
Tell us more! Why are they toxic? How come they're not water soluble while Vitamin C is?

Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble because they are. Their chemical structure means that they are oils - which are, in general, insoluble in water, but soluble in other oils/fats. Vitamin C, by contrast, is an acid, and, like acids in general, is highly water soluble.

Because fat soluble chemicals are more difficult for the body to excrete, they tend to be concentrated in the liver. This is why fish liver oil is often used as a food supplement, it is a highly concentrated source of these oily vitamins. They are also, to some extent, more prone to being overdosed on - because even a modest excess taken for a long time, can build up. In contrast, even taking 10x the recommended dose of Vitamin C, will have only a short duration of any effects, as the kidneys will filter it out within a few hours.

As to why vitamins are toxic - the simple answer is that they serve to control, or facilitate, certain functions in the body. If you have too much of a vitamin, it can subvert the normal control mechanisms.

For example, Vitamin A is required for cells to reproduce, and mature. It acts like a 'growth factor' - a signal that tell cells that they are required to reproduce, and develop new tissues. Deficiency, therefore causes problems with tissues that need to be renewed regularly - the skin, hair, blood, the immune system, etc. Excess, causes these tissues to grow in an uncontrolled fashion, yet not develop correctly- so you get peeling, dry skin; thin abnormal hair that falls out easily; blood disorders, etc. The other problem is that the vitamin A can build up in the liver, and exceed the liver's ability to store it. The liver than tries to 'detoxify' it, by processing it into a more soluble for that can be excreted - the catch in this case, is that due to bad luck more than anything else, the technique the liver uses to detoxify things causes the Vitamin A to be converted into a nasty poison, which can cause serious injury to the liver.

Vitamin D is used to regulate calcium in the body - it allows calcium to be absorbed from food, processed in the body and stored in the bones. Too much vitamin D, causes excessive amounts of calcium to build up in the blood. This causes kidney problems, dehydration, salt imbalances, etc.

 

[krunchykrome]

Well, in that case, I'm screwed.

 

[irishScott]

Originally posted by: yowolabi
I recently realized that taking vitamins and supplements is pretty useless, and I threw out the few I had. I've now started eating a lot more fruit and vegetables, the foods that contain the nutrients i'm trying to get into my body.

I dunno. For some vitamins that can be consumed readily (I get more than enught of my vitamin C from ORange Juice) I agree, but some of the harder to obtain ones (such as zinc) are only found in a few foods, and even then in relatively small amounts (unless you eat a box of cereal a day)

Zinc especially has the greatest impact for me. Boosts the immune system. When I get 100% DV zinc a day, I get almost no allergies and those that do hit are short-lived. Tried going off it once during allergy season. Within a week I has sinus pressure and all sorts of sh!t going on. Haven't gone off it since.

I have also had NO major diseases in the last 2 years (ie flu, bronchitis, etc)

 

[irishScott]

The Complementary Healthcare Council (CHC), however, said the results were based on old data and included trials which allowed doses of vitamins not accepted here.

In other words, they were getting >100% DV. Going over it too much can hurt. Duh.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Another consideration is that too many vitamins are wasted anyhow. If you ingest too many, most will be excreted through sweat and urine before they are even absorbed into your digestive tract.

If you take vitamin C or E, take them in moderation or you'll just be wasting what you're ingesting.

 

[SagaLore]

Bogus article.

When looking at both low and high-quality studies, they found no significant link between vitamin use and death.

But high quality results analysed alone showed an average 5 per cent increase for the three supplements vitamins A and E and beta carotene.

The Complementary Healthcare Council (CHC), however, said the results were based on old data and included trials which allowed doses of vitamins not accepted here.

I don't think people should be taking synthetic multi-vitamins in unnatural ratios. But this article never should have been published.

 

[jpeyton]

Repost

 

[Zangetsu]

when i had an iron vitamin once it tasted horrible and i spit it out. now i know why. great article

 

[JulesMaximus]

I don't take vitamins. Guess I'll be living forever! Or at least longer than Little Dave!

 

[Schadenfroh]

This from the same crew that says vaccinations do far more harm than good?