From 1985 to 1995 a group of doctors set out to test a theory—that high doses of beta-carotene and retinol, two A vitamins with cancer-fighting properties, could greatly reduce our risk of getting cancer. They put study participants on 30 milligrams of beta-carotene and 25,000 International Units (IU) of retinol each day. But instead of turning their bodies into cancer-fighting machines, the vitamins actually caused some participants to get cancer. The doctors stopped the trial nearly two years early because of the results. "We should step back and ask ourselves whether there might be a lesson to take from this sad experience of actually causing cancer with high vitamin intake," says Tim Byers, MD, professor of epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health. Byers, one of the original researchers in the trial, recently led a forum at the American Association for Cancer Research reviewing this and other studies that all found increased cancer risk with vitamin overdose.
"I think the lesson is one that says a little nutrient is good, a lot may not be better," he says. It's an easy lesson, but one many do not obey. At the first sign of a cold, we guzzle orange juice and vitamin C powders, take vitamin C tablets or suck on vitamin C infused cough drops—despite research that overloading your body with Vitamin C does nothing to get rid of your cold. It usually doesn't cause any harm either, though, which may be why people continue to take it. Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, meaning any extra hangs around in the water in your body until it's flushed out in your urine. So taking too much once in a while isn't really a problem. MORE: Do You Just End Up Peeing Out All The Vitamins You Take? But not all vitamins are water-soluble, and the ones that are lipid-soluble, meaning they like to hang around in your body's fat, don't get flushed out. Instead, if you take too much of a lipid-soluble vitamin over a few weeks to a month, they sit in the liver and can build up to toxic levels, causing problems ranging from weak bones to liver damage, according to Katherine Zeratsky, a registered dietician nutritionist at the Mayo Clinic.
Scientists are still trying to figure out exactly how much of a vitamin is too much for our bodies to handle, but in the meantime the Institute of Medicine has a list of Upper Tolerable Intake Levels, which is the best bet given the research so far. How much is too much: More than one a day. If you're a health-conscious person in the United States today, chances are you take a multivitamin. And one a day, even if you're already getting enough nutrients in food, won't hurt you. But more than one a day over a long period of time will. The most serious risk, according to the National Institute of Health, comes from multivitamins that include iron or calcium. Calcium toxicity can cause abdominal pain, weak bones, constipation, irregular heartbeat, and depression among other symptoms. Iron is one of the most dangerous minerals to overdose on, and can cause problems ranging from diarrhea and liver damage to low blood pressure and coma. How much is too much: 2000 mg. Since vitamin C is water-soluble, excess that your body doesn't need just gets flushed out in your urine.
But, The Mayo Clinic warns, large doses of vitamin C can cause problems like diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, heartburn, cramps, headache, insomnia, and kidney stones. The average person needs only 65 to 90 mg of vitamin C every day, which you can find in one large orange or a cup of chopped bell peppers. Let's Stay In Touch Keep this field blank Enter your email address You may unsubscribe at any time. MORE: 4 Vitamins You're Probably Not Getting Enough Of Vitamin A: How much is too much: 3000 IU Vitamin A is fat-soluble, which means it gets processed through your liver. Too much vitamin A will stick around until it can get processed—and taking too much every day for a month can lead to toxic levels. Other than studies like the one above showing both the beta-carotene and retinol forms of vitamin A can cause cancer, too much retinol has been linked with birth defects, weak bones, and liver damage. How much is too much: 1100 IU This is another one that has been linked to cancer.
Vitamin E is fat-soluble and easy to get in your diet from foods like meat, eggs, and vegetables—so it's rare for people to have vitamin E deficiency. The average person only needs 15 mg a day, but can tolerate much more. Too much vitamin E can cause problems with blood clotting, and poses risk of hemorrhage. High doses have also been associated with both lung and prostate cancers. How much is too much: 4000 IU, according to the IOM, but recent evidence suggests we may actually need more than 8000 IU to avoid Vitamin D deficiency. Unlike vitamin E, vitamin D deficiency is common. Doctors estimate three out of every four people are vitamin D deficient; so taking a vitamin D supplement might not be a bad thing. But be careful not to overdo it. Taking 50,000 IU of vitamin D a day can lead to toxicity, according to the Mayo Clinic. Vitamin D toxicity builds calcium in your blood and lead to weak bones, kidney stones, nausea, kidney problems, and calcification of soft tissue. MORE: Is A Vitamin Deficiency Making You Gain Weight?
