Myth Busting Episode 1 – “You Can’t Overdose on Vitamins”

Adam: We’re here with Dr. Phil Carson, one of our scientific advisory board members and just an absolute rockstar.

Dr. Phil: Alright I’m Dr. Phil Carson, doctor of pharmacy and a holistic wellness coach. 

Adam: Alright we want to dive right into it. We have a bunch of questions for you, really kind of trying to dispel some myths that I’m seeing a whole bunch of, not only in my research, but generally across the internet.

Can you overdose on vitamins? 

Dr. Phil:  Absolutely you can, there are multiple vitamins that can be overdosed on. Well, even though it’s a vitamin, that’s a mineral doesn’t mean it’s totally 100% safe without any problems.

Adam: Can you die from taking too much of a certain vitamin? 

Dr. Phil: Oh yeah. Yeah. And people have, particularly what’s called the fat soluble vitamins. A-D-I-C-K is what we were taught in school to remember that and always teach people to be extremely careful with the fat-soluble vitamins because they can store in the liver and cause liver toxicity as well as other problems as well. So yeah, people have died from an overdose of vitamins. 

What are common negative side effects of self-prescribing vitamins?

Adam: When you’re thinking about, you know, getting the right amount for you, if you haven’t gone to a doctor or, you know, you’re self prescribing, are there some common negative side effects? 

Dr. Phil: Oh yeah. Yeah. Well, as far as vitamin C, it’s an acidic vitamin. If you take two high of a dose, that can cause stomach upset. If you get too much of B12, it can cause acne skin. Think about magnesium. Magnesium is something that people often get too much of and that can cause diarrhea, stomach aches, stomach upset. Vitamin E if you get too high doses of vitamin E can cause muscle pain, fatigue and weakness. 

Will increasing vitamin dosage lead to quicker results?

Adam: If somebody overtakes their vitamins, would the results be seen faster? Will it work faster? 

Dr. Phil: No, not necessarily at all. You know, there are recommended dosages, generally for people to take and you know, what’s on the bottle is sometimes adequate, sometimes it’s not. But it’s not, it’s not a good idea. Nope. 

Adam: You mentioned something there with regards to daily recommended values and I’ve done an extensive amount of research on this. Just really trying to educate myself. There was no way myself, a six foot five, 250 pound male would require the same as, you know, just as an example of a five foot two, 130 pound female. What can somebody do to educate themselves around what’s actually appropriate for them?

What can someone do to find the right dose for them?

Dr. Phil: The new DNA testing that’s available. If you want to get precise, you can’t get more precise than looking at your own DNA. Having that tested to get a pinpoint idea of what ideally your body needs, whatever size you are. 

Adam: I’ve seen on some supplement facts that they’re like, you know, a thousand percent of daily recommended values, or sometimes even more should that be concerning in all cases, is there still some validity to taking that much of a certain supplement.

Dr. Phil: Another great question. And people ask me about that quite often. Daily recommended values were implemented years and years ago, basically to prevent deficiency. You know, there are various things that can be going on in a person’s life that, uh, can create a need for higher dosages or higher amounts of particular nutrients.

If vitamins lose their potency over time, should I replace them?

Adam: I also read that vitamins lose their potency over time. Take more of that vitamin or, you know, is your recommendation as a professional to just replace those and get brand new ones. 

Dr. Phil: As far as vitamins and nutrients, they really don’t have an expiration date. You know, you will see one on both bottles and on the labels because they will lose their potency over a period of time.Most of them, most of them will. If you’ve got something that’s two or three years old, You don’t want to double up on it because you don’t really know for sure. Unless you have it tested if it has lost its potency or not. I would advise if you are not sure, just replace them.

Watch the full conversation below.