What exactly is in the bottle?
Most of us have noticed the new wave of supplement intake and some of us are even riding that wave on promises of better skin, weight loss, weight gain and improved sex life amongst others.
Supplements in various forms (tablets, capsules, powders) are drugs containing vitamins, minerals, herbs and many other ingredients that work to fill nutritional gaps and have been found to improve health with little to no risk. In recent times the talk of supplement-induced hypervitaminosis has come up on different occasions causing some to wonder if there could be a dark side to supplements.
Hypervitaminosis is a form of vitamin toxicity occurring when the storage levels of vitamins are abnormally high. It may be acute or chronic and more likely to occur in fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K). The signs and symptoms of vitamin toxicity include nausea, headaches, dizziness, vomiting, blurry vision, muscle pains, dry lips, conjunctivitis, erythema, alopecia, and bone abnormalities amongst others and in severe cases can result in a coma- an instance is in the case of hypervitaminosis A.
The signs and symptoms of vitamin toxicity include nausea, headaches, dizziness, vomiting, blurry vision, muscle pains, dry lips, conjunctivitis, erythema, alopecia, and bone abnormalities amongst others and in severe cases can result in a coma- an instance is in the case of hypervitaminosis A.
Due to the increasing popularity of supplements, users have been found using multiple supplements at a time for various reasons. As often said, too much of everything is not okay, the same goes for too many supplement combinations as they can invariably increase the vitamins and other elements levels to abnormal amounts thereby putting users at risk of developing symptoms of hypervitaminosis and other forms of toxicity.
Although the benefits of health supplements cannot be denied, the indigestion of a lot of supplements, (more dangerous if combined!), in an attempt to achieve personal goals may produce adverse effects. Most health professionals advise that ‘the less the better’ to reduce the risk of toxicity.
Written by: Paula Ugwumba
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