Worried About Consuming too Much Vitamin A

Question
Hello,

My question is about vitamin A and whether or not I could be consuming too much of it. I have been taking dessicated liver tablets and chlorella on and off for the past few months now, but have become concerned since I've read the dangers of consuming too much vitamin A. Is there any guidelines I could follow? The dessicated liver gives percentages on all of its nutritional values except vitamin A. I have searched for chlorella's vitamin A content and it is available, but I'm finding it difficult trying to add up all of the figures. I know both liver (dessicated) and chlorella  are extremely nutritional - but that is also part of the problem it seems. Too much iron may be another problem.

Am I worrying too much or is this a potential risk? Some guidelines might stop me from worrying so much. The liver tablets are around 2g each and the chlorella I take are 500mg each.

Thanks.

Answer
Hi,

It's definitely possible to overdo it on the supplements, especially for the fat-soluble vitamins like A. I'm not sure you have the information you need to determine how much you are taking: Vitamin A is measured in RE (retinol equivalents) or IU (international units). The recommended daily intake is either 1000 RE or 5000 IU. It sounds like the number you have for the liver tablets may be the tablet weight, and this does not tell how much vitamin A is in them.

From an animal source such as liver you are getting actual vitamin A and you could definitely overdose over time. The maximum tolerable upper limit (UL) recommended is 3000 RE or 10,000 IU.

As for the chlorella, it's not clear to me whether that is actually a plant or an animal. In plant sources what you actually get is beta carotene (like in carrots or spinach) which your body converts to vitamin A. You can get all the vitamin A you need from plants, and your body will stop converting the pigment to the active vitamin when you have enough. The worst case scenario is turning slightly orange if you eat too much.

It's important to realize that taking extra amounts of vitamins or minerals does not increase their function at all. It's like pouring extra gasoline or oil into your automobile and expecting it to run better or faster! I would suggest backing off from the supplements unless you have an excellent idea of how much you are taking and exactly why.  

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