You can overdose on Vitamins and Minerals

It’s very easy to take too many vitamins, because so many food products like cereal and milk are fortified with them, so when you have a vitamin pill, you could easily go over the Upper Tolerable Limit.  Since there’s no evidence vitamin pills and supplements do good, and there is evidence that they do harm or are ineffective, why take them?

Recommended Daily Allowance & Upper Limits for Vitamins and Minerals

The Institute of Medicine has determined upper limits for 24 nutrients. Here is a chart comparing the RDA and UL for all of them.  This table only applies to adults age 19 or older. It also does not apply to women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. (Source: September 2012 ConsumerReports p 21 and Institute of Medicine).

Vitamin

or Mineral

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) or Adequate Intake (AI)

Nutrients with AIs are marked with an (*)

Upper Tolerable Limit (UL)

The highest amount you can take without risk

Boron
Not determined.
20 mg/day
Calcium
  • Age 1-3: 700 mg/day
  • Age 4-8: 1,000 mg/day
  • Age 9-18: 1,300 mg/day
  • Age 19-50: 1,000 mg/day
  • Women age 51+: 1,200 mg/day
  • Men age 71+: 1,200 mg/day
  • Age19-50: 2,500 mg/day
  • Age 51 and up:2,000 mg/day
Chloride
  • Age 19-50: 2,300 mg/day
  • Age 50-70: 2,000 mg/day
  • Age 70 and older: 1,800 mg/day
3,600 mg/day
Choline

(Vitamin B complex)

  • Age 70 and older: 1,800 mg/day
  • Women: 425 mg/day *
3,500 mg/day
Copper

900 micrograms/day

10,000 micrograms/day
Fluoride
  • Men: 4 mg/day *
  • Women: 3 mg/day *
10 mg/day
Folic Acid (Folate)

400 micrograms/day

1,000 micrograms/day

Iodine

150 micrograms/day

1,100 micrograms/day
Iron
  • Men: 8 mg/day
  • Women age 19-50: 18 mg/day
  • Women age 51 and up: 8 mg/day
45 mg/day
Magnesium
  • Men age 19-30: 400 mg/day
  • Men age 31 and up: 420 mg/day
  • Women age 19-30: 310 mg/day
  • Women age 31 and up: 320 mg/day

350 mg/day


Manganese
  • Men: 2.3 mg/day *
  • Women: 1.8 mg/day*
11 mg/day
Molybdenum
45 micrograms/day
2,000 micrograms/day
Nickel
Not determined
1.0 mg/day
Phosphorus
700 mg/day
Up to age 70: 4,000 mg/day Over age 70: 3,000 mg/day
Selenium

55 micrograms/day

400 micrograms/day
Sodium
  • Age 19-50: 1,500 mg/day
  • Age 51-70: 1,300 mg/day
  • Age 71 and up: 1,200 mg/day
2,300 mg/day
Vanadium
Not determined
1.8 mg/day
Vitamin A
  • Men: 3,000 IU/day
  • Women: 2,310 IU/day
10,000 IU/day
Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
  • Men: 16 mg/day
  • Women: 14 mg/day

35 mg/day

Vitamin B6
  • Men age 19-50: 1.3 mg/day
  •  Men age 51 up:1.7 mg/day
  •  Women age 19-50: 1.3 mg/day
  •  Women age 51 up: 1.5 mg/day
100 mg/day
Vitamin C
  • Men: 90 mg/day
  • Women: 75 mg/day
2,000 mg/day
Vitamin D (Calciferol)
  • Age 1-70: 15 micrograms/day

    (600 IU, or 800 international units) *

  • Age 70 and older: 20 micrograms/day

100 micrograms/day

(4,000 IU)

Vitamin E

(alpha-tocopherol)

22.4 IU/day
1,500 IU/day

Zinc
  • Men: 11 mg/day
  • Women: 8 mg/day
40 mg/day

About Alice

I've milled and baked with whole grains for many years, because whole grains are delicious, and white flour is missing the nutrition that protects you from cancer, stroke, heart disease, diabetes and many other diseases. Plus it's a good emergency food.
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