Taking Vitamins in Prescribed Doses

When the body is under attack—be it a simple cut or disease—it musters every available nutrient to fend off the invasion. In the process, the body may run out of vital nutrients, which is why recovery from most serious diseases involves medicine. However, doctors believe that too much of a vitamin can be as dangerous as too little. Then again, fighting diseases with the right nutritional arsenal can help score a crushing victory, right?

In medicine, taking more than what is required is called megadosing. It's a practice shunned by most physicians due to the serious implications of taking too much of one vitamin, especially the fat-soluble ones (A, D, E, and K). Vitamin C, on the other hand, doesn't pose as much of a risk as the others due to its water solubility. This simply means that any excess Vitamin C in the system can be expelled with ease via the excretory system.

Pharmaceutical companies formulate their vitamins based on proven research. A megadose of vitamin C hasn't entirely proven itself to be an effective healer. Multivitamins have to stick to the prescribed dosage for each vitamin or mineral to prevent increased toxicity in the human body. The human body will call on a specific vitamin when the need comes. However, it can only keep so much in reserve.