People across the country take supplemental vitamins every day because they are concerned about their health and believe getting the right vitamins is essential to good health. Vitamins are a necessary part of converting food into energy in the body, and not getting enough vitamins can lead to serious diseases like scurvy and rickets. For many, there isn’t enough consideration on just how much of certain vitamins they should take on a daily basis. People might assume that if a regular amount of vitamins is healthy, then upping the dosage must have even more health-boosting effects. Unfortunately, that mindset can have devastating effects.
Study after study investigating the effects of vitamins has begun to reveal that commercial vitamin supplements are likely providing extreme overdoses of vitamins that are unnecessary at certain levels. What it comes down to is the balance of antioxidants in the body, and too many vitamins can send this balance spiraling dangerously out of control. The body makes antioxidants to neutralize free radicals that are a byproduct of mitochondria converting food to energy.
Having the correct balance of free radicals in the body may actually be beneficial, and large doses of antioxidants through supplemental vitamins can drastically throw off this balance. Therefore, too many vitamins over time can actually lead to more harm than good – even potentially increasing the risk of cancer. Although it seems like this risk would halt or at least regulate the production of vitamins, a bill was actually passed to restrict the FDA from regulating vitamins and supplements.
When it comes to vitamins, it seems like there is a case of “too much of a good thing.” The vitamin industry wants people to just keep consuming vitamins even if they could be very, very harmful for them. So the key for anyone concerned with getting their vitamins is to do your research and understand what a healthy dose is for you, because more likely than not, you can just get all the vitamins you need from a healthy and balanced diet alone.
Read the entire article here: Don’t Take Your Vitamins
