Vitamins: Helpful or Not? Part 2

Ok so I did some reading. Lots of information out there about vitamins and why you should take them. Also lots of sites plugging away at their own specific products and reasons why you should buy from them. After sifting through all that I went to the FDA's website and found this article

http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm118079.htm

If you have a few seconds go read it. Anyways here is the part that stuck out to me:

"Risks of Overdoing It

As is the case with all dietary supplements, the decision to use supplemental vitamins should not be taken lightly, says Vasilios Frankos, Ph.D., Director of FDA's Division of Dietary Supplement Programs. "Vitamins are not dangerous unless you get too much of them," he says. "More is not necessarily better with supplements, especially if you take fat-soluble vitamins.” For some vitamins and minerals, the National Academy of Sciences has established upper limits of intake (ULs) that it recommends not be exceeded during any given day. (For more information, visit www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=6432#toc

Also, the AAFP lists the following side effects that are sometimes associated with taking too much of a vitamin.

Fat-soluble Vitamins

A (retinol, retinal, retinoic acid): Nausea, vomiting, headache, dizziness, blurred vision, clumsiness, birth defects, liver problems, possible risk of osteoporosis. You may be at greater risk of these effects if you drink high amounts of alcohol or you have liver problems, high cholesterol levels or don't get enough protein.
D (calciferol): Nausea, vomiting, poor appetite, constipation, weakness, weight loss, confusion, heart rhythm problems, deposits of calcium and phosphate in soft tissues.
If you take blood thinners, talk to your doctor before taking vitamin E or vitamin K pills.

Water-soluble Vitamins

B-3 (niacin): flushing, redness of the skin, upset stomach.
B-6 (pyridoxine, pyridoxal, and pyridoxamine): Nerve damage to the limbs, which may cause numbness, trouble walking, and pain.
C (ascorbic acid): Upset stomach, kidney stones, increased iron absorption.
Folic Acid (folate): High levels may, especially in older adults, hide signs of B-12 deficiency, a condition that can cause nerve damage
Taking too much of a vitamin can also cause problems with some medical tests or interfere with how some drugs work."

Ok so after reading that I thought it could very well be my once healthy invest of vitamins that are making me sick after all (oh and I didn't take them today and I feel fine unlike the last few days)

Here's what I take on a regular basis:

Women's One Daily multivitamin/multimineral supplement
Spring Valley Natural C
Spring Valley Calcium Citrate with Vitamin D

What I realized by looking at their list of vitamins that are bad for you when you get too much is that I take roughly 560mg of vitamin C (thats from my multi vitamin and my supplement)
and that I take 1080 mg of calcium and 1200 IU.

Ok I don't know what IU and mg all that means all I know is that when I add up those numbers I am getting twice or even three times the amount the FDA recommends to get in a day. I very well could be hurting myself by taking too much. I'm not sure when or where I got in my head that I needed the extra supplements but a simple daily vitamin made for women should be enough.

Starting tomorrow I'm only going to take the women's multivitamin and see how I feel.