Do you take in too many vitamins?

Ever since I've seen a law firm advertising for victims affected by a denture cream with too much zinc, I've that question has been in my mind. I know too much of anything is bad, but do we take in too many vitamins?

It seems as if everything is vitamin enriched and I mean everything. Our water, eggs, and even milk contain extra vitamins. Although we need these vitamins and minerals to thrive, our intake of vitamins is beginning to scare me. You can have too many vitamins. If you're eating vitamin fortified food and taking a supplement, then you may have too much of the good stuff. Here is a lift of common vitamins and what the side effects are.

Vitamin C- if you take 2-5,000 mg of vitamin C, you may experience diarrhea, nausea, burning urine, stomach cramps, headache, insomnia, vomiting, and kidney stones.

Vitamin A-who knew this had a name? Hypervitaminosis A can cause nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, dizziness, and loss of coordination. Long term effects include Birth defects, Liver problems, Reduced bone mineral density that may result in osteoporosis
Coarse bone growths, Skin discoloration, Hair loss, Excessive skin dryness/peeling, Angular cheilitis Intracranial hypertension. Stick to 10,000 IU's.

Calcium- more than 4,000 IU's of calcium can cause constipation, dry mouth, a continuing headache, increased thirst, irritability, loss of appetite, depression, a metallic taste in the mouth, and fatigue

Vitamin E- this is the new super vitamin but beware. You only need 100-300 mg a day and any more than that can cause blood clots, fatigue, tumors in the breast, and reproductive problems.

Vitamin B's (yes all the B's)- more than 1-2 mg of vitamin B can cause nerve damage and stomach ulcers. It takes as little as 500 mg to cause serious nerve damage.

Iron- Who knew too much iron had a name also? Hemochromatosis, or more than 100 mg, or 140 mg for nursing and pregnant women, can weaken the immune system, arthritis liver disease, including an enlarged liver, cirrhosis, cancer, and liver failure, damage to the pancreas, possibly causing diabetes, heart abnormalities, such as irregular heart rhythms or congestive heart failure, impotence, early menopause, abnormal pigmentation of the skin, making it look gray or bronze, thyroid deficiency, and damage to the adrenal glands.

vitamin d- In addition to vitamin e, this is a new super vitamin. It seems as if everything is vitamin d enriched but the sun gives you 80-90% of your daily vitamin D. If you get your vitamin D from the sun, it's hard to experience toxicity but more of a hypersensitivity. Too much vitamin D may cause lung and skin cancer. It is advised to take vitamin D with a doctor's recommendation.

Vitamin K- at this time it's hard to know how much vitamin k is too much because it is obtained from food sources. If you're on blood thinners, avoid too much vitamin K because they help thicken the blood.

Zinc- the recommended zinc dosage is 9-11 mg a day and poisining starts at 35-40 mg. Symptons of zinc poisoning includes a weakening of the immune system, which may result in cancer, decrease in white blood cells, decreased urination, nausea, and upset stomach.

Any way you cut it, too many vitamins and minerals is deadly. Your body is a machine and will filter out the extras but taking too much messes with the body's functions. A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and grains will help you with your diet.

Is My Agave Nectar Really Healthier?

I love Agave Nectar. I usually substitute it for sugar in my recipes because it's sweeter, so I need less, and healthier, so I thought. While commenting on Blackgirlsguidetoweightloss.com, I mentioned how I use Agave Nectar in my whipped cream and Erika mentioned how it's just as processed as sugar. Le sigh. Why is it that everytime I began to like something, I discover how bad it is?

Let's talk about the science of sugar and agave nectar.

The term sugar usually refers to sucrose, which is also called "table sugar" or "saccharose." Sucrose is a white crystalline disaccharide. It is often obtained from sugar cane or sugar beet.[25] Sucrose is the most popular of the various sugars for flavoring, as well as properties (such as mouthfeel, preservation, and texture) of beverages and food.

"Sugar" can also be used to refer to water-soluble crystalline carbohydrates with varying sweetness. Sugars include monosaccharides (e.g., glucose, fructose, galactose), disaccharides (e.g., sucrose, lactose, maltose), trisaccharides, and oligosaccharides,[26] in contrast to complex carbohydrates such as polysaccharides. Corn syrup, dextrose, crystalline fructose, and maltose, for example, are used in manufacturing and preparing food.

We know that Sugar can cause diabetes, obesity, and tooth decay. We also know that sugar, often in the form of High Fructose Corn Syrup, or corn sugar, is in nearly everything we eat.

To produce agave nectar from the Agave tequiliana plant, juice is expressed
from the core of the agave, called the piña. The juice is filtered, then heated
to hydrolyze polysaccharides into simple sugars. The main polysaccharide is called inulin or fructosan and comprises mostly fructose units. The filtered, hydrolyzed juice is concentrated to a syrupy liquid, slightly thinner than honey, from light- to dark-amber depending on the degree of processing.

Agave salimiana is processed differently than Agave tequiliana. As the
plant gestates, it starts to grow a stalk called a quiote.[ The stalk is cut off
before it fully grows, creating a hole in the center of the plant that fills
with a liquid called aguamiel. The liquid is collected daily and the
fructans hydrolysed by enzymes into fructose and dextrose.

Agave nectar consists primarily of fructose and glucose. One source gives 92%
fructose and 8% glucose; another gives 56% fructose and 20% glucose. These
differences presumably reflect variation from one vendor of agave nectar to
another. Agave nectar's glycemic index and glycemic load are comparable to fructose which in turn has a much lower glycemic index and glycemic load than table sugar (sucrose).

