My girlfriend bought a bottle of Member’s Mark Advanced Multi dietary supplement for me. These are high-potency vitamin/mineral supplements in pill form available at Walmart and Sam’s Club.
I reviewed the label for the RDA amounts of vitamins and minerals—quite a few things, such as iron and Vitamin E, are about twice as much as in my old supplement, Centrum. Iron is at 100% of the RDA and Vitamin E is at 200%. Vitamins B6 and B12 are at 300% of the RDA and Selenium is 286% of the RDA and Manganese is 375% of the RDA. Most other vitamins and minerals are at 100% or below of the RDA.
I’m concerned that at such high levels, I may be “overdosing” with this supplement. I can ask her to return the supplement, but she paid less for twice as many of these pills as I would get with Centrum.
Since the pills are solid, I’m wondering if I can just cut the pills in half and, essentially, halve each daily dose so that it is closer to what I got with Centrum—or are the pills formulated in some way that there is not an even distribution of vitamins and minerals throughout the pill?
I’m 37, male, in good health, not obese and exercise moderately, though recently I’ve begun exercising more. I’m lactose intolerant, so dairy is mostly missing from my diet, and I will be the first to admit that I could eat a more balanced diet. (I rely too much on fast and prepackaged foods.)
I am not a doctor or a nutritionist, and I would consult one or both if you can. But here is what I’ve read.
In general, you shouldn’t need vitamin/mineral supplements unless:
[ul]
[li]your calorie intake is less than 1,500 calories daily[/li][li]you consume alcohol regularly and in excessive amounts[/li][li]your eating habits are irregular or you habitually make poor food choices[/li][/ul](from “Nutrition Basics” by Liz Applegate Ph.D - one of my textbooks)
That said, although it may take weeks for anything to show up it might be worth it to experiment and see if stopping the supplements has any negative or even noticeable effects. Otherwise I would look up the tolerable upper intake levels/limits of the vitamins and minerals you’re taking; if it looks like the amount in the supplements plus the amount in your food is getting close to these limits, then I would cut down on the supplements.
Otherwise: you probably don’t need to worry much about excess water-soluble vitamins such as C and the B vitamins; fat soluble vitamins - such as A, D, E, and K - can be toxic or fatal in excess; for minerals, you should generally avoid getting more than 100% of each per day.
I take vitamins daily, but each day is different[with the exception of a 500mg C, which I do take everyday] My eating habits have improved over the last several years, and so I have modified my use of vitamins. I feel I don’t need those high dosages, especially the fat-soluble ones,for the reasons Tony F has stated. My vitamin regimen is a three day rotation of a multi, low dose vitamin E and a Co-Enzyme Q-10, and the aforementioned C. You have to be careful not to get too much iron, and although there are iron-free multis, they are MORE expensive than the ones with iron. Go figure. The low dosage of iron in mine I believe is the proper amount, spread out over the 3 days. I figure that the boost I get is helping, and it’s not too high that I have to worry about OD’ing. I’ve done a lot of reading about vitamins over the years, re; which are important,and why and for what purpose; synergies; age-specificity etc. so I feel confident in the plan I’ve put together. Start, or continue, to get information on this very important subject, you’ll thank yourself for having done so.
I’ve had blood work done throughout my life and showed I have high iron levels. About 10 years ago I read every dang multi vitamin bottle.
The only one I found without iron is Flintstones Vitamin with Extra C. I take those now, sometimes buy the off brand chewable vitamin with C. All other chewables have iron.
Certain vitamins can be taken at a rather larger than 100% dose without ill effects. For instance, I’m currently taking over 11,000% RDA of B2 (riboflavin) and my doctor says this is not a harmful dose for me. Follow TonyF’s advice and check with a physician or nutritionist, and look up some info online, but I suspect that the multivitamin you’re taking isn’t harmful for the great majority of the population at least. I know my husband and I have taken that brand in the past, at least.
Centrum Silver has no iron (not chewable tho) and GNC has a few multis without iron.
Gassy Man, if you are curious as to your nutrient intake during a typical day, try getting a free account at www.fitday.com and entering a day or so worth of food. Then go to “reports” and check out the “Am I meeting my nutritional requirements?” part. I did this religiously for a month and determined I was low in iron and magnesium every day.
You’re fine taking one of those on a daily basis. Assuming you aren’t consuming lots of 'vitamin enhanced" drinks or food bars, etc.
It is hard for a woman to get too much iron. However as a male you can- but just 100% of the RDA isn’t dangerous. Just that it’s not optimum. My guess is that us males were also expected to bleed a bit every month from hunting & fighting.
A, D & B6 need to be watched. A&D are commonly known dangers, so unless you eat scads of liver, you’re fine. B6 is often slipped into many things (quite a few melatonin supplement have added B6) and you can get too much over a long time- especially if male.
So- go ahead. Take one daily. But don’t add much of anything but Vit C from other sources.
