I hear it every day. One of my patients tells me that they read or were told by their doctor that taking too many vitamins could be potentially dangerous. I find it particularly interesting that traditional medicine commonly paints a picture of anything alternative as being risky. They usually site the lack of scientific studies in support of their position. Typically, after they tell you to never take more than the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) they will either write a prescription or casually tell you to take an over-the-counter drug like Tylenol®, Advil®, Motrin®, or the like without any warning at all. Let me illustrate this double standard by telling you a story:

You buy a multivitamin and take it into your doctor to get their “expert” opinion on whether or not you should take this supplement. You know that millions of other people take this supplement and understand that it is supposed to be safe. Your doctor looks at the supplement and then gives you some disturbing news. The FDA (Food & Drug Administration) has just published some information about this multivitamin. The FDA claims that this multivitamin causes about 12,000 Emergency Room visits EACH YEAR! More concerning is that 100 people die EVERY YEAR from taking this multivitamin! Worst yet, about a dozen of those deaths are children! Yikes! Would your doctor tell you to take this supplement? Would you take this supplement? No, the truth is that this multivitamin would be labeled as a poison and would be taken off of the market.

The story I just shared with you is the FDA’s report for Tylenol® and acetaminophen products. How can this be? This can’t be real. These are the FACTS as published by the FDA. It illustrates just how brainwashed all of us have become thanks to the pharmaceutical industry. This double standard is shocking and in my view, inexcusable. The next time you read or are told that you need to be careful when you consider taking a natural supplement, consider the source. Consider the double standard.

Now, before I get thousands of emails let me be clear in stating that anything can become dangerous if you take in too much. Water falls into this category. So, do not interpret me as claiming that there should be no concern over supplement safety. Your goal should be to create balance and taking mega doses of supplements without direction is not a good idea at all. How dangerous is it? Not real dangerous, in my opinion. Just foolish.

If you want direction please feel free to email me or consider a phone nutritional consult.  Nutritional Consult Details