How much is too much: 1 to 1.3 mg There are many different forms of vitamin B, but the Institute of Medicine only lists limits for folic acid (vitamin B9) and vitamin B6. Although B vitamins are water-soluble like vitamin C, they can cause problems when taken in large doses. Folic acid, for example, has also been linked to cancer in high doses. It's also been known to cause stomach problems, trouble sleeping, rash, and seizure. And doctors believe taking more than 200 or 300 mg of vitamin B6 can cause nerve damage. If you use acetaminophen-containing products (such as Tylenol) for minor aches and pains, or prescription drugs like Vicodin (which also contain it), please be very careful about the dose. As new research confirms, even a very slight overdose over the course of several days could be deadly. In fact, a new study, led by Dr. Kenneth Simpson of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, found that you're more likely to die from a "staggered overdose" (taking just a little bit too much for several days or weeks) of Tylenol than from a single large overdose.
Among the people who took a staggered overdose of Tylenol, 37 percent died, compared to 28 percent of those who took one large overdose. Given the fact that Tylenol is one of the most common drugs in the world, with billions of doses purchased in the United States each year, you might be surprised to learn that taking just a bit too much, on a regular basis, could be deadly -- but it's a very real, and very significant, risk. Acetaminophen is the Number One Cause of Acute Liver Failure in the United States Yes … you read that correctly, the number one cause! But because Tylenol and related products are familiar household items, many people are completely unaware that these drugs can be toxic to your liver, even at recommended doses such as eight extra-strength Tylenol tablets daily for a couple of weeks. It's surprisingly easy to take too much acetaminophen, especially for those who are struggling with chronic pain or multiple conditions, such as headache, toothache and/or backache.
Many people would not think twice about upping their dose "just a little bit" to help take the edge off the pain -- but this can turn into an unintentional "staggered overdose," which can lead to liver failure, liver transplant and even death. What makes the danger so insidious is that many users will not equate the initial overdose symptoms of nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain with the Tylenol they took hours or days before. Many will not even mention it to their physician or in the emergency room, and even if a physician were to suspect acetaminophen as a culprit, tests would not likely reveal high enough levels in the patient's system to indicate a problem. This frequently delays treatment, which is available in the form of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) (more on this shortly) – a move that can be deadly because the sooner NAC is given, the more effective it is at preventing liver damage. The previously mentioned study, in fact, found that getting medical help more than 24 hours after an overdose increased the risk of death or the need for a liver transplant, compared to those who got help sooner.
Medications You Might Not Expect Contain Acetaminophen Adding to the problem is the fact that acetaminophen is not only in products labeled as "Tylenol." It's also widely used in cold and flu and other over-the-counter medications. Of course, when many people have a cold, headache or other ache or pain, they don't just take two Tylenol and leave it at that. Many people double or triple-up, taking multiple OTC medications, all of which may contain acetaminophen. Prescription painkillers like Vicodin and Percocet also contain acetaminophen, so it's actually very easy to overdose unintentionally, and thereby cause serious liver damage, liver failure or even death. This was precisely the reason why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked manufacturers of prescription acetaminophen combination products in early 2011 to limit the maximum amount of acetaminophen in these products to 325 mg per dose, as well as required manufacturers to update labels of all such products to warn of the potential risk for severe liver injury.
