Friday, February 4, 2011

Vitamin D: Anything in Excess is Bad

One may often lead to inquire how can a vitamin, that is very important to the body can become harmful when taken into excess? Yes, vitamin D is produced by direct exposure to sunlight and it is naturally produced in the human body, which is also fat-soluble making it completely harmless. Vitamin D toxicity occurs when there is an excess of intake of vitamin D supplements. When one consumes large amounts of vitamin d, the chances of vitamin D toxicity is high especially if the body fails to absorb it all. People have misconceptions that taking so many vitamins are harmless yet they never realize anything in excess could be harmful to one’s health. When people take more vitamin than the body needs, this condition can raise serious problems such as Vitamin D toxicity.

Vitamin D toxicity can be described by the following symptoms.

An effect of excess vitamin D is hypocalcaemia, which is an elevated calcium level in the blood. This will lead to anorexia, diarrhea, vomiting, and constipation. If it is left untreated, it may lead to further complications such as drowsiness, constant headaches, joint pains, bone pains and even irregular heartbeat. The most unnoticeable symptoms of vitamin D toxicity are excessive thirst, weakness, itching, and frequent urination. These can be misleading to other causes but in truth, this comes from over consumption of vitamin D. Kidney failure and ischemic hear disease are the worst thing that may happen if the condition persists.

One should always take note that the long exposure to the sun will not cause vitamin d toxicity. It will not also happen when eating foods rich with Vitamin D. Vitamin D supplements taken in excess can lead to breaking down of bones. So be sure to give extra caution. Although vitamin d toxicity is a rare case, this condition should not be completely ignored. It is still important to consult a physician when taking the proper dosage of supplements. After all, vitamin d supplements should augment the lack of vitamin d.

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