Can You Have Too Much Vitamin A?

Learn more about Vitamin A Overdose, Toxicity, and Hypervitaminosis A in this article. If you have been wondering how too much Vitamin A can impact your body, then this read will address all of your concerns.

What is Vitamin A Toxicity (Hypervitaminosis A)?

When your stomach ingests too many foods rich in Vitamin A, you will likely develop some effects. Too much accumulation of Vitamin A elements such as retinyl esters, retinol, and retinal into our bodies may result in altered bone metabolism.

A time accumulation of too many of these elements changes other fat-soluble vitamins’ metabolism, becoming poisonous. If you experience such a condition, that is a clear indication of Vitamin A toxicity.

Consuming too much food rich in vitamin A within a short period will lead to its accumulation responsible for abnormal body reactions.

Therefore, you are recommended not to consume too many diets rich in retinol and retinal because their content will result in Hypervitaminosis.

Vitamin A Toxicity Level

Are you asking yourself the question; how much is too much Vitamin A? Well, you no longer need to worry about the amount of food containing vitamin A elements you ought to take.

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), human beings consume meals rich in retinyl, retinol, and retina depending on the age and health status of a person.

The following are recommended amounts of consumption needed for each category;

The above recommendation wills kind you on the number of meals with vitamin A content you have to take.

If your consumption is above the recommended amount above, know that you are taking much Vitamin A, which will become toxic.

When consuming any meal, you should check for the ingredients and confirm the amount of Vitamin A usually prescribed on their packages.

The information about Vitamin A Content on every package of food you buy will guide you not to consume too many ingredients.

How long does Vitamin A toxicity last?

In case you experience abnormal retinol activities in your body, be assured that it takes about 1- 4 weeks before the poison disappears from your body.

Complete recovery occurs when Vitamin A ingestion stops, and the symptoms disappear.

Ingestion of high doses of vitamin A may cause rash, dryness, and course and arthralgia conditions, common to the elderly, and may take longer than four weeks to recover.

One significant thing that everyone should know is that the toxicity and its associated symptoms will only last if an individual reduces food rich in Vitamin A.

When the ingredient is stopped, toxicity symptoms usually resolve within 1to 4 weeks. However, this technique is exceptional for congenital disabilities, which reveal some abnormal trends.

Vitamin A Overdose Causes

To avoid the risk of too much vitamin A risks, you need to know the contributors to this condition. The primary cause of the extra accumulation of vitamin A in our bodies is too many supplements or creams.

When our bodies take more than 25 000 UI/kg of vitamin A supplements such as fish-liver oils, we are likely to experience an overdose.

The acute toxic dose of vitamin A required in our bodies should not exceed the standard amount. Our bodies can also make use of both preformed Vitamin A and provitamin A Carotenoids that it converts into vitamin retinol.

These substances have various bioactivity levels that may lead to higher doses in our bodies. Vitamin A overdose may also be caused by using certain drugs with retinol elements for those with health issues.

If you use this medication for longer periods, the level of the vitamin will increase and, if prolonged, lead to an overdose.

Can you get too much vitamin A from food?

Yes. Vitamin A can be obtained from some of the food we eat. If you eat liver, you will be enriching your body with plenty of Retinol.

Most multivitamins also contain vitamins, which can be transferred into our bodies when consumed. Eating other supplements such as fish liver oil also adds high retinol contents into our bodies.

However, if you take this foodstuff to enrich your body health with vitamin components, ensure your daily intake does not exceed the recommended standard amount to avoid toxicity risks.

Researchers suggest that the liver’s consumption adds a large amount of vitamin A components to our bodies compared to other foodstuffs.

Too Much Vitamin A Side Effects

Every human being should be made aware that too much vitamin A is harmful to our health. Having too much-preformed retinol in our bodies is associated with several conditions such as dizziness, nausea, headaches, coma, and even death.

In pregnant women, a high accumulation of these components can lead to congenital disabilities in their babies. It is recommended that women who might be pregnant should not take high doses of retinyl supplements.

When you take high amounts of beta-carotene or other forms of provitamin A, your skin is likely to turn yellow-orange. Even though this condition is harmless, no one will like to have a different appearance to their skin color.

FAQs on Too Much Vitamin A

How long does Vitamin A stay in your system?

When you consume foods rich in Vitamin A, the ingredients will be stored in the liver for an unspecified period.

The liver stores the retinol elements for the time when they will lack in the diet. Some researchers report that the liver can store these elements for up to four years.

What happens if you have too little vitamin A?

It will help if you do not wish to have a low amount of vitamin A in your body as it can lead to inflamed skin, night blindness, infertility, delayed growth, and respiratory infections.

According to scholarly studies and research, individuals with wounds and acne are likely to have lower blood levels of vitamin A.

Are vitamins bad for your liver?

No. these vitamins do not pose any bad effect on the liver when consumed in the recommended amount. Even in high doses, most retinol has minimal adverse effects that do not harm the liver.

READ MORE: The Recommended Vitamin A dosage for adults.