Vitamin supplements: A double-edged sword?

I grew up watching realtives take daily pills of whatever the market sells as "something good for your health", so I always saw it as something normal. However, today with a little more awareness about the issue I’m constantly questioning myself about everything I decide to take into my body, even flu pills.

One product that athletes commonly consume are vitamin supplements, but how many take them knowing that they really need them? And how many consume them irresponsibly exposing themselves to a hypervitaminosis (excess in the consumption of vitamins) and also wasting the money for no reason?

In this post Nutrición Atlética gives us a more technical perspective on the subject, so we will get a little bit into the basic chemistry from high school to understand the importance of identifying whether it is necessary for ourselves to consume vitamin supplements or not.

For starters, vitamins are organic substances that our body synthesizes from the consumption of food and that are NECESSARY for the body. In many occasions we do not synthesise the amount required for the correct functioning of the metabolism, so we can choose between looking for new foods that help us overcome this deficiency or take vitamin supplement pills.

There are 2 types of vitamins, water-soluble and fat-soluble, and the excess in consumption of each of them can bring different adverse effects to our body.

-Water-soluble Vitamins (C and B complex: thiamine, biotin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, folate or folic acid, cobalamin).

They are called this way because they dissolve in water. An important fact is that they ARE NOT STORED in the body and when they are consumed in excess they are excreted through the urine, so they can be considered as "less harmful". That's why many people who take vitamins urinate with a phosphorescent green color.

Excessive consumption (over longer periods of time) of these can cause: headache, seizures, ulcers, liver toxicity, diarrhea, neuropathy, digestive disorders and kidney stones.

-Fat-soluble Vitamins (A, D, E and K)

They are so called because they dissolve in lipids (fats). These vitamins ARE STORED in the body, mostly in the liver and in the membranes of the cells, so excess consumption can lead to more severe health problems, such as:

• Vitamin A: Consuming more than 100 times the daily requirement can lead to intoxication, liver disease, lips, dry eyes and nasal mucosa, peeling of the skin and hair loss.

• Vitamin D: Intoxication by elevation of calcium and phosphorus in the blood, causing a calcification (hardening) in soft tissues (kidney, lungs, heart).

• Vitamin E: Although it is one of the least toxic vitamins since the body resists doses of at least 100 times the daily requirement, it can cause a deterioration of bone mineralization, vitamin A storage and failure of blood coagulation.

• Vitamin K: Few adverse effects have been observed, however their excess can cause liver disease.

People who tend to need an additional consumption of vitamins are older adults, pregnant women, vegans or vegetarians, sometimes athletes and people with a particular illness.

It is clear that contrary to what most people think, consumption of vitamin supplements MUST NOT be taken lightly.

My advice is that a responsible athlete MUST perform blood tests to realistically identify if there are deficiencies in a specific vitamin and from there decide how to meet that need (hopefully with the guidance of a nutritionist), whether through food or a vitamin supplement.

For those who choose to take vitamin supplements, take into account that there are different types:

- Multivitamins that contain different types of vitamins and even minerals,

- The B group vitamins, which can sometimes be found with vitamin C, and

- Supplements of a single vitamin.

So it would be smart to acquire the one that contains only the vitamins that your body requires so that you don’t expose yourself to the negative effects detailed above.

Make the effort to take care of your health, your body and your wallet will thank you.

#english