There is always a happy medium to everything you consume. Even the best of foods should be had only up to the limit suggested. Vitamin A, which is essential to enhance your immunity, is no exception to this rule. While vitamin A deficiency could cause blindness and low immunity, overdose of the same could produce various complications as well. Heavy overdose of vitamin A could prove fatal under certain circumstances.
Vitamin A – A Quick View
Vitamin A is fat-soluble and there are two types of vitamin A in the diet. One is from animal products namely fish, meat and dairy products and the other one is plant-based obtained from fruits and vegetables. Beta-carotene is the most popularly known type of plant-based vitamin A.
Vitamin A aids in boosting your immunity, improves vision and contributes to keep your skin healthy and glowing. It is great for breast-feeding. The permissible limits of the vitamin depend on the age and the medical condition of the individual.
Symptoms Of Overdose Of Vitamin A
If your meal happened to contain very high share of vitamin A, you may suffer from certain short-term symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, headache and blurred vision. If you had been on a consistent overdose of vitamin A, you may experience fatigue and weight loss. The complications of consuming overdose of vitamin A for a prolonged period do not end here. You may experience hair loss, pain in the muscles, loss of appetite, convulsions, irregular heartbeat and it could affect your mental well-being, leading to confused thoughts and mental tiredness. Liver could suffer the worst and could be fatal at times.
Adverse Effects Of Overdose Of Vitamin A
One of the worst conditions suffered by vitamin A overdose could be osteoporosis. This cruelly affects the quality of your life. Pregnant women need to exercise caution while consuming vitamin A as intake of more than the prescribed level could cause birth defects in the child, which could prove extremely severe. However, the problems could occur only if vitamin A overdose is owing to animal source and not from plant source. Other side effects include sore eyes, skin irritation, cracked lips, mouth ulcers, diarrhea and many more.
It would be best to have a balanced diet that lets you have a fair share of vitamins and nutrients to keep you fit.
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