Folic Acid Overdose

When talking about folic acid overdose the really good news stands in the fact that the regular individual will not really have a chance to get overdosed. This even goes for people that are supplementing their diet with vitamin supplements. Every single day you should make sure that you take in at least 400 mcg of this nutrient. Women that want to become pregnant, are lactating or are pregnant should increase this intake to around 600 mcg daily. As you might expect, we do have some exceptions to the RDA rules but this should not bother you the least beat as everything bad that can happen is treatable.

Scientists consider that 1000 mcg of folic acid is the upper limit that you should not pass. Quantities that are higher than this will be considered folic acid overdose. Unfortunately sometimes folic acid can end up masking deficiency of vitamin B12. This fact has caused many improper diagnoses done in the past. The good news is that we can now see whether or not a person is suffering from folic acid overdose or deficiency through some simple lab tests.

The biggest problem with folic acid overdose is that doses of around 1000 mcg actually affect the work of some epilepsy drugs. We are also faced with different situations in which people ended up with allergic reactions when too much folic acid was present in their bodies. It is crucial that you look out for one of the most common symptoms of such an allergy: itchiness.

Unfortunately we are faced with a current debate that is linked with folic acid overdose. A good multi vitamin supplement usually includes around 500 mcg of folic acid. We are talking about a dose that is already higher than the RDA mentioned above. This is because doses that are higher than the recommended values are not really dangerous. Folic acid is a water soluble vitamin. This basically means that the quantities of this nutrient that have not been used by the body are eliminated daily through urine. We can not really be faced with problems when overdosing because of this factor. In the worse case scenario serious side effects will appear when we are dealing with prolonged exposure to folic acid overdose that is several times the upper intake limit mentioned above.

According to a study that was performed on people that took folic acid overdose at a level of 15,000 mcg daily we have seen that they were faced with different side effects. This includes anxiety, concentration problems, insomnia, behavior disorders and digestive problems. Another study that was done with around the same quantity did not show such severe side effects.

If you are currently worried about folic acid overdose you should not be. We can not talk about the recommended value that will work best for you but an overdose is really hard to reach. The only real problem would appear in the event that you eat too much liver daily but we are talking about huge quantities here. The most folic acid you could get from food stands in liver. Just 3 ounces of liver will give you around 180 mcg of vitamin B9.

Keep in mind that your doctor might prescribe folic acid in overdose quantities in order to prevent some condition. This vitamin is good for correcting anemia and in this situation there is no alternative than getting a folic acid overdose. On the other hand, such a case will bring in medical supervision. What is important at this point in time is to make sure that your diet is good and that the multi vitamin supplement you are using contains everything you might need in adequate quantities. This includes folic acid.