Usually, we think of vitamins as super beneficial things. Indeed, having the right balance of vitamins in the body can be absolutely essential. The keyword is ‘balance’. You can have a vitamin deficiency, but you can also have too much of a certain vitamin in your body – and this can cause all sorts of problems.
There’s one vitamin that people often get too much of because it’s available from numerous sources. Vitamin A has a series of benefits and is most associated with protecting your eye health and supporting your immune system. However, you don’t need massive amounts of it – and it can be found in common foods, like leafy greens, milk, eggs, fruits, etc.
The issue is when people take a multivitamin including vitamin A – or just a vitamin A supplement – on top of the vitamin A they get from their diet. Instead of doing a world of good, this can actually cause the following health problems:
Liver damage
There is a strong correlation between people that take high doses of vitamin A and liver damage. This is because too much of this vitamin can be toxic, leading to problems in your liver. But, this only happens if you are taking way over the recommended daily amount. So, it’s important to check to see what the RDA is for you, based on your gender and age.
Hair loss
Generally, vitamin A is good for your hair. It’s also referred to as retinol, which is one of the key contributors to encouraging the secretion of sebum. For those that don’t know, sebum is the main oil in your scalp that supports hair health and can stop your hair from getting too brittle and falling out.
Nevertheless, one of the many reasons for hair loss is increased sebum production. As such, too much vitamin A can cause this. You produce too much sebum, clogging the pores in your scalp and leading to your hair becoming weak and brittle. Therefore, it is easier for it to fall out. So, a normal amount of vitamin A is great for your hair and could prevent hair loss, but too much will do the opposite and make you lose hair.
Osteoporosis
There are also links pointing to excess vitamin A and weakened bones in your body. It is believed that a specific type of vitamin A is responsible for this, called preformed vitamin A – which is usually found in animal products and can be found in some supplements. High concentrations of this in your body can weaken your bones.
In fact, a lot of the issues relating to vitamin A do revolve around preformed vitamin A. If you can find the better version of it – beta carotene – then there’s less chance of the problems happening. Also, be sure to see how much vitamin A you actually need. For most of you, you’re likely getting enough in your normal diet. So, there’s no need to take a vitamin supplement as you’ll push yourself over the edge and could be at risk of these health issues.