Multivitamins, overdosing, and veganism? ?

Question

So I wanted to get a multivitamin to make sure that I'm getting all of my B vitamins and my iron and stuff. I got a multivitamin called "Super Nutrition Simply One Women". It's a multivitamin that I take once a day with a meal.

I've only taken two of them since I've only had them for two days, and I've noticed that my urine has turned a yellow-green! I know this is the result of my body flushing out excess B vitamins, but should I be worried?

I eat a wide range of things even though I am vegan. I wanted to know if paired with this multivitamin, could I overdose on a certain vitamin?

For example, the %DV of the vitamin I take for Vitamin C is 250%.I also eat foods high in vitamin C on a daily basis. Am I getting wayy to much?

Also, there are other vitamins in there that have percentages over 100%, like Selenium, Vitamin B1, and Vitamin B2.

Should I be taking these even though I eat a wide range of nutritious foods? I want to make sure that I am getting my vitamins like iron (which is 33% DV in my vitamin), but some of them seem like it's TOO much.

Please help! I appreciate your comments!

Answer 1

The FDA regulates vitamins.  They are safe for daily consumption.  

Answer 2

if you're a vegan on a well balanced vegan diet..    you certainly do not need supplements.

RE:

http://www.healthalternatives2000.com/mi...  

yes, i'm referencing this site again.. i can't post it enough.   it's the basic list of fruits and veggies among other elements that aren't from animals.

you'll se e what i'm talking about.

you are a vegan?   why are you taking supplements?   (because most otc drugs and other drugs are derived also from animal product.)

Answer 3

This isn't really an answer, I just wanted to thank samstonedredlock for the website. Corpses, check it out. It's very informative.

Answer 4

It's the B vitamins,I think they are getting absorbed very much, and you are just whizzing them out left and right,of what your body could not use.. Be careful.

You'll never absorb all of the vitamins you take, they are mainly to help your body absorb them from food sources. Foliate however,the synthetic form absorbs much better than what you can get out of food.

It's very important to women of child bearing age.

Answer 5

If you eat a balanced diet and are conscious of what nutrients you need, the only pill that you should be taking is B12.

Bread, pasta, cereal, rice, beans, peas, lentil, nuts, seeds, fruits and veggies can easily offer everything that you need except B12.

http://www.veganhealth.org/sh

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo

All vegetarians should take a B12 supplement regularly since most people eat meat, dairy AND fortified cereals yet still have a B12 status that is lower than recommended.

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/b12

Answer 6

Me taking multivitamin too.

I take half pill in the morning after breakfast.

another half at night after dinner.

So far no problem for me.

Answer 7

Is there dye in the vitamins? Are they colored, basically? Probably, actually. The dye can exit through your urine, that happens with certain other medications too, especially pain killers aimed at the urinary tract.

You can overdose on certain vitamins - iron, vitamin A, vitamin D (but vegan vitamins won't have D3 in them because you get that either from the sun or from animal sources).

Vitamin C is unlikely to OD on because it is water soluble, so your body excretes that it can't absorb - it is not stored for very long and you need to keep eating them... these are thiamin, riboflavin, folic acid, vitamin B12, and vitamin C (I am forgetting a few, look it up). You need to regularly consume sources of these vitamins, and your vitamin supplements can't hurt.

Fat soluble vitamins are much more likely to be OD'd on because they require fat in order to absorb them, and too much of it will store in your liver. So you can get liver damage in particular from taking too many fat soluble vitamins - A, E, D, K... be careful about taking in high doses of these in food AND supplementing them in your vitamins. Those are the only ones I'd worry about.

You will have symptoms that you are taking too much - diarrhea, stomach pain, jaundice (because of liver damage - but if it's spotted early on then it's not as bad as advanced liver disease, obviously).

You'd have to eat a heck of a lot of vitamins to die, you'd have to pop them like crazy, but it happens to babies in particular, especially because of the iron in vitamins.

Your vitamin sounds normal, since you can readily assume that your vitamin might not even dissolve and digest fully! Really cheap vitamins that don't conform to standards of dissolution can literally come out like they come inside, and in freak cases they collect inside the body (I saw a photo once... *shudder*)...

Make sure your vitamins are actually USP verified. The USP verification guarantees that they dissolve properly in your body. Some more info on that:

http://www.usp.org/USPVerified/dietarySu...

US Pharmacopeia verification info

Make sure your vitamin is also seen as safe by Consumer Reports or ConsumerLab. Here's an incomplete list and info on how to find out more:

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/myfox/pages/...

Many vitamins in stores might actually not absorb fully or be of poor quality! If you plan on taking vitamins, make them count, make sure they're doing something for the money you are buying them for!

There shouldn't be any harm in taking a good, balanced vitamin every day, but if you are worried take it every two days, as others suggested. As a vegetarian, your primary concern should be Vitamin B12, which is difficult to find in plant sources, but B12 supplements are made thanks to bacteria so you are in the clear - it's not an animal product.

Answer 8

I take multi vitamins but I do not take them daily.