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Kids taking VA in a multivitamin
"For example, in the United States, a random, national sample of more than 3,000 children found that 97% of toddlers taking multivitamins were getting excessive amounts of vitamin A -- amounts above the "Tolerable Upper Intake Level." Even among toddlers who didn't take supplements, 15% were getting too much vitamin A (Briefel et al 2006)."
https://www.parentingscience.com/vitamin-A-supplements.html
"Excessive intakes (ie, intakes above the Tolerable Upper Intake Level) were noted for both supplement users and nonusers for vitamin A (97% and 15% of toddlers) and zinc..."
Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study: Do Vitamin and Mineral Supplements Contribute to Nutrient Adequacy or Excess among US Infants and Toddlers? https://sci-hub.tw/10.1016/j.jada.2005.09.041
"Approximately 46% of Hispanic toddlers and 35% of non-Hispanic toddlers had usual intakes exceeding the UL for vitamin A."
Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study: Characteristics and Usual Nutrient Intake of Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Infants and Toddlers https://sci-hub.tw/10.1016/j.jada.2005.09.040
"In agreement with FITS 2002 (2, 29, 30), CSFII (23), and NHANES 2001-2002 (22), we found a significant proportion of children in all age subgroups with diets exceeding the UL for vitamin A, but particularly in preschoolers receiving supplements. The pediatric UL for vitamin A was based on adverse effects of intracranial pressure (bulging fontanels) and skeletal abnormalities in infants receiving high doses of vitamin A, and a conservative uncertainty factor of 10 since infants are more susceptible to vitamin A toxicity than older children and chronic hypervitaminosis (eg, anorexia, increased intracranial pressure, abnormal bone development, dermatitis, and hepatotoxicity) can go undetected (31, 32). Dietary supplements and some foods commonly consumed by young children are formulated with preformed vitamin A. Several children's vitamin supplements contain preformed vitamin A in amounts exceeding the UL, exposing young children unnecessarily to risk of vitamin A toxicity. All sources of preformed vitamin A in the diets of young children should be considered in the regulatory guidance for food manufacturers."
https://jandonline.org/article/S0002-8223%2810%2901480-X/fulltext
"Multivitamins are the most widely used dietary supplement among children and teens, accounting for up to half of all products used."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/wellness/2001/02/13/vita-kids-healthy-eaters-already/611f8d01-de99-4486-a227-8f673232a9f4/
"National nutrition surveys in the United States indicate that about 1 in 2 infants or preschoolers and 1 in 3 school-aged children use at least 1 vitamin and mineral supplement, typically a multivitamin."
https://insights.ovid.com/nutrition-today/nutod/2002/05/000/national-nutrition-data-contributions-challenges/11/00017285
"Similar candy-like chewable vitamin supplements containing substantial amounts of vitamin A must be treated with extreme care when kept at home. There is a genuine risk of children inadvertently taking large numbers of this preparation within a relatively short period of time, which can result in hypervitaminosis A."
Risk of Vitamin A Toxicity From Candy-Like Chewable Vitamin Supplements for Children https://sci-hub.tw/10.1542/peds.2006-0167
Hi @dan,
Thanks for sharing that information and links.
There is now about a 50% rate of chronic disease in American children.
Results: An estimated 43% of US children (32 million) currently have at least 1 of 20 chronic health conditions assessed, increasing to 54.1% when overweight, obesity, or being at risk for developmental delays are included; 19.2% (14.2 million) have conditions resulting in a special health care need, a 1.6 point increase since 2003.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21570014/
"and zinc..." => you should have let the whole sentence because it shows that zinc toxicity is even more common than A with non-supplemented children.
Actually I am absolutely convinced (based on solid real life evidence with many many people) than zinc toxicity is extremely common (even more than A).
There is a common belief (even here on these forums) that somehow we are deficient in zinc (I believed that too until shown the opposite many times).
Truth is, zinc deficiency is almost impossible to achieve even if you wanted to do so and most people are completely zinc toxic. The body regulates zinc from diet quite well but not from supplements and not once you are toxic in it (probably same for some forms if A).
