Overdosing on different nutrients and vitamins, especially through excessive consumption of supplements can lead to all sorts of health issues, from cirrhosis of the liver to severe heart problems, depending on the particular vitamin overdose. — SHVETSA/Pexels
All of us have come across many “simple” guidelines for better health. They are everywhere, on social media, in newspapers, magazines, TV shows, etc. Humans all desire universal aims such as good health and longer lives, hence there is always interest in the easiest, fastest routes to attain such desirable outcomes.
This may also be due to living in a modern world where everyone is often confronted with stress and pressures related to work, social, family, environmental, and other issues. There is usually simply not enough time to look after oneself properly, so the idea of obtaining “health” quickly (perhaps via some pills) can be very attractive.
But there is a complex problem with simple solutions. Often they can be like using a six-inch wide paint brush to create a delicate portrait. The fact is simple solutions often do not tend to solve complex problems. A multivitamin pill in the morning may not confer instant health, longevity, or even basic nutrition.
A large American study based on 390,124 participants and published in June this year found no statistical evidence that taking daily multivitamin supplements had any effect on mortality rates. In short, despite the hopes of many people, there is no credible evidence that daily multivitamin pills prolong longevity.
An earlier 2021 study on 489,640 participants done by the American Society for Nutrition found some curious outcomes regarding cancer rates. Men who took daily multivitamins had a 2% higher overall risk of cancer, including a 3% higher risk of prostate cancer, an 8% higher risk of lung cancer, and a 16% higher risk of leukemia (which increased to 26% higher if they took more than one multivitamin supplements daily).
Women taking daily multivitamins did not demonstrate any additional risks of cancers, except for oropharyngeal (a type of head and neck) cancer which increased by 46%. Against this, men taking daily multivitamins had an 18% lower risk of colon cancer, and women on multivitamins daily had a 35% lower risk of leukemia.
An even earlier trial with 34,888 participants in a 2001 cancer-prevention study called SELECT (Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial) was stopped five years early because the results indicated that men taking vitamin E supplements had a statistically significant 17% greater risk of developing prostate cancer.
This was compounded by a follow-up study in 2014 which found that augmenting selenium in men with already high levels of dietary selenium induced more dangerous grades of prostate cancer. The study ended with the conclusion that selenium and vitamin E supplements, either alone or in combination, were not effective in preventing prostate cancer in the study population.
They also made no difference in the incidence of lung or colorectal cancers, all cancers combined, all deaths combined, or the overall incidence of cardiovascular events. So unless you are medically advised to do so, there appears to be little point in supplementing with vitamin E and/or selenium, based on this study.
At this point, it may be relevant to bring up the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) study done between 1985 to 1993 in Finland on 29,133 male smokers. The ATBC study was intended to research the effects of supplementation of vitamin E and beta-carotene on lung cancer. Beta-carotene is the red-orange pigment found in plants (especially carrots and colourful vegetables) which the body converts into vitamin A.
The ATBC results were disappointing. Participants supplemented with beta-carotene had an 18% increase in lung cancer cases and an 8% higher mortality rate. Beta-carotene was also associated with an increased risk of strokes and other cancers, such as stomach cancer. Vitamin E was also found to have no impact on the incidence of lung cancers.
Aspects of negative nutrition
For our purposes, let us now define what is meant by “negative nutrition”: It is simply the consumption of foods/compounds that can provoke health problems over a period of time.
Based on the SELECT and ATBC studies, it may be suggested that vitamin E, selenium, and beta-carotene are examples of negative nutrition, where some nutrients can statistically cause more harm than good. However, that would be jumping too quickly to the wrong conclusion. Also, all the above nutrients are essential for health and a properly functioning body.
So the situation is more nuanced than a simple Good Food/Bad Food decision. Negative nutrition may happen for several reasons, such as the following:
1. Consuming foods of poor nutritional quality
2. Overdosing on certain nutrients
3. Nutrients conflicting with other nutrients
4. Excessive depletion of free radicals
Poor nutritional quality
There is definitely no shortage of foods of poor and even extremely poor nutritional quality available. As a group, they are usually defined as Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs), and they include practically all convenience foods and most items served at junk food restaurants.
