Over Supplementation

Ever heard of the saying, ‘too much of a good thing is a bad thing’? Discover how I experienced this firsthand in this post.

If you haven’t read my previous article on iron , I’d touched on how my iron levels were veering on higher than optimal levels as I was consuming iron supplements despite existing high iron levels. Here, I’ll be sharing my experience of over supplementation with vitamin b12, and my takeaways from it.

To preface, vitamin b12 is needed in the body as it aids in forming red blood cells and DNA. It is also key in the function and development of brain and nerve cells. Vitamin B12 also helps to maintain energy levels by preventing megaloblastic anaemia, a blood condition that makes people tired and weak. Vitamin b12 is naturally found in foods like red meat, eggs and dairy products like milk, cheese and yogurt.

As you can see, when I did my first blood test in December 2023, my vitamin b12 levels were normal, but on the slightly low side. Thus, in hopes of getting it to optimal levels, I started taking vitamin b12 supplements after.

To my surprise, my b12 levels shot up to higher than optimal levels at 1239 pg/mL when I took my second blood test 3 months later in March 2024. It’s been known that taking too much of the vitamin could lead to nausea, headache, dizziness and in rare cases, blood clots or cancer , and therefore this result was alarming to me.?

I decided to dig deeper into why this was so.

Backtracking on my intake, I discovered that I’d accidentally committed an oversight: Even though I was consuming the recommended dosage of 1 softgel per day, I was consuming more than I had required, as I was only marginally below optimal, and supplementation caused it to go over the edge. This was interesting to me, as I never knew that over supplementation could be a thing at this point. It then propelled me to dig deeper into other factors that could lead to over supplementation.

Certain vitamins and minerals can cause side effects if you consume too much. In my case, too much b12 could’ve caused side effects like headache, nausea, and fatigue . Over consumption of other common supplements like vitamin A can also cause side effects like drowsiness and nausea, and calcium can experience itching and irregular heartbeat , just to name a few. Therefore, it is always important to consult a trusted health practitioner before embarking on supplementation.

Besides consulting a health expert, it’s also key to adhere to consumption recommendations on supplement labels. For example, did you know that taking supplements before or after meals determines the absorption efficacy of the vitamins? And that different types of vitamins also require different methods of ingestion? I discovered that water-soluble vitamins like vitamin C and b12 don’t need to be taken with food for them to be absorbed. On the other hand, fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E and vitamin K depend on fat for proper absorption. Thus, it is generally recommended to take them with a meal that contains fat.

Ever heard of %DV, RDA and AI and the like? If you don’t know what these mean, then it’s time to get acquainted with these abbreviations, which are commonly listed on food or supplement instruction labels. Common ones include:

• Daily Value (%DV): The recommended amount of a certain nutrient to consume each day
• Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA): The recommended intake of nutrients that meet the nutritional requirements of most healthy people. Usually the same as DV
• Adequate Intake (AI): When researchers do not have enough evidence to calculate an RDA of a specific nutrient, they will make an estimation reflecting most recent research.
• Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL): Indicates the maximum amount a person can consume without adverse effects
• Dietary Reference Intake (DRI): General term that includes RDA, AI and UL

Source

It’s also important to factor in biological age versus chronological age in taking supplements. Chronological age refers to the age based on when one was born, whereas biological age is determined based on biological and physiological development factors like genetics, lifestyle, nutrition, diseases and other conditions. In recent times, experts claim that biological age could be a more accurate gauge of health , as it could be a more accurate determinant of the age of our cells .? At present, there are blood/urine tests available to determine biological age through DNA methylation, which is the best-studied epigenetic modification (genetic modifications that impact gene activity without changing the DNA sequence ).?

To conclude, over supplementation is very much a real phenomenon, as per my firsthand experience. So, always be sure to read the labels on the back of your supplements, and if possible, take supplements per your biological age rather than your chronological age. Of course, always consult your doctor or trusted health practitioner before embarking on any type of supplementation as well.?