Emma Laing, clinical professor and director of dietetics in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, spoke with Everyday Health about the benefits of water-soluble vitamins and how to get the proper amounts.
While vitamins are organic substances bodies need to carry out basic functions, they aren’t produced in bodies. To receive the needed vitamins, humans must get them from food and supplements.
Vitamins fall into one of two categories: water-soluble or fat-soluble. Water-soluble vitamins dissolve in water and are carried around the body. Unlike fat-soluble vitamins, water-soluble vitamins don’t stay in your system for long.
“In otherwise healthy individuals, the kidneys will excrete excess water-soluble vitamins in the urine,” said Laing.
For this reason, it is unlikely that people will have too much of any water-soluble vitamin in their system. However, it is still possible to have a buildup of water-soluble vitamins, leading to potentially harmful side effects.
“More is not always better when it comes to their safety,” Laing said.
According to experts, getting too much vitamin B6 can make the skin extremely sensitive to sunlight and possibly lead to nerve damage. Meanwhile, excess vitamin C is linked to nausea, diarrhea and abdominal cramps.
Laing also said that dangerous amounts of water-soluble vitamins are likely to come from supplements — not diet.
“The upper limits [the maximum amount you can safely consume] set for many water-soluble vitamins are based on dietary supplements and medications, not on the amounts found naturally in foods and beverages,” she said.
Laing recommended eating a diverse diet that includes plenty of whole foods and fruits and vegetables. Whenever possible, use a food first approach as whole foods provide more beneficial compounds than humans would get through supplements alone.
