Vitamin May Produce the Signs of Deficiency

 Vitamins for dummies: part-2

A Diet Low in This Vitamin May Produce These Signs of Deficiency Vitamin A Poor night vision; dry, rough, or cracked skin; dry mucous membranes including the inside of the eye; slow wound healing; nerve damage; reduced ability to taste, hear, and smell; inability to perspire; reduced resistance to respiratory infections Vitamin D In children: rickets (weak muscles, delayed tooth development, and soft bones, all caused by the inability to absorb minerals without vitamin D) In adults: osteomalacia (soft, porous bones that fracture

easily); fatigue Vitamin E Inability to absorb fat Vitamin K Blood fails to clot Vitamin C Scurvy (bleeding gums; tooth loss; nosebleeds; bruising; painful or swollen joints; shortness of breath; increased susceptibility to infection; slow wound healing; muscle pains; skin rashes) Thiamin (vitamin B1) Poor appetite; unintended weight loss; upset stomach; gastric upset (nausea, vomiting); mental depression; an inability to concentrate; fatigue Riboflavin (vitamin B2) Inflamed mucous membranes, including cracked lips, sore tongue and mouth, burning eyes; skin rashes; anemia; fatigue

A Diet Low in This Vitamin May Produce These Signs of Deficiency Niacin Pellagra (diarrhea; inflamed skin and mucous membranes; mental confusion and/or dementia); fatigue A Diet Low in This Vitamin May Produce These Signs of Deficiency Vitamin B6 Anemia; convulsions similar to epileptic seizures; skin rashes; upset stomach; nerve damage (in infants); fatigue Folate Anemia (immature red blood cells); fatigue Vitamin B12 Pernicious anemia (destruction of red blood cells, nerve damage, increased risk of stomach cancer attributed to damaged stomach tissue, neurological/psychiatric symptoms attributed to nerve cell damage); fatigue Biotin Loss of appetite; upset stomach; pale, dry, scaly skin; hair loss; emotional depression; skin rashes (in infants younger than 6 months) Big trouble: Vitamin megadoses Can you get too much of a good thing? Yes when taken in the very large amounts popularly known as megadoses a megadose is several times the RDA, but the term is so vague that it isnft even in the 28th edition of Stedmanfs Medical Dictionary (2006), a tome thatfs pretty much the gold standard in medical word books Megadoses of vitamin A (as retinol) may cause symptoms that make you of vitamin A may damage the fetus Megadoses of vitamin D may cause kidney stones and hard lumps of calcium in soft tissue (muscles and organs), as well as nausea and other Megadoses of niacin (sometimes used to lower cholesterol levels) can Megadoses of vitamin B6 can cause (temporary) damage to nerves in The interesting fact is that with one exception, the likeliest way to get a megadose of vitamins is to take supplements (see Chapter 6 for more on supplements) since it itfs pretty much impossible for you to cram down enough food to overdose on vitamins D, E, K, C, and all the Bs 144 Part II: What You Get from Food Liver and fish liver oils are concentrated sources of preformed vitamin A (retinol), the potentially toxic form of vitamin A contains so much retinol that early 20th century explorers to the South Pole made themselves sick on seal and whale liver vitamin A toxicity, this time from supplements. Table 11-3 Amounts and Effects of Vitamin Vitamin A 15,000 to 25,000 IU retinol a day for adults (2,000 IU or more for children) may lead to liver damage, headache, vomiting, abnormal vision, constipation, hair loss, loss of appetite, low-grade fever,her risk of giving birth to a child with birth defects Vitamin D 2,000 IU a day can cause irreversible damage to kidneys and heart Smaller doses may cause muscle weakness, headache, nausea, Vitamin E Large amounts (more than 400 to 800 IU a day) may cause upset Similarly, in 2005 a meta-analysis (a study comparing the results of several studies) in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that use of ghigh doseh (400 IU or more) vitamin E supplements might gincrease all causes of mortality [death] and Vitamin C 1,000 mg or higher may cause upset stomach, diarrhea, or constipation Niacin Doses higher than the RDA raise the production of liver enzymes and blood levels of sugar and uric acid, leading to liver damage and an increased risk of diabetes and gout Vitamin B6 Continued use of 50 mg or more a day may damage nerves in arms. Read More...