Hi,

My brother has been prescribed a multivitamin with the following fat soluble vitamins as ingredients for 3 weeks.

Vitamin A as palmitate - 2000 iu

Vitamin D - 400 IU

Vitamin E - 25 IU

Is the vitamin A content in this safe ? I am asking because I dont know much about vitamins.

I have read a lot of vitamin A toxicity and hence I fear it.

Thank you.

You can learn about Vit A here:

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/vitamins/vitamin-A

This is not a high dose vitamin supplement.

The Vit A content is twice the RDA... but upper level suggested to not exceed is 10,000 in the US.

There is always a balance and a synergy with vitamin ratios - especially those fat soluble vitamins. When you combine Vitamin A and D, Vitamin D decreases Vitamin A toxicity and tends to increase the need for Vitamin A. Cod liver oil and organ meats have both of these vitamins.

Madisongrrl,

It is very dangerous to overdose on Cod Liver Oil and organ meats.

eg. Liver of bear has vitamin A in dangerous amounts. 1 gram contains Vitamin A that wud suffice for 2 years. Ingesting this amount even inadvertently can be dangerous. It will cause hypervitaminosis A.

There is no treatment for Vitamin A toxicity. Even small toxic amounts take months to deplete from your body.

Vit D3 supplements can be taken by properly monitoring it. I am against Vitamin A supplements. There is no definite test for Vitamin A. There is a test but that is not correct. It shows wrong values.

It is good to get Vitamin A from papaya ,cantaloupe ,milk and veg dietary sources.

Everything we consume in life has a toxicity level, even water. When we eat a nutrient dense diet that includes a variety of whole foods, we tend to end up in a optimal place where vitamin toxicities and deficiencies are not as likely. The standard american diet is the diet that I see most people eating and, if anything, is more prone to vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Here is an article by Chris Kresser that speaks to Vitamin A toxicity/deficiency. He also explains the interplay between Vitamins A and D and talks about cod liver oil vs organ meats. He points out that you would need to eat 22 ounces of beef liver or 5 tablespoons of cod liver oil each day to create a vitamin A toxicity. I only eat liver occasionally and take 1 teaspoon of green pastures fermented cod liver oil each day because I think it is a reasonable approach.

http://chriskresser.com/9-steps-to-p...lement-wisely/

I'd also recommend reading anything by Chris Masterjohn PhD on this topic; he is a expert in fat soluble vitamins.

This is interesting and caused me to do a little reading on Arctic explorers and their diets. This is not relevant for the average person. Not many of us will ever eat or have access to polar bear livers.

Fruits and vegetables are not sources of Vitamin A, they are sources of beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is the inactive/precursor form of rentinol (Vitamin A). Healthy adults only convert 3% of beta-carotene into Vitamin A and about 45% of the population can not convert beta-carotene into Vitamin A at all; this is due to genetic, disease, infection, or food allergy factors.

The short term vitamin supplements that your brother has been prescribed seem very reasonable to me, provided that he is avoiding seal or polar bear livers in his diet.