Millions Of Senior Citizens Take Vitamins Every Day, And That May Be A Bad Thing

Americans spent $21 billion on vitamins and supplements in 2015. Some of these expenditures were almost certainly legitimate. The American lifestyle, with limited exposure to sun in summer in favor of air conditioned cool, lends itself to vitamin D deficiency. Amazingly, considering the abundance of food in the United States, some Americans manage to get vitamin C deficiencies simply by eating too much fast food. Millions of Americans have specialized problems due to genetics that leave them susceptible to specific vitamin deficiencies, especially of the activated form of folic acid, methylfolate, and tens of millions of Americans take so many prescription drugs that their drug interaction checkers warn them that medications will deplete certain vitamins and minerals they need to supplement.

Taking vitamins just because they are "vital," however, can lead to serious health issues, especially in the elderly. Let's look at seven common avoidable vitamin and mineral supplement problems that plague older people in the USA.

1. Needing Vitamin K2, Getting Vitamin K1.

Vitamin K2 is a naturally occurring vitamin that is particularly abundant in egg yolks, certain cheeses such as Gouda and Camembert, and high-fat dairy products, all foods that Americans have been told by their doctors to avoid for cardiovascular health. Ironically, not getting vitamin K2 causes the atherosclerosis that avoiding high-fat foods is supposed to (and doesn't actually) prevent. Vitamin K2 regulates the transport of calcium from the bloodstream into tissues. It ensures that calcium goes into bones, not into cholesterol-laden plaques in the linings of arteries. Vitamin K2 is available in these high-fat foods and in a fermented soybean product called natto, and in supplements, usually combined with vitamin D. Unfortunately, most doctors don't understand the differences between the forms of vitamin K and encourage their patients to get more vitamin K1 (which the body uses to make clotting factors) from leafy greens such as kale, and more kale, and even more kale.

2. Not Getting Enough Fiber and Plant Phytochemicals Associated with Vitamin K1 Because of Medication Restrictions

Another common problem for aging Americans is not getting enough vitamin K1, because doctors have told them not to eat leafy greens. This form of vitamin K doesn't regulate calcium, but it does regulate clotting factors. People who are on warfarin (Coumadin) for blood clotting issues can't eat leafy greens because the leafy greens contain vitamin K1, and warfarin works by counteracting vitamin K1. The problem is that those leafy greens are also sources of lutein and zeaxanthin for eye health and also of soluble fiber that is so important for probiotics and colon health. The solution usually is to change anticoagulants. More and more Americans are getting prescriptions for other medications that reduce blood clotting through another mechanism.

READ Be Careful With Calcium Pills - They May Harm Your Heart

3. Getting Too Much Calcium in a Single Dose

There's no doubt that calcium is essential for bone health, but it doesn't do your body any good to take more than about 400 mg in a single dose. That's the limit to how much calcium can be absorbed. If you take more, you are just making yourself constipated.

More Vitamin And Supplements Mistakes Many Seniors Make

A 1000 mg calcium tablet doesn't do you two and one-half times as much good as a 400 mg calcium tablet. It actually is less beneficial for your body than the smaller dose, and there is a related problem:

4. Getting Calcium without Its Cofactors

Many people take calcium for bone health. They probably suffer fewer fractures, but there is a growing body of evidence that they suffer more heart disease. The reason why is that taking calcium without the vitamin K2 that the body uses to make the hormones that directs it into the bones allows it to accumulate in the linings of arteries. Promotional materials that vitamin K2 removes calcium from existing atherosclerotic plaques are unsubstantiated (there's really no precise and reliable way to measure that), but there is strong evidence that adding K2 to your calcium supplementation routine will probably help prevent future atherosclerotic plaques.

5. Getting Too Much Vitamin D

Vitamin D turns out to a variety of beneficial effects, especially in the immune system. That doesn't mean that it's always a good idea to take more, more, more. Taking 1,000 to 10,000 IU per day probably does not have a significant downside in most people, but taking megadoses of vitamin D can lead to two serious problems, the formation of bone spurs (vitamin D is another cofactor of calcium in bone health) and sensitivity to sunlight. People have gotten serious sunburns just from spending a few minutes outdoors after taking doses of vitamin D 50,000 IU and greater.

6. Taking Iron Supplements You Don't Need

Iron is an essential medicine. Your body can't make hemoglobin for red blood cells without it. Not everyone, however, needs iron supplements. About 1 to 2 percent of the population in the United States has a disease called hemochromatosis, an iron overload disease. A similar percentage of the population in the Middle East has beta-thalassemia, a different condition that causes excessive accumulation of iron. Too much iron can cause the parts of your body that deal with the greatest amounts of sugar essentially to "rust." The insulin-making cells of the pancreas, the liver, and the heart can suffer serious damage from too much iron. The only treatment for hemochromatosis is to remove iron from the body through phlebotomy (drawing blood on a weekly basis for about a year) or chelation therapy. Don't take iron supplements unless your doctor has run a blood test to confirm that you need them.

READ Cold Hands And Feet: The Sign Of Iron Deficiency?

7. Taking Folic Acid When You Need Methylfolate

In the United States, about 20 percent of the population lacks a gene for making an enzyme that converts the B vitamin folic acid into its active form. As a result, they are functionally folic acid deficient even when they get adequate folic acid in their diets. The more folic acid they consume, the less of the active form they get into their cells. The results are miscarriage and infertility in young adults, and clotting disorders and increased risk of dementia in older adults. North American food manufacturers add folic acid to flour with the idea that it reduces birth defects, making the problem even worse.

The solution to the problem is simple. Take an inexpensive B vitamin supplement called methylfolate, and avoid anything made with processed flour (at least in North America). A test for the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene mutation can tell you if you need methylfolate supplements. It's covered by most insurance plans.