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Skip to main content. Healthy eating. Home Healthy eating. Vitamins - common misconceptions. Actions for this page Listen Print. Summary Read the full fact sheet. On this page. The vitamin alone is not the answer Recommended dietary intakes Deficiencies and illness Sometimes supplements are needed The common cold and vitamin C Stress, depression and anxiety Vitamin E and heart disease Cancer cures Some research findings Anti-ageing vitamins Vitamins and chronic disease Where to get help.
The vitamin alone is not the answer Proper balance and adequate levels of essential nutrients is important for a range of complex processes in our body. Recommended dietary intakes Many people mistakenly believe that since small amounts of vitamins are good for you, then large amounts must be better. Deficiencies and illness The fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K can be locked away in the liver and body fat, and stored for a long time.
Sometimes supplements are needed Supplements do have a role to play for some groups of people. The common cold and vitamin C Many people think that vitamin C helps prevent the common cold. Adults need about 45 mg of vitamin C per day and any excess amount is excreted. Stress, depression and anxiety Some vitamin and omega-3 fatty acid deficiencies can lead to emotional disturbances.
Vitamin E and heart disease Vitamin E is widely promoted as a beneficial antioxidant that can help prevent heart disease.
Cancer cures Vitamin A in large doses does not cure cancer and can be toxic, particularly if taken as pills rather than food. Some research findings A number of studies into supplement use have shown negative findings. For instance: Vitamin A beta-carotene was thought to reduce the risk of some cancers, but has been linked to an increase in others, such as lung cancer in smokers, if taken in supplement form.
Several long-term studies have shown that prostate, breast and lung cancer risk are not decreased by taking high-dose supplements containing vitamins E or C or selenium. People taking high-dose vitamin E supplements have been found to have higher rates of early death mortality. Some of the most popular supplements come in a multivitamin which can help you avoid taking a dozen pills each day , but they can also be purchased as a standalone supplement.
The simplest common denominator? Some common dietary supplements include:. Also, the products you buy in stores or online may be different from those used in studies, so studies may be misleading. Also, federal regulations for dietary supplements are less strict than prescription drugs. Some supplements may contain ingredients not listed on the label , and these ingredients can be unsafe. Some supplements can increase the risk of bleeding or, if taken before surgery, can change your response to anesthesia.
Supplements can also interact with some medicines in ways that might cause problems. Here are a few examples:. Manufacturers may add vitamins, minerals, and other supplement ingredients to foods you eat, especially breakfast cereals and beverages. As a result, you may get more of these ingredients than you think, and more might not be better.
Taking more than you need costs more and might also raise your risk of side effects. For example, too much vitamin A can cause headaches and liver damage, reduce bone strength, and cause birth defects. Excess iron causes nausea and vomiting and may damage the liver and other organs. Be cautious about taking dietary supplements if you are pregnant or nursing.
Also, be careful about giving supplements to a child, unless recommended by their healthcare provider. Many supplements have not been well tested for safety in pregnant women, nursing mothers, or children. If you think that you have had a bad reaction to a dietary supplement, let your healthcare provider know. He or she may report your experience to the FDA. You should also report your reaction to the manufacturer by using the contact information on the product label.
The FDA has established good manufacturing practices GMPs that companies must follow to help ensure the identity, purity, strength, and composition of their dietary supplements. These GMPs can prevent adding the wrong ingredient or too much or too little of the correct ingredient and reduce the chance of contamination or improper packaging and labeling of a product.
The FDA periodically inspects facilities that manufacture supplements. They are accessed by selecting a nutrient from the Active Ingredients Alphabetical List , scrolling down to Adverse Effects in humans and clicking on the section Adverse Effects Literature [PubMed] , which then takes you to a PubMed listing of relevant papers for that particular nutrient.
There would appear to be several thousand reports in total, many but not all of which relate to the use of nutritional supplements. The factors that determine the potential for harm resulting from use of a nutritional supplement fall into two categories:. The majority of serious adverse reactions to nutritional supplements can be avoided if a little common sense and caution are used.
Adverse reactions to nutritional supplements that involve chronic toxicity can pass through a number of stages from adequacy to, rarely, death in a similar manner to the evolution of nutritional deficiencies. Stages of increased intake, increase in tissue stores and then organ dysfunction are the corollary of the stages in the development of a nutritional deficiency.
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