Electrosensitive people (contrary to what I myself believed until recently) are zinc toxic (they have a big zinc/copper ratio within their nervous system) and getting rid of excess zinc "cures" them. I have witnessed that personally.
You should try a low zinc diet (very difficult to do so as you will see) to see what happens with your symptoms.
Volvic water chelated zinc it should help.
Excessive intakes (ie, intakes above the Tolerable Upper Intake Level) were noted for both supplement users and nonusers for vitamin A (97% and 15% of toddlers) and zinc (60% and 59% of older infants and 68% and 38% of toddlers) as well as for folate among supplement users (18% of toddlers).
Yeah that's quite a few infants getting too much zinc. If it is zinc from fortification that's bad, if it is from meat (seems unlikely) then maybe that's not quite so problematic.
I don't enjoy eating lots of red meat, I prefer more chicken and fish, perhaps that's my body not wanting excess zinc.
Does anyone know if the naturopathic zinc taste test is valid? Some naturopaths love that test and they claim many are zinc deficient because of it.
@tim-2 "I don't enjoy eating lots of red meat, I prefer more chicken and fish, perhaps that's my body not wanting excess zinc."
People with copper toxicity have aversion eating meat especially beef high in zinc.. But they love to eat chocolate, cashews etc.. This right there is debunking the myth that when you crave something you need it... Another good example of this is sugar cravings during adrenal fatigue. The body is deprived for energy so it wants sugar badly, but it just makes things worse. It will deplete more and more crucial micronutrients.. In copper toxicity people are exhausted. So they crave sugar and stimulant foods full of copper to have that stimulative fake energy which feels good short term, but long term you just dig deeper hole for yourself.. Most people need to calm down, chill and eat more meat with calming zinc.. I was in this vicious circle for years. For mineral tests there is nothing better than hair tissue mineral analysis. Retesting every 3-5 months, make changes and watch how it changes and how your body/behavior changes..
Hair analysis can be useful for toxicology but it doesn't provide helpful information about mineral levels...
I don't enjoy large helpings of red meat but I also don't like much chocolate or nuts. People have dislikes and likes and there are many reasons for them... I have an aversion to many forms of dairy, that has nothing to do with the mineral content of the products.
I think people that crave chocolate and nuts are often avoiding other high calorie foods and so they eat them to compensate. Btw chocolate and nuts are not low in zinc.
The only mineral balancing I will ever do is blood letting if my ferritin is too high. Everything else is missing the point that mineral balance and utilization in the body is too complex to understand and that mineral balance needs to be achieved by holistically working towards better health. In a poor state of health there will be dysregulation of mineral balance and there will be lack of correct utilization of nutrients no matter how much one tries to balance minerals in the diet.
You claim that one should not address SIBO directly, one should address root causes to cure it but on the other hand you are trying to manipulate the levels of minerals in your body, that isn't addressing the root cause because healthy people do not have problems with mineral balance when consuming a balanced diet.
I'm not saying it is totally the wrong approach. I think it is wise to avoid over consuming high copper foods but I think that is as far as it should be taken.
Two things that can be done to balance copper is to reduce insulin resistance and to lower excess vA. That is working on root causes.
@tim-2 "Hair analysis can be useful for toxicology but it doesn't provide helpful information about mineral levels..."
I can't agree. There is nothing better than hair analysis in combination with blood test and the most important thing is retesting and see what is changing and moving to which direction..
"Two things that can be done to balance copper is to reduce insulin resistance and to lower excess vA. That is working on root causes."
Again you don't understand what is copper "disregulation or toxicity" about.. But it is not so hard to understand. Especially when you read or watch videos that I posed here..
@tim2 : the best test for zinc toxicity is urine test first thing in the morning. The body knows exactly its zinc reserves and will try to get rid of any excess through urine especially at night. If your urine zinc (in the morning, the first pee) is too high then you have too much zinc and should reduce it until it is normal (electrosensitive people then stop having symptoms at that point).
Admittedly I don't have much practical experience with hair testing, my conclusions have been drawn from reading about it. Hair testing isn't scientifically sound which is why it's just naturopaths using it.
I have some understanding but I don't just accept theories from sources like Wilson, acucell and other websites in totality.
I do like reading about your ideas and experience though.