Hypervitaminosis A

[Konnar]

So since I'm taking cod liver oil capsules, I estimate my daily intake to be between 4000 and 5000 mcg and I've read 3000mcg was the limit for the human body to tolerate. What do you think, does it apply to "us" (as in, people who train/are young and all) ?

[Skippy]

It doesn't matter. You'll be fine.

[Tossman]

Generally with vitamins, RDIs are well below true safety margins. But with that said, the side effects of hypervitaminosis A are not pleasant.

[Konnar]

Okai thanks. BTW we're not talking RDI here; 4000mcg is 750% or so RDI.

[Tossman]

Oh sorry, I missread you post. Well, in that case, if I was you, I'd probably ease off the vitamin A. Even if you were some super athlete, why do you need that much anyway?

[Lord Nirmal]

How long you had this daily intake?

[Konnar]

Oh sorry, I missread you post. Well, in that case, if I was you, I'd probably ease off the vitamin A. Even if you were some super athlete, why do you need that much anyway?
Cod liver oil: to get respectable amounts of DHA/EPA I need to take those amounts
How long you had this daily intake?
1.5 weeks.

[Tossman]

You know, you can get plenty of omega3s from ordinary fish oil (eg salmon oil). You won't have a problem with vitamin overdose, and it has the additional benefit of being cheaper too.

[Konnar]

I took some on my way back from england, and in France they're too fucking retarded to sell fish oil conveniently - it costs a lot of money to buy them from pharmacies and even then it's some shitty .01mg capsule for old women or something. Damn I hate france.
But thx anyways I think I'm going to order some on the intranets.

[Lord Nirmal]

Well the maximum doses are made for people that eat around 1800 calories a day, so if you are eating around 2700 a day I'm sure it's more than safe. If it's costing you extra money to buy the supplements though, its not really worth paying more for a possible health risk.

[Jingy]

"Everything is poison, there is poison in everything. Only the dose makes a thing not a poison."

Long term...does it sound like a good idea? Look at other ways maybe - not every athlete has this :P

[Ashtar]

I heard if you got Vitamin A from a more natural source like liver (oh wait, cod LIVER oil) that if you take excessive amounts it isn't as harmful as overdosing from say, vitamin pills or whatever. I can't remember why, something to do with its form or being dissolved in fat or something.

Another tactic is using carotenoids since presumably your body stops converting them into vitamin A once youre requirements are meant, storing the excess in your skin where it turns it yellow-orange and helps protect from skin cancer.