Sweet and fruity, gummy vitamins are an enjoyable and easy way to get your daily dose of nutrients. Although it’s best to fill your plate with fresh fruits and veggies, vitamin supplements can help ensure your body gets the nutrition it needs for proper functioning. But be wary -- even though they’re made to benefit the body, overdosing on gummy vitamins can be quite dangerous.

Vitamin Dangers

The human body has various regulatory mechanisms to handle excess vitamin intake, as it does with most other nutrients. However, accumulating extremely high levels of certain vitamins can actually be quite dangerous. Water-soluble vitamins include vitamins B-3, B-6, C and folic acid. Since the body is able to excrete these vitamins in the urine, overdosing is more difficult -- although it’s still possible if levels become too high. Fat-soluble vitamins, on the other hand, can very easily reach toxic levels within the body since they absorb into body fat. These vitamins include A, D, E and K. Many multivitamins also contain iron and zinc, both of which become problematic when consumed in excess.

Dosing Considerations

Each vitamin manufacturer sets its own standards regarding serving sizes and the amount of each nutrient per serving. To ensure you know exactly what you're getting, always check your vitamin bottle's supplement facts label before you begin taking it. Typically, the standard serving size for gummy vitamins is two gummies -- compared to just one tablet for regular vitamins. However, each two-gummy serving has roughly the same amount of vitamins and minerals as a one-tablet serving.

The larger serving size makes it a bit more difficult to overdose, since each gummy contains less vitamins. However, the sweet and fruity flavor might pose an extra overdose risk for children, who might not understand the difference between vitamins and candy.

Overdose Dangers

If left untreated, vitamin overdose -- whether from gummy or regular vitamins -- can cause serious and potentially permanent damage to the body. As vitamins affect multiple areas of the body, overdose dangers include impaired sensations, irregular heart rhythms, mental changes, weight loss, convulsions and kidney damage. If a vitamin overdose is suspected, contact emergency medical services or a poison control center immediately. Emergency medical treatment might include washing the stomach, breathing assistance, intravenous fluids and medicine to reverse the overdose effects.

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