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Well-being
are unable to produce and which, taken
in small amounts, is essential for the nor-
mal functioning of the metabolism. Small
amounts of vitamins are stored in the cells.
In some cases, the largest amount is stored
in the liver. For example, vitamin A stored
in the liver is the amount required for a pe-
riod of 5 to 10 months during which, there
is no need to take any supplements. The
amount of vitamin D stored in the liver is
suffcient for a 2-4 month period and, the-
refore, no additional doses are necessary.
Consequently, the minimum daily requi-
rement of vitamins are not that high; only
milligram or microgram doses are needed
and these are easily found (proportionally
speaking) in natural food sources. Vitamin
defciency or overdose can cause serious
illnesses and could even be life-threatening.
Vitamin defciency is known as avitaminosis
and the overdose of vitamins as hypervita-
minosis.
Avitaminosis
Vitamin defciency can lead to more or less
serious disorders depending on the level of
defciency. It is diffcult for this to happen in
the developed world. In fact, it is extremely
rare in normal medical practice to fnd vita-
min defciencies. This is because:
1. Vitamin requirements are minimal.
2. The suffciently varied diet in our society
meets all our vitamin requirements
3. The quality of food in our society is quite
high.
4. There is an abusive intake of vitamin su-
pplements.
Hypervitaminosis
Although vitamins are essential they can be
toxic if taken in large quantities. Some are
quite toxic and others are harmless, even if
taken in large doses.
Toxicity can vary depending on the dose.
For example, vitamin D is administered in
suffciently high doses to cover the require-
ments over a six-month period; neverthe-
less, this is not the case with vitamins B3
or B6 since these are very toxic. Another
example is the long-term use of hydroso-
luble vitamins which are easily tolerated
because what the body does not need is
easily eliminated in the urine. The most
toxic vitamins are D and A.
Tips for preventing vitamin
defciencies
Raw vegetables are the principal source of
vitamins and, as such, the consumption of