Hi Everyone,

I was home for Easter and noticed that my dad is now taking a multi-vitamin made by "Purity Products" called Purity's Perfect Multi.

The thing that surprised me is that the company recommends taking FOUR of these vitamins per day. On the package it says that taking 4 per day gives you 1500% of your daily recommended vitamin B6, 833% of your daily recommended vitamin C, etc. The full list is at the link below.

http://www.purityproducts.com/product.asp?sku=57&dept%5FID=1

Is it dangerous for him to be taking so many extra vitamins? It seems to me that this company is just making a regular vitamin, but they're unethically advising people to take more than they should so the bottle runs out faster. Is there a better vitamin he should be taking, or should he just be taking a lower quantity of these? Two vitamins twice daily seems like real overkill!

The other thing is that these vitamins are expensive! They came with a booklet about vitamins that says that you can't "afford" to take other "cheap" vitamins, and you need to buy expensive vitamins because they're better. It sounds like a total scam to me, so I'd like some help convincing my dad that he's better off switching brands, or doing something else.

My dad is 54 years old and fairly active, but he's not currently dieting or a heavy exerciser.

Can anyone advise me on this? Is he in trouble? Please let me know if I'm totally nuts!

Thanks in advance,

Bob Barlen

The vitamins themselves seem fine (asuming the company practices sterile bottling practices, pure ingredients, etc), but those dosages seem a little out of whack. There is not so much a problem with the vitamin C, but no one needs that much Vitamin E - which only soluble with fats. And with that much B12, I wouldn't be surprised if he was having a bit of trouble sleeping. I would advise him to cut back on the dosage IMO.

no one needs that much Vitamin E - which only soluble with fats.The health risk of too much vitamin E is low. A recent review of the safety of vitamin E in the elderly indicated that taking vitamin E supplements for up to four months at doses of 530 mg or 800 IU (35 times the current RDA) had no significant effect on general health, body weight, levels of body proteins, lipid levels, liver or kidney function, thyroid hormones, amount or kinds of blood cells, and bleeding time. Even though this study provides evidence that taking a vitamin E supplement containing 530 mg or 800 IU for four months is safe, the long term safety of vitamin E supplementation has not been tested. The Institute of Medicine has set an upper tolerable intake level for vitamin E at 1,000 mg (1,500 IU) for any form of supplementary alpha-tocopherol per day because the nutrient can act as an anticoagulant and increase the risk of bleeding problems. Upper tolerable intake levels "represent the maximum intake of a nutrient that is likely to pose no risk of adverse health effects in almost all individuals in the general population".
And with that much B12, I wouldn't be surprised if he was having a bit of trouble sleeping. I would advise him to cut back on the dosage IMO.Vitamin B12 has a very low potential for toxicity. The Institute of Medicine states that "no adverse effects have been associated with excess vitamin B12 intake from food and supplements in healthy individuals." The Institute recommends that adults over 50 years of age get most of their vitamin B12 from supplements or fortified food because of the high incidence of impaired absorption of B12 from unfortified foods in this population.

Go here: http://ods.od.nih.gov/showpage.aspx?pageid=90 and lookup some fact sheets on vitamins, excess intake effects, etc.