Knowing Your Vitamins and Minerals

A great artcle by Joseph Amici.

While Vitamins and Minerals are essential to your diet, it is nice to know what a serious deficiency and large excess of each can do to your mental and physical health! Considering the Daily Values (DV %) listed on different containers are products, I will let you know what these deficiency and excess side effects are.


Vitamins

Vitamin A

A deficiency of Vitamin A can lead you to have side effects including dry skin, dry hair, blindness at nighttime, and an increase in digestive infections.
A large excess of Vitamin A can lead to dry skin (just as in a deficiency), hair loss, pain in the abdominals, headaches, and drowsiness.

Vitamin B1

A deficiency can cause heart failure and water retention.

Vitamin B2

A deficiency can cause areas of discolored skin.

Vitamin B3

A deficiency can contribute to damage to the skin and nervous system.
A large excess can cause flush skin (Niacin Flush) and liver damage.

Vitamin B6

A deficiency can cause nervousness and muscular disorders.
A large excess can cause a lack of coordination and numbness.

Vitamin B12

A deficiency can cause weakened nerve function.

Vitamin C

A deficiency can cause weakened immunity to sickness and slow healing of wounds.
A large excess can cause kidney stones and diarrhea.

Vitamin D

A deficiency can cause softened bones in adults and bone deformities in children.
A large excess can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and kidney damage.

Vitamin E


A large excess can cause fatigue and vomiting.

Vitamin K

A deficiency can cause severe bleeding and easy bruising.
A large excess can cause liver damage.


Minerals

Calcium

A deficiency can cause a loss of bone mass and stunted growth.
A large excess can cause kidney stones and a lesser absorption of other minerals.

Chloride

A deficiency can cause a loss in appetite and muscle cramps.
A large excess can cause high blood pressure.

Copper

A large excess can cause liver damage and vomiting.

Fluoride

A deficiency can cause tooth decay.
A large excess can cause upset stomachs and deformed skeletons.

Iodine

Both a deficiency and excess can cause enlarged thyroids.

Iron

A deficiency can cause a weakened immune system and overall weakness in the body.
A large excess can cause liver damage, shock, and heart failure.

Magnesium

A deficiency can cause muscle cramps.
A large excess can cause neurological problems.

Manganese

A large excess can cause nerve damage.

Phosphorus

A deficiency can cause weakness.
A large excess can lead to a lesser absorption of other minerals.

Potassium

A deficiency can cause muscle weakness.
A large excess can cause heart failure and paralysis.

Sodium

A deficiency can cause muscle cramps and a reduced appetite.
A large excess can cause high blood pressure.

Sulfur

There are no known side effects of consuming too little or too much sulfur.

Zinc

A deficiency can cause slurred speaking, trouble walking, and weakened immune function.
A large excess can cause vomiting and diarrhea.


Conclusion

I hope now that you have read this, you will have a better understanding of what a large excess and/or a deficiency of different vitamins and minerals can do to your body!

References:
Goodenough, Judith. Biology of Humans: Concepts, Applications, and Issues. 2nd