There are over-the-counter Tylenol products, however, that currently contain well over 325 milligrams of acetaminophen. These will not be included in this new limit, even though they're easier to obtain, and so you will have to watch out for this risk yourself. There are other serious health risks associated with acetaminophen use, and they're significant enough, even without the risk of liver damage, that I do not recommend taking this drug for minor aches and pains. Some of these include: Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and reduced lung function If You Take Tylenol, Be Sure toTake NAC With It While I do not believe acetaminophen-containing drugs are appropriate for minor aches and pains, given their significant risks, they are sometimes necessary to suppress severe pain, such as while you are recovering from an injury or surgery, or while you are seeking to address the underlying cause of your pain. For those instances, make sure you are also taking N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), which is the rate-limiting nutrient for the formation of the intracellular antioxidant glutathione.
It's thought that Tylenol causes its damage by depleting glutathione, an antioxidant that protects cells from toxins such as free radicals. If you keep your glutathione levels up, the damage from the acetaminophen may be largely preventable. This is why anyone who overdoses on Tylenol receives large doses of NAC in the emergency room. So whether you are taking Tylenol in prescription or over-the-counter form, I strongly suggest taking NAC along with it. Safe Tips for Relieving Pain Naturally It's completely understandable to want to eliminate pain, and doing so can make an immense difference in your quality of life. However, please understand that there are many safe and effective alternatives to prescription and over-the-counter painkillers, though they may require some patience. Among the best are: Start taking a high-quality, animal-based omega-3 fat like krill oil. Omega-3 fats are precursors to mediators of inflammation called prostaglandins. (In fact, that is how anti-inflammatory painkillers work, they positivelyik influence prostaglandins.)
The omega-3 fats EPA and DHA contained in krill oil have also been found in many animal and clinical studies to have anti-inflammatory properties. Eliminate or radically reduce most grains and sugars (including fructose) from your diet. Avoiding grains and sugars will lower your insulin and leptin levels. Elevated insulin and leptin levels are one of the most profound stimulators of inflammatory prostaglandin production.. That is why eliminating sugar and grains is so important to controlling your pain and other types of chronic illnesses. Optimize your production of vitamin D by getting regular, appropriate sun exposure, which will work through a variety of different mechanisms to reduce your pain. In the meantime, you don't need to suffer unnecessarily. The following options provide excellent pain relief without any of the health hazards that acetaminophen and other pain relievers carry: Astaxanthin: One of the most effective oil-soluble antioxidants known. It has very potent anti-inflammatory properties and in many cases works far more effectively than many NSAIDs.
Higher doses are typically required and one may need 8 mg or more per day to achieve this benefit. Ginger: This herb is anti-inflammatory and offers pain relief and stomach-settling properties. Fresh ginger works well steeped in boiling water as a tea or grated into vegetable juice. Curcumin: Curcumin is the primary therapeutic compound identified in the spice turmeric. In a study of osteoarthritis patients, those who added 200 mg of curcumin a day to their treatment plan had reduced pain and increased mobility. In fact, curcumin has been shown in over 50 clinical studies to have potent anti-inflammatory activity, as well as demonstrating the ability in four studies to reduce Tylenol-associated adverse health effects. Boswellia: Also known as boswellin or "Indian frankincense," this herb contains powerful anti-inflammatory properties which have been prized for thousands of years. This is one of my personal favorites as I have seen it work well with many rheumatoid arthritis patients.
Bromelain: This protein-digesting enzyme, found in pineapples, is a natural anti-inflammatory. It can be taken in supplement form, but eating fresh pineapple may also be helpful. Cetyl Myristoleate (CMO): This oil, found in fish and dairy butter, acts as a "joint lubricant" and an anti-inflammatory. I have used this for myself to relieve ganglion cysts and a mild annoying carpal tunnel syndrome that pops up when I type too much on non-ergonomic keyboards. I used a topical preparation for this. Evening Primrose, Black Currant and Borage Oils: These contain the fatty acid gamma linolenic acid (GLA), which is useful for treating arthritic pain. Cayenne Cream: Also called capsaicin cream, this spice comes from dried hot peppers. It alleviates pain by depleting the body's supply of substance P, a chemical component of nerve cells that transmits pain signals to your brain. Therapeutic modalities such as yoga, acupuncture, meditation, hot and cold packs, and even holding hands can also result in astonishing pain relief without any drugs.