Is Your Multivitamin Safe for Your Health?

But, when it comes to multivitamins in particular you need to choose extremely carefully. That’s because many formulas contain dangerous nutrient combinations, as well is unsafe doses—which can have an adverse effect on your health, and your heart.

 

Here are six vitamin pitfalls to avoid:

 

1. Too much calcium. High levels of calcium in the blood can cause inflammation of the blood vessels. Plus, in men too much calcium can contribute to prostate cancer. The optimal daily dose of calcium for women is 500 mg, and 200 mg for men.

 

2. Too much copper—which can have a pro-oxidant effect, damaging your tissues and cells. The upper safe limit is 2 mg of copper daily, which is what many multivitamins supply. But copper is also found in many of the foods, so if you take 2 mg chances are you’re getting too much. Instead, look for a multivitamin that provides no more than 1 mg of copper.

 

3. High levels of manganese. Many multivitamin formulas contain too much manganese, which can cause insomnia. You should take no more than 10 mg daily, and preferably far less.

 

4. Too much beta carotene. In my nutrient formulas, I include vitamin A from mixed carotenoids and retinyl palmitate, instead of beta carotene which is a precursor of vitamin A. The reason is that some people, especially those with low thyroid or alcoholism, can’t convert beta carotene into vitamin A. In smokers, beta carotene is converted into a carcinogen. If you take beta carotene, you want to take no more than 10,000 IU daily.

 

5. High doses of d-alpha tocopherol succinate. Beware of supplements containing more than 400 IU of the d-alpha tocopherol succinate form of vitamin E, and no gamma tocopherol to neutralize it. The reason is that high levels of d-alpha tocopherol succinate can have a pro-oxidative effect on HDL cholesterol.

 

6. Iron. The only people who should be taking iron are premenopausal women and men under the age of 18, unless prescribed by a doctor. The reason is that iron can have a potent pro-oxidant effect.

 

Now it’s your turn: Do you take a multivitamin?