UPFs also include fried foods (especially those deep-fried), processed meats, foods with artificial additives and/or high salt content, heavily sweetened snacks and drinks, refined grains, and processed cereals. It is not necessary to explain yet again why UPFs are simply bad for health, especially if you have been following this column.
Ultra-processed foods like fast food and fried foods are considered foods with poor nutritional quality. — JERCHUNG/Pexels
Compounding the problem, many foods now often come with additional hazards, such as contamination by chemicals such as PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances), MNPs (micro- and nano-plastics), herbicides, pesticides, growth hormones, antimicrobials, etc.
In the EU, agricultural products are routinely checked for contamination by such compounds, to ensure that humans do not eat such contaminants. Many thousands of tonnes of such contaminated foods are regularly destroyed each year, but not every country monitors food quality as strictly as the EU. In any case, some of the contaminated produce may still be allowed as livestock feed and/or exported to other countries.
UPFs and contaminated produce may be considered as slow-acting toxins that can have significant negative effects on human health over the long term. In particular, PFAS is a “forever” artificial compound that is so stable that it will never decompose in the environment.
Once distributed into the air, water, land, or our food, PFAS will continue to pollute forever. On entering the human body, research has linked these compounds to cancers, metabolic diseases, hormone imbalances, damage to the liver and immune system, etc. There are simply no good outcomes that can arise from ingesting PFAS, especially as human bodies tend to bioaccumulate the compounds rather than excrete them. And, just to be clear, that statement also applies to MNPs and other contaminants.
Overdosing
Nutrients are normally delivered as chemical compounds, and in some cases, it is possible to overdose on such compounds. It normally requires a degree of inappropriate dietary planning to overdose, but it is still highly feasible to turn nutrients into toxins via overconsumption.
An example is iron overload, which happens at consumption levels persistently exceeding 45-50 mg of iron daily. The body mostly stores excess dietary iron in the liver, heart, and pancreas. Persistent excess iron can lead to cirrhosis of the liver and increased risk of liver cancer, along with heightened risks of congestive heart failure and irregular heart rhythms. Iron damage to the pancreas can lead to diabetes as insulin production may be impaired. There are also links to impaired immune responses, hormone disruptions, and neurological issues due to iron overload.
Excess protein means acquiring more than 22% of daily calories from especially animal proteins, which can eventually lead to blocked blood vessels. — IGREJAPRETA/Pexels
Overloading on vitamin A is called Hypervitaminosis A, and happens when people regularly consume 25,000 IUs or more a day. Usually, this would arise from overdosing on supplements though there are rare cases of people developing hypervitaminosis A after overeating foods rich in beta-carotene or vitamin A. In large amounts, vitamin A is simply toxic, and particularly damaging to the liver.
Overconsumption of calcium (over 2,000-2,500 mg a day), usually from supplements, can lead to hypercalcemia (excessive calcium in the blood), kidney stones, and impaired absorption of other essential minerals like iron and zinc. Hypercalcemia is also linked to life-threatening heart problems, gastrointestinal problems, and constipation.
Too much vitamin D (over 4,000 IU a day) can be problematic as it can cause hypercalcemia, due to vitamin D enhancing calcium absorption from food in the gut, provoking the release of calcium from bones, and restricting renal excretion of calcium.
Excessive vitamin E (over 1,000 mg daily) can thin the blood excessively, interfere with blood clotting, and increase the risks of strokes and hemorrhages. Overdoses of this vitamin are also associated with more cardiovascular events and higher mortality rates.
Excess protein consumption may be classified as acquiring more than 22% of daily calories from proteins, especially animal-based proteins. With plant-based proteins, the threshold is higher, perhaps 25-30% of daily calories may be plant-based proteins. The main health difference between animal-based and plant-based proteins is the amount of an amino acid called leucine, which is much higher in animal proteins.
Too much leucine interferes with autophagy, the body’s natural process of clearing dysfunctional or damaged cells. This leads to the accumulation of dysfunctional cells in artery walls, which then turns into plaque that can block blood vessels. There are other symptoms of excessive protein consumption, such as hypertension (high blood pressure), raised cholesterol levels, and alterations in glucose metabolism processes.
The next column will deal with nutrient conflicts and the complex topic of free radicals.
The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.
