Hi, Whilst at class last night a friend of mine was telling me that his pharmacist had refused to sell him an A to Z multi-vitamin pill in conjunction with some Cod Liver oil capsules. They didn't say why. This got me thinking as I take a multi-vit and a cod liver oil capsule each morning. Sure enough it seems that both contain the same amount of vitamin A & D and both claim to offer 100% RDA of each per day but: Multi-vit - Vitamin A 800mcg; Vitamin D 5mcg Cod liver capsule - Vitamin A 800mg; Vitamin D3 5mg Now I'm assuming that mcg is a microgram. So how cna both be 100% of RDA? Also is there a danger in taking too much of either of these vitamins, if so at what level does this become an issue? Thanks Dred
There are health risks in taking too much Vitamin A or Vitamin D (Vitamin D overdose can occur especially when cod liver oil is taken at the same time). Here are some links with more information: Vitamin D: http://www.cc.nih.gov/ccc/supplements/vitd.html#rda Vitamin A: http://www.cc.nih.gov/ccc/supplements/vita.html#risk
Thanks for those links mate. Vitamin D: "The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine considers an intake of 25 mcg (1,000 IU) for infants up to 12 months of age and 50 mcg (2,000 IU) for children, adults, pregnant, and lactating women to be the tolerable upper intake level (UL). A daily intake above the UL increases the risk of adverse health effects and is not advised." Vitamin A: "RDA for a man 19+ is 900mcg" So if my Cod Liver Oil capsules really do contain 5mg of Vit D and 800mg of Vit A per capsule I'm really over doing it! I think I'll write to the supplier to confirm the labelling of the supplement - possibly they mean micorgrams instead of milligrams?
My one a day multivit contains... Vitamin A: 2500 IU, which is listed as 94% RDA Vitamin D: 400 IU, listed as 200% RDA
So Dave, does this concern you at all? I mean we all supplement to try and give our bodies a helping hand not to poison them in some way. I guess that to get a licence to sell these products they have to fall within certain tolerances of the RDA but its when you combine 2 or 3 supplements each containing a portion of the RDA for any particular vit or min that its seems to be a concern.
The RDA's are only guidelines; and I imagine they depend on your age and size. I would definitely try to confirm the measurements being used; big difference between a microgram and a milligram. With some vitamins, if you take too much, the excess is just excreted; don't know if B12 is one of those. BTW, why would anyone need 5000% of RDA?
Hmmn well it is true you are looking less green and wrinkled these days and your tail is looking very healthy... must be down to the vitamins.