Too much Agave Nectar may trigger an inability to digest sugar, obesity, diabetes, excess insulin, and gout. Fermented Agave Nectar is sold as tequila. Many manufacturers of Agave Nectar have been selling HFCS as Agave Nectar. Let's look at some more stats.

One tbsp sugar One tbsp. agave nectar
Calories
40 60
Total Fat
0 0
Carbs
12 16
Fiber
0 1
Sugar
12 15
Protein
0 0

This bottle of Agave Nectar may be my last. Maybe. Neither is healthy, so what do you choose? You can choose both in moderation or try Honey, fruit juice to sweeten, or stevia, which is a herb that contains no sugar.

Apple and Brie Pancake

God bless the person who discovered that brie and apple taste well together. I bought some brie on Friday, but had no idea what to do with it so I bought an apple and voila! Apple and Brie pancake.

Pancake (which was supposed to be pie crust)

1 cup of wheat flour
1 tablespoon agave nectar (or sugar)
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup of melted butter
1/2 cup of ice water (too much water is what made my pie crust a pancake)
1 tablespoon Greek yogurt (the recipe called for sour cream but Greek yogurt tastes like sour cream)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Blend all the ingredients well and sit aside while you prepare your apples and brie.

1/4 cup apple
1/4 cup of brie
1/4 tablespoon of cinnamon
1/4 tablespoon of lemon juice

Combine with your pancake mix and cook well. I seared it without anything in the pan but you can add butter or oil.

Wine, Pizza, and Hummus

What do these things all have in common? It's what I ate yesterday.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, so a friend and I decided to go to the harbor. He wanted to walk around, I didn't because it was cold, so I decided we should eat. I was in the mood for some grilled pizza and I often passed Bagby's Pizza in Harbor East, so I decided why not? But on the way there, I stopped in Whole Foods for my first taste of Hummus. Why didn't anyone tell me it was so good? On my next food shopping trip, I'm going to get some Hummus.


But anyway, we ordered a Tennessee Honey Chicken with mozzarella, provolone, ricotta, roasted red peppers, artichokes, and honey chicken. I had mine with a glass of red Belmondo Pinot Noir. I didn't know how to order it and felt a bit dumb but I wanted to feel like I was in Italy. A glass of wine and pizza, nothing beats it. My friend had a Bud Light Lime. Whatever. The pizza took about 15 minutes and it was amazing. I usually don't eat peppers but I made a vow to enjoy all the flavors. The pizza was sweet and smokey at the same time. The textures were different and all blended well. Everything was complimented by the crispy crust. The crust was like a cracker, so good and flaky.

Afterwards we had Haagan Daas ice cream. I had a raspberry-mango sorbet smoothie. So good. Everything was so good. I felt like I was in Italy.

My First Vegetarian Meal/Mushroom

1 portobella mushroom
1/4 teaspoon of garlic
1/2 teaspoon each rosemary,oregano, basil, sage
1/4 cup of acv(apple cider vinegar)
3 tablespoons oil
salt and pepper to taste

cut the stem off the mushroom, wash and put in a container. Mix your oil, garlic, herbs, and vinegar and pour over your mushroom. Let sit for 15 mins. Your mushroom can sit for an hour if you like, mine sat for about a half hour. Turn your oven on broil, or prepare your grill, and cook each side for about 10 minutes. I made mine into a sandwich complete with lettuce, ketchup, and mayonnaise.

My big chop story

I am terrified. What started out as a simple bi-weekly hair washing, has turned into a life changing event. I have been growing out my relaxer for 18 months and today I ended my transition and cut off the relaxed hair. This is not something I planned to do. I just held my natural hair and thought, "that looks really nice." Then I cut off some straggly ends and couldn't stop myself. Next thing I know, I cut off too much relaxed hair and had to finish. By the time I took stock of what happened, it was too late. I couldn't go back. I was a natural woman.

My mind immediately began to race. Will I get another job? Will I get a husband? Will people think I'm crazy? Will people wanna be my friend? How will I explain this to my family? What's next? I committed the ultimate blasphemy. I cut off my crowning glory and was left with the mess that women have been trying to correct for centuries. I looked around and saw the years of hair. I saw my length, it was no more than three inches but still I wanted to cry. I didn't. I couldn't. It's my hair and I shouldn't have to apologize for wearing my hair as I choose to wear it.

The Raw Milk Debate

I first heard about raw milk after reading an article about it in the Baltimore Sun newspaper. The reporter went through great lengths to get the milk, which is banned in Maryland but legal in Pennsylvania, and went into the logistics of it. I don't recall the entire article but last night I had the urge to try some raw milk.

Needless to say, getting this raw milk will not be easy. I can get it in Maryland but finding someone who will trust me enough to sell it, or exchange it, to me will not be easy and getting it from PA means at least an hour drive to get this milk. That's another story for another day.

The reason I'm writing is I find it weird that we can't have natural milk but the FDA has approved milk from genetically cloned cows. It's weird that we can have milk treated with hormones but we can't have milk in it's raw state.

The FDA claims that raw milk is full of bacterial and has caused at least 85 outbreaks and two deaths in the last 20 years. The FDA website also claims raw milk causes side effects such as vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, headache and body ache. Raw milk advocates claim that drinking raw milk is healthier than it's alternative and many lactose intolerant people claim that they're able to consume raw milk. They also say it tastes better.

Something in the milk isn't clean literally and figuratively. I find it weird that I can take a nanproxen that may cause side effects ten times worse than that of raw milk or I can take a pill that has killed millions but I can't have raw milk. Why is the government going out of it's way to prosecute these farmers but drugs dealers and murderers go free every day? There's something deeper going on and I'm going to get to the bottom of it. Stay tuned.