The Truth About Vitamins

We all know that vitamins are those things we're supposed to get from eating healthy and having enough fruits, vegetables, etc, and if we aren't perfect, we can supplement some of our poor eating habits with a multi-vitamin, right?

Well, that's fine if that's all you're having, but this post is mainly targeted to those who take a multivitamin AND like 10 other vitamins... because they think it makes you healthier. I thought about this group of people as I was studying the "Nutrition and Human Performance" chapter in my American College of Sports Medicine personal training book. There is an entire section on vitamin requirements, their functions, food sources, and of course deficiency and toxicity. Yes, toxicity. Given that term toxicity, it's no surprise that this book stresses that nothing over a multi-vitamin should be taken unless a doctor has told you that you have a deficiency and that you need to take a specific vitamin to over-come that. Did I get the attention of the 10 vitamin a day people?

Anyway, I thought I'd share some of the interesting information from my book about a few popular vitamins + minerals... 2 of which are very toxic if you intake too much...

Vitamin C:

• 75-90 mg/day
• Functions: antioxidant, collagen formation, iron absorption
• Deficiency: bleeding gums, fatigue, muscle pain, easy bruising, depression, sudden death
• Food Sources: vegetables (particularly high in citrus fruits and cherries)

Vitamin A:

• 700-900 mg/day
• Functions: vision, growth, immune function, healthy skin
• Deficiency: night blindness, eye disease, unhealthy skin, susceptibility to infections
• Toxicity: headache, vomiting, hair loss, liver damage, death
• Food Sources: fish liver oils, butter, milk fortified w/ vitamin A + D

Vitamin D

• ~5 mg/day - hard to establish because variations in sun exposure
• Functions: calcium absorption, mineralization of bone
• Deficiency: osteomalacia, poor bone mineralization
• Toxicity: renal damage, cardiovascular damage - is the most toxic of all vitamins
• Food Sources: fish liver oils, milk fortified w/ vitamin A+D, skin synthesis w exposure to light

Calcium

• 1000 mg/day
• Functions: structure of bones and teeth, blood coagulation, nerve impulse transmission
• Deficiency: reduced bone density, osteoporosis, stress fractures
• Food Sources: milk and other dairy products, dark green leafy vegetables

Iron

• 700 mg/day
• Functions: involved in oxygen transfer to cells, in numerous oxidative enzymes
• Deficiency: microcytic anemia, leading to weakness, loss of energy, easy fatigue (most common mineral deficiency)
• Food Sources: meats, poultry, fish, egg yolk, dark green vegetables

So, this post is not meant to scare anyone, but is meant to share some useful information about vitamins and minerals, and to point out the fact that if you eat a well balanced diet, you should have no reason to need singular supplementation of any of these. And of course, if you're one of those people popping 10 different vitamins a day, realize that you're probably wasting your money (unless your doctor has told you to take them), and that a multivitamin will be just as effective as what you're doing now. Also, I'm sure you don't want the problems associated with a vitamin A or D toxicity... death does not sound fun...

p.s. Research shows that vitamin and mineral deficiencies are uncommon for most people...