5 Vitamins That May Not Be Good For You

Everybody knows that you should take your vitamins, right? Well, as the old song goes, "It ain't necessarily so." As it turns out, there are a few vitamins you might actually want to either avoid or, at the very lest, take in small quantities.

Prevention Magazine is an excellent source for health and medical information and, in a recent article, they pointed out that there are 5 vitamins that may not actually be all that good for you. Some of them could be downright bad for you.

Here's the list:

1.  Calcium supplements.  There are a few studies that suggest that calcium supplements can actually lead to heart disease in some cases. Prevention points out that it's best to get you calcium through dairy products.

2.  Vitamin E.  Once thought to be a "wonder" vitamin, recent studies have shown that the once "cure all" vitamin can be very bad for you. If you're on a high dose vitamin E regimen, stop immediately. Recent studies show that too much vitamin E can be very bad for you to the point of perhaps causing heart disease and some cancers.

3.  Iodine supplements.  Don't take Iodine supplements unless your doctor tells you that you need them. Too much iodine can cause thyroid problems.

4.  Iron supplements.  For years we were told about "iron poor blood" and a lot of people took that advertising gambit to heart. Well, it turns out that too much iron can really be bad for you. It seems that an over abundance of iron can cause problems with your liver, pancreas and heart plus, it can cause cell damage. those are some good reasons to drop the iron supplements.

5.  Vitamin B-6.- B6 in high doses can cause problems with your nervous system. Again, don't take the supplements, instead you can get plenty of B6 in fruit, veggies, chicken and fish.

Now for the disclaimer on all this. Check with your doctor about taking vitamin supplements. He or she will be up on all this information and, if it turns out that you need a supplement, let your doctor tell you.

Most over the counter vitamins contain all the levels you need and while they may contain things like vitamin E or B6, they are not found in massive doses like people take when they take a specific vitamin supplement.

For more about this subject and other great health related articles, check out Prevention Magazine.